Pumping and storing colostrum while pregnant

[medic76097]

I know this is up for HUGE debate.... But here's some background.
I'm on pregnancy 3. All healthy and plump at birth although both were early babies.
This time around I've been trying to use my hand pump to draw out a partially inverted/flat nipple that my second son struggled with to BF from. I want to give BFing a shot this time instead of just pumping and bottle feeding. The pump has started to loosed the ligaments holding the nipple back and I've started producing a fair amount of colostrum. I want to start to store it instead of dumping it out. So my questions:

Did anyone else pre birth pump?
How did you store it?
Any issues with preterm labour? Although I'm not truly worries about that, since I think that had I continued to pump or BF then it wouldn't matter either way, right?
And second, does anyone have any tips for BFing a baby with a flat nipple? I've you tubed to death and have an apt with the lac consultant when baby is born

 

[justplay91]

Pumping while pregnant can be done! I did it with my last pregnancy because I knew from my first that my milk takes awhile to come in, plus I get gestational diabetes so my babies are already at an increased risk of developing low blood sugar after birth. With my son, we gave him a bottle right away and that pretty ruined our breastfeeding relationship. So I knew with my daughter that I wanted to give it a real try. Starting at about 35 weeks, I squeezed out some colostrum into 5 ml syringes I bought in bulk online and froze them. It didn't cause any contractions or anything. When she came home from the hospital, we nursed almost constantly and when she would finish, I would give her a syringe full. That seemed to help. Next time, I plan on doing it even more so I can have more frozen and ready to go when baby is born.

 

[noon_child]

It's recommended for all women with GD now where I live. Just consult your health practitioner about when is the best time to start to avoid pre-term labour but I don't think it is a common complication.

 

[medic76097]

I've started storing and I'm getting about 4mls a sode right now .

 

[mrsclt]

Freeze it, will be good for a few months. And nipple shields for the flat nipple. Mine are very short ie not quite flat, but dont pull out much, and he was squashing them into the roof of his mouth and compressing them when trying to feed. Nipple shields were the only way I was able to breastfeed him. When he reached around 4 months I was able to start breastfeeding without them, mostly just because his mouth was bigger and could fit more boob in lol. He is 15 months and still breastfeeding. I found Medela shields to be the best, just make sure to get the right size, the lactation consultant or any midwife can help you with finding what size you need. And they dont affect your milk supply, the older rubber ones may have in the past, but they are much better designed these days

 

[wannabemomy37]

Following since I'm producing plenty of colostrum too.

As for flat nipples, my research says a thing called the "latch assist" can help draw out the nipple.

I'm a FTM so not positive but thought you could look into it further?

 

[medic76097]

Pumping is actually helping the one nipple. It's easier to draw out now and I'm sure that once BFing starts, I'll be able to further break down the tissue and correct it. Right now it takes just a little pinch and pull forward to bring it out. As for colostrum, I've pumped once a day for a short short time.... Maybe five mins. And I have three 5ml feeds already labeled and stored in my freezer . feeling pretty proud of myself

 

[medic76097]

One pump a day and I'm getting 10-15 mls