Worries, no colostrum yet.

[campn]

I know it's probably there and will increase once baby is born, but last time that was also my worry and I was right cause it seemed like nothing was coming out, the nurse would squeeze my breast so hard to get a drop out. DS wasn't impressed or interested in the boob then and lost 12% of his weight by the third day. My milk came in 4 days in after lots of pumping.

I'm just really so terrified of history repeating itself. I've had a nightmare about it even as with my son I had to exclusively pump the first 6 weeks day and night until he finally latched 6 weeks into it. The thought of doing this again is killing me.

Any tips? Was breastfeeding your second baby easier? Should I worry that I've zero colostrum now even after squeezing hard?

 

[noon_child]

Not everyone produces colostrum before the birth (I didn't notice any). Hand expressing colostrum isn't just a case of someone squeezing you, it needs practice and different women find different places on their breast produce the best effects - some a little closer to the nipple, some a little further away. Massage is often necessary beforehand too. It does really only come in tiny drops too, even once baby is born - if you can get 0.4ml every few hrs hand expressing in those first couple of days you are applauded in our local hospital! Even just a few drops can be the difference between a baby's blood sugar crashing and being normal.

Regarding his weight loss, well that's most likely explained by his disinterest in feeding. Your colostrum may well have been there but if he wasn't drinking it he will have lost weight. There are lots of reasons that babies refuse to latch early on including medicated births, tongue tie, neck spasms, even rebelling against being "forced" on by over enthusiastic health workers.

There is no way to tell what this baby will be like (although things like tongue tie can be genetic), but your milk supply sounds like it was fine. Did you ever get to the bottom of what happened with your son? Do you have anyone you can talk through your fears with so they can come up with a support plan early on?

 

[aidensxmomma]

I don't have much advice but wanted to offer a little reassurance. I successfully breastfed my daughters (DD1 for 3 months, DD2 for 3 weeks). During my pregnancies with both of them, I didn't notice any leaking colostrum at all. I didn't try to express any more than a couple times, and I didn't really get anything during either pregnancy. However, once baby was born, there was definitely colostrum there and both girls were back up to their birthweight within the recommended timeframes. I do know that babies, whether formula or breastfed, lose weight during their first couple days of life (I can't remember what's normal, though) and your milk doesn't come in until a few days after birth either. This time around, I haven't noticed any colostrum yet either and I'll be 37 weeks on Sunday.

I don't have any other advice, but try not to worry about it too much

 

[Teeny Weeny]

Campn, I didn't notice any colostrum during pregnancy honey. N fed so much when she was born I was lucky my milk came in on day 2.
The trick is to get them suckling as much as possible to encourage your milk production. Xx