BREAST is BEST

During my pregnancy I decided that I was going to breastfeed my twins. I told myself that I would like to at least do it for the first 6 months and if it went beyond that, then great! I didn't read any books about breastfeeding or attend any classes on the subject. In my mind I thought, "How hard could it be?" You put the baby to your breast and (TA DA!) they nurse. No formula to buy and mix or bottles to clean and sterilize. Boy was I in for a rude awakening.

Since Tanner and Abigail were born a month early, they were both in the NICU for about a week. I was given a breast pump at the hospital and shown how to use it. I didn't realize that I needed to pump to get my milk to "come". I thought that once I had the babies my body was supposed to do its thing. I didn't know I had to "coax" my milk out with a hospital grade milking machine. Let me tell you, the first few pumping sessions were very depressing. After 15-30 minutes with this machine and all I got were two drops of colostrum (what the lactation consultants refer to as "Liquid Gold") from each breast. I thought breastfeeding might not be for me. The LC at the hospital wanted me to pump every 2-4 hours...even through the night! I thought, "Are they crazy?" My husband was very good about trying to keep me on a pumping schedule while I was in the hospital, but I never did achieve the every 2-hour schedule, it just wasn't happening. During my visits to the NICU I would nurse each baby alone. Tanner's room had a nice view of Hadlock Field (home of the Portland Sea Dogs). I would sit with him (or Abigail) and nurse while my husband and I watched the game from our room atop the Barbara Bush wing of Maine Medical Center. If I missed a feeding, the wonderful NICU nurses would give them a bottle of formula and the "Liquid Gold" I would deliver each day. I kept asking to meet with a LC before Tanner and Abigail were discharged about nursing twins and eventually one came to meet with me (briefly). She showed me the various techniques and positions for nursing two babies at the same time. Since Tanner and Abigail were so young and unable to hold their heads up it really didn't work the way she (and I) wanted it to. She reassured me that when we got home and they got stronger, it would be much easier.

Before we left the hospital the nurses and doctors told me to continue to feed the twins every three hours. Once we got home breastfeeding and pumping became difficult. I didn't nurse them both at the same time because they were still not strong enough and I had forgotten everything the LC had told me about tandem feeding. Every three hours I would nurse one baby and give the other a bottle of breast milk that I had stored in the refrigerator. I continued to pump after each feeding, but the “ravenous” children I was feeding were quickly depleting my stored milk supply. I started to panic and became very scared that my body wasn't producing enough to feed them both. I would cry in my bedroom and on my husbands shoulder about the babies "starving" because I wasn't making and pumping enough milk. Luckily we had an appointment with their pediatrician that week, the day the stored milk officially RAN OUT!

I told Dr. Russ about my fears of not producing enough milk for both babies and he told me that supplementing with formula was fine. As a breastfeeding mother I saw formula as a sign of failure, but he reassured me that supplementing with formula until my milk supply increased was not a problem and that I shouldn't feel bad about it. Dr. Russ reminded me that some babies are only given formula and they grow up to be happy and healthy. He also told me about several herbal supplements that I could use to boost my milk supply. Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle were two capsules that I could buy at most pharmacies and health food stores. He also told me that I could drink Mother's Milk tea. After meeting with Dr. Russ I stopped at the health food store and bought a box of Mother's Milk tea and two bottles of Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle. Then I went to the grocery store and bought my FIRST container of Enfamil Premium Lipil formula (the same formula they were being given at the NICU).

For the next few weeks I continued with the nurse one baby, bottle the other baby (with formula) every 3 hours schedule. After each feeding session I pumped and stored the breast milk. I was taking three Fenugreek capsules and three Blessed Thistle capsules three times a day (12 capsules a day) and drinking Mother's Milk tea once a day (which I quickly stopped because I didn't like the taste) to boost my milk supply. Tanner and Abigail were getting stronger and I was thinking more and more about giving tandem feeding another try. I called the OB floor at Miles Memorial Hospital (the hospital where I had planned to deliver) and spoke with an LC named Jan. I asked her if I could come in and meet with her about tandem nursing. We made an appointment and the next day I packed up both babies (with my mother-in-law, Hazel) and headed to Damariscotta. While I was there Jan gave me a twin-nursing pillow (similar to the Double Blessings pillow) that the hospital had to loan for twin moms. It was much larger than my regular Boppy pillow and accommodated two babies and even had a belt to keep it in place! I brought in a book that had several nursing positions for twins and Jan helped me try them all. At one point Jan said she wished she had a camera to take pictures of each position to make a book for future twin moms. The position that worked best for us was the "football hold". Each baby lay with their head (face up and in) at the breast and their legs going straight back by my side (under my arms). We propped the Boppy up with pillows and burp cloths under each baby's head to get the proper latch. This NEW Boppy pillow allowed me to be hands free and feed both babies at the same time. I sat there thinking about all the time I would have to nap, shower, and eat between feedings now! I felt (a little more) liberated!

When I got home I set up the "feeding station" on my bed. Lots of pillows and my NEW twin Boppy on loan from the hospital for as long as I needed it! Every three hours I would change both babies and take them into the bedroom to feed. Jan told me to switch sides with the babies halfway through each feeding session to make sure that each breast was getting properly emptied. Since Abigail was a much stronger nurser and Tanner usually fell asleep 10 minutes in, this was very important but proved to be too difficult for me. Instead I switched sides for every other feeding. I had a hard time remembering which baby went on which side at first, but then I developed a system using pink and blue burp cloths. After each feeding I would move the burp cloths to the side that Tanner and Abigail were supposed to feed for the next session. After some feedings I would offer each baby a 4-ounce bottle of formula to make sure they were full. Tanner became a stronger nurser because of Abigail. Since I was feeding them together, he benefited from the multiple let downs that her strong sucking reflex would produce. This was great since he was a smaller baby and we had concerns about his weight. Abigail helped him pack on the pounds! If I had continued to nurse him by himself, I am sure his weight gain would have been much slower.

I love being able to feed both babies are once, but this style of breastfeeding doesn't really allow for much mother-baby bonding. Since my hands were free (but my time wasn't) I read books, checked my email, and caught up on all the episodes of TV that I was missing on hulu.com. Once in a while I would feed each baby itself so that I could connect with them more during this special and tender moment that only mother and baby share.

Tanner and Abigail are now 12 (and 3/4) months old. They are eating solids and have started drinking whole milk and juice. We are still nursing, now only twice a day, morning and night. I still tandem feed using the twin Boppy pillow but I feel that my breastfeeding journey is quickly coming to an end. Tanner and Abigail are becoming less interested in nursing and more distracted by each other...not to mention they are finally getting teeth! I will be sad when we stop breastfeeding completely, but I feel that I have given Tanner and Abigail the best start in life with the best nutrition, Mother's Milk.