Because I Have Been Given Much, by Katie Lewis

Editor’s Reading Note: Our final article moves us from the question of the blessings of praying for others and of receiving answers to prayers to the principle of acting as the answer to the prayers of others. As you read about the author’s thought process in coming to the decision to give a gift to her community, think about what is involved in coming to such decisions. How might we be more aware of the needs of those around us? What can the author’s gift teach us about our uniquely womanly abilities to nurture those in our communities?

“In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance.”

~President Uchtdorf, Ensign Dec. 2009

My daughter is asleep on my lap again. She fell asleep breastfeeding. This happens all the time, but today I’m particularly touched by it. Let me explain.

A few months ago when I was going in for a routine doctor check-up after the birth of my daughter, I found myself waiting. Why is it that we spend the majority of our time at the doctor’s waiting? Anyway, while I was doing my second round of waiting in the little room where the doctor finally comes to see you, I noticed a sign on the door. It had a picture of a young family and there was a description below about the situation the family was in. For whatever reason, the mother couldn’t produce any breast milk or if she could it wasn’t compatible with her baby—something like that. The children in this family were formula intolerant and weren’t getting the nutrients they needed to survive. Already this had been fatal for one child in the family and the two remaining children weren’t healthy. The mother and father were asking anyone who would be willing to donate breast milk for their baby to please contact them. Their phone number was given below.

To be honest, I didn’t think much of it then. The wait had already taken a long time at the doctor’s office and I was anxious to get back and pick up my one month old daughter from my sister’s house where my daughter was probably screaming her head off. But later I did think about it. And then I kept thinking about it. I wanted to help, but I was worried if I gave the breast milk that I had pumped and saved in our freezer then there wouldn’t be enough for my daughter during the times that she needed it. Sometimes my husband gets up in the middle of the night and gives her a bottle of breast milk so I can sleep. Sometimes when we leave her with a babysitter she’ll have a bottle of breast milk then. And I couldn’t always count on being able to pump. Some days I just didn’t have enough milk in me to have extra milk to save for later. I knew I was being selfish, but it still just seemed to be a little thing to me and I convinced myself not to worry over it.

Then, just before Thanksgiving turkeys were on sale, so I bought one. We already had plans for Thanksgiving dinner elsewhere, so I decided to put it in the freezer and cook it for a special Christmas Eve meal. When I got home and started cleaning out and rearranging the things in our freezer to make room for the turkey, I realized for the first time just how much frozen breast milk there was. There was a lot. There was more than enough to share. Remembering that family and the sign I had seen on the door, I called the doctor’s office to get the phone number of the family so I could give them all of my extra breast milk. I still pump every day and my daughter sleeps through the nights most of the time now, so the pile of breast milk in our freezer was not only staying constant, it was getting bigger.

I described the sign to the receptionist at the doctor’s office and asked if she could tell me the phone number that was on it. She then explained that the office had merged with another medical company which prohibited any personal advertisements being made in the clinic. They had taken all the signs down and didn’t have any information on the family anymore. I was sad. I had called the office with that warm fuzzy feeling in my heart, expecting to give, and not only to give, but to give life. I was deeply saddened when I hit the end of the road so quickly. So I asked if they knew of anybody else who might be able to use some donated breast milk. The receptionist told me that the neonatal intensive care unit at hospitals usually keeps a list on file of families who need donated breast milk and suggested that I call and talk to them. I did and was eventually directed to a milk bank in Colorado.

I’ve had the number of the milk bank for a few days, but I had put off calling them. Some days I just forgot. Other days I talked myself out of it. I’m not sure why. But I am happy to report that today I finally called and I am so glad I did. My heart has changed. As it turns out, the process and eligibility for donating breast milk is much more complicated than I ever knew. The list of reasons why you might not be eligible to donate breast milk is long. And you have to have some blood drawn. I’ll admit that even after everything else even I was a little turned off to the idea just at the thought of having blood drawn again.

But then I considered all the people who are able to breast feed, but probably wouldn’t even know that donating breast milk is a possibility. I considered all the people who might try, but aren’t eligible to donate because of that long list. I thought of all the people who get as far as I have with the whole process and give up at the thought of getting blood drawn. Thinking of all this, I realized that there must be relatively few people who donate their breast milk. Then I considered that even those women who are willing and able and do donate breast milk probably don’t do it for very long because their babies grow up and start eating solids and the mothers eventually don’t need to produce milk and, therefore, don’t have any to give. I suddenly cared less about having my blood drawn and instead my heart turned toward all those mothers who want to feed their babies, but can’t. How they must weep. So today I’ve started the journey that I hope will carry the breast milk out of me and out of my freezer and into the tummies of those little babies who are hungry. With the heart of a mother, I now weep for them too. I hope with this gift I am trying to give that we mothers all will weep less and instead of offering up pleas to our Father in Heaven for the lives of our children we will give thanks unto Him for the gift of His love.

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If you’re interested in donating breast milk or receiving donated breast milk please call The Mother’s Milk Bank at Presbyterian St Luke’s Medical Center in Denver, Colorado at (303) 869-1888 or toll free at 877-458-5503 to find out if you’re eligible. You can also find more information at:

http://www.rockymountainhospitalforchildren.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=114

The shipping of the milk is free.

The title of this piece is taken from the words of the hymn “Because I Have Been Given Much” by Grace Noll Crowell.

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Katie Lewis is stay at home mom in her twenties who spends her days playing with her daughter, going on walks, and letting her creative juices flow. She has now donated a shipment of breast milk to the Mother’s Milk Bank and often thinks of the families who will receive her gift. To read more of Katie’s writing, visit her blog, Notes From a Very Red Kitchen.