Breastfeeding Twins | Our Journey

It was an exhausting twelve hours of labor and I found myself with such a massive headache I couldn’t quite smile through all the excitement of just meeting my sons for the first time. A wave of sadness and joy was simultaneously hitting me with such force that all I wanted was to pass out for just a few minutes. I mention sadness because the boys had been swept away and were being examined by the NICU nurses. But before I could even close my eyes to rest the nurse walked in with Matthew. She said she was going to see if he would latch before taking him to NICU. There I was just about to fulfill a lifelong dream and I was too tired to even show emotion. Matthew latched almost instantly. He’s always been my easy feeder. Not long after, another nurse brought in William and for the first time, I nursed both of my sons together. My hands though were so incredibly tired from the two hours of pushing I had just gone through that their minuscule four pounds felt like I was holding heavy weights on each arm. I needed help and the nurse was gone. I kept thinking, “someone please help me. My children are going to fall out of my arms.”

My mother and D were there and I remember telling them, “I can’t do this right now, I’m afraid I’m going to drop them.” They each carried a baby and passed them around as the rest of the family poured in the room to meet them for the first time. From that point forward to some time later that night in my recovery room I have no recollection. It’s as if the following hours never happened. That night although the nurse suggested I stay in my room and get some rest I couldn’t help but want to be near my babies. Mom wheeled me to the NICU where I spent the following hours trying to nurse each one. They would latch and suck but after just a short while they would get tired and fall asleep. That’s when the NICU nurse said I should pump and that they would tube feed them my milk. And that’s what we did for almost the entire two weeks they were there. I would pump and store it in the fridge and feed it to them when it was time. An almost exhausting cycle on its own for a new mom but even more for a mom of two. It went a little like this:

2:00 PM Matthew feeds – 20-30 minutes to drink his bottle of a sometimes an ounce or two… never more than that.
2:30 PM William feeds – 20-30 minutes to drink just an ounce.
Change diapers and cuddle.
3:00 PM eat a snack and load up on water.
3:30 PM take a much needed nap.
4:30 PM wake up to pump for 20 minutes.
5:00 PM feed Matthew.
5:30 PM feed William.

And so you get the picture. For the longest I slept no more than an hour at a time. Sometimes I would skip that turn altogether if anyone was visiting or if I replaced the nap with showering or just hanging out with D. Those days were all about surviving. We weren’t concerned with anything happening in the world but getting our babies out of NICU. My whole life those two weeks was all about making milk. The greatest piece of advice that the NICU nurses gave me was to always keep the boys on a schedule. Till now, I’d say we do follow some version of a schedule and it’s kept us sane around here. If there was someone there to help me feed them I would still wait about twenty to thirty minutes to keep the children apart so that once we got home it would be easier when I was alone. That is until we actually got home and I started feeding them at the same time straight from the breast. Everything got so much easier at home… and that’s where our real breastfeeding journey began.

Breastfeeding was a second nature kind of thing for me. My one foe was how tired I was all day every day. It didn’t matter if D or my mom would tag in so that I could sleep a bit longer. My boobs were on a schedule as well and if I so much as went four hours without feeding or pumping I would start leaking. Remember that you produce as much as you need. Supply = Demand. The more you feel you need to make or better said, the more the baby drinks, the more you will produce. These are a couple of the items that made it all so much easier for me.

Twin Nursing Pillow by My Brest Friend. I talk about this pillow to all my twin mom friends. It literally saved us. Big enough to have both babies feeding at the same time and quite honestly they loved sleeping on it too. It helped me with my posture and I couldn’t say enough good things about it. Order it, you will not regret getting one.
Our insurance provided us with this breast pump and although we loved the one at the hospital more it was alright for a substitution. Medela Pump In Style breast pump. Just be careful not to go overboard with the strength you set on the machine because it will hurt your precious boobies. I think one of the main reasons I had scaring once was because I was trying to literally squeeze more than I should out of my breast and it bruised me. This is a powerful little pump.
Lansinoh Hands-Free Pumping bra – freed up my hands to pump which meant I could actually relax and disconnect while pumping. It’s very important to not stress while your pumping just as it is when you are nursing. Once you relax you’ll see how the milk will just flow. Not having to hold the pump was the greatest thing for me. I would get on my phone or take those twenty minutes as the perfect time to eat lunch or snack… anything that didn’t require movement was a great entertainment to keep my mind off the fact I was pumping.
For the days my breast were swollen and hurt from not feeding or pumping on schedule, I used these gel pads to soothe the pain. Lansinoh 3-in1 Breast Therapy packs – I liked it better when I would warm them in the microwave as opposed to having them cold. Some days I would even but them on my breast and then pump and it would help out tremendously.
I never liked the texture of disposable pads so I ended up buying fabric ones that I could just wash with my laundry. You can get those here.
The bottles we used to feed them my pumped milk (this is when daddy was a great help) were the Lansinoh mOmma bottles. The nipple kinda looks like a boob and it worked for our boys like a charm. We had no nipple confusion the whole 10 months we breastfed, which in other words the boys never had a clear preference over one or the other. We ended up using these right until the boys were about 8 months old. Then we switched over to the simple kind.

I kept my mind filled with positive thoughts that I COULD DO THIS. My mother always advised me to keep calm and positive whenever I was breastfeeding or pumping. There were days I would notice that one breast was producing more milk than the other and then it would alternate. I always felt more comfortable feeding them straight from the breast instead of pumping because bonding with them was the greatest part of all of this. I loved listening to the sounds they would make while feeding. Those little coos are forever imprinted in my mommy brain as one of the sweetest memories I will ever have. The boys also used this time to interact with each other and it was while breastfeeding that they first held hands, touched each other’s faces, smiled at each other and so forth. Feeding them at the same time was my lifesaver. It freed up my hands with the nursing pillow and I was just there nourishing my babies while resting.

On the contrary to what some moms think, breast feeding is not supposed to hurt. If it does, then there is something wrong. Either the latch is not right or somewhere along the way either one of you missed a step. I say this as if it was very complicated. It’s not my friends. Once you get the hang of it you simply bring the child near you and he/she will find the boob. That’s it. They will feed until they are full or fall asleep and you will not have any weird sensation other than the obvious pull at your breast from their sucking. Such an easy thing to do once you have endured the adjustment period.

Now I know that not every woman is the same and unfortunately there are many women that just can’t. For one reason or another. If you are amongst one of these gals please don’t take anything of what I have just said offensively. It isn’t this easy for everyone. Some women have certain conditions that prevent them from having a breastfeeding experience. But I encourage you to try. Just try and see what happens. You will quickly know if this is for you. The most important thing is that our babies are fed, no matter how we go about doing so. So there you have it ladies, I hope my little tips have encouraged you to give it a shot or if you are already doing so and are looking for some gadgets I promise you that this isn’t a sponsored post where I am getting paid for recommending anything. These are all suggestions from my personal experience breastfeeding William & Matthew. If you are pregnant with twins and happen to land on this post, CONGRATULATIONS! It’s a lot easier than everyone thinks and a lot tougher than anyone will ever give you credit for, but you can do it! We did it, and so can you. Feel free to comment or message me and I will try to help in any way I can.