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Nursing Twins
nursing twins and how she did it! Submitted by Michelle
My name is Michelle and I have twin boys (now 12 years old). These were my first children, so I did not know what to expect and was always looking for ANY advice anyone could give me. Since they were born premature and only 2 1/2 pounds each, (I only carried for 28 weeks and 3 days), breastfeeding was not immediately an option. I was able to pump so that the nurses could feed them through little tubes and bottles. As soon as they were strong enough, I was able to start breastfeeding them normally. The nurses did suggest that I could probably transition them to a normal bottle rather easily, but because I was pumping beforehand, there was no problem with the transition to breastfeeding. I would find myself sitting on the couch late at night, with one boy on each side watching late night TV. There was one nurse at the hospital who gave me some advice that I still remember to this day (and tell anyone else I know who is having multiples). She told me to get them on different feeding schedules (I guess so I could spend some one-on-one time). If anyone suggests this - don't do it! I tried. What happened was that I had NO sleep. As you know, newborns seem to want to eat constantly, with a little nap in between. As soon as one was done, the other was up and ready to eat. That left absolutely no time for mom to rest or get anything else done. It took me a few days to get them back on the same schedule. As they got a little older (and not eating constantly), I would continue to pump, so that my husband could give a bottle of breastmilk if I was taking a nap or just needed a break from nursing twins. We kept the breast pump for the first 6 months, and I think that without it, I might not have been able to overcome the bumps in the road we encountered when they were first born. I feel that the pump enabled me to breastfeed my twins, when things seemed against me doing it.
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