Hi lovelies
I'm after some advice please. I am having my twins on 20th December via c section. Am I dreaming to think I may be able to try breast feeding? Even if they are fed differently in hospital (will I get the chance to feed? or will it automatically be bottle or tube?) am I able to try breast feeding when I get home or is that too late? I will be 37 weeks when they are born, if they don't have any other ideas of coming early lol! 18 days to go...
My friend's twins were born by c section at 38 weeks, and she breastfed both twins. She would tandem feed (feed both at same time) at home using a twin breastfeeding pillow. When out, she would breastfeed one at a time or get someone to feed the other baby ebm from a bottle. I think they also introduced some formula to both babies at 3 months, and they continued to breastfeed til over 14 months.
Another woman i met at an ABA meeting breastfed her twins at the breast at all times.
There are lots of options.
The ABA has twin breastfeeding classes, but i don't know if there will be one before your babies are born. Here is an article from their website https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bf-info/twins
Have you been in touch with any twin support groups?
Have a think about how you want them to be fed in hospital. They are your babies, and you get to have a say in how you want them to be fed in hospital and when you get home.
37 weeks is a good time to be having the twins as full term, so hopefully no sucking issues etc. The hospital should encourage and help with BF if that is your wish. They should help so you know how to feed both babies at same time and also show variations in positions for feeding.
Breatss should be offered first, but depending on weight etc may need some top ups but this can be done by a cup or bottle. At 37 weeks unless underlying medical issue or growth restricted should be no need for a tube feed as will be able to suck ok.
My twins were born at 38 weeks and there were no problems breastfeeding them. I did it one at a time which I found a thousand times easier than tandem feeding though. Good luck!
Another thing to consider getting some advice on us starting to express now if you are worried about what they will be fed in hospital. The midwife at my hospital mentioned this to me in passing so I can't give you any detailed information, but she was saying that this hospital is now encouraging mums with gestational diabetes to start expressing at 36 weeks I think- she said it was something they were also suggesting to other mums- might work for you with twins.
I can give you more detailed info on hand expressing colostrum (are you breasts producing colostrum?) and storing it for use after birth if your interested. I hand expressed for 2 1/2 weeks recently before DD was born incase she needed it.
My girls are coming up five months old, born at 37w5d, are exclusively bf and have never had a drop of formula so yes, bf twins can definitely be done. My biggest tip for you at this stage, if you are able, would be to express and freeze colostrum. I talked to an lc at the hospital where I was having my c sec and was given a stash if syringes, so from about 34 - 35 weeks, I hand expressed a few times a day so that I had about 50ml frozen colostrum in hand when I went in for my c sec. It took so much pressure off me in those first few days, having that stash before my milk came in and, without it, we definitely would've needed some formula top ups. So, if you are quite leaky at this point, I would highly recommend it.
We started out tandem feeding - if you do this, take real care to make sure their latches are good. I learnt this the hard way - with two babies, you can't rest one side if its sore and we ended up finger feeding and ebm feeding for weeks while the damage healed. Once E and G started getting bigger, I started feeding individually, less stressful for us all and took the same amount of time cos I didn't have to spend the whole time reattaching little mouths and making sure they stay attached.
Almost five months down the track, I'm loving feeding my girls and the rare one on one time I get by feeding individually and we are in no hurry to introduce anything else at this point. We overcame so many obstacles to get this far (sore and damaged nipples, both tongue tied, small mouths unable to latch on properly, milk blebs and severe mastitis resulting in a hospital stay) but I am so so glad that I persevered. It can be done, please ask me as many questions as you want and good luck!!!!
P.S. the lc I spoke to did comment that she wishes more twin mums to be, who were intending to bf, did ante natal consults to try and minimise feeding difficulties in the first few days.
Congrats Aries! I feed my twins for the first few months, although I also supplemented with formula. It was hard, but I found feeing my son just as confusing sometimes I did consultations at our hospital with a lactation consulatant when I was pregnant which I found helpful. She gave me ideas of positions, and we practised using dolls - which was funny but gave me an idea of how to hold the actual babies. She also came and saw me while I was in hospital and then called me every few weeks at home.
If you are going to buy or hire a pump, I definately recommend a double one if you can. I only had a single and it was very time consuming, especially when my girls were feeding every 3 hours, and I had my 3 year old DS at home too. Your local multiple birth association should be able to help you out, or even most chemist hire them.
My 2 were born at the local hospital but due to no space in the special care nursery were transfered to a hospital about an hour away. To begin with they were also tube fed. I stayed at my sister's house which was about 20/30 minutes away from the hospital, and the nurses sent me home at night to sleep. Depending on what time I left hospital, I would either feed them or express there at about 10.30-11pm, then set my alarm at home to wake up and express during the night.
The thing I found the hardest during our hospital stay is every nurse had an opinion about how the babies should be fed - whether it was one at time, both together etc. You have to be quite strong and not let them force their opinions on you. I ended up with some nasty cracked nipples due to one nurse insisting it didn't hurt when I said one was attached properly. It was much better when we were transfered back to our local hospital, and I was more comfortable with the nurses. Hopefully delivering at 37 wks will mean no special care nursery for you! I delivered at 35 and we had a stay of 3 weeks - my 2 were tenny tiny
In the end, time was the factor that ended breastfeeding for me. My girls actually fed really well, much better than their big brother! I just found having to look after him as well as them, with no real outside help just meant there wasn't enough hours in the day! I was super sad when I stopped, much more than I ever thought I would be, but was proud I had fed them at all. I think the fact that you want to feed them is a great start, as most people would probably think it isn't possible with 2.
You too MrsCricket and so agree about a good electric double pump. I ended up buying one and it was worth every penny.
The different opinions on feeding etc drove me bonkers in hospital, our local unit was awesome though. The one on one attention was the best!
I am feeling much more confident now. I did attend a BF class a couple of weeks ago but it was a large group and I really didnt get to ask many questions before it was over.
I haven't heard of expressing colostrum before birth before. I do have a little amount of colostrum starting (along with enlargement lol) so I will look into that further. A question though, if I hand express the colostrum would that be likely to start early labour? I really want them to stay in as long as possible!
I am interested also in feeding one at a time, everyone has told me to do it all at the same time, BF, change, put down to sleep etc so its nice to know that you can do it seperately if needed. I did mention at the BF class that I was hoping to express so that hubby can help out with one twin if needed but was told that there are other things Dad can do and feeding is soley the mothers job when bf'ing. Did anyone find this hard with the changing of the nipple vs bottle? Or would you say stick to one way? If all else fails and I simply cannot feed, I am hoping to still express at least for the first 3-6 months.
Sorry for sounding so clueless I guess I am now trying to get my head around it all after being given a date for the cs. Its come around so quick
Well done on the feeding ladies, I hope I have success stories like yours soon!
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