::: sawyer918 :::

GretchenlovesMichael

hey there   just saw your page on SaIF - sorry, i haven't been on much.  i'd love to answer any Qs you have about CDing & BFing twins!

we started CDing around 4 months - i hadn't been able to convince DH to start out CDing twin newborns.  but switching to cloth was such a great decision for us - we LOVE it.  i do diaper laundry every 1-2 days, so it does add that to your workload but honestly to me that is not a big deal.  also we use fitteds with wool covers as often as possible.  sometimes PUL covers.  we are not big into AIOs, although we started out with lots of them in our rotation.  now i am slowly selling them b/c they take FOREVER to dry and they're just not my thing.  anyway - i got a ton of info on the EFF board when we started.  lmk if you have any specific Qs about CDs!

as for BFing, it is something i absolutely love and have been very blessed to be able to do with great success so far.  M&D were born full term (37w2d) which meant they were ready to nurse, i think that part is key.  i'm not saying it's impossible to BF preemies - i know a lot of ladies do - but it's not something i have experience with.  and honestly, my #1 piece of advice about BFing twins is to bite the bullet and commit to being the only thing on the menu.  no formula, not even expressed BM.  that is what i did and in so doing my body was able to learn from the babies exactly how much milk to make and exactly when to make it.  it is an intense amount of work in the beginning, there were nights when i was literally hallucinating with sleep deprivation (i would wake up and think i had 6 babies to feed and ask DH "where are the other babies??"   but with his help (he did every diaper change in the beginning and always brought me the babies if applicable - although we used a cosleeper or bedshared - it was just helpful to have him come over and hand me the baby from the cosleeper, etc.)  also - in those first days, i highly highly rec learning to tandem feed.  it saved me from losing my mind   when one woke we would wake the other to feed.  they would nurse together, then back to sleep.  it made things so much easier.  tandem is a learned skill, as is BFing in general.  but it can be done, barring any real medical issue.  DD was 4lb 10oz at birth and her tiny little mouth made for a bad latch.  i was told 18billion times to give her bottles.  and while we did syringe feed her a couple of times (like literally twice) other than that i was committed to helping her learn to nurse.  it was painful and often resulted in both of us crying, but b/c we were both persistent, she learned and became a great nurser.  i was lucky that DS started out an awesome nurser so when we tandemmed i could basically latch him on and then tend to her as needed.  it also helped to have DH bringing me pillows, water, etc. as needed.

people will tell you you can't BF twins.  nurses, drs, friends, family.  they will mean well and will try to give you an out basically.  they will tell you you are exhausted and should give formula at night.  and they may be right - i mean yes if you are literally about to lose it and can't function at all then ok.  but to me being intensely sleep-deprived and basically a milk machine was what i signed up for.   it got better, fairly quickly.  by 3 months we were a well oiled machine.  and now it is one of the easiest things i do every day.  and i love it, SO much.  to be able to provide that for them, to know that my body is supporting (continuing to support beyond gestation) two lives.  it is humbling and amazing. 

two other random things that came to mind - 1- in my experience, there is virtually no need to pump if you don't need/intend to bottle feed.  adding pumping sessions just adds huge amounts of unneccessary work (again, unless you need to for babies who can't yet nurse, or if you are going back to work within a couple weeks, etc.)  the babies are genetically wired to nurse on demand and to teach your body how to feed them.  it is a pretty amazing thing.  and 2 - in the early days, i would sit and pore over kellymom.com - LOVED that site.  it helped me so much.

ok, yikes, sorry for the diatribe.  i'm pretty um... passionate about this stuff lol   i HTH & please lmk if you have any Qs!!  GL honey!!

sawyer918

Thank you sooooo much.  I really appreciate you taking the time to explain that to me.  I really feel like I can do both.  I do know it's not going to be easy in the beginning but I really want to try my best.  I emailed your post to my home address so my DH can see it's possible.