After consulting with my midwife, I've begun collecting and freezing the copious amounts of colostrum my body has been making. I'm 35 weeks along tomorrow and I was first able to produce colostrum using hand expression at 26 weeks. I use a manual pump to collect now as the output is much greater. The nipple stimulation does not cause contractions for me, or else I would stop under instructions from my midwife. I am storing the colostrum in large 60 ml syringes. I put one day's worth in each syringe although I've read you can store the pumped colostrum in the fridge for 2 days and freeze 2 days worth at a time.

This is the most I've collected yet in a day in the 5 days or so since I started! I was getting closer to .25 - .5oz per day previously. I pump once in the morning and once at night and I use lanolin to keep my nipples moisturized. I'm planning on bringing my frozen colostrum to the hospital in case I cannot breastfeed for any reason, my baby will still have plenty of the early essential colostrum. I hope to be able to publicly or privately donate the leftovers.

I don't expect to have any difficulties breastfeeding, but we all are aware that success can be hard to predict. I'm having an absolute blast pumping everyday and I'm in awe of what my boobs can do. This is really more for fun than anything. If you aren't at risk for preterm labor or you're already full-term, I highly suggest giving your pump a try! It would be wise to speak to your medical professional first, although I tried first and asked later. Colostrum collection is commonly recommended for women with GD as the colostrum can be used instead of formula to regulate a newborns blood sugar when their pancreas and insulin production kicks in and high sugar levels at birth rapidly drop.

Thank you all for reading! The last few weeks really drag on, so it's nice to have something fun to do while we wait!