Feeding Triplets: Let's Get Real About Breastfeeding
I was bound and determined to breastfeed my trio. In fact, I was determined at first to only breastfeed exclusively and pump as a last resort. I always had these beautiful visions of lovingly feeding my babies, gazing into their eyes, sharing a bond so deep, giving them liquid gold that would give them higher IQ's and fewer ear infections.
Dream on sister.
I do want to say, it is absolutely HANDS DOWN possible to breastfeed triplets. There are tons of mamas who do it and they deserve a big round of applause, because it is not easy. I am beyond fortunate to have been able to breastfeed the short time I did and I will forever treasure those moments.
I took breastfeeding multiples classes, read books, watched videos, made lactation cookies, lactation smoothies, got my twin nursing pillow, breast pump, nipple cream... you get the idea. I was prepared!
After the babies were born I quickly realized breastfeeding exclusively would never be an option and pumping would be my next best bet. Unfortunately, I was never able to exclusively feed my babies breast milk, and I want to go over reasons why. They were never mentioned in classes, and I never anticipated the hurdles I would face. Partially because I'm a first time mom, partially because it is such a unique situation for each triplet mom that it is hard to generalize what the experience will be.
Here is my triplet breastfeeding experience.
My babies were born at 35 weeks gestation and they spent 9 days in the NICU. Their weights were 4 pounds 7.2 ounces, 4 pounds 9 ounces, and 4 pounds 5 ounces. All three babies had feeding tubes right away. I realized right after delivery I needed to start pumping ASAP to make sure my supply would come in and I could get the girls as much colostrum as possible. I started pumping about three hours after my c-section. I tried breastfeeding the next day. What made it impossible to exclusively breastfeed from the start was the babies prematurity. They could barely stay awake to latch, then actually eat. Latching alone was exhausting for them. What I also didn't know was that in order to put weight on the girls we would need to either follow up with a bottle after breastfeeding, the bottle having high calorie formula, or fortified breast milk (essentially just adding a little formula to the pumped breast milk to boost the calories). This is a choice you can make, you could refuse this option and opt solely to breastfeed, or bottle feed just breast milk. I was so anti formula before the girls came I never imagined they would be on formula in their first week of life. But once I saw my teeny tiny babies, and I felt the emptiness of going home without them, I had no problem what so ever with the choice we made. To this day I am so beyond grateful we went this route, our girls are on track for their actual age, and they came home quickly from the NICU.
I continued each day while we were in the NICU to try to breastfeed each baby. They were not able to get enough milk breastfeeding so they were fed through their feeding tubes their first 4 days. We started bottle feeds on day 4. They were on a strict 3 hour feeding schedule. I would first breastfeed one baby, which would take around 20-30 minutes, then my husband would follow up with a bottle while I moved onto the next baby. Once I breastfed the last baby I would pass her off to Jon and go pump, which also took 30 minutes. One feed would take around 2 hours after pumping, leaving us with maybe an hour to use the bathroom, grab some food, or just snuggle our girls.
This would definitely not work when we came home unless I had around the clock help. It was amazing to be able to bond with the girls and it worked great while we were in the NICU.
Once we were home my husband still had a week off before he went back to work so I started practicing doing feeds by myself. We did not start propping bottles until around 5 weeks, which happened to also be around their due date. In the beginning we would feed each baby individually. We still had to stick to the 3 hour schedule for feedings, waking the girls up, and I pumped every 3 hours right after their feed. Each baby took around 30 minutes, 45 if they were really sleepy, to finish a bottle, then had to be burped, and sit upright for about 20-30 minutes to avoid them puking and being uncomfortable. All of the girls had mild reflux. Reflux is EXTREMELY common in premature babies and I would highly suggest researching it and finding a pediatrician who is familiar with reflux before the babies are born. We were fortunate to not have a severe case but I know loads of triplet moms that go through reflux hell, and I know if we had been, our pediatrician did not seem well versed. Trust me, even just mild reflux was awful so I cannot imagine poor babies and mamas that have severe cases.
I still continued to try and breastfeed as much as possible but the girls never got full, or they would get snuggled up against mama and fall asleep. With one baby it is no problemo to cluster feed and feed frequently, but it is not possible when you have two other hungry babies. Unless you are a mutant mother who is immune to babies screaming, or super mom who can soothe babies with your feet, lovely voice, and good vibes. (I am neither.)
I had imagined I would tandem breastfeed and either rotate one baby out, or bottle feed while tandem feeding. This would have worked well if the girls weren't so intimidating to pick up in the first few months. I have no clue at all how other moms can use a tandem feeding pillow with preemies while alone. I would put one baby on the pillow, then try to hold her with my elbow and reach down to pick up the other baby and just not have a way to safely support the baby on the pillow and the baby's head that I was trying to pick up. It terrified me. I only tandem fed by myself a handful of times while the girls were little, and I do have to say I felt pretty bad ass each time.
I continued to pump and the girls got almost all breast milk for the first month and I breastfed here and there on demand. In the first few months while the girls had to eat every three hours no matter what, I highly recommend working out some shifts with your spouse so you can both get some sleep. I wanted to be super women and cover the entire night for my hubby who had to work the next day. I mostly did, but after the first month I was really getting exhausted and we worked out a little better schedule. He would get home around 5, I would spend a little time with him and the girls, shower, eat something and go to sleep at 7 (and by sleep I mean lay there and let the floodgates of stress, anxiety, mom guilt, exhaustion, and postpartum craziness seep in, have a good cry, then maybe sleep for a couple hours). Jon would watch the girls until 11, then I would take over. I still had to pump every 3 hours, so even if he did an entire night for me on the weekends it was still never uninterrupted sleep. (I still have not had uninterrupted sleep for more than a few nights on weekends since my second trimester being pregnant...and the girls are 6 months) It was like torture at times being so exhausted. At around 5 weeks I started seriously considering stopping pumping. The girls weren't sleepy little preemies that just laid there anymore. They started needing more attention, more cuddles, and actually started getting fussy, and letting me know when they got hungry. I no longer could just feed one baby, move on to the next then pump.
This is when we started propping bottles. Even when we propped at this point in time it would still take the girls about 45 minutes to eat, then burping took around 10 minutes for each girl, then we let them sit up for 20 minimum, then I would pump. I was hitting a wall. Emotionally, physically, mentally, you name it, I was at my limit. I was completely torn between pumping and giving my babies the nutrients and anti bodies, and having an extra 4 hours a day to cuddle the girls, take a nap, have a few seconds to feel human, etc. Either way I felt like I had to make a decision. At 6 or 7 weeks I decided to start dropping pumping sessions. At the end of 3 months I stopped pumping all together. My supply completely went away so I stopped breastfeeding as well.
I felt immense sadness and guilt. I would just cry every time I thought about it. Letting go of the expectation I had and the ideal of breastfeeding was so incredibly hard. I felt like I failed my babies at a time that I felt like I failed them in every way, each day. It was rough, but I made the choice that was best for my well being. I needed more time to spend with the girls, not attached to a machine. They grow so fast and I wanted every minute possibly to hold them a little longer. I needed to get a full nights sleep. I needed to be the best mom I could be, and the only way to do that was to stop pumping. Having triplets has made me let go of my idealistic views of motherhood and learn to never say "I would never do that!". Every mom is trying their best to give their little babies the best life possible, and that means constantly making tough decisions and having to let go of the "what ifs". I am choosing to let it go, finally at 6 months. I am choosing to be grateful I got to breastfeed while I could because I know there are so many mamas that didn't even get that chance. I know it is so hard to not give everything to your babies, but at the end of the day all they need is a happy, healthy mama and a full belly.
Dream on sister.
I do want to say, it is absolutely HANDS DOWN possible to breastfeed triplets. There are tons of mamas who do it and they deserve a big round of applause, because it is not easy. I am beyond fortunate to have been able to breastfeed the short time I did and I will forever treasure those moments.
I took breastfeeding multiples classes, read books, watched videos, made lactation cookies, lactation smoothies, got my twin nursing pillow, breast pump, nipple cream... you get the idea. I was prepared!
After the babies were born I quickly realized breastfeeding exclusively would never be an option and pumping would be my next best bet. Unfortunately, I was never able to exclusively feed my babies breast milk, and I want to go over reasons why. They were never mentioned in classes, and I never anticipated the hurdles I would face. Partially because I'm a first time mom, partially because it is such a unique situation for each triplet mom that it is hard to generalize what the experience will be.
Here is my triplet breastfeeding experience.
My babies were born at 35 weeks gestation and they spent 9 days in the NICU. Their weights were 4 pounds 7.2 ounces, 4 pounds 9 ounces, and 4 pounds 5 ounces. All three babies had feeding tubes right away. I realized right after delivery I needed to start pumping ASAP to make sure my supply would come in and I could get the girls as much colostrum as possible. I started pumping about three hours after my c-section. I tried breastfeeding the next day. What made it impossible to exclusively breastfeed from the start was the babies prematurity. They could barely stay awake to latch, then actually eat. Latching alone was exhausting for them. What I also didn't know was that in order to put weight on the girls we would need to either follow up with a bottle after breastfeeding, the bottle having high calorie formula, or fortified breast milk (essentially just adding a little formula to the pumped breast milk to boost the calories). This is a choice you can make, you could refuse this option and opt solely to breastfeed, or bottle feed just breast milk. I was so anti formula before the girls came I never imagined they would be on formula in their first week of life. But once I saw my teeny tiny babies, and I felt the emptiness of going home without them, I had no problem what so ever with the choice we made. To this day I am so beyond grateful we went this route, our girls are on track for their actual age, and they came home quickly from the NICU.
I continued each day while we were in the NICU to try to breastfeed each baby. They were not able to get enough milk breastfeeding so they were fed through their feeding tubes their first 4 days. We started bottle feeds on day 4. They were on a strict 3 hour feeding schedule. I would first breastfeed one baby, which would take around 20-30 minutes, then my husband would follow up with a bottle while I moved onto the next baby. Once I breastfed the last baby I would pass her off to Jon and go pump, which also took 30 minutes. One feed would take around 2 hours after pumping, leaving us with maybe an hour to use the bathroom, grab some food, or just snuggle our girls.
This would definitely not work when we came home unless I had around the clock help. It was amazing to be able to bond with the girls and it worked great while we were in the NICU.
Once we were home my husband still had a week off before he went back to work so I started practicing doing feeds by myself. We did not start propping bottles until around 5 weeks, which happened to also be around their due date. In the beginning we would feed each baby individually. We still had to stick to the 3 hour schedule for feedings, waking the girls up, and I pumped every 3 hours right after their feed. Each baby took around 30 minutes, 45 if they were really sleepy, to finish a bottle, then had to be burped, and sit upright for about 20-30 minutes to avoid them puking and being uncomfortable. All of the girls had mild reflux. Reflux is EXTREMELY common in premature babies and I would highly suggest researching it and finding a pediatrician who is familiar with reflux before the babies are born. We were fortunate to not have a severe case but I know loads of triplet moms that go through reflux hell, and I know if we had been, our pediatrician did not seem well versed. Trust me, even just mild reflux was awful so I cannot imagine poor babies and mamas that have severe cases.
I still continued to try and breastfeed as much as possible but the girls never got full, or they would get snuggled up against mama and fall asleep. With one baby it is no problemo to cluster feed and feed frequently, but it is not possible when you have two other hungry babies. Unless you are a mutant mother who is immune to babies screaming, or super mom who can soothe babies with your feet, lovely voice, and good vibes. (I am neither.)
I had imagined I would tandem breastfeed and either rotate one baby out, or bottle feed while tandem feeding. This would have worked well if the girls weren't so intimidating to pick up in the first few months. I have no clue at all how other moms can use a tandem feeding pillow with preemies while alone. I would put one baby on the pillow, then try to hold her with my elbow and reach down to pick up the other baby and just not have a way to safely support the baby on the pillow and the baby's head that I was trying to pick up. It terrified me. I only tandem fed by myself a handful of times while the girls were little, and I do have to say I felt pretty bad ass each time.
I continued to pump and the girls got almost all breast milk for the first month and I breastfed here and there on demand. In the first few months while the girls had to eat every three hours no matter what, I highly recommend working out some shifts with your spouse so you can both get some sleep. I wanted to be super women and cover the entire night for my hubby who had to work the next day. I mostly did, but after the first month I was really getting exhausted and we worked out a little better schedule. He would get home around 5, I would spend a little time with him and the girls, shower, eat something and go to sleep at 7 (and by sleep I mean lay there and let the floodgates of stress, anxiety, mom guilt, exhaustion, and postpartum craziness seep in, have a good cry, then maybe sleep for a couple hours). Jon would watch the girls until 11, then I would take over. I still had to pump every 3 hours, so even if he did an entire night for me on the weekends it was still never uninterrupted sleep. (I still have not had uninterrupted sleep for more than a few nights on weekends since my second trimester being pregnant...and the girls are 6 months) It was like torture at times being so exhausted. At around 5 weeks I started seriously considering stopping pumping. The girls weren't sleepy little preemies that just laid there anymore. They started needing more attention, more cuddles, and actually started getting fussy, and letting me know when they got hungry. I no longer could just feed one baby, move on to the next then pump.
This is when we started propping bottles. Even when we propped at this point in time it would still take the girls about 45 minutes to eat, then burping took around 10 minutes for each girl, then we let them sit up for 20 minimum, then I would pump. I was hitting a wall. Emotionally, physically, mentally, you name it, I was at my limit. I was completely torn between pumping and giving my babies the nutrients and anti bodies, and having an extra 4 hours a day to cuddle the girls, take a nap, have a few seconds to feel human, etc. Either way I felt like I had to make a decision. At 6 or 7 weeks I decided to start dropping pumping sessions. At the end of 3 months I stopped pumping all together. My supply completely went away so I stopped breastfeeding as well.
I felt immense sadness and guilt. I would just cry every time I thought about it. Letting go of the expectation I had and the ideal of breastfeeding was so incredibly hard. I felt like I failed my babies at a time that I felt like I failed them in every way, each day. It was rough, but I made the choice that was best for my well being. I needed more time to spend with the girls, not attached to a machine. They grow so fast and I wanted every minute possibly to hold them a little longer. I needed to get a full nights sleep. I needed to be the best mom I could be, and the only way to do that was to stop pumping. Having triplets has made me let go of my idealistic views of motherhood and learn to never say "I would never do that!". Every mom is trying their best to give their little babies the best life possible, and that means constantly making tough decisions and having to let go of the "what ifs". I am choosing to let it go, finally at 6 months. I am choosing to be grateful I got to breastfeed while I could because I know there are so many mamas that didn't even get that chance. I know it is so hard to not give everything to your babies, but at the end of the day all they need is a happy, healthy mama and a full belly.
Joan's first bottle.
After my first successful tandem solo nursing session.
Kissing my breast pump goodbye.
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