When a mom lost her infant son, she found the silver lining in her breast milk despite enduring unimaginable grief. According to WEAU, Sierra Strangfeld and her husband Lee learned they were expecting baby number two in March.
However, it was at five months pregnant when Strangfeld and Lee learned that their unborn son has tested positive for trisomy 18, also known as Edwards Syndrome. Trisomy 18 is a very rare chromosomal condition that causes severe developmental delays due to an extra chromosome 18.
Babies diagnosed with Trisomy 18 experience symptoms such as “low birth weight, small abnormally shaped head, and birth defects in organs that are often life-threatening.”
Strangfeld told WEAU after she learned about the diagnosis from their doctor, “The November prior I had heard about trisomy 18 and I researched it, and researched it because I was like what is this?” She continued:
“My doctor, he’s delivered hundreds of babies and he was very hopeful it wasn’t because he had never seen one of these tests come back as trisomy 18. So he made us feel hopeful too, so it was earth-shattering when we found out it was true.”
It was September when Strangfeld and Lee learned that their son Samuel wouldn’t survive his birth. That’s when the mom made the decision to have a c-section on September 5 so that she could meet her baby boy before he passed away.
Strangfeld was able to spend three hours with Samuel before he died. “Honestly those hours felt like minutes, and even now it’s hard to look back and remember that we had three hours with him because they went so fast.”
Mom Donates Her Breast Milk After Infant Son’s Sudden Passing
The mom then told WEAU that she had plans to breastfeeding Samuel after he was born. However, because she was unable to do that, she decided to use her breast milk for good.
So from September 5 to November 13, when Samuel was expected to be born, Strangfeld pumped. She then took that 63 days worth of breast milk and donated to babies and new moms in need.
“I mean there were times where I was questioning why I am doing this. But everyone says it was such a nice thing to do, or brave and I just feel like I have that milk to give because of Samuel. It came in because of Samuel, so this is like his gift to give.”
She also admitted that pumping all those days provided a “sense of healing” for her. “I kind of felt like it was the end of our journey so to say. Not that I’m moving on but now it’s time to move forward.”
In the end, Strangfeld wanted to share her and her son’s story because “if what this did was educate one, two, more people on it then I feel like I’ve done my job.” The mom said she eventually wants to continue growing her family, but Sam will always be a very special part of their family.