Parent Testimonials
What a Donor's Gift Can Do...
Chance and SiennaIn January of 2009, at a little over 27 weeks of gestation, Chance and Sienna had surprising New Year's plans. With three months left before their due date, they decided to make their grand entrance into the world while mom and dad were vacationing just outside of Sarasota, FL. Chance made his entry weighing two pounds, three ounces, and Sienna arrived weighing one pound, 15 ounces.
Although they arrived so early, the twins still had a good first week in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Sienna was weaned from a ventilator a few hours after birth, and Chance was extubated on day five. Approximately seven days after their birth, however, Chance began having gastrointestinal problems that required surgical intervention and had to be moved to a NICU in St. Petersburg, FL. Almost two weeks later, Sienna also began exhibiting similar issues and joined her brother in the NICU in St. Petersburg for further evaluation but thankfully didn't require surgery.
While Chance and Sienna experienced excellent care by all the NICU caregivers who helped them, they also had someone very special in their life who was their most fierce advocate - their mother. Mom was a pediatric occupational therapist, and a certified lactation counselor who worked in a Level III NICU at another hospital. She had no doubt as to what was best for her twins, especially when it came to their diet."I knew how important it was to keep my babies on an exclusive human milk diet. When it was recommended that a human milk fortifier be added to my breast milk because of their nutritional needs, I was well aware that the standard of care in most NICUs was a powdered cow milk-based fortifier. The twins were already experiencing feeding intolerance and I was not willing to take the risk of adding a non-human product to their diet. Fortunately I was aware of Prolacta Bioscience and the fact that they were the only company that provided a fortifier made exclusively from human milk."
The NICU in which the twins were staying had not used Prolacta's human milk-based human milk fortifier, H2MF™ in the past, yet they agreed to use it for the first time with Chance and Sienna. The twins thrived. Over the next few months, the twin's condition improved, and they continued to grow and gain weight.Nearly four months after making their early New Year's entrance, Chance and Sienna had grown healthy and strong enough to ride home in their new minivan across the state to Hollywood, FL with mom and dad. Chance weighed seven pounds, nine and a half ounces, and Sienna weighed six pounds, ten and a half ounces.
"We will forever be grateful to the NICUs, doctors, nurses, and staff who fought along with us to save our babies. We will also always be grateful to the breast milk donors who made it possible for a human milk fortifier to be made using exclusively human breast milk."
Isabella's Story
On Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 2:46 p.m. my wife Kimberly Sciulli gave birth to my daughter Isabella Cecilia Sciulli. It was unexpected, as she was born three months early. Isabella was born weighing in at only one pound and four and a half ounces. That's it. Her back was the size of my three fingers. My wedding ring could fit up her entire arm or leg. Her head was the size of a racket ball. We were informed Isabella was going to have to "fight for her life".
Every day the doctors reminded us of everything that was going to go wrong and of all the obstacles and challenges our beautiful daughter would face. Kimberly and I were helpless with the situation but we did what we could. We would sit by her incubator and pray…and Kim would pump breast milk.
The doctor told Kimberly and me that breast milk would greatly increase Isabella's chance for survival. At that point, Kimberly made it her goal to pump as much breast milk as possible. She created a schedule, and she would pump, and pump, and pump. She would wake up in the middle of the night to pump breast milk, it was Kim's mission. It was what she could do to help Isabella survive. She pumped everyday and she made sure she got every drop; it was her "liquid gold". None was wasted. Soon, our freezer at home was completely full and we began bringing small coolers full of breast milk to the hospital on what seemed like a daily basis. Kim stayed so dedicated and passionate and had collected so much, but still continued to pump.One day our best friends from Charlotte visited. I remember Kimberly and her friend Michelle talking for two hours about how important breast milk was for Isabella. Two hours, just about the importance of breast milk. Michelle's husband Chris and I could hear the passion in Kim's voice.
Unfortunately, 40 days after Isabella was born, tragedy struck; one thing the doctors didn't warn us about. Kimberly, my love, passed away on February 19, 2008. She passed away due to postpartum cardiomyopathy.
Days after the funeral, Chris and Michelle called to talk to me about companies that offered safe, pasteurized donated breast milk. They knew it was Kimberly's priority for Isabella to continue on a human milk diet for her health and growth, and that Kimberly's milk would go quickly. After working with them and doing my own research, I chose to use Prolacta's pasteurized breast milk due to the testing and processing of their milk. With the help of our friends, we got the hospital to agree to bring in Prolacta's human milk fortifier for Isabella.Isabella is truly a miracle. She is two and a half years old and is completely healthy. She has her mother's personality and is so loving and pleasant, always smiling. All of the concerns the doctors warned Kim and I of never happened. I attribute her health to a few things: God, Kimberly looking over us, the fabulous care from the doctors and nurses in the NICU, and last, but definitely not least, donated breast milk.
Tyler's Story
On February 4, 2007, our son Tyler was born at 2 lbs. 1 ounce. The three days prior to that, Tyler's mother Julie had to be admitted to the hospital for complications known as Preeclampsia.
A condition which is rapidly progressive characterized by high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine. On the fourth day, Julie was retaining so much fluid that her lungs began accumulating fluid as well and the doctors decided to do an emergency C-section. Julie was only 27 weeks pregnant.
When Tyler was delivered, he wasn't able to breathe on his own and he was the smallest human I'd had ever seen. Julie had to stay in bed 24 hours after the C-section and didn't first see Tyler until the next day. While sitting in the NICU, next to Tyler's little incubator, we were told he wouldn't be able to feed right away. We were told it would be a couple of days until he got any breast milk at all, and he would only get a drop at first. The nurses and specialists explained how important that first drop is and that it would increase in volume over time.Julie would be released 6 days after Tyler was born and she was put on a slew of medications as well as self injected shots. We feared this would interfere with breast feeding which we knew was so important for Tyler, and we were relieved when we were told that it wouldn't. Julie was already prepared not to take the medication for the sake of being able to breastfeed Tyler.
Julie would pump breast milk on the scheduled times she was supposed to. The NICU gave us the containers, labels, different colored stickers, the works; all of this so her breast milk could be frozen and given at a later time. We knew how important Julie's precious milk was to Tyler's health and development so we continually carried the sacred cargo to the hospital. Tyler clearly benefitted from the breast milk which also helped to strengthen his immune system.Once continuously eating breast milk, the lactation specialist advised us that a human milk fortifier needed to be introduced. She informed us of Prolact+, the only 100% human milk derived fortifier so Tyler could remain on an all human milk diet, and she gave us information about it. We took the information home, fully researched it, and it made perfect sense to us to use it. "It's made from donated human milk, the liquid gold we were being told was so important for our premature son's well being". We gave the NICU our consent to use the Prolact+ and the nurses and specialists were ecstatic. They told us they were happy we chose it because they had seen so many positive results and were sure it would help Tyler. Tyler left the NICU 108 days later at 8.5 pounds.
Tyler is over 3 years old now and goes 100mph all day. It's amazing when we look back at his pictures from the beginning and to witness his progression over this period of time. He truly is a blessing and a miracle, and without his human milk fortifier, love and care from everyone, we wouldn't be where we are today.
Sarah Elaine's Story
My little girl, Sarah Elaine, was born at 30 weeks, weighing only 2.574 lbs. Because of her early delivery and medical conditions associated with her prematurity, she was placed in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU).
Sarah Elaine remained in the NICU for six weeks under the care of an amazing team of doctors, nurses, and other staff members. This amazing team of specialists and caregivers helped me to understand the risks we may face regarding the complications and long-term problems associated with my tiny angel's premature birth. They also explained what we needed to do to get Sarah Elaine to the ultimate goal—achieve good health, proper weight gain and growth so that she could come home. I was informed that a sure way to get her to that ultimate goal was a diet that consisted only of human milk. Sarah Elaine had the opportunity to receive donated breast milk during her six-week stay in the hospital and I am glad she did.
The advantages of human milk are many and there is not a more beautiful, generous, or perfect gift that a breast milk donor mom could provide for a newborn infant in need. For children that are born premature, human milk gives them the fighting chance they need for healthy brain, bone and muscle development. Human milk also provides babies with natural immune boosters needed to protect them from a variety of illnesses, and intestinal or pulmonary complications.Sarah Elaine was released from the hospital at six weeks. Every day when I look at her now I am thankful that we were given the opportunity to keep her on an exclusive human milk diet. No cow's milk products were ever introduced. Her weight went from 2.574 pounds to 4.673 pounds. My tiny angel has developed into a beautiful, very healthy 14 month old child who is bright, happy, inquisitive, nosey, and quite energetic.