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Multiples
Larkin and Bryce
My twins are here and feeding issues questions (long)!
I went into the hospital at 7:30 am for an induction at 38 weeks 1 day. I was already at 3 cm and 90% effaced so I was started on pitocin. By 11:30 am doctor came in to check and I was at 4 cm so she broke baby A's water. Up until then the contractions had not hurt but then they started to pick up significantly. At 1pm the nurse checked me and said I was at 8 cm! So I asked for the epidural...I was originally on the fence about using one but I was afraid to push out both with no pain meds. The epidural wasn't bad at all and it numbed the pain and I could still feel my legs. The doctor came in at around 3pm and said I was 6-7 cm which confused me because the nurse said I was an 8...so not sure what happened there. I napped for awhile and then dilated fully by about 5:45 pm.
I started pushing in my L&D room for about an hour and was then taken to the OR. Pushing was hard on me and I felt like I wasn't making any progress. Finally, after an episiotomy (doc said I would have torn significantly more if I hadn't let her do it) baby girl A, Larkin Bernice was born at 8:06pm weighing 5.14 and 18.5 inches long...baby boy B, Bryce Carl was born at 8:17pm weighing 6.6 and 19 inches long.
I am so in love with my little bundles. We've had some issues with jaundice and weightloss. I was exclusively breastfeeding in the hospital and it was going great. But the doctors noticed they were loosing too much weight. We had a LC come to the house and I found out I was only making about a teaspoon of breastmilk. I've had to supplement with formula and she had us doing these crazy feedings with a tube taped to my breast...overall it was really frustrating and we went to bottles. I've started pumping and supplementing after with formula.
How do you ladies to it! Between cleaning the bottles, laundry and feeding every 2 hours i am beside myself with exhaustion. I am enjoying my little ones but I am very emotional and stressed as well. I really wanted to breastfeed but even their latches aren't very good after giving them the bottle. I'm trying to work them back on the breast but then its breast, feed them my milk via bottle and then supplement formula. Any suggestions ladies...I'm sort of ready to give up on the pumping/breastfeeding 
Larkin and Bryce
This discussion has been closed.
Re: My twins are here and feeding issues questions (long)!
first congrats!!!! i gave up on trying to get them on the breast for the reason you are talking about, but i did pump for 6.5 mo (just quit). i found that just feeding, them pumping for the next bottle worked for me. whatever you decide to do at first i think it is mind over matter. then you will get into a routine. it is exhausting, but that doesnt last forever.
ps-give up the laundry. right now just take care of your little babies and sleep. let your friends/family/other good meaning helpers worry about everything else. you can clean later.
congrats again! i cant wait to see pics!
congrats!!!
I started trying to nurse the twins - and they did great for 2 days- then started to boycott the boob - and because of their jaundice- I decided to bottle feed and EP'd for them. I actually liked bottle feeding better- I knew exactly how much they were eating and others could feed them and i liked being able to see their faces when feeding (on my boob they were hidden).
I EP'd for 4 weeks for the twins (I EP'd for 2mo for my singleton)... I just couldn't do it longer- too much work with 2 babies and a toddler.
We gave all 3 of our boys a bottle every 3 hours - never needed to do every 2 - can you stretch it out or are they screaming at 2 hours? that would be hard... 3 hours is hard enough.
if you give up on the boob- dont' feel bad- you need to do what works best for you (and the babies).... it's great to give breast milk- but is not going to ruin them if they get formula. I would haved loved to give them breast milk longer- but I feel no guilt stopping when I did - because it improved my life SOOO much not to have to deal with it all - so we were all much happier
I don't have any answers for you - just wanted to say congrats!!!
First, CONGRATULATIONS!!
Second, HANG IN THERE! It can be so, so rough in the beginning. (I remember hallucinating in those first few days because I was so exhausted.) It does get better, though.
I was hoping to breastfeed exclusively, but I ended up having to supplement because of their jaundice and lack of weight gain. Now I pump as much as I can, try to get them on the breast at least one time a day (I'm starting with small goals and hope to increase that if we can), and give formula for the rest.
We had latch issues after they were exclusively bottle-fed while J was in the NICU. Now neither wants to latch without a nipple shield (I suppose because it feels more like a bottle). I was super depressed about that for a long time, but ultimately realized that just as some breastmilk is better than none, nursing with a nipple shield is better than them not nursing at all. If you haven't tried one, you might want to consider it.
The other thing we did to try to encourage breastfeeding was to get very slow-flow nipples. Not sure if it helped or not, but the theory was to not make bottle feeding any more enticing to them than it already was. Our twins have reflux also, so we are using Dr. Brown's bottles with preemie nipples.
To simplify things, we just do either formula or expressed breastmilk for a given feeding (we were mixing for a while, but now we give them separately). At least then it's only one bottle per feeding. You can always save the breastmilk for a later feeding.
Just a little extra encouragement for pumping as much as you can (if you are hoping to provide as much breastmilk as possible)... I didn't get a hospital-grade pump right away, and too many times chose to sleep instead of pump, and my supply has suffered because of both. Keep yourself sane, of course, but do know that every pumping session is valuable. Get someone to help with the other stuff and protect your pumping time. And don't beat yourself up if it doesn't work. It is SO hard to juggle it all!
IUI #3 gave us the best 2nd anniv. gift ever: 2 babies! (born 03/09/10)
Peanut and Little Man are getting so big! 2 years old already!
finally blogging again at This Will Be: An Adventure
IUI #3 gave us the best 2nd anniv. gift ever: 2 babies! (born 03/09/10)
Peanut and Little Man are getting so big! 2 years old already!
finally blogging again at This Will Be: An Adventure
Congratulations. The first month of my boys' life is a complete blur of nursing, trying to sleep and nursing again. I remember bits and pieces but really I am just glad it is over. I EBF and had lots of troubles up front, but they are behind me and now BFing is a joy. All that to say, it is awful and tiring now, but it gets so much better. You just have to get through this hard part.
ETA: Forget everything except feeding your babies, feeding yourself and getting sleep. Let someone else do the dishes and the laundry or just let it pile up for now. You're in survival mode, that's all you need to do.
Congratulations!
I remember the first week home is the hardest and toughest when you are still trying to build a supply for the babies. Hang in there! It's so important to have as much support as possible. Explain to your SO that you need help. You are really still recovering from birth mentally and physically. Try asking some one to do the night feedings so you can rest. My Husband would bring the babies to me to nurse as much as I could give then he would bottle feed what was needed, do the diaper changing and put them back to sleep. I never had to get out of bed. Rest is so important the first few weeks home.
The latching takes a lot of work. Carson spent a week in the NICU and was bottle fed the whole time (I was home with Oliver) When Carson finally came home he had a horrible latch. It took a week and half to get him back to EBF. I didn't pump then either so I was trying to get his latch back and produce enough for both. I would let Oliver nurse first. Then put Carson on each breast to stimulate production and work on his latch. After he was on each breast for about 10mins each, he would get a bottle.
LIke I said, a lot of hard work and tears. Lots of tears. but in the end it is worth it.
BUT- If you switch to FF just remember as long as you are loving them and caring for them it's best. I know it can be hard to be as caring as you'd like to be if your exhausted, and stressed about feeding.
GL! Keep us updated!