Early Oct Babies Part 8

[Treaclepie19]

Will this be the thread where the babies start to arrive?? 😮❤

@HerondaleDucks that's amazing well done! I have got some this morning, not for harvesting as I don't have any syringes but more out of curiosity. I never realised how yellow/gold it is!

@HerondaleDucks that's great, keep going and you'll have loads stocked up! Some times you just don't know what's going on with people, best to just put it behind you now.

I'm drooling loads too I was actually going to ask the other day if anyone else did but forgot, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Officially not working now, PCs have gone back to the office first thing this morning then I had a parent craft course as well. I'm exhausted already today as I hardly slept, but got up at 6 to make sure I had time to sort breakfast and go for a walk before everything. I have my flu jab booked in for 2pm as well so busy day all day.

@HerondaleDucks out of curiosity is this your first baby? Your colostrum collection is impressive! I tried this morning but nothing doing. Nipples look closed, no one home not even a glisten! Is there a trick?

Yep first baby and pregnancy ever.
@CharlieBalf what I do is I choose a time I'm nice and relaxed, and then I massage the breast from the top down. Eventually little drops start to appear and then I collect them. It takes a little while and sometimes it takes a while for something to come.
The first time I did it I hardly got anything out. I do need to be a bit firm with them too, and you need to focus on the c shape around the gland bit, so it gets it from all areas.
I think it gets easier the further along you are. But I did get told by my midwife that it is perfectly normal and natural if you don't make any until baby is born.
So I wouldn't worry about it too much if it doesn't come yet!!

@HerondaleDucks that's great advice, tha ks! Think I will try again after a bath maybe, I've watched some videos but they make it look easy!

38 week appointment done and 40 week and sweep appointment booked if I don't go before 😳 getting so close now! Have just been on a massive walk and worked out.. just to make sure she's not getting to Cosy in there lol. Growth scan tomorrow so will be interesting to see how she's getting on... I can certainly tell she's low down 🤣
How's everyone else doing?

All of a sudden today I keep getting overwhelming waves of feeling tired, and some nausea and loss of appetite. Iv been fine until now! But today isn't a good day, heat probably doesn't help as well

Same @blankiesandunicorns.
Im either exhausted or okay. There's no middle ground.
Another day feeling nauseous, on and off the toilet and falling asleep randomly 🙈 Now it's time to get ds 😂

@blankiesandunicorns I am absolutely exhausted today, the heat really doesn't help at all. I'm sat on the bed next to the big fan and havent moved in ages although I feel like I should really so something this afternoon.

Thanks everyone for your reassurance regarding the nausea! Just had my 36 week appointment and midwife confirmed nausea is pretty normal in the third trimester 😤 joy! But otherwise baby is all good - head down and 1/5 engaged! So pretty happy with that although still expecting to go overdue so I don’t get my hopes up 😅

Going to attempt harvesting colostrum from 37 weeks so it’s been really encouraging seeing your success @HerondaleDucks ☺️

I've been called in to fmau regarding one of my blood results (liver). I've been sat here for half an hour and still not been seen 😔
My appetite is back after months of being off food. Just constantly starving but also constantly on the toilet once I've ate 😂

@HerondaleDucks where did you get your syringes from and how did you know which ones to get?

@blankiesandunicorns I got some from the midwife, but the Honest Midwife said to get the 1ml ones from amazon with caps. But I found it on Ebay in the end, it was called a colostrum harvesting kit. It was cheap.
Plus they are all sterile and safe to put in the freezer.

Hope it turned out ok @MrsK89, sending you best wishes x

I can't believe this heat, I thought we'd escaped it 😂 what a nightmare!

How are you @MrsK89?

@HerondaleDucks Impressive haul there girl! Baby will love you for that! X

Thanks everyone. I've just got home and giving kids showers.
They said induction date will stay the same but I have gallstones and they want to do another abdo scan next week. They also repeated bloods and said I might have to come back in to see doctor. I'm so exhausted after going to the hospital. And starving haha. Demolished a large bag of skips on the way back home.
They aren't too worried so good news. But I could see on the ctg monitor I'm getting quite a few tightenings but not realising it. They didn't say anything about it though?
Hope everyone is doing well this evening. Can't wait for bed x

@MrsK89 oh poor you! Are you in pain with them? Hope it doesn't cause you too much discomfort and hospital visits. Bless your heart. Have a nice bath and a decent night's sleep!

@MrsK89 Get yourself some rest mama! X

@MrsK89 rubbish about the gallstones 😩
I had them a few years ago and had my gall bladder out. Hope you can get some rest!

Thank you ❤️ @HerondaleDucks @justanothermamma luckily no pain with them so they are not looking to treat it, just keep an eye on it really.
Hopefully liver levels come back a bit lower tomorrow otherwise I'll have to go back in hospital tomorrow to see the doctor. I have a box of celebrations in front of me so hopefully make me feel better haha.
I will go to bed soon, not looking forward to the hourly toilet trips though 😜

@HerondaleDucks that is some impressive harvesting! I've never done it before. Is this to encourage more milk flow when you are breastfeeding? X

@Treaclepie19 Thank you! I did ask if they'll think of removing the gall bladder but the doctor just said they are not looking to treat it. Going to try and fix my diet x

@MrsK89 From everything I've learnt, it is predominantly for the first 3 days when you are waiting for your proper milk to come through. So that you don't get bullied into topping up with formula by the midwife. (Apparently that's a thing)
Then baby gets boob colostrum and harvested colostrum and is happier to keep going with boob until they start producing the goods.

@MrsK89 That's good. I went on a really low fat diet which helped me control the pain of the attacks when they came on until I had surgery.

@HerondaleDucks @MrsK89 When I had my DD two years ago there was no mentioning of 'harvesting' before birth - but as soon as I gave birth I had a midwife showing me how to stimulate my boobs to produce colostrum for baby, but it took a few days to come in which I was reassured was okay and that baby would be fine - after a few days my boobs were like rocks 😳. I ended up using formula too as my DD wouldn't latch on to me properly but I've also heard of people being essentially bullied into using formula as they weren't producing which would make any new mama feel crappy. There's no harm in trying to get milk out early - I'm curious as to what happens if you try too early though, do you end up engorged? My colostrum lasted about a week last time before it all went white and watery, is it likely your baby will have all their colustrum via syringe? Or does our body know that baby isn't born yet? My midwife hasn't mentioned harvesting at all this time so I know nothing about it, but I am very intrigued, especially as I know my induction date so I could prep before hand! Tell me all! X

I only heard about it through the Honest Midwife and her antenatal sessions. But when I mentioned it to the midwife, she was super excited I was planning to do it.

This website explains it pretty well! abm.me.uk/breastfeeding-information/antenatal-expression-colostrum/

I don't think it affects how much milk you make to harvest it before baby is born. Nor does it seem to bring on labour. I think it's just useful for future use and puts less pressure on you to get breastfeeding ASAP perfectly as you have a back up.
As for how long the colostrum lasts, the Honest Midwife says that you start making it from 37 weeks onwards (but some women don't until baby is born) but it's the absolute best type of milk for a newborn even if you end up using formula in the end.

I'm pretty keen to do breastfeeding especially as I have gestational diabetes as apparently it reduces the risk of baby having diabetes in their lives but from having issues with regulating their sugar levels at the beginning too.
I mean I wasn't even sure I would be able to do it as hardly anything came out the first time I tried but it's got easier with practice.