Exclusively expressing for newborn in intensive care. Advice??

[BebeBelge]

My baby is due in 5 weeks. I already know that he will be very ill when he arrives and will immediately be whisked away from me and rushed to intensive care where he needs to be ventilated. All being well he will receive an operation after a few days which will allow him to eventually be weaned off the ventilator. But could be in hospital for a long time.

So, initially, he will be tube fed and on drips and may not be well enough to even have breastmilk at all.

I have been told that I will be encouraged to express which is great and I 100% want to do this. I was just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and has any tips? Is it the same as breastfeeding a new born in that I should start asap after the birth and express every 3 hours or so day and night? Will my nipples get sore the same way they might with an actual baby latching on?

I think I am a little daunted at what lies ahead and would appreciate any practical advice/tips.

Many thanks in advance!

Hello! Not sure if anyone is still ' watching' but I have a few more questions.

So, it turns out that the hospital does have an infant feeding coordinator and I met with her last week. She was really lovely and sent me away with a huge bag of syringes for collecting colostrum in. my question is how much, our rather how little, is actually worth collecting and freezing. The reason I ask is because so far the most I have been able to express is about 0.2 ml and it just seems too insignificant to put in the freezer.

Does anyone with any experience have an opinion?? Thanks again!

Have you had your baby, Bebe?

When DS2 was born, I hand expressed tiny amounts of colostrum until my milk came in about 3 or 4 days later.

Even drops of colostrum are worth collecting as they can wet baby's mouth/tongue with it durign tube feedings. You can collect over a day if you like too (though check with IFC due to the special circs) and then freeze that day's 'takings' - it might be easier to express into a small medicine cup in that case (when you have finished expressing suck into syringe and stored the syringe at the very back of the fridge in a ziplock).

You will almost certainly get more out with practice - are you hand expressing? This video is good for explaining how to do it by hand. And don't forget how much colostrum you can get ante-natally is in no way indicative of how much milk you have post-natally so don't panic if there isn't a lot coming out (by a lot I mean a few mls not 3oz!)

I got a cheer and a well done for getting 2 ml into a syringe. ANY bit of colostrum is liquid gold to a newborn.

A few weeks later I was making bottles of the stuff .

Just stumbled across this thread. Good to hear you have some syringes, can be a bit tricky collecting the colostrum. You've had some great advice already so you're off to a good start. I expressed for 4 months whilst DS1 was in the NNU and like you I knew before he was born. DS had intestinal problems so couldn't have any milk for quite some time. Keep up the expressing through the night; some of the nurses gave mixed messages about this but I think it was important in keeping my supply up (ended up with so much milk that a lot got donated to the milk bank). MN maybe a useful distraction for those middle of the night expressing. I used a double pump that I bought from NCT. I have a top that you wear to hold the cups in place for double expressing, PM me if you would like it. LLL helpline was massively helpful and sent me some really useful literature. DS did not take to breastfeeding straight away in hospital. I used nipple shields and was topped up by tube initially and then by bottle. Once home he got the hang of it at 4 months, so that instinct is there for a long time. NNU will probably also suggest you bring in some dummies for comfort and to keep up their sucking reflex.

truthsweet that is a great link - thank you so much!

I'm expecting DS2 and couldn't exclusively BF DS1 due to lack of milk. I've just tried the technique in that video and have already got some fluid coming out within a few minutes, which is great - hopefully if I practise now I'll be able to successfully express post-partum.

Good luck with your new little one bebebelge, hope the feeding goes well

Has expressing by baby's bedside been mentioned yet? There tend to be privacy screens available anyway, if you need them. I found doing this helped me express better. Although going to the expressing room which the hospital had was also a good opportunity for me to eat at the same time. :) Good luck!