twins gaining weight at different pace

Hi there! My twin girls were born 2 weeks ago at 35 weeks. Sarah was 5lbs 3oz and Rachael was 5lbs 8 oz. They were in the special care nursery for 10 days. The doctors have been really keeping a close eye on their weight gain. I have become so paranoid every time I know weigh-in is approaching. We are breastfeeding and have also been supplementing with 3 bottles of fortfied breastmilk per 24 hours to help with weight gain. They both lost about 10% of their birthweight at the hospital, but Sarah has regained it all back and is now 5lbs 4 oz while Rachael is plugging along at a snail's pace...still gaining but MUCH more slowly. She still has about 3 oz to go until she reaches her birthweight. I've been feeding them exactly the same way so I'm a little puzzled that one is having trouble gaining while the other isn't. Is this common? I'm sooooo hesitant to give more bottles because I really want to breastfeed and I'm afraid the bottles are beginning to interfere with their ability to nurse. I just want to know what's a reasonable amount of weight to gain for a breastfed baby at this stage of the game.

Any experiences?

shannon

 

Hi Shannon!

I have had the same concerns. You can tell from my siggy that my girls are a lot different in the weight department too! Are your twins fraternal? Mine are and I have to remember that they are completely different- the only thing they have in common is their birth day and their parents! I would not be concerned at all. You can always ask your pedi to make sure. I'm sure they are fine, though.

Good luck!

 

Im glad you asked, I was thinking about posting the same question.
Colin is growing much fast then his sister Lia. She is growing, but like yours, slowly. I too am a little worried. Nice to know we are not the only ones. Here's hoping for fat healthy babies for the both of us!

 

You would think after months of agonizing over my girls weights I would remember the eating/weight gain protocols. As long as they are continuing to gain weight (even if it's slower than you would like) then everything should be fine. If you are concerned definitely mention it to your pedi.

I also wanted to comment, regardless of whether or not your babies are identical or fraternal they are Two different people, and they will grow and do things on their own time. My girls are identical, and one of my DD's has been about 1-2 pounds bigger since birth. I know it's hard, but try not to compare them to each other. Just because they shared a womb does not make them the same person.

Good Luck!

 

my girls are also IDs & grow at different rates. if the docs aren't worried about it, you should try not to as well (easier said then done, i know). while in the NICU, Danika lost a TON of weight - she had just barely gained back her birth weight before they came home at 13 days, but now Riley's going through a pokey growth phase. they started out 21 oz apart, then at one point were only 11 oz apart, and now they're up to 18 oz apart. as long as they're growing on their own curve, they're doing great! :hug:

 

I have boy/girl twins and mine are growing at very differnt rates. They are almost 4 months old and my DS weighs just over 13lbs and my DD weighs about 10.5. They were 3.12 and 3.13 when born, so they went from less than one ounce apart to almost 3 lbs. My pedi is very happy with both of their growths.

 

Talk about weight gain differences..my girls were born at 35 weeks as well, Zaine was 5-6 and Marley 4-3. At discharge at 3 days, Zaine was 4-13. Marley was discharged at 15 days and was 4-3.

At their one month checkup they were about 2 pounds apart

At their two month checkup they were three pounds apart

At three months they are now 4 pounds apart.
Marley was 9-12 and Zaine was 13-14!!!

Zaine was taken off the Neosure at the two month mark because she was 10-13, Marley remains on Neosure.

I asked the doctor because Zaine literally gained twice as much this month and he said Marley is more active (true) and just might not be absorbing calories as quickly as Zaine and they will grow at their own paces. They are keeping Marley on Neosure until she hits 12lbs (current goal, they origionall said 10lbs)

 

Mine have been about 2 lbs different for months. DS was the tinier baby at birth but a fast nurser so he got much bigger than DD very quickly. I went to my LC in the beginning when DD wasn't gaining as quickly and she weighed them before and after I nursed them. Would you believe in 15 inutes DD had only taken in 1/2 oz while DS had almost 2 oz? We were shocked! He was just a more efficient nurser.

It's hard not to worry when you're BFing, but as long as they are producing enough wet/dirty diapers and you dr's not concerned, try not to worry. That said, my neurotic self went out and bought my own baby scale so I could make sure they were gaining between the dr's weight checks. After about 2 weeks, I saw that they were thriving, and now the thing collects dust in the nursery LOL. At least I bought one that transitions to a toddler scale...maybe it'll get a little use later on!