Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Flip

Original poster

leaking basomas

18 replies

JazzAnnNonMouse · 04/05/2011 17:20

22 weeks pregnant and dropping off on the sofa, came to and boobs felt sticky looked down and they'd both leaked a tiny amount of fluid.
is this normal??

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

LDNlady · 04/05/2011 17:35

Absolutely! 22 weeks was when that first happened to me too. You're starting to produce colostrum. I don't leak on a regular basis now (35 weeks) but sometimes I wake in the morning and there's obvious tell tale signs that I have during the night!

Original poster

JazzAnnNonMouse · 04/05/2011 17:37

oh thank goodness!
we brought a breastpump in the sale the other day - tempted to try it for a few sqeuuzes to see what breastfeeding feels like - do you think/know if it feels simular?

OP posts:

LDNlady · 04/05/2011 17:47

Um no I don't know how it feels cos it's my first time but I'm pretty sure it's not a good idea to start using a breast pump just now. Hopefully someone with more experiencethan me will be able to explain why.

spatchcock · 04/05/2011 17:49

I don't think you should express anything now because you should be saving the nutrient-rich colostrum for your new baby. But I don't know either!

Original poster

JazzAnnNonMouse · 04/05/2011 18:18

I don't want to express a whole batch just try a squeeze once - my first time too!

OP posts:

LaWeaselIsOupaLaDouffe · 04/05/2011 18:58

I wouldn't - your boobs might get confused and start producing more. I'm not sure a proper pump would necessarily work at the colostrom stage anyway.

You could try giving your nipples a bit of a squeeze in the bath if you're interested though.

Alibabaandthe80nappies · 04/05/2011 19:00

Your body would make more colostrum, but I wouldn't bother because pumping most assuredly does not feel like breastfeeding!

magicmelons · 04/05/2011 19:07

Expressing milk can induce labour, don't know about at 22 weeks but its what the mw got me doing when i was overdue and in answe although i'm sure a little wouldn't hurt. In answer 2 your question no it doesn't really feel like breastfeeding more like being milked

Original poster

JazzAnnNonMouse · 04/05/2011 19:14

hmm guess I'll leave the curiousness in my head then :)
so what does breastfeeding feel like if not like being milked?

OP posts:

LaWeaselIsOupaLaDouffe · 04/05/2011 19:22

I was just trying to decide that. Pumping with a machine is very much like having a weird liquidy vacuum cleaner attached to the boob.

But BF for me was just on the nipple and a sort tickly pressure with a side of very very light vacuuming!

magicmelons · 04/05/2011 19:56

Painful for first week or so but after a week or so very relaxing and a great relief when its been a while since the last feed worth battling through the first bit. Its feels like sucking and then you you get a tingling sensation when you get a let down.

I don't think anyone ever told me it would be painful i was quite shocked and wish someone had told me so i knew that was normal. First couple of days i bit my dhs hand everytime dd latched on but after 2-3 days it was fine. I recommend stocking up on lasinoh and don't bother with nipple shields, your just prolonging it. Its hard work at first but deffo worth it in the long run. Sitting breastfeeding a tiny baby and watching daytime telly without any guit is among my favourite pastimes, i'm quite looking forward to it with dc3.

Wigeon · 04/05/2011 20:02

Expressing doesn't feel like BF-ing. In my case I was lucky that BF-ing (or expressing for that matter) didn't feel painful (even right from the start). I sometimes got a kind of tingly feeling right at the start of a feed (the let down) but mostly didn't. Actually it didn't really "feel" at all.

Don't try expressing at 5 months pregnant - will be nothing like expressing once your milk has come in, and definitely nothing like actual BF-ing!

You are just going to have to be patient and find out in 4 months or so what it feels like to you!

Original poster

JazzAnnNonMouse · 04/05/2011 20:28

:) I'm so impatient. didn't want to properly express just have a squeeze and see what it felt like but if it's nothing like breastfeeding then I shan't bother!
does it feel like someone's squeezing your nips
strange that breastfeeding and expressing can feel so different - its the same action?

OP posts:

Wigeon · 04/05/2011 20:51

Doesn't feel like squeezing your nipples at all. A baby latches onto a big ol' area - not just the nipply-bit, but also the dark bit around it.

Not that surprising that expressing and breastfeeding can feel different - babies are 100% designed to extract milk as efficiently as possible from your breasts, vary their suck in terms of frequency and intensity (both during a feed and over the weeks / months of their life), and their little lips are fleshy and human round your breast. A breast pump however is a completely artifical attempt at doing the same thing, made of plastic. Never mind the whole psychological difference when you've got your own baby attached to your breast, compared to a bit of machinery (for example, some women can leak or get a let down when they hear a baby cry, even if the baby isn't theirs or isn't attached to their breast). But I doubt anyone gets this when they think of a breast pump .

I would rather BF than express any day. Not trying to put you off expressing at all - I did do it, it was fine, and it was a useful thing to do when I wanted to leave DD for brief periods.

LaWeaselIsOupaLaDouffe · 05/05/2011 10:16

I meant squeeze them so you can have a sneaky peak at the colostrum.

I know it looks like they should be, but expressing and feeding aren't really the same action. Similar theory. But definately not the same. Have a look at how big the suction part of a pump is and then think about how teeny babies mouths are. Pumps don't have tongues either.

The truth is everyone's bf experiences are very different, and dependent on what your boobs/aerola/nipples are like, including how big, how sensitive and lots of other not very quantifiable things!

Even if you read up on every person's experiences, or tried expressing it really wouldn't compare to how you will feel.

Original poster

JazzAnnNonMouse · 05/05/2011 17:32

:) 'tis all very interesting and I can't wait to try with my little one.
If I'm leaking now does this mean that breastfeeding should be ok in terms of milk supply for me or does that have no bearing?

OP posts:

Wigeon · 05/05/2011 18:14

That's really great that you are looking forward to breastfeeding . My second is due next week and I'm also looking forward to breast feeding again.

On the leakage / milk supply question this thread from yesterday is useful. But you will probably be fine - your body is designed to do this and most women have plenty of milk.

www.kellymom.com is very useful for almost anything breast-feeding related when you get nearer the time.

Original poster

JazzAnnNonMouse · 05/05/2011 18:15

Thanks :)

OP posts:

Flip