Let me explain.
A couple of Saturdays ago, Wes and I took all three kiddos to a faculty party at a colleague's house. It was really fun and surprisingly relaxing (we were in the backyard most of the time and therefore didn't have to watch the twins as carefully as we do when we're inside someone's house). While we were there, Paxton got a little cranky and was acting like he was hungry. I whipped out my recently thawed bottle of breast milk and attempted to feed him. He refused it. Then, he started acting sleeping. So, I rocked him to sleep and all was okay in the world.
When we got home, he woke up. Since it was time to put the twins to bed and it was my night to complete that task, I decided to try and give Pax the bottle again while I read books to G & V. Once again, he didn't want it. I didn't think much of it.
Then Gavin and Vivian started hemming and hawing about needing something to drink. Since I didn't want to go all the way downstairs, I said, "Here, drink some of this," and handed Gavin the bottle.
Gavin took a sip and said, "YUCK! This is gross, Mom!" I gave it to Vivian and she said the same thing.
What the hell? It wasn't old and it hadn't been out of the fridge for too long.
Once I left the twins, I went downstairs with Pax and told Wes about it. He tasted the milk and almost threw up.
We decided to open the bottles in the fridge and smell those. The first EIGHT-ounce bottle? Sour. The second EIGHT-ounce bottle? Sour. The third EIGHT-ounce bottle? Sour. And the fourth EIGHT-ounce bottle? Sour. Are you fucking kidding me? THIRTY-TWO ounces down the drain!
I had about 20 ounces frozen. We heated them up. ALL SOUR! TWENTY MORE OUNCES DOWN THE DRAIN!
Not only did I have to throw away over 50 ounces of pumped breast milk (tear), but now I didn't have ANY milk to give to Paxton my first week back at work!
I searched online for answers. Then, I found it. An excessive amount of lipase was my problem. Apparently, all women have lipase (an enzyme) in their breast milk (it helps to digest the fat in the milk), but some women (a very small percentage in fact), have an excessive amount of lipase. If and when you have this problem, you will be UNABLE to store breast milk for more than 12-24 hours, even if you freeze it. The excessive amount of lipase breaks down the milk fat soon after it has been expressed; for some women this happens within a couple of hours and for others it happens in about 24 (you can read a better explanation HERE). And, the fat is what makes it sweet. The only thing you can do to stop the lipase from breaking down your milk fat so quickly is to flash boil (scald) it very soon after you express it. BUT, once you scald the milk, you cause it to loose a lot of other positive, beneficial qualities. I know, that sucks.
What have we been doing? We've realized that my milk doesn't start to sour for about 15 hours. So, I've been pumping one bottle in the morning, walking home mid-morning to pump a second bottle, and then coming home by 3pm each day to nurse for the rest of the day.
It's terrible. But, I'm doing it. Sigh.
The good news is that an excessive amount of lipase is not usually a permanent problem. I could have it for a few weeks or a few months. We just have to keep "testing" bottles here and there. Ugh.
Then Gavin and Vivian started hemming and hawing about needing something to drink. Since I didn't want to go all the way downstairs, I said, "Here, drink some of this," and handed Gavin the bottle.
Gavin took a sip and said, "YUCK! This is gross, Mom!" I gave it to Vivian and she said the same thing.
What the hell? It wasn't old and it hadn't been out of the fridge for too long.
Once I left the twins, I went downstairs with Pax and told Wes about it. He tasted the milk and almost threw up.
We decided to open the bottles in the fridge and smell those. The first EIGHT-ounce bottle? Sour. The second EIGHT-ounce bottle? Sour. The third EIGHT-ounce bottle? Sour. And the fourth EIGHT-ounce bottle? Sour. Are you fucking kidding me? THIRTY-TWO ounces down the drain!
I had about 20 ounces frozen. We heated them up. ALL SOUR! TWENTY MORE OUNCES DOWN THE DRAIN!
Not only did I have to throw away over 50 ounces of pumped breast milk (tear), but now I didn't have ANY milk to give to Paxton my first week back at work!
I searched online for answers. Then, I found it. An excessive amount of lipase was my problem. Apparently, all women have lipase (an enzyme) in their breast milk (it helps to digest the fat in the milk), but some women (a very small percentage in fact), have an excessive amount of lipase. If and when you have this problem, you will be UNABLE to store breast milk for more than 12-24 hours, even if you freeze it. The excessive amount of lipase breaks down the milk fat soon after it has been expressed; for some women this happens within a couple of hours and for others it happens in about 24 (you can read a better explanation HERE). And, the fat is what makes it sweet. The only thing you can do to stop the lipase from breaking down your milk fat so quickly is to flash boil (scald) it very soon after you express it. BUT, once you scald the milk, you cause it to loose a lot of other positive, beneficial qualities. I know, that sucks.
What have we been doing? We've realized that my milk doesn't start to sour for about 15 hours. So, I've been pumping one bottle in the morning, walking home mid-morning to pump a second bottle, and then coming home by 3pm each day to nurse for the rest of the day.
It's terrible. But, I'm doing it. Sigh.
The good news is that an excessive amount of lipase is not usually a permanent problem. I could have it for a few weeks or a few months. We just have to keep "testing" bottles here and there. Ugh.
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2 comments:
Crazy! Never heard of that and good to know.
this is unbelievable. so-o-o awful.
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