FertilityZone

I have breast fed my twin girls for 10 days now but finding it difficult to find enough hours in the day and under so much pressure to ensure they both put on weight, Alana is still slightly jaundiced. I could do with some advice this is my story. They both lost nearly 13 oz from birth on day 4 but I wasn't concerned as my milk only started coming in on day 4. I had been tandem feeding on my ez2 twin pillow on my own in hosp and really struggled getting them latched on. As soon as one was latched the other popped off. I was advised to give Lea a top up of formula and that it was ok to give in a bottle. I would of preferred to express but so many midwifes gave different advice. They organised me with a pump and I Started to express and was delighted as had a great supply. I said I preferred to feed with a syringe instead of bottle but they all seemed to think I was mad until midwife came on night shift who was fantastic and she had breast fed her twins. She had same views as me and removed all bottles and brought me syringes. At last someone was listening to me knowing that I wanted BF to be well established before introducing a bottle incase it put them off the breast.
It was great seeing how good my supply was and I then knew exactly how much they were getting. Their weight started to stabilize and we were allowed home. I was tandem feeding and occasionly topping up with expressed milk using a syringe.

Unfortunately they started to loose weight so I realized when feeding them together I couldn't concentrate on whether they were swallowing or just sucking as they feed differently. As Alana would maybe feed for 2 hours but when community midwife checked my latch it was discovered that she wasn't always swallowing. I then decided to feed separately to get to know them better and realized that sometimes I had to unlatch them to get a better latch so as I could hear swallowing. Of course this is a risk as sometimes when you unlatch they are not interested in latching again.
The first 2 nights at home were fantastic and I got more sleep than ever but since then they seem to feed and sleep most of the day and as soon as we give last feed and put them into cot they start wakening up and want to feed off and on all night long.
There weights are now staying the same so they need to be fed every 3 hours and I have to wake them if sleeping. Midwife felt it ok to express into a bottle every other feed and take it in turns who gets breast or expresse. This is going well and they still both like the breast.

I am exhausted and feel there are not enough hours in the day. I am going to copy this post to multiple thread.

I would like advise from twin mummies out there

Is this going to be short term ?
When they get stronger and latch is better will they feed Quicker ?
I feel I am either attatched to a baby of breast pump.
I can cope if it is for the first few weeks but the nights are extremely difficult and I am now really worried how I will manage when Dh goes back to work next week.
Is formula the answer ? Please help Have to go now as just finished pumping

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply. I ended up back in hospital on Fri with leg oedema that was not improving and hosp wanted to be sure that there were no clots. This was a great opportunity for me to rest and after 2 good nights sleep as nurses helped me during the night Ifeel a lot more positive about BF and expressing. Thankfully swelling has improved with rest and I have to keep them up as much as possible. I plan to alternate each babies feed with either EBM OR breast and express while they are sleeping so as to be one step ahead. I will see how it goes as I don't want to be sitting like a milk machine. I am expressing now as I type and granny has just arrived back after taking them for a walk.
Girls are doing great andgrowing well. Alana slept from 11am until I woke her at 7 am. Lia slept from 12 md until 5am. I had great support from a midwife last night and she said not to wake them every 3 hours as they are feeding so well during the day. I will just have to see how it goes and hopefully will get back to tandem feeding soon. Alana will feed any time but there is only a small window to get Lia to latch well. Thanks again x

Thanks for advice. Unfortunately I ended up in hospital with postpartum cardiomyopathy and was very ill so had to stop BF and girls are now on formula with a whole new set of problems so need to do a bit of research for advice although difficult to find the time. I am feeling better now and trying to get girls in a routine of feeding together but it is sometimes difficult to keep them awake.
Twins are fantastic but very hard work x