76 Gallons of breast milk

Some milk in my freezer

As my son approaches his first birthday, I sat down with a calculator and figured out how much breast milk I have produced. You guessed it: I came up with 76 gallons.

There’s no way to be exact about it, but with various calculations, I’m fairly sure it’s between 74 and 78 gallons, so I’m settling on the middle. This is based on a combination of how much I pump when I’m working, and how much he ate during the times when we took his pre-and post-nursing weights on the special scale.

But this little exercise was just to satisfy my curiosity and to celebrate. You really don’t need to know how much milk you make. For the most part, if the baby is peeing and growing normally, then whatever amount the baby takes from the breast is enough. If you are used to seeing babies bottle-fed, this can be unsettling. You want to measure the ounces with the marks on the bottle and feel satisfied that the baby has taken enough at every feeding. I understand. I’m a numbers-oriented person who likes to measure things. I crave visual, numeric proof of progress toward my goals.  I’m a dietitian who knows how many calories my baby is “supposed to” eat. And, as a new mother, our bad start at breastfeeding shattered my confidence. I learned to trust my body slowly, with the help of a lactation consultant who repeatedly assured me that even though some of his feedings were very small, I was making the right amount of milk for him.

So I’m celebrating the first year’s worth of milk given with love to my baby. The accomplishment of weaning him off the formula we had to use in the first few weeks. Overcoming my worries about milk supply. Seventy-six gallons is a lot of milk!