help with twin BF

[Iammymother]

Hi, I'm new here, a friend suggested this site to find the help I need. This is probably going to be long, I'm apologizing now. I have three month old twins. I had a c-section and the doctor had me supplement from the very beginning because they were three weeks early (although decent size for twins- 5.8 and 6.12.) She told me not to worry, that when my milking came in I wouldn't have any trouble dropping the supplements. Because of the c-section, I was not in great shape when I got home. I had a UTI that ended up in my kidneys and came back a second time. I had clogged milk ducts and was starting to get an infection there, too. That in combination with the pain I was in and how tired I was, and lets just say that it wasn't long before the breastmilk became the supplement. I actually quit nursing for about a month and tried just pumping, but that didn't work out very well and I decided to try nursing them a couple times a days. I thought I'd be okay with that, but I'm really not. I wanted very badly to eclusively breastfeed my twins and I still do. My family isn't very helpful. They keep trying to make me feel better by telling me that I'm not a bad mom for not doing it, I have two of them, I probably don't have enough milk for two, etc. What I want to know is if its possible for my to get my milk supply up enough, after three monthes, to be able to breastfeed my twin exclusively? And if so, how?

[twins10705]

Do the babies nurse well? The best way to increase your milk and look forward to realizing your goal is to have those babies latched onto you as much as possible -- this will keep the babies from favoring bottles over the breast as well as signal to your body to produce more and more milk. Always nurse before giving any supplement and do not schedule feedings -- feed on demand 24/7...while your milk supply is so low they will be nursing almost constantly and it is very very exhausting -- but after sticking it out a few days you will see how your body responds and they will start to nurse less.
To help up the supply during this time, fenugreek is a great supplement and oatmeal(in any form even cookies) works also, eating well , drinking enough and rest(though with twins, not necessarily possible) are good ways to ensure optimum milk production -- though I cannot stress enough to keep those babes latched on.
You can cross post this to the Parenting Multiples forum for more responses -- good luck, your babies are lucky that you are willing to try so hard to give them the best!

[Iammymother]

Actually that the crazy thing. When they were born we had all kinds of trouble with latching on and my nipples blister cracked and bled. I couldn't get them to latch on right and when they did, they'd let go or fall asleep and you couldn't get them to stay awake. But when I went back to it, them latched on like it was nothing and we don't have problems with that anymore. The only thing is that they act frustrated sometimes- like they are getting as much as they want or its not coming fast enough.

[twinsarefun]

Congratulations on the birth of your twins! : I just love my twins! I too had a really rocky start from the beginning. A long story with that. It was pretty upsetting since I had nursed two previous babies for three years. I had some bad advice in the beginning that got me off to a bad start with my twins. After months of research, here I am to offer what I can to help you. First of all, buy yourself a EZ2Nurse pillow. If I had that in the beginning, it would have been so much easier! Also, your babies are probably still young enough that they will nurse at the breast. I would put your babies to the breast and both at the same time, as much as possible. Let them stimulate all that they can. Try and take a weekend or whole week if possible, to do this. I ordered a great resource from Twins Magazine about feeding twins. It had some wonderful articles about women who relactated to feed their twins. They did it! You can do it too! If the babies still seem hungry after nursing, I would do what Dr. Jack Newman suggests. Put in a lactation aid such as the SNS just at the end of the feeding ONLY. Do not follow Madela's instructions about using this through the whole feed. It will sabotage your supply and nursing efforts. This is where I got bad advice. I used the tube through the whole feeding and my twins got hooked on the device. Now they won't nurse without it. Try not to use it though. But if you do need to supplement until your supply matches up, it is the best way to supplement to teach the baby breastfeeding and to still stimulate the breasts. Hopefully over time, you will build back up your supply and be on your way nursing. Get on this asap though. As your babies get older, they will get smarted and get hooked on gadgets - bottles, tubes, ect... In about a week, you should be able to get your supply up. You might even want to pump with a double pump immediately after each nursing session and take the herbs, blessed thistle (3 capusules, 3 x's daily), fenugreek (same amount), and goat's rue (Motherlove.com - 1 four times daily). All of these things will help. Use only a hospital grade pump. Rent one if you have to for a month. The Pump in Style is only for maintaining a milk supply, not for creating one. I wish you well. Please ask if you need any other help. I am here and have been there! Best of wishes for happy nursing!

[Iammymother]

where do I find those resources your talking about (from twin magazine?) I did find fenugreek and started taking it two days ago, but I'm having trouble finding blessed thistle- GNC and Vitaminworld didn't have it. Could it be the same as milk thistle- they both had that? Renting a pump is out of the question- money is extremely tight right now (it was bad enough, but then our furnace died.) And my husband doesn't think its possible to nurse twins as big as ours are- 13 and 15 pounds- anyway, so there's just no way.

[twinsarefun]

This is the booklet that I got: http://www.twinsmagazine.com/product183.html

You can buy blessed thistle at vitaminshoppe.com You do have to buy blessed thistle. The other is different. Also, as long as your babies latch and suckle, they will bring up your supply most likely. You will need encouragement though to get through this. Your husband just needs to get informed and encouraged himself. If after all of your efforts this does not work, at least you could nurse with the SNS. At Kellymom.com in the immunity section, there is a research article that says just 1 tsp. of breastmilk contains over 3 million germ fighting cells! That is like a BIG dose of Tylenol in the sick cold/flu season. Breastmilk is so important in keeping our little ones healthy. I wish you well! Let me know if you need anything else.

[MaryJaneLouise]

Check out this thread for more supply boosting ideas:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ighlight=carob

[Iammymother]

Than you all so much! Your suggestions and support mean so much to me!