Introduction and question about night time

Discussion in 'The First Year' started by Leighann, Jun 1, 2007.

  1. Leighann

    Leighann Well-Known Member

    Hi everyone, I briefly introduced myself in another thread, but thought I should post a more formal intro. I have 12 week old (tomorrow!) fraternal twin girls who were conceived as the result of our second IVF/ICSI attempt (after 5 years of infertility). After a very difficult pregnancy that started with late onset hyperstimulation that left me in the hospital for a week (a day before my beta I filled with fluid and looked 4 months pregnant overnight- very painful!) and culminated with preterm contractions starting at 25 weeks, bedrest from 25 weeks on, multiple trips to L&D, preterm labor and hospitalization at 30 weeks, I finally gave birth to two healthy girls at exactly 34 weeks. They spent two weeks in the NICU. Meara needed some help breathing the first 24 hours, but was only on a CPAP, and Ana just needed to learn how to eat and breath at the same time. After two weeks they gained about a pound each and were sent home. While they were in the NICU I tried to BF, but they were so small and couldn't latch. I pumped religiously, but had very low supply (at the most I got 2oz per day!). I continued to try to BF and pump for the week after they came home, but they were used to the bottles and couldn't latch.. and between feeding and pumping there weren't enough hours in the day so I stopped pumping. I wish that I could have BF, but I can't beat myself up about it. Plus they were on high calorie preemie formula so maybe this was all for the best. And they are thriving- at their 2 month well baby appointment, M was 8lbs 4oz and 20" and A was 8lbs 2oz and 20 1/2"- so that is all that matters!

    I'm sure this has been covered extensively, but how do those of you who keep a feeding schedule manage balancing the schedule with the needs of the babies? Our schedule is a 4-5oz bottle every 4 hours round the clock. So they have a bottle at 8 pm, we do our bedtime routine, then they wake at midnight and 4am for bottles overnight. However, two nights ago I freaked out because they slept for 6 hours straight (8:30pm to 2:30am). Normally they wake on their own for a bottle, but when they didn't at midnight, DH and I tried to wake them, but they were completely out! We went back to bed figuring they'd wake up a half hour later to eat (this has happened before). I was shocked when M woke me up crying at 2:30am!!! By 3am both had eaten and were back in bed, but I knew that they wouldn't be up at 4am for another bottle. I thought the schedule was completely shot. However, M woke at 5am for another bottle and I woke A up and she only had part of her's. By 8am both were back on their schedule and woke up for their morning bottle. So the question is how do you balance the schedule (and making sure they get enough to eat over 24 hours) with their needs and sleep? I definitely want to encourage them to sleep more at night, but I feel like we need to plan for this by giving them more to eat during the day... especially if they completely miss a night feeding. At 12 weeks (6 adjusted) is it reasonable to have a day time schedule and then let them dictate what happens over night?

    I can't believe how long this post is.. so sorry!!! If you've gotten this far, thank you for reading. -Leighann
     
  2. becky5

    becky5 Guest

    Hi Leighann! Welcome to TS and congratulations on your baby girls!

    I fed every 3 hours during the day up until 8 months or so. And at night, I let them sleep. If they are starting to stretch out between bottles at night, chances are that they are getting enough nutrition during the day and need the sleep more than the bottle. I would definately let them sleep. As far as getting them back on track during the day, if my bottle schedule was 7,10,1,4,7, and they woke at 5am to drink a bottle, I went ahead and gave them a short bottle at 7 to get them back on track for the day...does that make sense? Their feeding schedule was extremely important to me, it was the only thing I felt like I had control over at that age!!! It sounds like you all are doing great!! :hug99:

    I also want to encourage you to join our TS Big Sister program...it will match you up with a mom of older twins. It's another way to gain support in your twin journey! Click on the link at the bottom of my signature for more info!
     
  3. kendraplus2

    kendraplus2 Well-Known Member

    Hi! Welcome again!!! With mine, around 3 weeks or so I continued to make sure they ate every 3 hours during the day but let them dictate when they wanted to eat at night. Slowly they started going 3.5, then 4 hours between nursing, then 5 ... I just made sure to wake the other one up when one woke first (if he didn't wake on his own, which he usually did) to keep them both on the same schedule.
     
  4. Cindy123

    Cindy123 Well-Known Member

    Hi, and welcome to TS!!! It sounds like your babies are right on track with good weights! I agree with everything Becky posted, we followed that type of routine exactly. I would not worry about nighttime unless your pedi thinks the babies are underweight. :)
     
  5. KYsweetheart

    KYsweetheart Well-Known Member

    Welcome to TS, I am so glad you found us!!

    QUOTE
    Our schedule is a 4-5oz bottle every 4 hours round the clock. So they have a bottle at 8 pm, we do our bedtime routine, then they wake at midnight and 4am for bottles overnight.


    Your schedule sounds so great to me! It sounds like you are doing a really great job! My guys at that age were still eating every 2.5-3 hours... and weren't sleeping long stretches at night. Then, all of a sudden at 4 months we began bottles every 4 hours, and they started sleeping through. It was like something just ticked at 4 months!!
     
  6. Merijo

    Merijo Well-Known Member

    Praying for 4 months to get here. We are so wacky at night it's not even funny. If mine slept for more than 1-2 hrs I'd be in heaven. :D
    Mj
     
  7. momlissa

    momlissa Well-Known Member

    Welcome!

    I would agree with what the others have said. Sounds like you are doing a great job!! I would let them dictate the evening feeds, particularly if they are on track with weight.

    I like to keep them on a schedule in the day, but sometimes the nights get a little off schedule. We are usually able to get back on track the next day pretty easily.
     
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