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Wednesday 24 August 2016

32 Weeks - Colostrum

Gaviscon pregnancy heartburn cocktail
Gaviscon - the acceptable pregnancy cocktail
Two new arrivals this week. One more welcome than the other.

First, Heartburn.

It is here.

I thought I'd escaped, but I was wrong.

At least I got into the third trimester before it raised its ugly head.

Must hunt down some cocktail umbrellas to make the Gaviscon bottle a bit more exciting.

But, second, Colostrum.

A very desirable return.

When you have chronic low milk supply, every drop you make just seems that much more precious. 

We've already started to build a stash of donor milk in the freezer, but now I can start preparing to harvest my own colostrum to supplement the baby early on. I must contact the Infant Feeding Coordinator this week. I know it's early to begin expressing, but I want to be prepared. 

As well as having supplies ready to top the baby up, expressing colostrum antenatally is a good idea if you have gestational diabetes. Babies can have low blood sugars after birth, and the recommendation is usually to give formula to raise them. However, it has been proven that colostrum is far more effective than formula, so if you have colostrum ready, then all the better.

32 weeks pregnant
32 Weeks Pregnant
"Infants who were breastfed in the delivery room had a significantly lower rate of borderline hypoglycaemia than those who were not breastfed in the early postpartum period (10% versus 28%; Fisher's exact test., P = 0.05,). Likewise, infants breastfed in the delivery room had significantly higher mean blood glucose level compared to infants who were not breastfed in the delivery room (3.17 versus 2.86 mmol L(-1), P = 0.03). Additionally, breastfed infants had a significantly higher mean blood glucose level compared to those who were formula fed for their first feed (3.20 versus 2.68 mmol L(-1), P = 0.002)." (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19226355/)

I would ideally like to have a few syringes of colostrum frozen ready to be used in case of low blood sugars, and if they're not needed for that, then they will be useful for supplementing my low supply. Also, M had jaundice after birth, so in the event that this baby suffers too, we will be able to get more colostrum in them too. Colostrum acts as a laxative, amongst many other amazing qualities, which helps to push out meconium and get the bowels moving well, which in turn helps to rid the body of bilirubin.

I suspect that I won't be able to harvest enough of my own colostrum to have a good stash, so I'm also on the hunt for donor colostrum. It's harder to find than donor milk, because most mothers don't express antenatally.

If you want more information on the benefits and how-tos of antenatal expression, there is a great article on the La Leche League website: Antenatal Expression of Colostrum

If you need donor milk or wish to informally donate milk to other mums, then check out Human Milk 4 Human Babies. They also have a UK Facebook page, and a Global Facebook Page, where you can see current requests and offers.

I still haven't seen my midwife regarding the polyhydramnios, but I have an appointment with her this week, so hopefully I'll be able to share a bit more about that in my next update. 


Florida Pomelo 32 Weeks pregnant
Baby is the size of a Florida Pomelo,
whatever one of those is!
Weekly Statistics
Average after meal sugars: 4.6 mmol/L
Average fasting sugars: 4.4 mmol/L
Weight:  -3 lb



Catch up: 31 Weeks
Next: 33 Weeks



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