so i posted about this in the platinum section coz i was a bit scared and lost about things but after speaking to a few of the girls they pointed me to you ladies...
basically heres the story....
so im 30w and however many days with a little girl, due in Jan but i have a incompetant cervix and have a stitch in, and things arnt quite co-operating as well as we would like.
we were expecting her to come at 37w when the stitch was taken out but my cervix is shortening and my OB is expecting her to be here between now and 34 weeks.
i had chosen to formula feed her from birth because well BF is not for me.
its hard to explain but i dont have that feeling of wanting to feed my baby, to me it would be more normal for me to formula feed...
so anyway because she is going to be a premmie i know that she is much better off having breast milk to give her a better start than formula.
now im obviously going against everything i thought i would do, and well as a mummy so i should be to give her as best start as possible.
so i only intend on expressing, there wont be any feeding her from my boob at all, and possibly only for long enough to get her happy and healthy and then i plan on going to formula, unless som miraclt happens and i decide i like expressing.
so really im after any tips/advice/ ANYTHING u think will be hlepful with getting us over this hurdle so i can mentally adapt to what ill be doing to help my little chicken get a good start.
My first comment is never say never - give it a try and see how you go!
Babies that are more than a few weeks premature tend not to know how to suck, and so expressing is likely to be the best thing initially. In the very early days your body will make colostrum, which is a sticky liquid that doesn't look much like milk at all, but is very very good for babies. It contains antibodies so that their little immune systems get some help from you.
The best way to express colostrum is usually by hand (i.e. no pump, just gently squeeze the area behind your nipple and drips will come out, which you can let fall into a container).
Then after 2-4 days you will start making milk, and your boobs will feel huge. At this point you can either continue hand expressing, or reach for the pump. Hospital grade pumps can be hired from chemists or the Australian Breastfeeding Association - and are much better than less powerful pumps if you are going to be expressing lots. Most of the good pumps have two settings you can vary - one for the strength of an individual suck (which you probably want to have set to about 1/4 power initially) and another for how fast they suck (i.e. how many sucks per minute), which you'll probably want somewhere in the middle. On the big blue medela hire pumps the obvious dial only controls how fast they suck - the control for the strength of a suck is on the yellow cylinder part.
Much more milk will come out if you are distracted - get a supply of crap literature that doesn't matter if it gets milky, or put on some music!
You do not have to wash and sterilise the pump each time you use it. It is OK to keep milky pump bits in the fridge and reuse them and only wash once a day. In most cases you don't need to sterilise, though that may be different if you have a prem. You will probably get more milk out by pumping frequently for shorter periods of time. Initially try 2-hourly during the day and at least once overnight.
Regardless of your distaste for attaching, make sure that bub has as much skin-to-skin contact (i.e. somewhat nudie baby against somewhat nudie Mum or Dad) as possible. It helps them regulate temperatures and calms them down. It is also really helpful for your milk supply, which can be a bit tricky to maintain if you are just expressing.
I'm not trying to be mean here, but the point at which formula is biochemically equivalent to breastmilk and there is no biochemical benefit to breastmilk is somewhere after the age of one (possibly never). The message that "breastmilk is most important initially" seems to have been distorted into "formula is as good after a few months", which is very wrong. There are some Mum's here who have pumped for many many months - it can be done. But it is much much harder than attaching the baby to the boob and letting them do the work. Once you are comfortable handling your little one, and they are a bit bigger, it may just be worth being brave and giving attaching a try - you might cope OK and bub might cope OK, in which case you have a really useful tool which can both feed and calm down your munchkin in one!
If bub has to stay in hospital for awhile, and you are expressing at home it can help to have a photo of your baby and maybe a special teddy that reminds you of bub to help you to get the milk to come out. Have a look around home for a space where you feel comfortable and can relax for where to sit when you are expressing. You might want to listen to music or watch tv and for me i don't want to be near the front door in case someone rocks up.
This is a really special thing you are doing for your baby, especially if its not something you feel comfortable with. The exclusive expressing chat ladies might be able to give you some hints and support too.
need some adivce/tips/ anything u can offer!
ladies...
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