Ack! The girls are already beyond two weeks here (3 weeks on Tues!)
and while I have intended to write a whole ton of blog posts, they
sadly haven't materialized. Mainly, because when I have "free" time
(ha!) there are about a hundred things I want or need to do. And when
I do have time on the computer (which is, admittedly, more often than I
expected!), I still am mostly just reading, since typing requires more
hands (and energy) than I usually have available. But! I know you want updates, so here are a few bits and pieces of whats happening.
Breastfeeding: Since this is basically all I do all day, it merits top mention. Having gone through so many troubles, for so long, with Emma, it was definitely a worry of mine as to how it would go. With twins, no less! Initially, in the hospital, both Elsie and Delia were able to latch and nurse pretty well, in the hour after birth. Hooray! By day two and three, however, things were really painful (VERY similar to Emma, and OMG that was bad). I was able to tell that it was Elsie, more than Delia, that was sucking weirdly and hurting me though, and that was helpful to know.
Also on day 3, we found they had lost more than a pound each, getting dehydrated, and my milk had not come in yet. Ah, memories. We had to start supplementing with formula, though instead of bottles we did syringe and finger feeding, and cup feeding. Since this was all totally familiar, it was not half as stressful and emotional for me as it was with Emma, but still it is Not Fun to see your babies getting smaller and smaller and thirstier and thirstier.
So, I started on the Domperidone, a galactagogue (milk increasing) med I took with Emma, and also Metformin, something new to me that is supposed to help people with PCOS and low milk supply. I am working both with a lactation consultant and a breastfeeding doctor, who is a specialist and very well known in the lactation community. SO glad to have that support this time around. Luckily, my milk did come in, and I think has been getting more plentiful. Both babies are now hydrated and gaining, but as of last Thursday, not gaining enough, and not back to their birth weights yet. To help me keep track of how things are going better, I rented a baby scale -- instead of making me obsess more, it helps reassure me that we are on track, and that I am not supplementing too little or more than necessary. We have moved to bottles for supplementing, and they are getting that (with formula) 2-3 times a day. I should be pumping, and am supposed to do it at least once or twice a day. I think thats doable, though I didn't get it in today....
Luckily, the horrible nipple pain subsided (after taking a break and exclusively pumping on one side for a few days) SO MUCH faster than with Emma -- during the second week, instead of going on for THREE LONG MONTHS. I am feeling so so thankful for that. If it were that painful and hard this time, I am not sure how long I could take it. Because we nurse A LOT around here.
Both girls LOVE nursing, and, like Emma did, nurse very frequently and for long chunks. They would prefer to live on the boob, especially at night. Part of this, I am sure, is because my supply and flow is low and slow, so it takes awhile to get enough. Partly, its because I tend to try nursing to soothe before anything else, because its so easy and takes no thinking/work on my part. I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing, but I realize I need to help them learn other ways to soothe (like the pacifier!!!) so that we have a few more options. So that is currently on the agenda. Will keep you posted. Send any pacifier vibes this way, if you have them.
We are, however, on the upswing, as for the past few days, Elsie has gained around 2 ounces a day! Thats huge! Delia is slower and gaining a bit less than an ounce a day. Elsie is now really close to reaching her birth weight, and also close to catching up with Delia. I am pretty sure this is happening because she wakes up and wants to nurse twice as often as Delia. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, I guess! I try to wake Delia when she has gone longer than 2 hours or so without eating, but she still eats less often and for shorter periods than whiny Elsie. Ha!
All in all, I do feel like my supply is quite a bit larger than it was with Emma, which is good, since I need twice as much! I likely will not get to a full enough supply to feed them both exclusively, but I am feel lucky and happy to be giving them as much as I am currently...
Sleep -- My second favorite thing to obsess about, as you all know! So, Elsie and Delia are both so much sleepier babies than Emma ever was, which is, admittedly, quite nice. Part of this is due to being a few weeks "early", but I am hoping it is also because they are just better sleepers. One can hope, right? During the day, they can sleep a lot, and we can even put them down, OMG. However, they often seem to think that nighttime is for fussing, crying, screaming, complaining, or just being awake, and held, continuously. It is quite unfortunate.
We do have successes, though! Once they are finally asleep, they can go a good 3-4 hours! This is way better than Emma was for ages. But it often it takes hours and hours of me nursing (or bottlefeeding) them, burping and helping them deal with gas, nursing, changing diapers, bouncing on the ball, nursing, trying to ease them into the bed or crib, nursing again, did I say NURSING?!?!? Just like Emma, they Will Not Transfer and tend to wake upon any kind of putting down. This is where nursing to sleep in our bed (cosleeping) worked wonders with Emma, but its really hard to simultaneously nurse to sleep two babies (while also getting any kind of sleep myself!). In desperation I have figured out a few tricks and can actually do it, but I hope we can move away from this soonish. They have got to get the message that sleep is doable, at night, while not being in contact with Mama (or Daddy). Hopefully, the above mentioned pacifier lessons might help with this? Come on, pacifier love! If you have any other ideas, feel free to send them my way!
Well, I have more to say but am going to save it for another post. Next up -- specifics on Delia and Elsie as we get to know them better, their differences and funny quirks, etc, etc. Also, funny Emma-isms. Stay tuned!
Love, M & D
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