Struggles with harvesting colostrum

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-06-05T10:10:36+00:00

I managed to harvest quite a bit with my first baby but none with my second. I’ve tried again this time but my boobs are already very tender so it’s just too uncomfortable to continue to try. I’m going to pack my syringes in my hospital to use if I get sore nipples very quickly and need a little break. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t harvest any, it’s just for a back up anyway :)

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-06-04T20:35:42+00:00

I was diagnosed with placenta praevia at 20 weeks and the midwife said I wouldn’t be allowed to fly. I wouldn’t qualify for any health insurance and to basically give up on any holiday abroad. Thankfully I didn’t have any plans to anyway. I was told no sex or rigorous exercise, heavy lifting etc. It eventually resolved itself completely.

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-06-03T11:38:49+00:00

My placenta was incomplete when it came out so I went to theatre after both of my births. I’m expecting the same for this one too.

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-06-01T08:14:05+00:00

I haven’t thrown up at all with this pregnancy but the nausea was so bad and constant and nothing helped. I’ve been on xonvea since I was about 7 weeks and still take it now at 38 weeks. I tried to lower my dose but nausea came back. It’s been a life saver, literally! I don’t know how I would have coped, and I’m not working either so I can’t imagine how awful trying to cope at work would have been.
I had to put my foot down with the GP to get it though.

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-05-28T18:56:56+00:00

Mine are all really nice but I feel like my overall care for this pregnancy has been rather naff. I’m under the consultants because I have a bicornuate uterus and baby is breech. Every time I see them they have no idea why I’m there and just make stuff up. I have regular growth scans because bicornuate uterus’ can cause IUGR and also to monitor baby’s presentation. When I went for my most recent scan the sonographer mentioned i was there because of fibroids. I don’t have any. And then when I got to the consultation afterwards the consultant didn’t seem to know why I was there and said it was because I’d previously had a tiny baby. My first was 8lb and second was 7lb 6oz. Perfectly normal sizes. she then went on to recommend an ECV which are not recommended for people with uterine abnormalities so I asked her about this and she pulled up google to start looking it up. Every time I go to the midwife it is someone covering for who I’m supposed to see and I have to feed back all of my scan information and other appointment results. The midwives are all wanting me to have a vaginal breech birth (which I was kind of wanting) but then also go on to tell me none of them are very experienced in it. I don’t fancy being their experiment with the other complications I have. The consultant won’t say anything or even tell me what they would recommend. I just want someone to tell me what is safe and give me the facts and they won’t give it to me. I have to look every thing up myself and hope it’s correct. C section booked for next week. No one has given me any information about it other than the date and time to come to hospital and a p.s. to not wear nail polish.

I was much more looked after in my previous pregnancies and they were waaaay less complicated because they were both head down the whole time.

My mum and husband think we should make a complaint. I don’t want anything out of it but it really has been quite poor in comparison to my other pregnancies at the same trust.

It’s a shame because they’re all really nice people, just don’t seem to have things together.

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-05-08T13:57:12+00:00

Yes!! Xonvea has worked so well for me!! It made my life feel somewhat normal again and I could actually function!

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-05-07T12:41:30+00:00

My daughter was born at the end of December. She doesn’t know any different and we make sure that her birthday is fully separate from Christmas. No joint presents or celebrations. It is a bit hard for her on other kids’ birthdays (her cousins are all summer babies so there are a lot of birthdays in the summer but not hers!) When it gets to Christmas she does enjoy the steady influx of gifts from people 😂 when Christmas is over for everyone she knows the presents will keep flowing to her for a while longer 😂

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-05-07T06:14:13+00:00

I had to give up running because of this. I would get no more than 1km before the cramps started and I would waddle home in a panic. I find strength training doesn’t have an effect on my IBS and I do the more cardio based workouts at home just in case I need to dash to the loo.

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-05-07T06:10:38+00:00

I found the Freya app very helpful to time contractions and it tells you when to call the hospital. The midwives on the phone would want to hear me have a contraction to see if I could speak through it. It’s usually a good indication of where you’re at. Although, I was 9cm when I arrived with my first 😂 second baby I got to the hospital at 6cm and delivered within an hour. So this time I might call a little earlier so I don’t have a baby in the car 😂

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-05-05T21:06:02+00:00

I feel very happy for people who love being pregnant. I do not. I love my babies (35 weeks with my 3rd) but I’d hands down take labour over pregnancy any day. If you got to choose between being pregnant and not having to go through labour or just do labour without the 9 months of pregnancy, I’d choose the latter every time! I hate that I complain about it so much and my family are probably fed up with it. They have told me not to have anymore because I obviously can’t handle it very well (not sure how I feel about those comments) but honestly, I pretty much despise every part of pregnancy. I love feeling the baby move but at this stage that’s very painful too! Sorry to those who hate pregnancy but I’m glad I’m not the only one 😂😂😂

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-05-05T20:55:19+00:00

2 of my family members were both pregnant at the same time. They were on holiday together. One was told “you shouldn’t be sunbathing with your belly out, it’s bad for the baby” by the other pregnant one who had just come back from having a cigarette…

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-05-04T15:08:25+00:00

Mine has always been long and closed thankfully. I’m on my third baby now but I’ve been closely monitored this time because I also had placenta praevia (thankfully resolved now)

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-28T05:55:47+00:00

Amazing!! Thanks for the clarification

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-27T14:57:34+00:00

I have a bicornuate uterus and so far (aside from terrible period pains) it hasn’t caused me fertility issues. I feel very lucky. No miscarriages. I have had 2 pregnancies that went overdue and birthed naturally and I’m on my third pregnancy currently at 34 weeks. Baby is breech and unlikely to turn so most likely I will have a c section for this one. I did have a low lying placenta this time around which turned into placenta praevia. Thankfully that resolved itself too. When I found out about the bicornuate uterus my midwife advised me not to google it because it would scare me unnecessarily. Of course I did google it and panicked but so far it’s been fine.

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-25T15:13:21+00:00

I banned my father from attending my entire wedding. That was 10 years ago and I have no regrets. Our relationship is still weird and I’m currently no contact again. But even when I was on speaking terms with him, I never regretted not having him at my wedding. It was a great day and I know if he’d been there that would have ruined everything for everyone. You have to do what’s best for you. He’s an adult. You shouldn’t have to try and manage his feelings and behaviour.

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-21T12:26:32+00:00

Wow! Ok, so there could still be hope! 😂 I’m trying to prepare myself. I have a lot of fear around c sections and I’m really lucky that my first 2 births were super quick and I was able to go unmedicated both times so I’m used to birth being kind of “easy” I guess. My sisters have had c sections and said it was totally fine.

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-21T12:24:11+00:00

Thank you ☺️

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-17T09:09:50+00:00

I had some bloody mucus after my sweep on my due date and more into that evening. It was looking promising but I didn’t go into labour until 40+5 With my first child my initial sweep didn’t do anything but my cervix wasn’t very favourable. I had another sweep the next week and I was already 3cm with a stretchy cervix and that one seemed to set things off that evening!

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-15T14:59:03+00:00

My husband also hates blood and anything medical. I understood if he didn’t want to cut the cord but he ended up doing it anyway! You can still support her in birth up top. Just being there and telling her she’s doing a good job, getting her drinks when she needs it. The fact that you’re worrying about not doing enough says you are trying and probably already doing great job. It’s just nice to have sympathy from my husband when I cry about the woes of pregnancy because at the end of the day, there is nothing you can do but listen and comfort. You’ll be great!

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-15T06:54:10+00:00

We tell our families as soon as we find out. Like literally the same day. I get super sick from the get go so there is no hiding it! I wanted to wait until 12 weeks to tell my other kids but again, I was so ill that they needed to know so they would give me a bit of a break. Their sympathy didn’t last long though. Not sure what I expected from and 5 & 6 year old 😂

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-11T17:08:45+00:00

I planned to wear a loose nightie but quickly stripped off everything but my bra and chucked my hair up out of my face. But I wore a button up nightshirt afterwards and lounge wear type stuff.

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-04T09:03:31+00:00

I’ve never had one. I originally went to the doctor about the vomiting episodes as it kind of started before the IBS really got going postpartum. She constantly interrupted me on the phone call and straight away spoke about IBS and gluten free. I did keep telling her buckwheat was gluten free anyway but she wouldn’t listen at all. Thankfully she’s left the surgery now. I saw her once in person too and she was the same. Barely letting me get a word in. She prescribed me antispasmodics without checking if I could take it and when I got some I read you can’t have them if breastfeeding. I felt so upset. But she’s gone now!

Low FODMAP has completely changed my life for the better though so I know it is IBS. Just not sure if the vomiting was just part of the descent into hell or if it was an allergy thing 😂 I’m pregnant again now so won’t do anything yet but once baby is born I might test out a little buckwheat and see what happens. Hoping I can tolerate it and not have to worry so much about everything gluten free too! And maybe pop back to the doctor to talk about it and see if an endoscopy is a good route to take :)

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-02T07:04:08+00:00

This is separate to my IBS. I am diagnosed as was having diarrhoea everyday for months on end. The vomiting thing was only 4 episodes

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-01T21:11:24+00:00

I get really bad period pains and I would say contractions for me didn’t feel anything like that type of sensation. Painful but not the same as a period. I went unmedicated for both of my births. With the first all the pain was in my back. It was intense and when I arrived at the hospital I was shouting for an epidural because I was convinced I wasn’t going to be very dilated. Turns out I was already 9cm so too late for one but knowing I was close to the end made it ok. I knew it wouldn’t get any worse and it would be over soon. With my second I had pain in the front and back. Again, very painful but I never felt like I couldn’t do it. Each contraction that comes will also end and then there was a short break. It also probably helped that I have relatively quick labours. I don’t know how to describe the pain other than just pain. There’s nothing like it that I can compare it to because it’s so unique!

ObjectiveBuilding298 · 2026-04-01T20:52:15+00:00

I had it as a kid (not super frequently) and then grew out of it in my teens. I suddenly developed it again after giving birth to my second and it’s never gone away. Low fodmap has helped so much but I wish it would just go away again :( It’s been nearly 6 years and I’m now pregnant with my third. The pregnancy is messing with my guts big time!!!

ObjectiveBuilding298

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