"Moo!"
Well, one of the primary concerns one has as a new mother to twins is whether or not you will be able to feed them both without supplements or extra time. How to balance getting all the benefits of breast milk with the conveniences of bottle feeding and a busy life of keeping up with the kids as well as your sleep. In all the articles and books you read, they sear one thing into your head - in the hospital, try to get the babies to the breast as soon as possible - within the hour - to avoid this thing called nipple confusion (when the kids get confused by the different shapes of the breast, bottle and/or pacifier and refuse to take one or all of them). This could prove an obstacle and limit the way/s you can feed your babies and spell near disaster for a planner like myself. This possibility of nipple confusion set me up for near panic when, while just after giving birth, I not only didn't get to see my girls for the first 2 hours, but the nurses fed them through a bottle without even checking in with me first. Sounds like a little issue, but to a new and brainwashed mother like me, this was a bit scary.
Fortunately, this fear has also proven benign. Perhaps it's luck or just alarmism, but my girls - especially Tina - have overcome these challenges without fail. Ava initially was a little too lazy to feed at the breast (it seems to take more energy), but has bulked up enough to gain the strength to join her sister at the double nursing pillow. A proud moment for Mom who was always hoping her kids would follow in her "efficiency" footsteps!
However, the joke's on us... Paul and I have come to realize that, if we truly do want to save time, the girls actually feed faster from the bottle. So, especially at night, when we're sleep-deprived and just want them to feed and then fall back asleep, we have defaulted to bottle feeding, saving the leisurely breast feeding for during the day. This means I have become a pumping machine. Paul has done the math (as every good engineer-minded daddy would) and determined that I pump about 1 1/4 gallon of milk a day. We have over 50 bags stored already in the freezer and think that we could continue to exclusively feed them breast milk for a long time after I quit feeding and pumping. I still can't help but be proud of my double-feeding girls. The goal I built up so long ago during the Breastfeeding for Multiples classes has been realized - even if we only use it for fun and in leisure now.
