You learn a lot in a very short space of time when you become a parent. I had never heard of colostrum, fore milk or hind milk until last week.
When a baby is born, the mother produces colostrum, which is full of antibodies to help the baby's immune system. It is thicker and yellower than milk. I didn't take any photos of it but sure enough if you google it and click on images, you'll see that it is the clotted cream of the breast.
For the first few days of life, newborns sleep a lot and the colostrum is enough for their tiny stomachs. After a few days they develop a thirst and if the mother's milk hasn't "come in", the baby will certainly let you know that he is hungry.
Fore milk is thinner, like skimmed milk, and thirst quenching. The baby will gulp it down quickly, with no concern for the inevitable belching that will follow. Then comes the hind milk, which is thicker, like full fat milk and hopefully leaves the baby feeling full and ready for a sleep!
Half Scottish, Half Japanese. Tempura Mars bar?
- Koj
- I began writing this blog in October 2010 as a new father documenting food in his family. Before I knew it, I was in the final of MasterChef 2012. Now cooking is no longer just a hobby.
Showing posts with label Pregnancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pregnancy. Show all posts
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Foods that make you have a baby
Curry. Pineapple. Raspberry Leaf Tea. All are supposed to induce labour in a pregnant woman. Jemma loves pineapple but she wasn't prepared to pay £3.50 for one at Union Market, which has replaced TGI Friday in Fulham Broadway. Who are they kidding? The same people that are prepared to pay £8 for a rabbit, presumably.
A pineapple and a rabbit buys you two main courses at Cafe 209 on Munster Road. We went to this local institution last Friday night. Jemma had a Thai green curry (as she always does) and I had a beef stir fry (I normally have the lamb massaman).
By the same time the following night, we were in the labour ward of Chelsea and Westminster hospital. In fact, the last meal to pass Jemma's lips before Hector was born was sausage roll, chips and beans on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately it passed her lips again in the early hours of Sunday morning when she felt nauseous during labour. The midwife offered her an anti-emetic, but the horse had bolted.
At 8.45am on Sunday 26 September 2010, Hector Aubrey Kojima arrived. We'll never know whether it was the curry, the raspberry leaf tea before bed, or the sausage roll, but my suspicion lies with the fact that Hector was already at 41 weeks' gestation.
A pineapple and a rabbit buys you two main courses at Cafe 209 on Munster Road. We went to this local institution last Friday night. Jemma had a Thai green curry (as she always does) and I had a beef stir fry (I normally have the lamb massaman).
By the same time the following night, we were in the labour ward of Chelsea and Westminster hospital. In fact, the last meal to pass Jemma's lips before Hector was born was sausage roll, chips and beans on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately it passed her lips again in the early hours of Sunday morning when she felt nauseous during labour. The midwife offered her an anti-emetic, but the horse had bolted.
At 8.45am on Sunday 26 September 2010, Hector Aubrey Kojima arrived. We'll never know whether it was the curry, the raspberry leaf tea before bed, or the sausage roll, but my suspicion lies with the fact that Hector was already at 41 weeks' gestation.
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