This is the story of how my husband and I have managed to keep our girl twins alive and growing the past two months (and they grow so fast!!). I include my husband because I wouldn't have succeeded without him! I was so lucky to have him home for an entire month before we moved and he started work, on top of having my mom close by. He still helps with the nighttime feedings, earning him the best husband of the century award.
Just a side note: It's amazing to me how complicated feeding an infant can be when they only eat one thing. In fact, they don't even eat food yet, they only drink! Yet I went to the store to buy some formula and this complication is illustrated by at least six different versions of formula for each brand. And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to feeding infants. Top that off with a million varied opinions about breastfeeding and bottle feeding, and sprinkle on some judgment, guilt, and criticism. My pet peeve is moms and non-moms judging other moms. We have enough judgment and guilt going on in our own heads! We used all kinds of options until we found what worked! Most importantly, I think there are all kinds of in-between solutions that WORK.
First of all, my goal was and still is to breastfeed my babies for at least 12 months. Starting in the hospital when I was given a pump and told to use it every three hours, I had a pretty good milk supply. My milk came in by day 5 extremely gradually, I didn't have one of those extreme engorgement experiences, probably because I was feeding two babies so often. I mentioned in my last post that with Peyton and Zoe being early, nursing did not come easily and they were both very sleepy. On top of that, they both struggled maintaining high enough blood sugar, so we had to try all kinds of things. From the beginning they were given formula, pumped breast milk, milk in bottles, tubes, syringes, and at the breast. I feel really lucky having some lactation experience, so I kind of knew about these options. Also, the lactation consultants and the NICU occupational therapist saved me with all their help!
Since I wanted to nurse, I was really worried about our babies getting hooked on bottles. I'm sure some babies develop a preference no matter what, but I know there are a lot of tricks that help. So the bottles in the hospital are fast-flow nipples. Once I used them, it was pretty clear the difference. The hospital nipples are also small and don't require the same open mouth required for nursing. The super smart reason is, these kind of bottles make it easiest for a baby to eat. When your baby is super sleepy and needs food, a bottle like this is a blessing. We did use these bottles, and the nurses used these bottles when we took breaks from feeding them. The NICU nurses taught us to hold the bottle horizontal so the milk fills only half the nipple. That slows the flow and requires the baby to actually suck to get the milk in his or her mouth. When we went home, we used slow flow Tommee Tippee bottles. I think the hole is just smaller for slow flow, and there were like three options at the store that "mimic the breast" so I picked the design I liked that happened to be on sale. :)
The occupational therapist taught us to never shove a pacifier or bottle into a baby's mouth. The reason being that nursing requires a baby to open wide and take a big "bite" of breast to latch on. Repeating the same action with a bottle or pacifier helps the baby practice correctly. Shoving anything into a baby's mouth pushes back the tongue, creating the wrong position for nursing (along with not letting the baby decide if she wants it). Instead, we would put the nipple on her lips and wait for her to open wide. On top of that, I tried to eat and drink enough to give my body something to work with.
By the time we left the hospital (5 full days), both Peyton and Zoe were latching and nursing okay, but I was in so much PAIN. The pain ends, but it took two weeks. Nursing twins means half the rest time. Since they were also taking a good 45 minutes to nurse, and I hadn't managed to figure out tandem feeding, I would nurse one baby while Aaron fed the other a bottle of expressed milk. Then I would pump following. Pumping doesn't hurt like nursing does, so this allowed me to take a break! Also, I bought a huge container of lanolin and used it every single time I nursed. Life. Saver. Our system was an hour to an hour and a half process, but I've heard of worse situations. We did this for two weeks until I slowly added tandem sessions.
First of all, my goal was and still is to breastfeed my babies for at least 12 months. Starting in the hospital when I was given a pump and told to use it every three hours, I had a pretty good milk supply. My milk came in by day 5 extremely gradually, I didn't have one of those extreme engorgement experiences, probably because I was feeding two babies so often. I mentioned in my last post that with Peyton and Zoe being early, nursing did not come easily and they were both very sleepy. On top of that, they both struggled maintaining high enough blood sugar, so we had to try all kinds of things. From the beginning they were given formula, pumped breast milk, milk in bottles, tubes, syringes, and at the breast. I feel really lucky having some lactation experience, so I kind of knew about these options. Also, the lactation consultants and the NICU occupational therapist saved me with all their help!
Since I wanted to nurse, I was really worried about our babies getting hooked on bottles. I'm sure some babies develop a preference no matter what, but I know there are a lot of tricks that help. So the bottles in the hospital are fast-flow nipples. Once I used them, it was pretty clear the difference. The hospital nipples are also small and don't require the same open mouth required for nursing. The super smart reason is, these kind of bottles make it easiest for a baby to eat. When your baby is super sleepy and needs food, a bottle like this is a blessing. We did use these bottles, and the nurses used these bottles when we took breaks from feeding them. The NICU nurses taught us to hold the bottle horizontal so the milk fills only half the nipple. That slows the flow and requires the baby to actually suck to get the milk in his or her mouth. When we went home, we used slow flow Tommee Tippee bottles. I think the hole is just smaller for slow flow, and there were like three options at the store that "mimic the breast" so I picked the design I liked that happened to be on sale. :)
The occupational therapist taught us to never shove a pacifier or bottle into a baby's mouth. The reason being that nursing requires a baby to open wide and take a big "bite" of breast to latch on. Repeating the same action with a bottle or pacifier helps the baby practice correctly. Shoving anything into a baby's mouth pushes back the tongue, creating the wrong position for nursing (along with not letting the baby decide if she wants it). Instead, we would put the nipple on her lips and wait for her to open wide. On top of that, I tried to eat and drink enough to give my body something to work with.
By the time we left the hospital (5 full days), both Peyton and Zoe were latching and nursing okay, but I was in so much PAIN. The pain ends, but it took two weeks. Nursing twins means half the rest time. Since they were also taking a good 45 minutes to nurse, and I hadn't managed to figure out tandem feeding, I would nurse one baby while Aaron fed the other a bottle of expressed milk. Then I would pump following. Pumping doesn't hurt like nursing does, so this allowed me to take a break! Also, I bought a huge container of lanolin and used it every single time I nursed. Life. Saver. Our system was an hour to an hour and a half process, but I've heard of worse situations. We did this for two weeks until I slowly added tandem sessions.
I'm telling you, we tried so many things! Those first two weeks, we also took shifts at night to take turns sleeping 5-6 hours. I was recovering from a C-section and we were both exhausted from the long hospital experience so we both NEEDED this. We stopped once I was nursing both every time, but it was okay because we were so much faster and feeling much better.
Tandem breastfeeding was VERY intimidating at first, and I seriously set a goal to try once every day at one point. I bought a used My Brest Friend nursing pillow from a friend before the babes were born, but it was a matter of figuring out how to use it. My first try took a good hour and I think I used our entire stash of blankets trying to lift their little bodies and heads to the right height so they could both eat. I realized that the used pillow is a little flatter than it was originally, but I'm too cheap to spend $80 on a pillow. It took me a while, but I've perfected my strategy now, on top of my babies being bigger and less floppy. :) This video is helpful and not awkward.
To tandem, I use my Boppy, the nursing pillow, and a folded pillow or skinny long pillow. The Boppy goes on my lap first, with the long pillow at the bottom of my back while I sit in bed against the wall, or on a couch. I place the nursing pillow so it sits on top of these two pillows to achieve the perfect height. The nursing pillow wraps around my waist, supporting the entire baby's body. I only do this on my bed or on a couch, because I have the twins lying next to me while I do this, so I just pick them up one at a time and put them on my pillow. You can do other positions, but I just do a double football hold. I turn each baby toward me with their heads almost touching with a burp cloth under their heads to catch any drips. Then I just latch on one baby at a time and hold their heads. Sometimes I manage to let go, but you kind of need another pillow under their chins/heads to keep them on and I haven't found a good one. I switch sides each time if can manage to remember, so it's not a precise science. When I'm feeling foolish and dress them alike, I'm pretty much a lost cause all day.
Tandem breastfeeding was VERY intimidating at first, and I seriously set a goal to try once every day at one point. I bought a used My Brest Friend nursing pillow from a friend before the babes were born, but it was a matter of figuring out how to use it. My first try took a good hour and I think I used our entire stash of blankets trying to lift their little bodies and heads to the right height so they could both eat. I realized that the used pillow is a little flatter than it was originally, but I'm too cheap to spend $80 on a pillow. It took me a while, but I've perfected my strategy now, on top of my babies being bigger and less floppy. :) This video is helpful and not awkward.
To tandem, I use my Boppy, the nursing pillow, and a folded pillow or skinny long pillow. The Boppy goes on my lap first, with the long pillow at the bottom of my back while I sit in bed against the wall, or on a couch. I place the nursing pillow so it sits on top of these two pillows to achieve the perfect height. The nursing pillow wraps around my waist, supporting the entire baby's body. I only do this on my bed or on a couch, because I have the twins lying next to me while I do this, so I just pick them up one at a time and put them on my pillow. You can do other positions, but I just do a double football hold. I turn each baby toward me with their heads almost touching with a burp cloth under their heads to catch any drips. Then I just latch on one baby at a time and hold their heads. Sometimes I manage to let go, but you kind of need another pillow under their chins/heads to keep them on and I haven't found a good one. I switch sides each time if can manage to remember, so it's not a precise science. When I'm feeling foolish and dress them alike, I'm pretty much a lost cause all day.
We are so pro now, but it took me a good month to really get it polished. Also, I can now manage with just a Boppy and a regular pillow (for in the car feedings) or using a bunch of regular pillows (at someone else's house). When we drove from Utah to Arkansas, nursing them together saved a lot of time! These days though my girls are much faster, (20 minutes total) so I usually just nurse them separate if we are visiting someone during feeding time. As far as public places, we haven't put ourselves in that situation long enough to have to deal with that. We just go on 3 hour excursions. :) But, I think I would bring a bottle if we were going to be out for a long time. That way, I could nurse one baby (much more discreet) while Aaron fed the other baby a bottle so we don't take forever. My other trick when feeding one then the other is I always feed Zoe first. When that girl is hungry she will not take a pacifier! Peyton is just a little more patient and more easily distracted. I hope she doesn't hold a grudge when she gets older. :)
The newest snag we've run into with nursing is both Peyton and Zoe cluster feed like crazy in the evening. They are saving up to sleep longer, which I totally appreciate, but five times out of seven, I just don't have enough milk to make them happy. Then the problem is they will not sleep until they've had their fill and they end up staying awake for the entire evening, not sleeping until 11 PM while fussing the entire time. So… after they nurse for 45 minutes and aren't satisfied, we give them a 2 oz. bottle each of whatever we have to top them off. I also try to nip it in the bud and feed them more often during the day, but sometimes I don't have the chance to do that, or they are just insatiable.
I've noticed something interesting about nursing, if that baby is determined, she can keep getting milk if she sucks and waits long enough, but it's tough work. I'm pretty sure at that point she may be burning more calories than she's getting! If I'm feeling like an overachiever I pump after giving them a bottle, but usually I race to bed as soon as they go down. If either baby doesn't eat much at one feeding, I pump after that too if I can. I was never able to build up an excess supply for storage, so they usually get formula. This has been a life changer, considering we all go to bed at a decent time, and the evenings are much more pleasant.
It's hard work feeding two infants! I have tons of respect for anyone who keeps a baby alive and healthy. Since I can't usually manage to nurse hands free, I've been watching a lot of Netflix. Friday Night Lights anyone? Reading is tricky, because books kind of need two hands. Basically, my smartphone is my best friend for multitasking. Sometimes, I can only manage to turn on the TV using my toes to operate the remote. Sometimes I'm stuck on the couch for hours feeding or comforting or rocking my babies. My point is that I don't get a lot done these days, yet I am happy to snuggle my little ones while they both fit in my arms.
The newest snag we've run into with nursing is both Peyton and Zoe cluster feed like crazy in the evening. They are saving up to sleep longer, which I totally appreciate, but five times out of seven, I just don't have enough milk to make them happy. Then the problem is they will not sleep until they've had their fill and they end up staying awake for the entire evening, not sleeping until 11 PM while fussing the entire time. So… after they nurse for 45 minutes and aren't satisfied, we give them a 2 oz. bottle each of whatever we have to top them off. I also try to nip it in the bud and feed them more often during the day, but sometimes I don't have the chance to do that, or they are just insatiable.
I've noticed something interesting about nursing, if that baby is determined, she can keep getting milk if she sucks and waits long enough, but it's tough work. I'm pretty sure at that point she may be burning more calories than she's getting! If I'm feeling like an overachiever I pump after giving them a bottle, but usually I race to bed as soon as they go down. If either baby doesn't eat much at one feeding, I pump after that too if I can. I was never able to build up an excess supply for storage, so they usually get formula. This has been a life changer, considering we all go to bed at a decent time, and the evenings are much more pleasant.
It's hard work feeding two infants! I have tons of respect for anyone who keeps a baby alive and healthy. Since I can't usually manage to nurse hands free, I've been watching a lot of Netflix. Friday Night Lights anyone? Reading is tricky, because books kind of need two hands. Basically, my smartphone is my best friend for multitasking. Sometimes, I can only manage to turn on the TV using my toes to operate the remote. Sometimes I'm stuck on the couch for hours feeding or comforting or rocking my babies. My point is that I don't get a lot done these days, yet I am happy to snuggle my little ones while they both fit in my arms.
Love,
Lauresa
Lauresa