I was raised by my military dad to always be prepared. Of course, there are situations which you can’t possibly imagine, but for those you can, it is always best to have that which might be required. I have that training to thank for including colostrum bottles along with my breast pump when I packed for the hospital. My baby was full-term so why would I possibly need to express milk and store it? I have to thank the 10 wonderful years Beng and I have had working with other moms on parenting solutions from breastfeeding and beyond for the many, many scenarios of full-term babies ending up unable to breastfeed directly.
So there I was, fresh from the delivery room, with no baby to feed and the awful news that Jayce would not be able to feed till his respiratory issues were resolved. Of course, nobody could give a definitive answer as to when exactly that was, and that’s when my non-emotional side took over. For me to avoid delayed lactogenesis or the onset of milk secretion, I should put something to my breast to go through the mechanics of an actual baby stimulating and expressing milk from me.
Of course, nothing is going to ever be exactly the same as a human baby but at least the Medela Freestyle Breastpump I brought had the speed and pressure no other pump could muster. According to research, that would be 2 minutes or so of 2 sucks in a second (true stimulation) and a suck per second thereafter for expression (this is so easy to check since all you need to do is turn on the pump and count
????????
⌚️). The preemie program of the Medela Symphony Hospital Grade Pump would have been best as that even has the erratic cycle of a full-term baby’s initial suck, which is so important in establishing milk supply BUT I wasn’t exactly sure if the hospital already had that technology.
So, I stimulated, expressed, and stored breastmilk with what I had. At this stage, the baby’s tummy is the size of a calamansi so it was emotionally and mentally reassuring to have 35ml storage bottles at the end of my pump assembly. The Boomerang video below was taken a week or so postpartum, and using the 35ml bottles were still very reassuring.
Imagine if I had a 4-5oz bottle, that amount of milk would look very disheartening.
???? As I had the opportunity to observe feeding time in the NICU, I can also imagine how useful this container would be for those who have to ferry milk over to the hospital every now and then.
The rounded bottom of the Medela colostrum container ensures that every single drop lovingly expressed for your tiny or sick baby gets collected by the nurses on duty (no corners that are hard to collect milk from). I am so grateful for parenting solutions like these — and I am glad to share them with you all! Till our next post!
One with you in this parenthood journey,
Maricel
P.S. If you feel that you need such a reusable storage container that already conveniently fits onto your pump (no additional drops left behind from transferring containers), do inquire via our Customer Service Hotline 09175614366 or contact us here.