Amanda Hayes has an impressive stash of breastmilk — over 8,000 oz., to be precise
Credit: Courtesy of Andrea Hayes
NEED TO KNOW
- Andrea Hayes began exclusively pumping after struggling with breastfeeding due to her children’s lip and tongue ties
- Hayes has produced an oversupply of breastmilk, filling five freezers and amassing over 8,000 oz.
- She tells PEOPLE about her journey and shares when she might consider stopping
When Andrea Hayes welcomed her first baby, she never could've imagined that she'd end up with over 8,000 oz. of breastmilk in her house.
After the mom and content creator, 32, gave birth to her daughter three and a half years ago, she began her breastfeeding journey. Hayes tells PEOPLE that she initially struggled to breastfeed her daughter, who was born with a lip and tongue tie.
"I experienced a lot of pain and tissue damage while nursing her," Hayes explains. "She was also born early at 36 weeks and couldn't afford to lose any more weight in the hospital, so I immediately felt a lot of pressure to produce enough milk for her."
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Hayes says that due to the pain of nursing and wanting to make sure her daughter had enough milk, she began to lean towards wanting to exclusively pump.
"At the time, I had no idea exclusively pumping was an option. I didn't even know there was a name for it," Hayes says. "I felt shame for not nursing her."
"I felt like my body was a failure and the least I could do was provide as much breastmilk for her as possible," she continues.
At 5 months postpartum with her daughter, Hayes began to develop an oversupply of breastmilk. Although she struggled with a low milk supply for a while, she made a few changes to her routine after moving homes and quickly began to create a "significant oversupply."
"At that point, it became so rewarding for me just to see how much milk I could produce after struggling for so long," Hayes admits. "I continued pumping until my second trimester with my son. When he came along, the competitive athlete in me wanted to see what I was capable of producing."
Credit: Courtesy of Andrea Hayes
"So I started out strong and day-by-day, I saw my supply increase. Then before I knew it, I had filled up five freezers of breastmilk," she says.
Hayes shares that she also turned towards exclusively pumping for her son, who is now 22 months, after discovering that he too had a lip and tongue tie.
"Fast forward to my second baby, everything about this second experience felt like my redemption tour," she says.
Now, Hayes has amassed an impressive stash of breastmilk. She has been keeping the 8,181 oz. at her house, but has recently had to figure out what to do with most of it since her family is moving again.
"We've been trying to move for the past 15 months now," she admits. "So for a while, I've been planning in my head what I'm going to do with all my milk. But now that the time is finally here — and both of my kids are a little older — I'm just excited to move on to this next chapter in our lives."
Credit: Courtesy of Alicia Lucia Team
"I'll be donating most of my stash, which [will be] a little over 6,000 oz. I'm saving about 6 months worth of frozen breastmilk for my kids, and I've also freeze dried around 1,200 oz. of breastmilk that I'll be using once I use up the last of my stash," explains Hayes. This stash is in addition to giving breastmilk to both of her kids.
"The goal is to sell two of my deep freezers that are about to be empty and move into our new home with only one deep freezer full of frozen breastmilk," continues Hayes, who has already donated to Mother’s Milk Bank in Colorado, Lacta Logics, and Southwest Mother’s Milk bank. "I'm also still producing breastmilk, so I'll still be able to produce fresh milk for my kids and continue to donate after the move."
Hayes began sharing her pumping experience on social media after her friends and family would joke about it with her.
"It was always 'one day.' I'll never forget early postpartum with my son, I was sitting on the couch pumping and explaining my pump schedule to my mom, and she told me I should be documenting everything that I'm doing because there are probably so many moms who could benefit from seeing my journey," she explains.
A few weeks later, a friend pushed her to create an account, and she decided to do it.
"It's never been about showing off my stash. I truly have a story to tell," Hayes says. "I overcame a lot of the same struggles that first-time moms are facing, and I know how desperate I was in those first few months to have somebody be as transparent as I've been."
Credit: Courtesy of Andrea Hayes
The mom of two says she still has an "internal struggle" over her "mom guilt" when it comes to the choices she's made to exclusively pump.
"Am I a bad mom for not trying harder to make nursing work? Am I a bad mom because I spend so much time pumping/washing parts instead of playing with my kids?" she says. "Overall, the hardest thing for me has been accepting that fact that I truly am doing my best for my family."
"I'll never be a perfect mom or wife and I need to just live in the moment and cherish every moment I have now with my family," adds Hayes.
As her son nears his second birthday, Hayes says she has no plans to stop pumping anytime soon.
"My original plan was to be done when my son turns 2, but that's right around the corner now and I'm just not ready," Hayes explains. "I had to end my first breastfeeding journey earlier than I wanted due to my second pregnancy being a high-risk [one]. We also won't be having any more babies after this, so this is my final breastfeeding journey."
"I'll definitely stop before my son turns 3, but for now I just want to enjoy the time I have left breastfeeding my baby. Maybe when he turns 2½," she quips.
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