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Yes, it sounds very weird and icky - colostrum harvesting - but I was wondering if any type 1s, like myself, have successfully done this before their baby was born and if they have any advice on the quantity needed as I've read all sorts of contradictory stuff online.
I'm 37 weeks pregnant on Thursday (so 36 wks+5 days) and I started trying to collect colostrum five days ago. I only got 0.2ml (pathetic, I know) each attempt for the first few days. Yesterday and today I've got 1ml each time, so I think I've frozen 4ml in total so far. Is this nowhere near enough to help a little person in case their sugar levels are low or need a top-up feed as they're big and super hungry? Or is it ok? I just can't find any information about a good quanity needed. I'm happy to keep going until my planned section on the 11th Feb (a week on Monday), but I'm reading you need about 30ml each feed and I doubt I'll get anywhere near that. Also, my son was 9lbs at 38.5 weeks and they're estimating this bambino to be as big, or even bigger too. My hba1c is good at 48, but I'm not destined to have a little dot.
The reason I'm doing this is to try and encourage things to get going a bit quicker than they did last time and to avoid formula if I can. I had a c-section five years ago and struggled to feed for days and my little boy needed one bottle of formula in hospital as his bg levels dropped and he went from 9lbs to 8lbs quite quickly. I got things moving eventually and fed him exclusively for 6 months and then for a further 6 months with one bottle of formula on a night time to try get him to sleep. Try being the operative word!
So, is there anyone out there who has any tips or knows how much I might need to collect before my section? If so, that'd be fab as I'm super confused.
Thanks.
I'm 37 weeks pregnant on Thursday (so 36 wks+5 days) and I started trying to collect colostrum five days ago. I only got 0.2ml (pathetic, I know) each attempt for the first few days. Yesterday and today I've got 1ml each time, so I think I've frozen 4ml in total so far. Is this nowhere near enough to help a little person in case their sugar levels are low or need a top-up feed as they're big and super hungry? Or is it ok? I just can't find any information about a good quanity needed. I'm happy to keep going until my planned section on the 11th Feb (a week on Monday), but I'm reading you need about 30ml each feed and I doubt I'll get anywhere near that. Also, my son was 9lbs at 38.5 weeks and they're estimating this bambino to be as big, or even bigger too. My hba1c is good at 48, but I'm not destined to have a little dot.
The reason I'm doing this is to try and encourage things to get going a bit quicker than they did last time and to avoid formula if I can. I had a c-section five years ago and struggled to feed for days and my little boy needed one bottle of formula in hospital as his bg levels dropped and he went from 9lbs to 8lbs quite quickly. I got things moving eventually and fed him exclusively for 6 months and then for a further 6 months with one bottle of formula on a night time to try get him to sleep. Try being the operative word!
So, is there anyone out there who has any tips or knows how much I might need to collect before my section? If so, that'd be fab as I'm super confused.
Thanks.