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Multiples
LittleLady77
member
Tell me your BFing story
LittleLady77
member
in Multiples
Hi Ladies. FTM here who really wants to BF. All I hear is how hard it is and how not everyone can do it. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is anything wrong with opting to FF but for hubby and I BFing is really important. I'm taking the classes, reading the books, I have two breast pumps. Please tell me this is doable and how you did it. Did you need to supplement? Did you almost give up?
Thanks!
Thanks!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Tell me your BFing story
I didn't tandem nurse until my girls were older, it was just too overwhelming for me. I would change one, nurse them, out them back down either back to bed or in the swing and then do the same for the second. It took a little longer but for me was a lot easier.
Never think you are not making enough milk until a lactation consultant tells you so. Not your pediatrician. Pediatricians as a general rule do not have enough breastfeeding knowledge.
Good luck!
Emerson Lily 6 lbs 13 oz & Ellis Willow 6 lbs 9 oz
I really appreciate the success stories.
The twins were born at 34w and spent 13 days in the NICU. My milk takes an eternity to come in - 5 days to get any real volume. And the NICU needed to feed them, so I had to supplement for 10 days while my supply caught up w their demand. I nursed at least once a day and pumped every 3 hours to bring my milk in.
Once they came home, we switched to BFing and I've tandemed them starting in the hospital a bit, but almost exclusively once we all were home. We do one up, both up which really helped my sanity.
It was hard and one of my boys was especially challenging, but BFing is really important to me. Really, really important.
Take help in the hospital. The nurses, at least in my experience, are really knowledgeable about BFing a newborn. Tell everyone you can at the hospital that you really want to make it work. Ask questions. If you're worried about your supply, you can always do a weighed feed to put some numbers to the equation.
We're going strong at 6mo and my next goal is a year.
We worked really hard...what I think helped the most and what kept me going was a BF support group at a local birth and mom's center. I went when she was exactly 2 weeks old and didn't miss a week until I returned to work when she was 6 months old. I also continued to see a private LC for a few more times to get it right. I used a nipple shield until she was 7 months old. It worked and even though I hated it, it was working an mot impacting my supply.
We ended up nursing for 21 months (and in the beginning I thought I wouldn't make it a month).
I occassionaly supplemented with an ounce or 2 of formula when I just couldn't get her to latch early on, but it was rare. And I pumped a lot after I put her to bed to build up a supply for when I went back to work (I had 1000 ounces in our garage freezer when I returned to work).
I cried about it a lot...and my husband would always remind me that Tuesday (the dayof the support group) was coming and not to do anything until I made it back to one more group...and honestly...just getting to the next Tuesday was what helped get me over each hump.
I don't know how it'll be with twins, but I'm hoping to BF for as long as I did with DD and plan to call in the troops. I plan to have an LC come visit us at home once we're released, get to the support group and also be easy on myself and remind myself that it can be done.
The nicu did give formula for 2 days until my milk came in. Thankfully I was able to keep up with the amount they were being fed by tube, so I was able to produce more than enough for them to have just breast milk. The nicu was quite insistent that my breast milk be fortified with human milk fortifier for extra calories since they were preemies. After reading some of the scientific literature on preemie outcomes with the fortifier, I did consent to this.
As they got older, we gradually introduced feeds by breast and bottle, and by the time they were discharged, they were strong enough to take all feeds by breast.
They are now two months old. I occasionally tandem feed, but find they eat better/longer when fed separately. Feeding and changing both takes about an hour, and they want to eat every 1-3 hours. Sometimes that means I don't get a break before starting the next cycle if nursing, but I do find it to be less work than pumping/cleaning parts/then bottle feeding.
When they are having a growth spurt and eating all.the.time, it's easy to question whether you are making enough milk, but so long as they are consistently gaining weight, trust that they are getting enough.
I do feed them as they indicate they are hungry, but also make sure to do one up, both up.
Although their prematurity meant I wasn't able to breast feed from the beginning, I was able to give them breast milk. And even after an extended nicu stay, we've been able to transition to exclusively breast feeding. So even if you don't have an optimal start, there's still hope.
3/22 ER: 25R, 20M, 15F. 9 genetically normal, and 3 survived to Day 5
3/27 ET: transferred 1 embryo, beta 9dp5dt=163, 12dp5dt=639
4/25 1st ultrasound at 7 weeks = identical twins with heartbeats?!!!