New title - same old post

I seriously passionately HATE to buy formula. It's one of the top five reasons my babies are breastfed. But when I go clean a couple of people's houses once a week, she has to have something to eat for those couple of hours.

I never once bought formula for Alana. So far in Ava's 7 1/2 months I've scraped by on free samples from the hospital and/or the internet. There are tons of websites where you can get samples of formula, but its a one time thing. And once you open it its only good for 30 days. That goes by quickly when you only use it once a week.

My babies aren't exactly big fans of the bottle anyway. Alana wouldn't even take a bottle if it had breastmilk in it. So buying formula is a huge waste of money.

I have pumped and frozen milk for Ava before. It takes forever. I hate it. But its free. (After you deduct the price of the pump, which I bought when I was pregnant with Alana).

The last time I sent breastmilk with Ava to my mother-in-laws house, I gave her very specific instructions. Do not microwave it. Put it in the fridge. If she doesn't drink it all in one sitting, put it back in the fridge. I may as well have been talking to the wall. When I came back 90 minutes later, the bottle of milk was still sitting in the same place on the kitchen table. All of my work, down the drain.

She will take a bottle if its breastmilk. But do I want to invest my time in it? Or my money? I'd rather spend time than money. I have lots of time, not a lot of money.

So I've spent at least thirty minutes of my day today sitting in the chair slowly filling a bottle for Ava to drink tomorrow. I have to take Alana to the dentist tomorrow and Ava is staying home with David. She needs to eat, and baby food will only fill her up so much. At least I know David won't waste it.