February 25, 2010 - Frozen Gold

Sometimes I open my freezer just to stare at its contents, make sure it's still all there and just smile. And can you believe it's something other than a rockin' Ben & Jerry's stash that's making me grin? Actually it's what I like to call liquid gold, and now many mommies have knowing smiles creeping across their faces too. Oh yes, the joy frozen breast milk can bring to a nursing mother. While I was pregnant I was diligent in the last month of my maternity leave to start building this icy supply of nutrition. I agonized over whether I had enough to carry my little one through the bottle feedings that were to come when I officially became a working mom. And things might have flowed smoothly (yeah, stupid pun) if it had not been for the Mt. Everest in the road, a.k.a. Mastitis. That assured every last vial and bag of gold were melted and fed to Georgia. And I had not an ounce to spare to replenish.

But oh look at my golden stash now! On the mend, that diligence has returned again out of necessity, and I have returned my freezer to its former glory. Oh the things that will thrill me these days. If you would have asked me a year ago if I'd ever get excited over breast milk, frozen breast milk at that, I would have called you crazy. Well, now which one of us is smiling at her freezer?