Antenatal Expressing of Colostrum - My Experience of Colostrum Harvesting

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

This week I'm writing my colostrum harvesting 34 weeks pregnant entry much later than planned. I've had a very busy couple of weeks where I've been handing over at work to a lovely lady who is covering my maternity leave and also I've been very busy nesting and organising stuff around the house in preparation for baby and generally my own sanity! Overall, everything has been fine. I've been feeling ok; a little tired hear and there obviously, because I'm getting much bigger and it's coming towards the end of my pregnancy, which is a very normal set of feelings to experience.  The colostrum I'm expressing has increased quite a lot in volume which is due to my diet. I've recently been more interested in eating sugary and fatty things like chocolates, hobnob biscuits, slices of bread with Nutella, oat biscuit bars and raiding the sweetie tin frequently!  I've also had a few tired days. One day I wasn't able to express and just wanted to slee

Welcome to my 33 week update on my antenatal colostrum harvesting blog. This week I talk about my expressing diary, factors that I've found to increase my supply of colostrum and investigating how I can donate my colostrum to the local hospital or milk bank.  My Colostrum Harvesting Diary at Week 33 of Pregnancy - Week commencing 2nd February 2021 My last day of expressing was 1st February 2021. I am hand expressing colostrum daily and usually express from one side and when that's empty, switch to the other, then back again etc until both sides are empty and that discomforting feeling of 'needing to express' is gone. Last week I thought my daily supply would drop a little as I've gone from expressing once every other day, to once everyday. However it seems that my body has adjusted quite quickly to the new expressing routine as the overall amount of colostrum for this week is greater than last week. It's also important to note that I am still not exp

So, I'm 32 weeks pregnant now with my second baby and I've been expressing colostrum roughly every other day since week 27 to relieve breast discomfort and to provide a small stash for my baby which will greatly help with breastfeeding and minimising baby's weight loss in the first few weeks. It's been going really well so far and I've experienced no issues or any signs or pre-term labour, which is a risk for some women.  From this point in my pregnancy, I've decided to express once a day as I'm now a bit closer to my due date and want to gradually start to increase colostrum production, however I must emphasize that I'll be taking a very gradual approach , so as not to induce any signs or symptoms of preterm labour. At week 36, most medical sources online say you can start expressing colostrum 2-3 times a day which is what I plan to do when I reach that stage in my pregnancy. At 32 weeks pregnant, I'll continue to hand express instead of

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