Hi IMs
So bit of background first. I'm currently pregnant with my second child. With my first I'd planned to breastfeed however when time came, I found I wasn't able to. The best I got was some colostrum expressed into a syringe (was while I was in hospital after she was born). I'd spoken with midwives and a lactation consultant at the time and no one found an issue with her latch. She'd latch on, not get anything, cry, then fall asleep at the boob. This just went around in circles. When she did latch it hurt like all hell and felt as if she was trying to bite my nipple off and I'd gotten so scared to feed her. Eventually I requested formula and decided I'd rather have a baby that's fed than stress us all out (myself, baby and her father), by attempting to feed.
Week after she was born my milk kicked in but soon dried up as it wasn't it use or anything.
Anyway, as I said I'm pregnant with my second and almost at the half way mark. My boobs have gotten so big and heavy, I'm starting to feel like my milk will come in soon (I'm guessing maybe another month or two). Can I express this and freeze it if does come in while I'm still pregnant? I thought if it came in early enough that maybe I could express and bottle it for bubs. (I'm still way to traumatized from the first kid to let this one latch on to my boob).
Has anyone done this? Is it possible?
***please don't let this start a debate between breastfeeding and formula feeding.
Thank you
6 Replies
The only thing I can imagine would be an issue is that expressing can cause contractions, so I'd ask your OB or midwife for advice; they may advise you not to express until well into the 3rd trimester.
I'd tee up a good lactation consultant before the birth. They may be able to help you avoid attachment issues should you decide to let bubby try on the boob.
Fed is best and a happy baby and happy mama are far more important than breast or bottle. Best of luck; you got this xxxx
Oh I would just watch out as expressing while pregnant can cause contractions. Sounds like you might have a promising supply though for when baby is born :)
From what I've learnt, your milk won't come in until Bub is born because the detachment of the placenta is what signals your milk to come in. Hand expressing the colostrum is a good idea though. Check with your doctor/midwives/ob about when is safe, but generally it's okay in the last few weeks of pregnancy.
It might be worth researching oral ties (tongue and lip ties)- our baby had trouble latching and was causing damage to my nipples and it turns out that was why. It didn't get picked up until after we left the hospital.
I hope things are less stressful for you this time around xx
Ás the others have said. Expressing can bring on pre term Labour. Seek medical advise on this. I was told definitely do not express prior to being in labor.
Did baby ever get checked for lip and tongue tie?
There are also medication that can help bring in your milk. Domperadone. Brewers yeast. Mother's milk. Speak to you midwife. I'm surprised the lactation consultant didn't offer them. Also your milk can take 1-2 weeks to properly come In after birth. Have you thought of using donated milk?? I fortunately never had issues with my milk supply and I donate all extra milk. I donated 3L of milk to a mother whosaid milk wasn't coming in. This gave her enough time to get her milk in. She wasn't stressing which can also dry up your milk. Heaps of sites on fb. Look up breast milk donations. Also remember it doesn't make you a bad mother if you have to formula feed. It's what's best for baby and if you don't have milk then forMula it is. Iv had 5 babies 4 of which were prem I breast fed all but 1. I like you freaked out about my milk with baby 4. I tried everything but it dried up. The more I stressed the less I made. after 6 weeks i was bone dry. Baby went on formula and she's doing just as good as the other kids. Relax don't panic and take each day at a time. Just because one baby didn't take your the boob doesn't mean this one wont. Iv just had number 5 he's 8 weeks old and was prem (8 weeks early) it took 8 days for my milk to come in properly. But when it did my lord I had 7l on the freezer within 2 weeks. Please be very careful. Trust me baby is better in for as long as possible. Don't do anything that can be a risk of pre term birth. Please please seek medical advise hun. Good luck xxxx
You won't get a proper milk supply while you're still pregnant. You'll get colostrum, which is very valuable of course and is worth keeping if you anticipate feeding problems in the early days after birth. You can store it in the freezer for up to 3 months, so make sure you mark the date you expressed it. I'd strongly recommend joining the Australian Breastfeeding Association (www.breastfeeding.asn.au) and attending classes before you have your baby. Excellent guidance, education and support throughout your pregnancy and breastfeeding time, and help and troubleshooting when you need it.
Hi, OP here!
Thank you all for you're advice. My first doesn't have a lip or tongue tie as we made sure she was checked for it due to her father having a really bad tongue tie when he was little. I'm just really scared to let another bub on the boob just because of how stressful and painful the first one was when I tried
Not to mention I had to stop using the cream to help my cracked nipples because it was off-putting to bubs #1 when trying to breastfeed
Midwives and lactation consultant didn't help much when I first tried and all I'd been told was "keep trying" and "nothing wrong with the latch it's perfect" so I was pretty lost in what I was doing
Definitely don't want to risk preterm labour as I almost went through that with #1 (was 35 weeks and ended up in hospital for a week being monitored)
And won't be touching the boobs! (Partly because they hurt and they're almost at Dolly Parton phase - but mostly because I don't want to risk anything in this pregnancy) :)