Taking my girls home...questions!

Katie Pittenger

I am finally getting to go home for the first time since January 19th! We moved into our house the day before I was admitted and then transported to Fort Worth and I haven't been home since. We are being discharged with the girls TOMORROW!! I just can't even believe it. Well although I am excited, I'm also very scared! So here goes the questions.

1) How long did you stick with the feeding every 3 hours instead of on demand?

2) What was/is your schedule for pumping and how did/do you maintain a good milk supply? I am putting my girls to the breast at almost every feeding but my dr. wants me to give bottles twice a day.

3) What did/do you eat that is easy and around the house in order to help with your supply?

4) How did/do ?you and your DH do the feeding schedules so that you each get a decent amount of sleep?

Thanks ahead of time!!?

stillhoping

1. Feeding every three hours lasted for some time. I think they were home for at least two to three months.

2. Every time they took a bottle I pumped. okay I never did breast, I would pump every time they get a bottle

3. nothing

 4. we had help for three months, (MIL) two months after they came home, one of us would sleep through a feeding. So if they went down at 9, at 12:00 i would sleep through while MIL and dh got up. At 3:00 I would get up and Dh would sleep. etc etc etc

stillhoping

Some advice..

Keep diapers, changes of clothes etc on all levels of the house. Have a changing table down stairs if you can

and use pack n plays for nap time, on the first level (if you have more than one story house, this will limit your trips up and down stairs all day long and help with them sleeping through noise. 

lutzcowgirlie

1. Mine never wanted to wait three whole hours, so we were always feeding more than that. If yours are content to wait three hours, I'd stick with that until they get some weight on them. Next time you see the pedi you could ask about it. Every three hours is good for the first few months, I think.

 

2. I didn't pump. I just nursed whenever they wanted to. If you pump, pump at least every three hours until your supply is well established. If you start to see any issues you can do power-pumps or try some of the tips for increasing supply like fenugreek/oatmeal/etc. I wouldn't worry too much yet. Just let them nurse as much as they want, then pump as often as you can.

 

3. Stay very, very hydrated. You should be drinking a glass of water or milk each time you feed them. Honestly, it is hard to eat well when you are dealing with babies. Eat whatever you can whenever you can. You'll be hungry - I was hungrier than I was when I was pregnant. Follow your body's cues.

 

4. I always did every feed. DH would help when he was home or overnight by changing diapers and burping. It definitely doesn't work for everyone, but I figured that I always seemed to wake up anyways, since I was up I would offer the breast... and so it goes. If I really needed a break, I'd feed - go straight to sleep and ask to have the babies brought to me for the next feed so that I could just stay in bed and feed, then go back to sleep. It makes for interrupted sleep, but you don't fully wake up so it isn't too awful.