background: my DD was born 2.5 weeks ago @ 35 weeks gestation, she couldn't nurse well consistently at first and had other issues and had to be in NICU (still is there) so i have been pumping with a hospital-grade pump 7-8x a day (in addition to nursing her 3x a day).
well, the pumping paid off apparently bc within 10 days I was pumping out ~800 ml (~27 oz) per day and have been pumping at least that much every day since then. as a result, i have a ridiculous amount of milk that i'm not sure how to best make use of. i have no idea how to manage it, so i could really use advice with those with experience on this. i BFed my DS for 1 year but i rarely pumped (never had more than a few ounces in the freezer) so i don't really know what to do.
so far, what i've been doing is giving some breastmilk (~10 oz a day) to my DS (14 months). i had weaned him at 12mo and he has been drinking cow's milk with no probs but i was happy to be able to give breastmilk to him again, especially since now with DD i am more worried about him getting sick. but even with me giving him some, i still have lots left that i must deal with (i have been building up a freezer stash at the NICU and a smaller stash at home). plus, i'm not sure if giving DS the milk would be the best use. in the NICU i think they were saying that they try to use the freshest milk when bottle feeding my DD, (i guess bc it has more nutrients, it's better for preemies, etc).. ..so once DD comes home (hopefully soon) i figure i should save the fresh milk for her and give DS only thawed frozen breastmilk (right?).
also, am wondering if getting a deep freezer would be a good idea? at home i don't have much in the freezer and i'm already running out of room. but once she comes home, i'm hoping to quickly move to EBF (not using many bottles) so i don't know how useful it would be in the long run.
sorry this is long. i just have no clue with pumping/storing since with my son i almost always just nursed him. i plan to do the same eventually with DD, but if having a big freezer stash is useful for something (getting DH do a few middle-of-the-night feeds? ) then i want to make sure i do it right...