Breastfeeding is super important to me. After a bit of a rocky start, Raptor and I had a great nursing relationship. She self-weaned when my milk dried up at 15 months. Imagine a rant here about my OB who insisted I go on birth control pills when she was a year old because of some period issues and assured me it would not impact my milk supply. Not true. ::shakes fist::
So when we found out we were having twins, I started obsessively researching how to be successful breastfeeding multiples. It can be done! I highly recommend a twin nursing pillow. I have this one and it’s the bomb. It lets me feed them at the same time so I don’t lose my mind.
Mia is nursing like a champ! We’ve pretty much gotten her off of the supplemental bottles! She (and Xander) both had to have a few mls of formula in the hospital, Xander due to blood sugar issues and Mia due to jaundice, but I’m pleased to report that I’m currently managing to exclusively breast feed them. It’s pretty much a full time job (I’m actually nursing as I type. lol) but it’s so worth it. I went into this with the mindset that I would basically be doing nothing but nursing babies for the first 6 months. Anytime I get discouraged, I remember that I knew this was going to be a huge time commitment for 6 months, but that I can do anything for 6 months. With Raptor, things got a lot easier once we introduced solid food so I’m keeping my eye on that prize. My ultimate goal is to nurse for 2 years which coincides with the end of flu season.
Nursing feels like a huge accomplishment for 2 reasons. 1, because TWINS! Duh. I was so worried about my milk supply. If I’m being honest, I’m still worried about it. Right now, I have plenty to feed the babies, plus I pump once a day and freeze 3-4 ounces in case of emergency. Like last Friday when I had a margarita emergency at the prospect of my baby graduating from kindergarten. ::sob:: 2, because often children who have Downs syndrome have feeding issues even with a bottle, so the fact that Mia nurses almost full time feels like a huge accomplishment. I think the fact that she has a typically developing, boobie addicted, twin helps. He helps keep my supply up, and when I tandem feed them he helps get a letdown for her.
I feel a huge amount of guilt about the formula they got in the hospital, but I’m trying to let that go. I’m having varying degrees of success with that. lol. I wanted to include a picture but, while I’m far from modest about breastfeeding, even I draw the line at posting pics of my droopy boobs online. Once the babies are bigger and their heads provide a bit more coverage, I’d like to take some nice pics of me nursing them. We’ll see.