Lactation Success Story #1: The 35-Week Twins
As a lactation consultant in the hospital and outpatient setting, I get the honor of helping families from the moment after birth to weeks, months, or even sometimes years along their breastfeeding journey! Almost every mom experiences some kind of challenge along the way, and it’s important to share our stories so that you never have to feel alone because motherhood can be hard! I like to encourage my moms to take things day by day and week by week. Milestones can happen at any time and sometimes will surprise you. Many of these stories include various feeding plans that change over time which is important to normalize. Tune in for this series of success stories from real moms.
I recently worked with a first-time mom who delivered her twin girls at 35 weeks - 5 weeks early! It’s common for twins to come a little early, and sometimes they take a trip to the NICU, but not these girls! They got to stay with mom the entire 4 days they were in the hospital after their c-section delivery.
Since they were born at what is considered a late-preterm gestation, these four-and-a-half-pound sweeties were started on a triple feeding plan from the moment they were born. This means that they would each have the opportunity to breastfeed, and then a bottle of donor milk was offered to them every 2 hours. This was to ensure they were getting the nutrients their bodies needed to grow and be healthy since they may not have the energy and strength to achieve that with breastfeeding alone.
Mom was dedicated to her goal of wanting to breastfeed and provide breast milk exclusively to her babies. She would latch them both with the support of her husband and the lactation team. She learned which techniques and positions felt best for her. The babies were latching beautifully! While dad fed the babies their bottles, mom would pump to support her milk coming in and establish a good supply. By the time they were ready to leave the hospital, they had this routine down and were sent home with lots of donor milk to continue to offer the girls until mom’s milk came in.
The family then came to see me every week for three more weeks after that. The parents were still latching each baby with every single feeding session; that is no small task with twins! It literally takes twice the time and effort. However, the girls had figured out they liked the bottle much better since they didn’t have to “work” quite as hard for their food (this is due to the flow difference between the breast and bottle). Even though they would latch to the breast, they weren’t actually drawing out much milk or filling their bellies from mom. This didn’t deter mom and dad, though! They continued to practice every few hours, and the babies grew and grew stronger from their mom’s pumped milk bottles.
When the babies came to see me for their one month check-in, a turning point had occurred! Each baby went to the breast, fed for a full 20 minutes, and each transferred 2oz from mom. They were able to get all the milk they needed from breastfeeding alone! The parents were then given the green light to stop doing the extra bottles, and the mom could reduce pumping to just one or two times a day. Mom and dad were overjoyed; it took a month of a three-step feeding plan involving latching, pumping, and bottles for not just one baby but two, and they had finally graduated to exclusive breastfeeding- mom’s end goal!
This story is an inspiration to give your body and your baby time, grace, practice, and lots of patience! Your feeding plan can change over time, and even if reaching your goal feels impossible one day, it may come to fruition the next! It is always okay to change your goals and allow them to evolve, just as you do as a mother. No matter what your story looks like, you are amazing for the effort you put into helping your baby grow and flourish!
