Breastfeeding triplets - Page 2

[cdahlgrd]

If you had oversupply with the first, you may have it even worse with the triplets. That was how it worked for me. i could have easily fed quad's!!

however, we did bottle feed them for 7 weeks because of their small mouths and my huge and very swollen nipples (and they were born at 37 weeks 5 days.) I thought I would be pumping forever, but my dh suggested I try to latch them again, and they nursed like old pros!!

So, try to be open to possibilities and relaxed about how things are going. It will change so much every day!! And DON"T Forget to drink your WATER!! You will do fine.

[twinsarefun]

I second the advice about being careful of LC's even if they are IBCLC. You have to really interview the LC on the phone before consulting. I went to one of the nations top LC's and she gave me horrible advice that got my twins stuck on the SNS. She is also a pediatric nurse practioner. So I thought she knew what she was doing. I am now seeing another LC who is also well known. She seems to know more about my issue and has another approach. She costs a fortune though. If I would have had the right help in the beginning, I wouldn't be where I am now. If I knew how to interview, etc.. It is hard though when we only know a little in the beginning. I thought nursing would be like my others. I would highly recommend Elizabeth Noble's book "Having Twins and More". That is what really helped me to carry my twins to 38 wks. 5 days. I would have went longer but the doctor who was the only one who would deliver vaginally and with the second breech, was going to go out of town. Otherwise, I would have had the "C" section doctor. I was at 4 cm for a week, 6 cm for two weeks, and 8 cm for 1 week prior to having my twins. The doctors were going crazy. I wanted a natural vaginal birth and knew others who went to 40 wks. The doctor was saying that if I went past 38 wks, I was most likely looking for a "C" section. I knew my ovulation date and knew exactly how many weeks I was. To him, I was 39 weeks. He was not liking me walking around like a bomb about to go off. I got induced prior to him leaving. I had the best birth ever! My guys came within 1 hr. and the second breech! My babies weighed 7 lbs. and 7 lbs. 7 oz. I think the doctor was shocked how it all went. I wasn't though. My friend who had her babies at home with the midwife who herself delivered triplets vaginally. My friends baby was 8 lbs. 2 oz. and 8 lbs. 8 lbs. 8 oz. Yikes! I wasn't that brave though. My friend wouldn't take supplements. I did. She hemorraged a lot with her labor and passed out twice. I saw a top midwife (who also in nationally known) who counseled me on what supplements to take. I really suggest you take these. I really saw a difference with my birth compared to my friends - Great Earth Hem-Iron 100 mg., Mannatech Ambrotose 1/2 tsp. two times daily, at least 120 grams of protein (150 for you), all of this in addition to the prenatals. I took Vita-Mom Advanced.The midwife said that they iron in the prenatals will not absorb. So I need the Hem-Iron. The Ambrotose and Hem-Iron are all important for brain growth and for preventing hemmoraging. I also took a green powder supplement and Carlson's fish capsules (the few without mercury). The fish capsules are for DHA for good brain growth. The midwife said that out of the over 4,000 births, she has never had a case of hemmorage. She has delivered over a 100 set of twins (unfortunately, no longer legal for midwives where I live). The midwife is also a physiologist that studies brain growth. I wish you well!

P.S. Oh, also she had me take at least 1000 mg. of vitamin C with bioflavanoids.

[elisabethmelner]

Congrats on your exciting news of triplets! My triplet girls just turned 3 months on Wednesday. I, like you, was bound and determined to ebf my babies. I carried my babies until 36 weeks. They were born with great weights for triplets, 5lbs 13oz, 5lbs 10oz, and 4lbs 13oz. I feel so fortunate that they didn't have to spend any time in the NICU. Most of the triplet moms I've connected with ran into some snags with ebf due to the babies being in the NICU. Your 1st goal should be to carry those babies as long as possible and keep them out of the NICU. This will give you an optimal start to a bf relationship with them. 30 minutes after my girls' birth, I was able to nurse them. The hospital was eager to get the girls' birth weights up and in order to shorten our hospital stay, I begrudgingly agreed to a bottle feed after I nursed the girls. I ONLY REASON why I even considered this is b/c I have a girlfriend who pumped and brought milk into the hospital for the girls, so they only got milk. After 5 days in the hospital we all came home together. Once we got home, I began to nurse them exclusively at the breast and haven't looked back since.

You will probably have to experiment and see what works best for you. Here is what works for us right now. I try my best to keep the girls on a 3 hour feeding schedule; this helps stretch their sleep during the night. I will nurse 2 at once and then follow up right away with the third. My 3 year old ds began nursing again once the girls arrived, so he'll nurse with the third baby or right after she is done for several of the feedings. Having him nurse again has been awesome for my milk supply and also was great for the engorgement that I would get in the first few weeks. For the first 2 months the girls would nurse for about an hour in total. Now that they are 3 months old and getting more efficient, we are down to about 40 minutes. I'm proud to say that all of my girls have doubled their birth weight, just on breast alone!

I won't lie to you, it is truly a personal time commitment and can be a little overwhelming at times. I have absoutely no regrets as of yet. I still have not given them a bottle of ebm. I figure that as long as I'm able I will ebf them. I'm really paranoid about screwing up their latch with a bottle.

Please PM me if you have any other questions. I connected with two moms a few months before I delivered that successfully EBF their triplets. By talking with them, I got the encouragement and confidence to pursue what I knew in my heart could be done. Hopefully I've done the same for you! Congrats again and best of luck.