On Sale!

Before I read about breastfeeding after reduction surgery and donated breast milk, we assumed that we would formula feed:

Ian, being a true Winnipeger at heart, is always on the lookout for the best deals. Fifty percent off old cauliflower, two for one bottles of pop and marked down short-dated organic milk are all considered excellent buys. The savings are so great, really, that it is as if the store is paying us money to take these things off their hands. If we don’t get them, we are the losers. Nevermind that the cauliflower was already going, we shouldn’t drink pop anyway, and nobody knows what to do with three jugs of milk. We get cheap chocolates for even cheaper the day after Easter, and cinnamon hearts for half-price following Valentines’ Day. We watch every day for groupon discounts. You pay for groupons in advance and then can redeem them later, if you remember that you got them or even still need them. The key to Winnipeg buying philosophy is that regardless of whether you truly want an item, if it goes on sale, you must snap it up and save. Conversely, many things, if they are not on sale, cannot be considered for purchase. Store owners think they are getting us to spend more money by having sales, but the joke is clearly on them.

So when Ian learned early in the pregnancy that formula companies would send free samples, he was excited. He gave them our address and the anticipated due date of our baby and eagerly checked the mail. We happily received big tubs that were hardly sample size! They included wonderful information too about how to prepare the food and feed it to our baby, as well as how our baby would grow and develop. They even provided instructions on breastfeeding and mentioned that this was in fact the best thing for babies.

We knew that breastfeeding wouldn’t be possible for us, so we were happy for the support. We had a good start researching different types of formula, and now we needed a delivery system. We read about the Bisphenol A (BPA) controversy and decided that there was no way our little baby was going to be ingesting weird chemicals. We found some used “Born-free” bottles in great condition that were guaranteed BPA free. We were ready.