What's Up With My Breast Milk?!

I've recently discovered that my breast milk probably contains an excess of the enzyme lipase in it. How did I find this out?

During the first 2 weeks of his life, Hank had a few bottles of formula and seemed to do fine with expressed breast milk (EBM) in a bottle. However, once breastfeeding was well-established by 6 weeks old, he seemed to reject the bottle altogether. On the few occasions I had to leave him home with Brian or my mom, he would only manage to choke down 1 ounce of EBM before rejecting the bottle altogether. I thought he just didn't like bottles and preferred to nurse. Since I am home for 1 year, I didn't think it was really a big deal.

Last week, I attended a funeral and had to bring Hank with me. I was concerned that there wouldn't be a convenient place to nurse Hank so I decided to defrost some frozen EBM from my small freezer stash. The EBM I defrosted was from November. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) breast milk storage guidelines, frozen EBM that is stored in the freezer compartment of a refrigerator with separate doors can be stored for 3-6 months. So my EBM from November should have been alright. After defrosting, I gave the milk a sniff and it smelled soapy. I stuck my (clean) finger in the bottle and tasted it. OMG, it was awful! It tasted like sour cow's milk, but worse. I immediately recalled another mother from an online community I belong to sharing about how her EBM had a soapy smell to it and that her baby wouldn't take it. She mentioned excess lipase.


Thinking that this EBM might have just been past its prime, I decided to defrost another bag of EBM I had frozen the previous week. This milk should definitely be okay. I gave it a taste and I gagged big time! Just for good measure, I asked Brian to taste it, too. He had a similar reaction. We also tasted some freshly expressed BM so we knew how it should taste. Yep, there was definitely something funny going on with my milk so I started Google-ing.

Having an excess of lipase can make the milk "go bad" soon after it is expressed, giving it a sour/rancid/soapy smell and flavor. Allegedly, babies won't get sick from drinking this "bad" milk, but I nearly vomited when tasting it and I would never expect Hank to drink it.

Kellymom.com had a very helpful article on funny-tasting milk and excess lipase. A La Leche League International online forum also had extensive information from women who also had excess lipase and how they have dealt with it.

We were going to Joy's wedding in a few days so I decided to pump some milk and scald it according to the guidelines from the previous 2 links. Thankfully, it tasted fine the following day and, while Hank seemed a bit confused about being given a bottle, he managed to drink all 2 ounces. I need to do a bit more experimentation, though, to determine if Hank still just doesn't like bottle-feeding.


I decided to try another experiment to see how long it took for my milk to go bad. I pumped about 1 ounce of milk and kept it in the refrigerator, mainly to be used for thinning out Hank's solid food, but also for taste-testing. I've determined that after about 24 hours, my refrigerated EBM is still drinkable, but I could tell it was beginning to go bad. By 36 hours, it was absolutely horrible! So now I know that if I ever pump more milk than Hank will take within about 24 hours, I need to scald it first. Oh, and it looks like I'll need to dump my current freezer stash. Thankfully, I don't have too much. Maybe less than 50 ounces. I still cringe at the thought of dumping it, though.

Reflections

Aside from the doctors and nurses in the operating room (I had an unplanned Caesarean section), Brian was the first person Hank saw when he was born. Brian held Hank in his arms just minutes after his birth. He made sure Hank held on to his finger (skin-to-skin contact) on their way to the transitional nursery and made sure Hank knew he was not alone. I firmly believe Brian and Hank have a special connection because of this. I know Hank loves me, but my two boys have something...different.


First family photo
As soon as we brought Hank home from the hospital, it seems that Brian could always get Hank to sleep when no one else could. I have many, MANY photos of Hank comfortably nestled on Brian's chest, sleeping soundly. I also have photos of the two of them, passed out like old buddies on our bed.

Hank has been going through a very fussy phase the past few days. He's not napping very well at all and not sleeping as long through the night, either. He's been fussy during the day and yesterday was one of the roughest days we've had yet. It seemed as though I could do nothing right. Nothing to comfort my little one. He was just miserable yesterday. So was I. When Brian finally got home from work in the early evening, Hank lit up with a HUGE smile as soon as Brian walked in the door. It was adorable! But it also made me want to scream! That's all it took?! I felt like I jumped through hoops all day and all Brian had to do was come home. It was frustrating.

I'm hoping this fussy period is due to teething. It seems as though Hank has been teething for the past couple of months now, though there is not one tooth in sight! I feel as though someone has kidnapped my sweet boy and left me with a fussy, angry, miserable baby.

But, I know things will get better (it does, right?) and I keep reminding myself that my "worst" day at home with Hank is still better than my best day at work (I had a pretty stressful job situation). I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be home with him for 1 year. And he's growing so fast. When Hank is boycotting naps or when I still haven't brushed my teeth by noon, I often need to remind myself to savor each day, each moment. Being a stay-at-home-mom (for the time being) is the most difficult thing I've ever done. As with most other things pregnancy- and parenthood-related, you have no idea what people are talking about until you go through it yourself. I'm still trying to figure out how to balance being a mother and being a wife, taking care of myself, the household and my baby boy. I only hope and pray that the decisions I make every day are the "right" ones and that I take full advantage of these next 6 months.

And to end this post, here's a little video of my little man, passed out and snoring on his Daddy's chest. Be sure to turn your volume up. :) I live for these two and precious moments like these.

Weddings!

I love weddings! My friend, Joy, got married this past Saturday at the Hale Koa. I've known Joy since intermediate school (circa 1993) when we both joined the band and played flute. I can't believe we've known each other for just about 18 years now. I feel so old. :P We've certainly come a long way since then.

Here are some photos I took at their wedding. The lighting was awful that morning! Strong, bright sun with not one cloud in sight! It made for very harsh lights and darks.


And just for fun and because I love weddings, here are photos from other recent weddings.

My sister-in-law's wedding from September 2009:


Bobby is a co-worker of mine. I've known him since 2004. We were honored to be a part of their wedding day at Magic Island back in July 2008.


My friend, Lisa, got married in November 2007 at Luana Hills Golf Course. This was shortly after I got my first DSLR, a Canon Rebel, and the Canon 50mm f/1.8, which is affectionately referred to as the "Nifty Fifty" or the "Fantastic Plastic".