Everything seems so difficult!

Until you actual breastfeed, you never know how difficult it really is!!! My friend just gave me her Medela Pump in Style so hubby can help with nighttime feedings. I fed Kendall on one breast and pumped the other. Well the breast I pumped on only gave me 1.5 ounces. That seems like so little! How am I supposed to pump? I hear some women say that they get 5 ounces out of a pumping session. I'm so confused on all of this! You would think from the way breastfeeding is described that it is this magical experience and your baby just naturally takes your breast...so not the case with me!

 

I do not know how old your twins are in that I am on my phone, but it seems that must be pretty.new so congratulations on your babies.
Breastfeeding does not come as natural as you would think. Often with twins, their size contributes to difficulties. Up until about six weeks your body is trying to figure out how much milk you need. Babies are much more efficient at getting milk out. You could pump until you could not get anymore and a baby could still get more. Some women just do not pump well. There is a link up in our sticky about getting started nursing twins. It is all about breast massage while you are nursing or pumping. I had to pump for my youngest for six months, so I know this works. Massage the breast and you will get more out of it. You can do this!

 

Until you and babies get the hang of it, I definitely wouldn't call it a magical experience. It took us a good three months before it worked well for us. The first few weeks it hurt so bad I nearly cried every nursing session. It is so worth it though and I absolutely love it now. You will never get as much from pumping as your baby can get from you. It just isn't the same and baby can draw much more milk. Some people have a really difficult time pumping or pump hardly anything. I would say with your babies being 2 weeks old 1.5 oz isn't too bad for pumping. Keep in mind that these early weeks it is vital that you nurse in order to get your supply where you need it. Nursing is about the only way to do it. I refused to let anyone feed my babies with a bottle for the first month and a half. I know you are one exhausted mama and sleeping at night would help. I would just say if you are wanting to mostly nurse I would do as much as you can. One overnight here and there for your husband to help would be fine, but I wouldn't do it regularly. All that said it really just depends on you and want you want with your babies. I hope you get some sleep. First few weeks can be long. If you do need more help at night, have your husband bring babies to you in bed when it is time for them to eat, as soon as you are finished he could take them away and put them back to bed that way you are only up for the feeding part. the nursing will get easier! you are doing great!

 

Breastfeeding is difficult! No question. It takes time for them to learn to latch properly, time for you to figure out the best position to hold them and time for your boobs to figure out what the heck is going on too. But keep at it, it gets better. It may never be that magical experience that some say it is (it certainly wasn't for me), but you won't regret doing it for as long as you feel capable.

As for the volume being pumped: Your breasts are going to make more milk as your baby demands more. I hit peak volume around 8-9 months when they were probably taking in the most milk before they were really reliant on solids. At first 1.5 oz/boob was quite a victory with the pump! Also, your breasts will make more as you stimulate them more, so if you want to have a fridge supply and/or really establish a good milk supply long term you are doing all the right things. Last, the pump is never as good as an infant at extracting milk, so even if you're only getting 1.5 oz, there's still plenty more in there.

Hang in there :youcandoit:

 

I'm actually just feeding a singleton. My boys are 2!!

 

What time did you pump? I used to pump in between feeding the baby b/c I was paranoid about him getting enough. Some times I'd barely get anything from the pump. I got the most first thing in the morning. The later in the day it is, the less I am able to pump. I wound up completely quitting with the pump after he was a few months old. I did the same as you are doing now though, I would pump so that I could sleep through a feeding at night. And what I did was give my DH a little bottle of the formula they give you at the hospital too, for just in case I hadn't pumped enough. I really wanted to sleep through that one feeding.

 

If your girl is 2 weeks old, 1.5 ounces on one breast is just fine. Since you are making supply for one baby, a total of 2-3 ounces a feeding if she is two weeks old is probably all she is needing. Typically, she would eat from both breasts each feeding so 1.5 from one breast is right on track. You may need to pump with two feedings to get enough for one bottle. I agree with you though that breastfeeding isn't as easy as you might think it would be. I think for some people it's easy but I didn't have a great supply at first and also had latch issues with my first son. It took us about a month get things down. Once I got things down, it was very easy but it took us awhile to get there.

 

Some thoughts:

- as others have said, breastfeeding is natural, but that doesn't mean it comes naturally (especially in a culture where the last two or so generations of women, for the most part, didn't breastfeed - we've lost a lot of "common sense" knowledge about breastfeeding simply because we aren't around it all the time). As Jen said, it takes time for everyone/thing to learn what they need to learn. It's a skill & there's a learning curve to it. It's also, at its root, simply feeding your baby - and as we all know, feeding children more often than not feels like a chore. There will be moments when you enjoy it, there may even be magical moments to come, but there will be moments when you hate it and there may even be moments where you refuse to do it (at least until baby convinces you she really and truly is hungry :laughing. That's all normal.

- pumping 1.5 oz, from one breast, at two weeks old is awesome! Here's a picture to illustrate why: infant stomach capacity. At 7 days old, a new baby's stomach can only hold about 1.5 - 2 oz - at 14 days old, it's not going to be much more than that. And as others have already said, what the pump is able to remove from your breast is not what your baby is able to remove from your breast (for two reasons, 1) baby is more effective/efficient at removing milk and 2) your body simply will not let down for a pump as well as it will for your baby). Pumping output is a *horrible* indicator of milk production. The ladies who are getting 5+ ounces per pumping session are likely a) pumping for older babies, b) pumping from both breasts at once and/or c) pumping to replace a complete feeding. None of which applies to your situation.

- have you tried side lying nursing? It can be a great way to nurse baby while still getting the rest/sleep you need - especially in the early days when newborns want to nurse so frequently (which, as frustrating as it is at times, is actually a good thing for your long term milk production - essentially, in the early weeks of breastfeeding, frequent nipple stimulation causes your body to activate lots & lots of prolactin receptors. Later on, the number of prolactin receptors that have been activated affects your maximum milk production ability).

Hang in there! Don't be afraid to try different things to find what works for you & your baby when it comes to breastfeeding. Give yourself a lot of grace remembering you're both learning as you go. :hug:

:youcandoit:

 

Holly,

You are doing a great job. :hug: 1.5 ounces is a lot for her little tummy to digest. :hug: I never got much more than 4 ounces out of each side at the height of the boys' nursing (like 5 months old).

Some things that helped me get a little more out:

-This video, especially the manual massaging of the breast.
-visualization. One time I did an experiment and watched "16 and Pregnant". I pumped out a WHOLE lot of sympathy milk for those little babies on that show. Mine weren't even in the room. But more frequently I'd picture my breasts filling up and exploding with milk and it draining into the pump. Closing my eyes and doing this I'd get more everytime than I would normally.
-realizing that you do have multiple letdowns. Sometimes I'd take off the pump for a minute or two and try again, after massaging, and low and behold, there'd be more.

 

Everything I was gonna say was already said so I just wanted to give you another cheer of support and encouragement. You are doing awesome! It will get easier. It will get to the point where you have those "magical" moments. 6 weeks was a turning point for me once we got though the first growth spurt. She will eventually sleep longer and you will be less exhausted and everything will seem easier. I also agree that first feed in the am was when I pumped the most.

 

1.5 oz out of one breast is great at 2 weeks! I was happy to get .5 oz out of a breast about then. I still only get 2 oz out of each breast But I am supplementing with formula so I know my supply will never be what it could have been.

Breastfeeding IS hard, especially if you have a baby with latch issues (like my son). Even if you have perfect babies with a great latch you still are often feeding so often you feel like all you do is breastfeed! But it does get better, and take it from me (who is feeding formula too)... it's easier than formula in a lot of ways. No bottles to clean at 2 am because you just used your last clean one. No listening to your screaming baby(ies) while you make a bottle - it's available all the time and the right temperature already. And if you use a nursing pillow, it's handsfree! (so you can read, browse the web, whatever)

Hang in there.

 

Thanks ladies, sometimes you just need a pep talk and hug! I am just pumping during the middle of the night because that it when I am the most full. Just taking it one day at a time!

 

Well said!!! :Clap: :Clap:

Although I feel enormous pride in bf my twins, it definately wasn't/is easy and there are definately times when I hate it. We have bf nearly 1.5 yrs and before that, I bf singleton dd for 2 years.
Strangely though, in a lot of ways bf my singleton was harder - especially the first 3 months until we both got the hang of it. Until then it wwas often horrific for me and definately not many Hallmark moments!

I think when you bf 2 babies, your breasts donts have time to get as engorged and get 'worn in' a lot quicker as they're always in use lol!