Feeling Blue... or Green

It has been a crazy few weeks in my house! My breast milk went viral, here is that story...

My daughter had been sick for a few days with a slight fever and cough when I got sick as well with mostly cold-like symptoms. My family and I decided to get tested for Covid and my test came back positive. My symptoms were mild and other than losing my sense of taste and smell it was like a bad cold, no worse than having the flu. As I was sick I continued breastfeeding Mikayla but noticed she was being fussy and wanting to nurse more often. I pump occasionally to make a stash and to donate so I decided to pump to build up my supply, and drink lots of water!

At the moment I was pumping I was feeling pretty cruddy so I barely even noticed my milk. I labeled the bag and stuck it in the freezer. Coming back a few days later I saw that the color of the milk I pump while positive was green! I continued pumping through the time I was sick and the milk gradually shifted back to its regular creamy white color.

Before, during, and after Covid

I thought that the color difference was awesome but I didn’t think of it as anything out of the ordinary. I have heard that breast milk adapts to what your baby needs and will make antibodies for an illness the mother or the baby was fighting off.

I posted the picture comparing my milk from when I was healthy (this particular bag was from October since I had donated more recent ones) and my green “Covid milk” in a lactation support group I am in.

The reaction was unexpected, to say the least! Many moms asked if they could share the photo, I of course said that was fine, thinking it could encourage mothers who were struggling.

The next day I realized it was shared with some incorrect information. Milky Mama, LCC helped me share the correct information and it exploded from there!

The picture that started it all!

That was just the beginning! I have had so much feedback and support! Along with trolls and people who didn’t believe that it was real, not that I blame them I don’t believe much of what I see on the Internet either!

Although, I still can’t believe it was so surprising. Many breastfeeding mamas have experienced this over the years with many sicknesses, not just Covid. I guess that’s why I never thought I would receive this reaction, I was surprised to see such an evident difference but I was not surprised that my milk changed for the needs of my baby.

I do want to add that I have also heard many mamas say that during Covid the color of their milk did not change and that doesn’t mean that the antibodies weren’t there and many mamas also said that they noticed a green tint when they ate lots of greens. In my case, I did not have any diet change so that rules out the theory of the extra green, in my case. I continued to pump throughout my recovery and the green color began to slowly fade away. After my milk had returned to its “normal color” I tested negative.

In this picture you can see the usually creamy white color of my milk

I am not a medical professional but I do know that the benefits of breastfeeding have been proven time and time again.

If there are any mothers in the same situation I recommend reaching out to an IBCLC.

So, that is the story of how a simple picture of 2 lansinoh bags filled with breast milk freaked the Internet out.