Hi again. Just curious about something. Now that I am working in a hospital setting and seeing a lot more colostrum, I have a question about its appearance in the first 2 days. It is always described as a thick yellowish fluid, yet, sometimes, when I have moms express a couple of drops it appears almost clear, more white, and thin. Pumped colostrum is more yellow, though. I was thinking that when just drops are expressed I may be seeing colostrum that is "separated" and when it is pumped then I see it all mixed. Today I had a physician, who just had her second baby, ask me why her colostrum appears thin and whitish (24 hours). She wondered if it is transitional milk. I think it is too early for that. This started me thinking. Lawrence states that "The residual mixture of materials present in the mammary glands and ducts at delivery and immediately after is progressively mixed with newly secreted milk, forming colostrum." Is this residual mixture more watery in appearance? Also, is it possible for interstitial fluid to make its way into the milk ducts beyond the normal amount--from excess fluids during labor and c-sections? Just curious. :-) Thanks again. Christine Lichte LLL Leader, CBE, IBCLC candidate *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html