breast feeding, pumping, confused..

[kayra]

I understand now Ali, thanks, so what I pumped I'd freeze and use once the milk supply is established?

thanks for the link Bec, i'd only heard of the football clutch for twins so it's nice to see alternatives! Hand expressing a bit to make the nipple more flexible before the feed makes sense, I'll keep that in mind.
Bestbees I definitely appreciate hearing your experience, I hope I didn't sound like I didn't. Unfortunately finding a twin support group kind of a thing here is close to impossible, we don't really have those kind of things and the attitude is mostly Twins, C section for sure, bottle feed for sure, get paid help for sure...I'll definitely look into the book you mentioned, I've been searching for a good book on twins but haven't been able to decide by looking at reviews.

[Bestbees]

Just looked at where you are, I loved Istanbul when I visited a few years a go. So beautiful. Good luck with your babies and follow what is best for you.
Xx

[kayra]

thanks, let me know if you visit again

[*Ali*]

Or if you. Give the milk at BT or DF that night for example just make sure you pump as well/while they are feeding so your body is not missing a feed.

[louis-mummy]

Hi kayra 

I think if you hated pumping last time then I wouldn't plan at this stage to do it again, but I understand your worries about supply considering the reduction op....Ideally i would start bf and let your supply establish and see how it goes, you might be pleasantly surprised, do you definitely want that option for someone else to be able to bottle feed them? (twins are bound to be demanding on a whole new level!) or is it your supply you're worried about?

I have a friend who mixed fed her twins past the first year and it worked for her as she knew when her DH would be around to help with bottles but tended to bf when she was on her own with them both. She didn't seem to worry about supply/demand too much (prob too tired to keep track anyway) so if she'd bf them both 'a lot' that day (fed on demand) then she would give them extra bottle if they still seemed hungry. This is not textbook bf advice though, just a case of finding what worked, they had been prem and had reflux so the rules go out of the window 

[kayra]

I don't know
Initially I wasn't planning to pump, then when I read that it would help with the supply I thought maybe I should. Someone else feeding with the bottle wasn't my initial motivation but a sort of side-bonus.
However pumping during the day is one thing, having to pump at night is another, I just couldn't do that.
I read loads of the nursing nurture site last night and there it says that actually during the night esp. it's so much easier to BF because you can doze while feeding too and that that way you don't really have to wake the other to feed too when one wakes (which is what everyone else says you should do), you just kind of alternate babies in the night. (of course this is assuming they don't need a nappy change etc).
Ideally my milk would just come in nicely and I'd only pump if there seemed too much rather than with the stress of trying to make more milk.
Taking it as it comes is probably what I should do, it just goes against my grain of wanting to have a plan in place and being ready. So maybe I just need A, B, C plans. Like have a pump on the ready but don't use it initially work on BF, hand express before the feed if nipples are too flat. Try different positions, see what works. B plan, if supply does seem to be an issue start pumping. or C plan if BF 2 at the same time is just too overwhelming pump so 1 can be bottlefed and try to alternate... does that make sense?
I asked about the lactation consultant and it's roughly 80£ for 1 visit you can choose whether it's pre or post birth. To me it would make so much more sense if it was a 1 pre 1 post sort of package, don't know if it's worth going down that route, not sure i'm going to get any great revelations that haven't been mentioned here or on other nursing websites..

[*Ali*]

I would actually get the LC to come in the first week after birth. There is nothing better than having her observe an actual feed IMO.

[koe2moe]

Hi Kayra

I also think that LC after births and be prepared to have her there for a few days in a row after birth would help more than pre. 

I did exclusively expressing for 5.5 months.  It was awful for me and my body but I was grateful that I could do that.  I think the plans you have in place are great.  No panic at the spot when things don't work one way or another.  Remember that as little or as much as the babies could get at the first days is already GREAT for their little growing bodies.  Put your own health first so that you can care for them.  Try with positive outlook and accept the outcome as it comes. 

Write these plans down so that others can just look at them and remind you or help you when you are exhausted/stressed.  xx

[kayra]

yes i'll need to keep an open mind about the LC coming in the first week after birth, I didn't get the impression I'd need to book in advance so shouldn't be a problem.
Writing the plans down is a good idea too, I should do that.
I'm feeling a bit more relaxed now, I think I was worrying myself into a frenzy and obviously getting ahead of myself b/c there's only so much you can plan ahead... I don't want anything to take away from the joy of these 2 lives we've so longed for.

[Erin M]

I'd look for a good nursing pillow for twins too -- the twin mommies I know who nursed swore by them .

[nona]

your plan sounds good to me:)

you def want to have a pump, just in case.  if the babies need to be in NICU for some reason, then you will have it. with DS, who I BF for 13 months, i did need to use the pump a few times on a boob that i had a nursing blister early on (in week 2 or 3?(. BUT, you don't need to worry about using after BFing unless you have a supply issues…but you won't know that until after the babies come.

also, you will BFing a lot so my hunch is that you won't need to worry about supply!

also, my DS was a c/s baby and my milk came in no problem.

even with the age difference, nursing DD was much easier and only took about a week to get the kinks worked out.

don't stress too much about this…take it day by day….let your instincts help you….def hire a respectable LC to have in that first week. is there a BFIng class you take before you deliver? we have those as well as L&D class.

btw, my DH's sister had twins and she BF them both and gave bottles as needed when she started working.

[kayra]

a friend has a pillow she's going to give me, called breastfriend or something? I don't think it's twin specific though..I'll need to look into that, I never had a pillow with DS.
I just heard about some LCs in training so I'm thinking of contacting them, I'm assuming they'd charge less since they aren't certified yet so I could afford to have someone come more than once, I don't think that just 1 time would be enough. A specialised sort of BF class would most likely be quite expensive, before DS I participated in a general 'getting ready for a baby' kind of class the hospital sponsored but it was very general and didn't really give any more info about BF than I'd already read about.

[koe2moe]

I would just skip the class. They would only give you very generalised information.  I think you can get that from a book.  Keep some reserve funds for a good experienced LC.  (Ask around if someone can refer you from their experience.)  Some people in training are very good, some people with many years experience can be crap.  Try not to go by the price only. 

I understand now why BF was a no go for me.  It was my body.  When I had to look down, my body stiffened.  Doing that so many times to get a latch, etc, drained me and got me extremely frustrated and with lots of muscle ache.  I wish I had known this.  Perhaps try practice those positions.  Everyone is unique.  You are generally healthy, so perhaps those don't apply to you at all.  Just throwing it out there to help you prepare.  xx 

[Sezzle]

I expressed for my twins for 3 months while they were in nicu (premature, born at 25 weeks) then managed to establish breastfeeding and ended up continuing until they self weaned at 2.5 years  .

I did have oversupply related to my expressing while they were tube fed, as I was so concerned that I wouldn't have enough milk for them when they needed it that I pumped and pumped and pumped massive volumes, way too much for 2 babies lol!  It took about another 3 months after breastfeeding was established for my supply to settle down enough to get rid of the pump.

I think being prepared and having some plans of action is a great idea, but for me the decisions were taken out of my hands and expressing was my option.  My twins fed 4 hourly around the clock upon discharge, and took about 1:45-2hrs to breastfeed them both (I fed individually rather than twin feed due to reflux and them constantly needing reattaching), and would often express before and/or after due to my oversupply and also to add to the stash in the freezer.  Hard work!!  But totally worth it.  Once they were older I used the "my breast friend" twin feeding pillow and it cut down the time spent feeding dramatically!

I was lucky to have support in Australia from the Australian Breastfeeding Association and Australian Multiple Birth Association. 

Wishing you all the best, it's great that you are doing lots of research and preparing yourself!  Being a twin mummy is awesome!

[kayra]

oh my gosh Sezzle, 25 weeks! they must have been barely over half a kilo each, bless you! Thrilled to hear that they made it and thrived, amazing
Yes, so much is out of our hands, so its good to have a plan but be flexible, thanks so much for your input, it's nice to see more twin mummies here