I remember my awful struggle to bf and the midwife looking at my tits in horror at the state they were in, and my poor little boy struggling with jaundice and nothing going in.
So we ff - which meant OH going out to the nearest Boots and just getting what was there because I couldn't walk, and neither of us had the slightest idea what to do because we really wanted me to bf and we were basically just abandoned. I tried really hard to express, but it just didn't happen.
MooBaaWoofCheep - definitely recommend this, though I ff before the guidelines to make only as required, so I used to make up three or four at a time.
I really prefer cold water sterilising. You leave the bottles in there until needed, changing over the water every 24 hours (alarm on mobile), you always have a bottle in a sterile state. And you can wash bottles and put them into the sterilising water at any time in that 24 hours, just take out one when needed.
Lindam night time water heater/cold pack rocks! This is one source of them bottle store/warmer It made it so much easier during the night shift, I would recommend it to anyone, and the cold pack part with the ice pack and cooler can be taken out and about - avent bottles fit in it great!
I remember coming back from the hospital, we ff just before we left the hospital but when we got home ds was crying frantically for food. And we had to sit, as new parents, having boiled the kettle, waiting for 30 minutes (later we learned to cool it quick under the cold tap), mixing it up carefully in freshly sterilised bottles, completely at sea and desperate because the baby was crying and hungry and we had to wait for the formula. The comedy element was our old cat who was giving us a right mouthful all the way through because she thought we weren't looking after the baby right!
I just wish I could have had a bit of help in working out good routines and processes, and have been told about different types of bottle and steriliser.