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Ask Jamie: Breastfeeding Twins

Kathy asks:

Did you have to pump when you subbed since Clara and Anna took two bottles while you were gone? If so, how did that go and where were you able to pump privately?

We are nearly 6 weeks in and still going strong with breastfeeding. Only 46 weeks to go! I will say that I feel like it is a lot easier this time as I knew what to expect. I think if I would have had twins with my first pregnancy it would have been much easier to give up, but since I had the experience of breastfeeding Bo I feel like this has been much easier. (It still blows my mind to think that I was still nursing him at this point last year...) The girls are doing great with their weight gain and the pediatrician was quite pleased and sees no reason to supplement with formula at this point.

I actually did not pump while I was at the college -- but by the time I returned home I couldn't wait to pump. My chest felt like it was going to explode!!

I've actually never pumped in a public place (well, unless you count in the car...). Since I returned to work part-time after Bo was born I was able to pump at different times to provide the bottles he needed and not pump at school. With Bo, I typically pumped after his morning feeding and then again at 10 pm before I went to bed after he started going down for the night consistently. Bo took two to three bottles each day -- one or two at my mom's house while I was at school and Mike gave him a bottle at bedtime. I also used pumped milk for babyfood -- and I ended up throwing some of the milk away. Let's just say I don't have a supply issue...

The girls are still eating at 10 pm so I am only pumping after a morning feeding. Some days I manage to pump before Bo wakes up. Other days, when Bo is up early or the girls are fussy - I wait until after Katie is here. Pumping just isn't something I feel a two-year-old little boy needs to be exposed to. There is nothing wrong with it obviously -- but it is a bit weird...

I also pump if I am gone and the girls take a bottle. When I subbed, Katie had given both girls a bottle right before I returned home and Bo was napping so I pumped immediately when I returned. On Tuesday, when Mike came home and let me "go out on the town", I fed both girls as soon as I arrived home and then pumped for the feeding I missed.

I am definitely not amassing the stockpile of milk that I had with Bo but I am also feeding two little ones this time. Hopefully once the girls are on a more consistent schedule (we're working on it!) then I will be able to pump and freeze more. Bo and I are planning a trip to Olney so it is important that I have at least enough milk frozen to cover their needs for that trip. I will have to pump every three hours while I am gone and since it will only be for about 24 hours, I hopefully will not lose much supply.

The girls currently eat approximately every three hours. It isn't an exact science yet (I went to Target today and Katie had to give Anna a bottle just two hours after her last feeding) but for the most part they can typically go about three hours. Mind you, this is three hours from the start of the feeding until the start of the next. For example, if I start feeding Anna at 7, then I will start feeding her again at 10. If I start feeding Clara at 7:20, then she'll probably be ready for her next feeding around 10:20.

Luckily, they really are pretty efficient nursers for their age. My pediatrician said that her son was still taking an hour per feeding to nurse when he was the girls' age, so I guess I should count my blessings -- but it still feels like I am attached to a baby for a large chunk of my day. Thank God for my Blackberry or I would totally lose my marbles - especially since we do not have TV on the main floor yet...

I alternate breasts so if Clara is on the right at the 7 am feeding she'll be on the left at the 10 am feeding and Anna will be on the opposite. I'll admit I don't always remember -- but I try hard to alternate with each feeding just to be sure that they are both getting what they need. Many times they will decide they both want to eat at once, but I tend to feed the one who is screaming the loudest first and rock the other in her carseat with my foot. I have not attempted tandem breastfeeding. Honestly, I don't think I have the coordination to do it by myself. I think I would need help placing the babies and 9 times out of 10 that just isn't an option.

Bo has been great about allowing me to feed the babies. When I feed them in their room he usually sits on the ottoman and brings me books to read to him. Sometimes he'll play cars and line them up on the ottoman or on the floor. Other times he'll drag some huge toy into the girls' room to entertain himself. He likes to be in the room with me though. For the afternoon feeding when Bo is awake and I am home alone with all three kids, I have been letting him watch either a clip off of YouTube (Lambert the Sheepish Lion, Cars Toons, Jetsons, etc.) or a Netflix instant play movie (Thomas, Blues Clues, etc.) on my computer. Today, when I woke him up from nap, he immediately said, "Feed babies. Want to watch Thomas." Hum... Then he ran out into the living room and said, "Hi, Anna." "Hi, Clara." I was quite worried about how he would respond to feeding times but he really has surprised me with how well he has adjusted to having sisters.

I do think that feeding two babies is good for my weight loss. Currently, I'm eating like a hog, consuming large quantities food, and I am wearing jeans that I bought before I became pregnant with Bo. My stomach still has a long way to go but I am less than 10 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight at 5 1/2 weeks post-partum. Let's hope that trend continues and that my belly shrinks some more!

Honestly, breastfeeding twins isn't nearly as difficult as I'd made it out in my mind to be. Yes, it is time consuming. Yes, it is a lot of work. But it can be done. Like most things in life -- I feel like a large part of it is my mindset. I decided I was going to do it -- so I am. The worst part (besides the hormones) is listening to one of them cry while I'm feeding the other.

Did you breastfeed your child(ren)? What impacted your decision? What did you feel like was the best part of the experience? The worst? Tell me about your experiences.

Friday's Feature at Sticky Feet Part Deux is Ask Jamie. Feel free to email me or leave a comment with any question you would like for me to answer. Anything is fair game!

Newborn Twin Pictures!

Check out the pictures my friend Jenny took when she came to visit here.

I had her design the announcement to be similar to Bo's announcement.

Wordless Wednesday: Leaves

On Sunday afternoon, Mike raked a big pile of leaves and we all went out to play in them. It was a beautiful afternoon and Bo had so much fun. In my mind, this is what fall is all about!

Embryo Adoption

After an ectopic pregnancy, 5 IVF cycles to conceive Bo, and one more IVF cycle to conceive the girls, I am finished with infertility treatments. I will never be pregnant again and have no desire to have any more children. Mike and I are both ready to move past this stage of our lives. Our years of family building are over and our family is complete.

However, we still have three embryos remaining.

When I was ten weeks pregnant with the girls, I mentioned the embryos to my RE and he said they are excellent embryos. I asked about our options and he said he would love to see us donate the embryos to another couple. I've also researched donating them for stem cell research.

Mike and I have talked about our embryos a great deal. We've pondered the situation and what we feel is the best thing to do. About halfway through this pregnancy, we both came to the same decision. We would like to donate our embryos to another couple.

It wasn't long ago that Mike and I weren't sure we would ever be parents. We were quickly running out of road on our infertility path and we were considering numerous options -- surrogates, donor embryos, and I even had the adoption paperwork on the desk. We remember what it is like to face the possibility of never having children. And if we can potentially help another couple to have their own blessings, we would like to do so.

However, it is important to me that it be an open embryo adoption, which our RE does not currently do. I want to know if a pregnancy results and if it does, I would like to see pictures once a year and receive brief updates on how the child(ren) is doing. I don't want to end up like a bad soap opera with Bo coming home in 20 years wanting to marry his biological sibling.

Do you know someone who is looking into embryo adoption? Are they willing to do an open adoption? If so, send them our way. We have three excellent embryos and I'm more than willing to share any information the couple might be interested in including family medical histories, etc.

Gifts

Despite the move, we've been blessed to have plenty of visitors over the last several weeks. And everyone comes bearing gifts. Most of our visitors also bring a gift for Bo. Heaven knows our little guy doesn't have any toys and desperately needs more (insert sarcastic tone here) but it is so nice that they remember him and that he is able to feel like such a special big brother. I was joking with Katie last week that every Monday she comes to our house to find Bo has more toys. That definitely seems to be the case at this point.

Aunt Manny (aka Mandy) is the best (or the worst, depending on how you choose to look at it) at bringing boatloads of gifts and spoiling all of the kids rotten. Bo is starting to link Aunt Manny and Santa Claus to each other. :) She brought each of the girls adorable outfits and Bo a Cars game and several truck books that he just loves. That doesn't include the countless other gifts she's brought or the numerous cards she's sent to lift my spirits since we've moved. I think she may be keeping Olney's Hallmark in business. Seriously, I don't have to worry about clothing the girls or buying Bo toys. Mandy has it taken care of for me!

Bo sits on his new Lightening McQueen bean bag chair. Just another part of the "Aunt Manny" collection of toys!

Besides tons of Bo toys, we've been blessed with help, food, blankets, tons of cute outfits, visits, handmade hats, photos, etc. And we couldn't be more grateful. Friends and family have driven several hours to see us. They've gone out of their way to bring us food. And we've discovered several of our neighbors as well when they show up on our doorstep with a complete meal. And usually a "surprise" for Bo as well. :)

Interestingly enough, some of the best gifts haven't come from people that I've ever met in real life -- they've come from my friends in the blogosphere.

The blogosphere connects people in so many ways and I feel a special connection to so many people that I've only "seen" online. However, I often find myself in situations where I am discussing my "blog friends" like they live next door, writing emails seeking advice from someone I know has already walked in my shoes, and connected in ways that my "real life" friends and family struggle to understand.

I receive numerous packages in the mail. PR firms send me products they would like for me to review. Books arrive from Paperbackswap.com. I order clothing for myself and the kids (I've started on the girls' wardrobe for next fall...). Boxes are my ticket to the outside world these days and our postman jokes that we are keeping USPS in business. But sometimes, I open a box and I'm totally shocked. And those are always the best surprises...

Susan, from She's Becoming Doughmesstic, sent us the most adorable personalized cookies. I tried to take my own picture but I couldn't do the cookies justice and this picture is stolen from Susan's site. They were incredible! So adorable and very yummy as well! She also sent Bo some little Halloween treats.

Long time blogger friend, Emmie, sent a twin nursing pillow and tons of sleepers for the girls that her own twin boys wore. Her boys are several months older than Bo and she no longer blogs, but we still keep in touch on Facebook and via email. We had hoped to meet this past summer but with the move and my pregnancy, we didn't make it happen. Someday...

Another blogger buddy, Amy, has a daughter who is close in age to Bo and sent adorable drink labels with the girls names from this site. They are so cute and I love that they are personalized!!

Heather was a part of a blog swap with me and she sent numerous cute items for the girls and actually provided all three kids with their Halloween costumes this year. A big thanks to Heather for all the goodies and for elevating me of the worry of deciding what the kids should be this year!

There are also people I know in real life that I've been able to get to know more through blogging. One of those people is Amanda who is from my hometown and reads my blog. She recently began making baby hats and sent the girls three hats each and made Bo two hats as well.

Bo in his orange and brown hat that Amanda crocheted for him!

These two pictures were taken by my friend Jenny (more on that in a minute) but the hats were crocheted by Amanda. I had left a comment on how adorable the hats were on her Facebook page and was thrilled to see their fuzziness in the package Amanda sent after the girls were born!

Jenny came to visit two weekends ago (braving the 3 1/2 hour drive alone with a 5 month old!) and graciously took photographs of the girls. From what I have seen so far, they turned out really well. :) You'll be seeing more of them on the blog soon but you can click over to her site now for a preview.

Mike and Mary Lou (my friends who own Spieth Photography, where Mandy and I worked growing up) are going to come to visit for Bo's birthday and I can't wait to have more pictures taken of the girls, Bo's 2 year photos, and family photos. I hope we can capture a good picture of all five of us to use for Christmas cards this year!

I know I've talked about this before, but I'm a very bad gift giver. I remember holidays, but forget to send a card. If I see something (ya know, with all the time I spend shopping... haha - I'm barely leaving the house these days!) I will pick it up and buy it for a friend or family member. But for the most part, I really struggle with gift giving and have grown to dislike Christmas a great deal because of the mandated gifts. (However, I don't seem to have that aversion to buying Bo Christmas gifts... I think I could already be done with his shopping...)

As a notoriously bad gift giver, it touches me even more that so many people in our lives have taken the time to give us so many gifts. It makes me want to be a better gift giver myself... It makes me want to take more time to remember the important days in so many others lives. And then I remember that I only slept four hours last night and I decide to go to bed instead.

At least I'm good at writing thank you notes...

Three Little Monkeys Playing in the Leaves

Happy Halloween and a big thank you to Heather for sending these adorable monkey costumes for my trio!