stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid

[CaitlinArai22]

stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid

thats me alright.

the midwife at the hospital gave me some little 30ml cups today for expressing and freezing colostrum incase i have a hard time after the c/s.
she told me not to expect to get more then a ml or a few at first.

I was sitting here with nothing to do so i decided to give it a go, well it took me a while to get anything coming, and it actually kinda hurt, and i found i had to kinda concentrate, but then i got just under half a container - and i was still getting a little out!! I was so excited, i was even thinking about waking dp up!

And then i knocked over the container.

:hissy::crying: and of course started bawling.

Dp did wake up then. he doesnt get why i'm so upset.... maybe im just being stupid..... but i worked hard for that for baby.... and i was so proud.... but i stuffed it up....

just needed to have a sook to people that may actually get why its so upsetting (or you may not, i may be being a complete fool!)

[Lastcenturymum]

:hugs:

No use crying over spilt milk..er colostrum ;)

Just think of it as a trial run...a practice...keep expressing.

I felt so useless at expressing. I would get 20 or 30mls and think I was great and then a friend said 'long as you are getting 80-120mls a time' :eek: I thought I would never feed her. I didn't get the chance for two weeks, but we got there

[CaitlinArai22]

thanks LCM, just feeling sooky i guess.
I feel so outta control of my body right now, and im moody to boot (doesnt help i have been up for 48hrs now with no sleep at all), so it felt like a bit of an acheivement, lol.
i suppose at least i know i can do it for a start.

yeah, i dont know how i'll go expressing proper milk, the midwife said i didnt need to fill these little containers, just whatever i could get out in case my milk is an issue or i'm sick after c/s, and we need colostrum. she said i dont need as much as milk. if its as hard to get milk out tho, i dont know if i'll ever make 120mls!!

[studyingECS]

:hugs::hugs:

[AM]

OMG i would have cried too... I SUCK at expressing, every drop is sooooooo precious :hugs:

[Sheer Bliss]

:hugs::hugs: I sooooo understand!!! DS was in a humidicrib, and I was hand expressing colostrum....I suck at it!! If you got 15mls.....:yelclap:I could never get that much out in one go.

I cried one time when i knocked some EBM over on the bench, and then a few days later a container fell out of the freezer, and the plastic smashed so i had to throw away 110ml, as i couldn't risk their being shards of plastic in the milk! :hair: It is devstating!

Expressing proper milk is far easier IMO, you can use a manual or electric pump, and i could do that no probs - it was just hand expressing I couldn't do well.

So you are expressing?? Does this mean the big day isn't far away??

[kirstenriley]

OMG i would have cried too... I SUCK at expressing, every drop is sooooooo precious :hugs:

me too :( you just think.....all that effort....nooooooooooooo

[Seekrit]

I've done this with milk I was expressing for my boy while I was at work. I bawled too.

[trin_007]

:hugs::hugs::hugs:

Oh sweetie I know exactly how you feel and would have cried too. I had big supply issues and know just how precious every drop is and what hard work it is to get it. In the hospital a nurse tried to get me to express colostrum and she had to suck it up with a tiny syringe because there was so little of it! and it was excruciating!!

If you are already able to express a little bit, things will get better and baby will build on that I'm sure.

[MountainGirl]

aaarrrrrgghhhhhhhhh!!!!!! I did that in hospi just after Raf was born,..... took hours to get 15ml of colostrum,..and I was so tired and stressed hearing him cry that I dropped it:crying:

:hugs: at least bubby isnt going hungry!!!

[Mrs Potts]

In the hospital a nurse tried to get me to express colostrum and she had to suck it up with a tiny syringe because there was so little of it! and it was excruciating!!

We did this too. After about 10 minutes (and both sides) we got about 3mls. Gave it to DD2 (who wouldn't attach) and she promptly vomited it back up. That was the end for me! :no:

Have some of these :hugs: And I hope you're feeling better this morning.

[DB&O]

Oh sweetie :hugs::hugs: I would have cried too, that stuff is like liquid gold :hugs::hugs: How are you feeling today, have you managed to get any rest?

Ciao,
Brooke.

[CaitlinArai22]

hi guys, and thank you. its good to know i wasnt just being an idiot. (and i needed the :hugs:s)

I tried a couple of hours later, and i got about 10mls, so at least i know i've got a good supply for this stage, and i can just keep going. I was just so dissapointed at the time.

Brooke, as for the rest, i've had about an hours sleep now, spent most of the night/morning cleaning the bathroom/hallway walls and floors, think i'm going to go attack the ironing before it gets too hot. just trying to find the motivation. i find if i keep moving i dont notice how tired i am lol - and people tell me that i'll get no rest after bub gets here, HA!

Charlis Mum, yeah, 3rd of february dr bisits booked me in for so 10days or so and i'm going to be a Mummy. :goodvibes:

[gonnabeaGR8mum]

aww hon :hugs:

that really sux. but don't beat yourself up, you tried and that makes you a great mum in my books!!!

try to think positive- at least you can do it (even if its only a little), and i'm sure you learnt heaps so it'll be better/easier next time.

Besides i'm sure you wont even need it as you're going to be up out of bed straight out of recovery, you'll have NO milk problems and little Jimmy will be the picture of perfect health!!! I feel it in my bones (and you can't argue with these bones!)

:hugs: i hope you got some sleep and are keeping cool today- we're thinking of heading into the baths this afternoon/evening if you'd like to come for a cool off???

[CaitlinArai22]

Kath you are such a sweetheart, you always know what to say. i WILL be a great mum, watch out newie, theres 2 Gr8 mums coming at ya:laughing::D

Daves still asleep (spent half the night up for me for a change, ooops), i'll ask him about the baths when he gets up, but seeing as we've got markets at 6am tomorrow and have to set off about 5ish, he usually doesnt want to go anywhere, but i can try!
I'll send you a msg and let you know in an hour or 2 if thats cool?

I'm trying to decide how long to leave it between expressing to get the most out - should i be going for once a day at this stage, give it time to fill lol, or shall i just get out whatever i can when ever i can? the middie said to freeze it even if its only a few ml, but i dont want a million containers with only a few mls each in them!

[c38]

OMG 10mls, .. Thats amazing!!:yelclap::yelclap:
I couldnt even get a drop.
As for how often how much etc..
I's try 2-3x per day. If you get only 10mls x3 for 10 days thats 300mls of nutirent rich colostrum(Im sure you will start getting more even)... Thats 2+ days worth at least for a newborn... Infact most only get about a teaspoonful per feed in the first few days.
Given that you are expressing so well already...having only tried once or twice hopefully you wont have much of a problem with your milk coming in once bubs is born and all the hormonal changes take place.

I hope everything go well for you
:goodvibes::goodvibes:to you and your family:goodvibes::goodvibes:

Do try and get some sleep though. I had a c/s after months of litle sleep due to pelvic pain, then 3-4 days of prelabour and no sleep. I was SO exhausted I barely remeber the first few days with my bubs and my recovery took longer. So try and get some sleep even or at least lie and read a book or do some meditation/relaxation..

[gonnabeaGR8mum]

thats cool, jsut send me a text or ring me either way! which markets do you go to?

BTW how can he sleep in this heat? i'm melting!!!

oh and as for "filling up" i don't know for sure but i remember being told that the more you express the more there will be in there to express, "supply and demand"???? is this right other more knowledgable bub hub ladies??? so maybe try a few times today- leave in the fridge in between then freeze whatever you have at the end of the day???

- you're doing great! i can barely get a couple of drops out at a time!

[CaitlinArai22]

thanks for the advice guys, we'll give it another go shortly me thinks. ive just taken a quick break from the ironing - god its hot!!

I think the middie said i could only have it defrosted for 3hrs, so i dont know about topping it up thru the day, but i may be able to do some now, and some in about 2 hrs, and then it should freeze in time?

[c38]

hmm, dunno where the three hours comes from, but colostrum is the same as breastmilk. Fine in the fridge for up to 5 days (even at room temp for 8 hours but obviously not on a hot day without aircon). So you would be fine to put it in the fridge, then express into another container later in the day and tip it into the first in the fridge, then freeze at the end of the day... or the next day..or the next..as long as the first lot that went in there is no longer then 5 day old. Personally I'd just freeze what you have at the end of each day and label it with the date.
Just wash out the container you use to express into with cold water then HOT soapy water, then rinse and drip dry, ready to use next time. No need to boil/steam/sterilize etc as breastmilk is such clever stuff. All this is on the Aus Breast feeding Web site.

She may have said express no more then every 3 hours... :cool:

[kylza]

:hugs:Oh sweetheart, its heartbreaking isn't it. But there will be more from where that came from. I remember when I stopped BF my ds, we moved house not long after and my dh found a few containers of EBM when he was de-frosting the freezer. I made him chuck them out, I couldn't do it 'cause I remember the hours it took me to get that small amount of liquid gold.:crying::crying:
Just relax and try expressing first thing in the morning when you have full boobies. Goodluck.

[ElizaDoLittle]

Ohhhh the baths @newie, meet ya there :p

:hugs: hun! I didn't even know you could express before bubs arrived! Congrats! I know how you feel though, I expressed 100mls last night and dropped part of the pump in it so it wasn't clean sfter having my fingers in it and I was so shattered I considered giving it to my 4 year old just so it wasn't wasted lol!

[Midwifery Student Megan]

I did exactly the same thing! And then I thought 'my gosh - I'm crying over spilt milk' and then had a good laugh at myself!

[jaesmummy]

I'm sorry and I really do feel for you but I couldn't help having a giggle - that's just so something that I would do too! And I'm sure the neighbours would hear me crying! I'm a little surprised that they want you to try expressing now (even for those reasons). I could be wrong but I understood that trying to express might start labour? :)

[AM]

I could be wrong but I understood that trying to express might start labour? :)


No, not unless the body is ready to labour, when pregnant, your hormones protect your uterus from the effects of Oxytocin produced from nipple stimulation, so if you are OK to have sex, you are OK to express. This is the reason women like me can successfully breastfeed throughout pregnancy. (and I'm technically 'overdue')

[CaitlinArai22]

darn it, i thpught i was up for an early labour fpr a minute there:laughing:

thanks for the advice guys, my head is such a fog lately i cant remember a darn thing the middie said properly, lol. and now i think of it she wasnt even a middie, she was a nurse in delivery suite (not that this is 'lesser' or anything but i would have figure a midwife would give me the bfing info?)

anyway, they need to write it down LOL pregany women with bad memories.

c38, i mighta got that wrong lol, but i know for a fact she told me i had to steralise the little containers with miltons, so maybe she has oldinstructions or something, lol.