pumping and freezing colostrum

[harrygracejessica]

Im 33 weeks pregnant with twins who are due anytime and likely to end up in SCBU whenever they arrive due to gestational diabetes so will need tests on them. Ive been told by someone today thats its worth expressing colostrum now (im leaking some) to freeze so when I have them they can have my milk asap instead of formula first.

Ive had 33 weeker twins before and expressed after 24 hours for them and expressed all the time they were in SCBUbut have never frozen any so wondering has anyone done it for this reason and how do I go about doing it?

Wow! Congratulations in advance on your imminent arrivals...

I expressed colostrum when preg with DS2 for different reasons to you, and then froze it. I just did it by hand into a sterile tommee tippee-type weaning pot, sucked it up into 5ml syringes leaving about 1 ml clear space for expansion when freezing, and then froze the whole syringe. I didn't really get enough to put into BM storage bags.

It may be worth checking with a lactation consultant about the advisability of expressing during your twin pregnancy. The reason I say that is that I found expressing gave me fairly strong BH contractions. But I could just be wierd and I'd hazard that you'd have to be doing it for hours to do any harm.

im seeing the midwife tomorrow anyway but thought I would ask on here first to make sure im not in cloud cuckoo land lol.

I just wasnt sure how often I should express it etc etc. I already get massive BH anyway so im not fussed about those but would just like to try and get them a good start - ill only express while they are in SCBU due to them being numbers 4 and 5 and the eldest has just turned 4!!! So time is never great - unless it worked out well and I would totally express for them but wont be BF.

I have the avent pots I was thinking of expressing into and tipping into milk bags - need to buy some of these too anyway as only thought about it today and it does make sense - they thought I was in prem labour at 29 weeks so im clinging onto them well at the moment lol

I take my hat off to you, HGJ

My friend expressed colostrum as she has GD but was told to do it from 36 weeks. She was only expecting one though, so I'm not sure if having twins would change things.

Hopefully your mw will know.

Wishing you and your lovely twins well.

thanks guys i shall ask MW tomorrow about doing it now - hoping I can just o even get them started!!

twins are good fun lol

Pretty sure you should only do it from 36 weeks just in case.

You're probably going to looking at teeny amounts (normal with colostrum), so I would stop thinking about pumping and bags and start thinking about hand expressing and syringes! When my DD was in SCBU and I was expressing colostrum, I would get 0.1-2ml at a time, scopping up the drops with a little pre-sterilised syringe. If you pumped, you'd lose most of it in the pump as colostrum is sticky. You can use a pump to stimulate letdown and then drop the pump and scoop with the syringe, but I think getting expert at hand expressing would be more efficient!

I should think pre-sterilised syringes and then sterilised containers or bags to store the filled syringes in, would be the best way to go.

I would get the MW to ask at the SCBU unit - or contact them yourself - as normal MWs won't have a clue about this sort of stuff and procedures at different SCBUs may vary.

I expressed colostrum before DD was born as I had GD. It's known as 'Colostrum Harvesting'.

I was told to start at 36 weeks, 2-3 times a day. Hand express, as the amounts are so tiny that you will lose it in a pump. The MW provided me with loads of tiny 2ml sterile syringes and I pretty much expressed dots of colostrum on to my nipple then 'sucked' it up with the syringe IYSWIM? The syringes then went straight into the freezer.

It was in my hospital notes that I had frozen colostrum for DD, should it be required after her birth, and when I arrived at the hospital in labour I brought the frozen colostrum with me, labelled up in a cool bag. The MW put it straight in the hospital freezer, and it was kept there till I went home! Didn't need it in hospital, but I did use it when I got home.

See if you can speak to the hospital BF specialist midwife / BF counsellor, if there is one. This is who I spoke to, pre-birth, and who provided me with all the syringes/advice.

Oh dear, I thought we went through this last week? The pump is not as effective as a baby (we say this all the time on here and it's still true when you're pregnant) so it's the same if not better than feeding through pregnancy. As long as you haven't been put on pelvic rest (ie no sex) there is no reason to avoid either nursing or pumping. BH are BH and real contractions are real contractions. As long as when you stop the stronger "BH" isn't continuing, regluar, strong etc there is no reason why you need to avoid pumping.

(and that was to the "don't do it" comments, not to the OP)

Thank you peeps, will ask midwife later if she's as useless as normal I'll ask at hospital next week when I'm there as scbu were fab last time, I might aswell try and be prepared for once lol

Hello harrygracejessica, I know who you are :) Will message you.