Jaron's donor made it in the Guinness Book!!!

Only one of her four sons actually breastfed — and he did so for only a few weeks. But that didn't stop Amelia Boomker from setting the Guinness World Record for breast milk donation.
The Illinois woman has donated 16,321 ounces of breast milk — the equivalent of 816 Venti Starbucks cup or 241 two-liter soda bottles — to the Indiana Mother's Milk Bank over the past seven years.
That does not include the 7,000 ounces Boomker, 36, pumped after her first son was born nine years ago. That milk was shipped off to a North Carolina breast milk bank. Nor does it include the milk she fed to her own children, each of whom drank breast milk exclusively for more than a year.
"I have never really successfully breastfed, but I have produced a whole lot of milk," she said.
Milk banks rely on donated milk to help sick or premature infants whose own mothers are unable to provide them with human milk. Experts believe pasteurized donor milk provides these most vulnerable infants with a raft of benefits, including protecting against disease and allergies and helping a baby grow.
Boomker, who lives in Bolingbrook, Ill., started pumping a few days after her oldest child, Danny was born. He had a heart condition that required multiple surgeries, and the doctors told her breast milk might aid in his recoveries. Four days after his birth, he was wheeled to the operating room for the first surgery.
"I started pumping since he was not there. That was all I could do," she said.
Danny didn't have the strength to latch. Boomker's next child had a high palate and couldn't breastfeed either. She had a difficult recovery after her third child's c-section birth and opted to pump rather than breastfeed.
Her baby Connor, now 18 months old, tried for a few weeks but then opted for the bottle.
Boomker had an alternative: Pumping.
With each child, she would pump between eight and 10 times a day for about 20 minutes each time. In all, she'd spend about three hours a day pumping. She'd set the alarm so she could pump every few hours throughout the night. After the first eight weeks, when she returned to work, she'd drop to eight pumps a day.


Boomker would pump more than enough to feed her sons, and she'd donate the rest.
The office where she works in corporate IT proved incredibly understanding, allowing her to take conference calls from the lactation room.
When her first child was born, the Indiana Mother's Milk Bank had not opened. It had opened by the time Liam, now 6, was born. Boomker started donating through the Indiana bank from from February 2008 through September 2013.
She used to have to ship her milk but in the past year or so she took advantage of one of the depots, which will accept donations and then ship them to Indianapolis for processing. The bank distributes milk in Indiana and throughout the Midwest.
When her youngest child turned 1, the bank only accepted donations from mothers for up to a year post-partum. Although the bank recently changed that policy, Boomker's supply has diminished enough so that she's no longer donating.
Still, she hopes her setting the record will shine light on milk donation and bring more donors to the milk bank.
And the certificate she got for her efforts has certainly been nice, she said.
"I went into work and showed the people this is why I have been sitting in the pump room for all those hours," she said.

 ~~~~~~~~HOW WE MET HER~~~~~~~~
When Jaron was born he couldn't keep down any of the formula's and I of course could not nurse him. The hospital didn't offer any kind of pump and I was so shook up didn't even think about pumping myself. So we went through several kinds of formula's trying to find something his little stomach could handle. Nothing seemed to work. Here is a list of all the different milks we tried with Jaron....
Birth June 29th, 2005-July 12 Similac
July 12, 2005-August 22, 2005 Enfamil
August 22-24 pure goats milk
August 24-26 Neocate
August 26, 2005-May 31, 2006 Dairy Free Donor Breast Milk (Amelia Boomker)
May 31, 2006-June 30, 2006 Lactose Free Enfamil
July 1, 2006-June 30, 2010 Vanilla Pediasure (3 a day)
Currently he still drinks Vanilla Kids Essentials Boost (1 a day)

When Amy's baby turned one and her milk content changed the milk bank wouldn't take her milk anymore but we needed it for Jaron. She told me she had so much in her freezer and I was welcome to come get it. So that was when Wendy's was doing a promotional thing with Airtran and the more cups you got you could get points for a ticket. So my family all helped me collect cups to get a ticket to Chicago to get the 2 coolers of milk for Amy. She met me at the airport and we checked them in as luggage and I flew back home. She really is an amazing woman!!!! I found this in his baby book.


PS: I think it's very neat we both have 4 boys!!!

No Self Esteem

I never really know how to accept a compliment from someone else. Especially from a stranger, it's so hard when someone tells me I'm pretty but I don't feel pretty. Just a simple thank you would do but I can never get the words out of my mouth.

My husband always seems to complement me on the days I feel the worst. When my head is hurting or when I feel so ugly and fat he always knows the right things to say to make me feel better. But I just can't say thank you and I don't know how to accept it and be grateful so then I feel horrible because I rejected his compliment. What's wrong with me?!?! Apparently I have a very low self esteem and its buried down deep, i just hide it well. And I am sure I am not the only one. I am just the one of the few willing to share my story.

The bullying started in 2nd grade when I was 8, I got glasses.

Then when I was 11 I moved from my moms to my dads to a new school with no friends. They bullied me there too. Kids are mean! They picked on me and my little brother.
 It was a very hard 2 years in 7th & 8th grade.

Then there was high school where 3 different girls I know wanted to beat me up and told me all the time and I still don't know why. Boys always breaking up with me because I wouldn't go to bed with them and the endless drama between the girls. So needless to say I never really fit in and still don't to this day. 

I had to learn to like myself no matter what anyone else thought. My self confidence comes from they way my parents raised me. I am naturally outgoing and I love to talk to people. So like most people do I push those feelings far back in my mind and dress up nice and socialize trying to forget.
 
But when I am in pain from a headache (sometimes for days at a time) that is when satan really gets in my head. I have learned that no matter what comes against me I will not lay down and die. I refuse to let the devil steal my joy. I am not a lazy person and I am not a quitter! My husband and children need me and just because I am in pain doesn't give me the right to give up on life. I have to keep going. I have too much to do and these little lives depend on me.

So (after 22 years with headaches) I have learned to compartmentalize the pain in my mind and separate my thoughts trying to block out the pain and focus on what needs to get done. In order to function in pain I might not talk much and I probably won't be smiling but I am still doing what needs to be done. Those who know me can always tell when my head hurts. Some days are easier than others. 

My self image is a deeper issue and I don't usually have much time to waste thinking about it. So when those negative feelings surface my husband is always there to remind me that I am beautiful and he loves me just the way I am. Thank God for my husband. {and thank God for make up}

Do you struggle with these same problems or feelings? Please feel free to share your story or mine. Just click on the links below to comment or share this post.

Obvious whispering

Of course there will always be those that comment wherever I go.
"Are they all your boys?!"
"Oh MY you really have your hands full!"
{this comment bothers my oldest son}
But the ones who whisper so obviously about me as I walk by, seem to get under my skin more than others. I would rather them say it to my face. I am a pretty blunt person and I wish people would treat me with the same respect.
Are they whispering because I'm in the skirt? are they whispering because I have so many children? are they talking about me because they read my blog and they know I don't vaccinate? I will never know what they're saying. 



Psalm 41:7 " All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt."

Motherly Love

Once upon a time, I had time for myself.  Now, my toe nails need some love.  My hair is neglected.  I can’t take a shower without an audience. Proof that somebody needs me.  Knocking on the door little fingers underneath...somebody always needs me.  There is so much to do for these little people that when I want to do something for myself I have so much guilt. (motherly guilt-another post) Or I am just too tired to do anything else.  
Somebody always needs a snack, a band-aid, a different sock, ice cubes in their water, a Toy, a tissue, a hug, a story, a kiss, a spoon, a bath,......  Some days never seem to end and it can really take its toll. Then, it all started to hit me, they need ME~Mommy.
Sometimes I enjoy being needed, but usually it is exhausting.  But, it isn’t meant to be enjoyed every moment. God made me their Mother.  It is a position I prayed for long before I would ever understand all that it would require of me.  And I have to admit this is the toughest job I have ever had. 
The sooner I can accept that means that I am never off the clock, the sooner I can find peace.   Being "Mommy" is a privilege and honor.  Being "Mommy" means I neglect myself and put others before my needs. My body is usually hurting but my heart is full of love.
Night time is the best. When my youngest crawls into bed with me. Who knows what time of night. He wraps his tiny arms around my neck and kisses me "I love you Mommy".
One day that little boy will grow up to be a man.  There will no longer be any sweet words whispered to me in the night.  Just the rain of the sound machine. I will sleep peacefully through the night, never a worry of a sick child or a crying baby.  It will just be a memory.  These years of being needed are exhausting.
I have to stop complaining of the lack of sleep and how hard some days can be. I am trying to savor every moment and enjoy the hugs and all the little things that come with each day. They grow up way too fast. I know I am going to miss these precious times so I am trying to focus on the good.  I don't have a career, my boys are my career. 
One day I will get myself back.  
But today I give myself away because they need me.
I am sure there will come a day when no one needs me.  Our boys will all be gone and busy with their own lives.  I will be in some nursing home watching my body wither away.  No one will need me then.  I might even be a burden to them.  Sure, they will come visit, but my arms will no longer be their home.  They won't need my kisses to cure their boo boos.  There will be no more tiny sticky fingers to wipe or shoe laces to tie.  I'm sure my heart will long to hear those tiny voices calling out to me, “Mommy!"