Antenatal Expressing of Colostrum - My Experience of Colostrum Harvesting

Well, this week was an interesting one... Partly because I'm nearing to the end of my colostrum expressing journey but also my toddler and I were both in a car accident (so the picture above seemed most fitting)! Long story short, the person who drove into us on a dual carriageway also hit another vehicle, then they failed to stop. Physically, we are both ok and so is our unborn baby who has been checked out by the midwife however I do appreciate that things could have been very different...  So, guess what this week's blog topic will be about 😅 Not what anyone needs close to their due date or indeed at all! I am however, still pregnant at the time of writing this (39 weeks), so if expressing colostrum from 27 weeks pregnant and having a fairly high speed car accident at 38 weeks doesn't influence when my labour happens, then I think I'm definitely not at risk of the baby 'falling out' or having pre-term labour as some of the antenatal colostrum har

Welcome to my 36 week colostrum harvesting blog update. This week I'm doing a video update as there isn't a huge amount else to write about other than the fact that I am still pregnant and I have been expressing my colostrum since week 27 of pregnancy and storing it since week 28.  It's important to note that I still do not have any signs of preterm labour (a major concern for some women who may not be having a low risk pregnancy), which is why expressing colostrum antenatally from an early stage in pregnancy in the third trimester is very controversial. I have been following advice from the La Leche League and ideally I wanted to be expressing twice a day from week 36, however due to to other commitments I have not been able to do this so I have kept to my once a day routine in the evening.  This week of my pregnancy has been very busy. I have wrapped up at work and I'm very pleased to be starting my maternity leave. I've also been nesting quite a lot and wanting

It's now week 35 of my pregnancy and colostrum harvesting has been going really well since week 28. I have been storing and saving my colostrum and I have a freezer drawer that is absolutely packed full of 1ml syringes! I'm very pleased with this amount and did not expect to have so much colostrum expressed at this stage. It has been a busy couple of weeks so this blog entry, much like my last blog, is just a recap of my colostrum harvesting diary. I've been doing a lot at work handing things over to a lady covering my maternity leave, which starts in a couple of weeks, and balancing that with looking after a little toddler.  Again, I've been feeling quite tired this week and I'm starting to feel massive 🤣 All my pregnancy symptoms have been normal. There's been no cramping or any signs of preterm labour whatsoever, so I've been very fortunate! But yes, I have expressed every single day in the evenings which has helped build a good supply for my

Welcome to my 31 week blog on expressing colostrum during pregnancy. So instead of writing loads, this week I decided to do a summary video of my thoughts and experiences from when I started expressing colostrum at week 27 of pregnancy  to date.  In the video I don't talk about techniques for expressing colostrum, colostrum FAQs or top tips etc as there's lots of other very informative videos already online, so no need to cover it off again! You can watch my video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/6Qt3hH-BZ1U My Colostrum Harvesting Diary at Week 31 of Pregnancy - Week commencing 19th January 2021 My last day of expressing was 17th January 2021.  19th January  - Hand expressed 5.7ml of colostrum. About 10mins per side in the evening. 20th & 21st January  - I did not feel the need to express. 22nd January  - Hand expressed 7.4ml of colostrum. About 10mins per side. This evening, I had a short 5 min break between 2x expressing sessions, both 5 mins each. As I don't let do

My Colostrum Harvesting Diary at Week 30 of Pregnancy - Week commencing 12th January 2021 My last day of expressing was 10th January 2021.  12th January  - I did not feel the need to express. 13th January  - Hand expressed 6ml of colostrum in the evening. About 10mins each side. I did feel as though I could have expressed a little more but I did not as I only wanted to relieve the discomfort, not to stock up. 14th January  - I did not feel the need to express. 15th January  - Hand expressed 2.5ml of colostrum in the evening. About 5 mins per side. 16th January  - Hand expressed 6.4ml of colostrum in the evening. About 10 mins per side. I had eaten alot over the past two days - snacking on chocolates and oaty cereal bars mostly which is why I think I've expressed so much in one go 😂 17th January  - Hand expressed 6.4ml of colostrum again this evening at about 10mins per side.  18th January  - I did not feel the need to express. Total expressed for the week: 21.3ml

Well, it's week 29 of my pregnancy and I've been harvesting colostrum to relieve breast discomfort for about 2 weeks. I feel the rate of antenatal expressing of colostrum has been more stable this week as I have mostly expressed every other day. This is due to getting over eating so much at Christmas! I also talk about some of the physical changes I've started to experience when hand expressing colostrum - but these are all normal for me as I have experienced them with my first pregnancy when I did not need to express colostrum before birth. After conducting what feels like a tonne of not very satisfactory online research in previous weeks, talking to my local midwives and breastfeeding experts (including other mums!) on forums, I feel a lot more confident in my decision to continue to hand express as and when I need at this stage in my pregnancy. And yes, this week's main image 'believe in yourself' may seem a bit cliché, however that is how I am fe

Hi, thanks for reading my second blog on hand expressing colostrum (colostrum harvesting) at 28 weeks of my pregnancy. If you've just landed on this page and are wondering why I'm expressing colostrum this early on in pregnancy then please read my week 27 blog . In a nutshell it is to relieve discomfort in my breasts, which for me, indicates that they need emptying. I go into a lot more detail about this and my personal background in my week 27 blog: Starting My Journey - Why I'm expressing colostrum at 27 weeks pregnant . So, before I begin my week 28 update blog, I do need to make you aware that expressing colostrum this early on in pregnancy is often seen as a very controversial subject area. And if you are looking to express colostrum, please talk to a medical professional first: I'm just a mum second time round sharing my experience with everyone as there's a lack of information on expressing colostrum this early on in pregnancy. I have been okayed