Owen's Milk

Owen has something called a chylothorax. He has a disruption in his thoracic duct in his chest that helps to absorb certain fats that he gets from milk. This has been accumulating in his chest cavity and drains into his chest tube. The treatment is changing his diet to only  include medium chain fats for a while until he heals. So this is why he can't have my breast milk. As I wrote before since this is the only thing I can do to help him it has been very difficult. Breast milk helps fight infection, helps him grow and heal from his surgery unlike formula.

I have researched this issue and have come up with a very good solution. Several babies have done very well after their mothers have skimmed breast milk to get rid of the fat and replace it with the medium chain fats. I know it sounds crazy but several studies are out there. I had already planned to donate breast milk to Mother's Milk Bank at Austin because I now have 2 months worth saved up in a deep freezer. I went through screening and was approved. So I asked them if they skimmed milk and they do! When Owen is able to restart his feeds I will now be giving him my breast milk that has been skimmed from the milk bank. This is a HUGE relief for me! Now I am able to help him with the best medicine as well as other premies in the NICU who need donor breast milk.