Harvesting Colostrum - Grey Colostrum

[snakeplanter]

I'm 36 weeks and have just started to harvest colostrum, no GD or other risk factors. How much should I be aiming to take in to hospital & is it necessary or good as a precaution?

I've managed 6ml so far over 2 days but noticed it's very thin & watery with a greyish tint. Is this normal?

Will try to attach photos below.

Purple syringes are from yesterday. Second photo is from today, two different breasts.

Would you say this looked normal? All photos I've seen online are yellow and much thicker, can I expect this to come in later and if so, are these still okay to use?

Thank you!

Hello!

Yes I'd take around 10 5ml tubes if you have them. But keep harvesting as you can use it at home, or if you stay in hospital your partner can bring it in for you. I had heaps and eventually used it all up.

I think it's super handy stuff. Definitely good as a precaution. If your baby is poorly or tired or can't latch when born, you can give them an easy meal. If they are upset and crying, you can try giving colostrum to calm them down. Occasional top ups after feeds can help prevent the baby losing too much weight during the first 5-10 days (DD gained a centile despite tongue tie).

Yours looks fine by the way. Don't worry about the colour, it can vary.

Good job 👍

@ThisIsAHoldUp

Thank you! So around 50ml in total?

Good to know it's a normal colour

Yeah roughly 50ml. I wouldn't take too much in, as you might be out of hospital quickly and you don't want to defrost too much and waste it. Initially your baby might just have 1 or 2 syringes for a feed, their stomachs are tiny to start with. You can always express more in hospital if you need to as well. Hopefully your baby will just breastfeed ok from the start though x