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North Central Florida Breastfeeding Coalition
Breastfeeding NICU Twins:
Brie's story
I thought for my second child, breastfeeding would be easier because I had learned all about the hard parts the first time around and would be an expert. Then I found out I was having twins and knew that it would be far from easy. My twins were born at 29 weeks so our journey began with me pumping every 2-3 hours for 2 months while they were fed my milk through a tube in their noses. After about a month of them in the NICU we started putting them to breast and very slowly they learned to nurse. It was exhausting and heartbreaking but I was very determined because I knew it would be worth it.
Eventually the babies did all they needed to do to graduate the NICU and I became the first mom to leave this particular NICU exclusively breastfeeding twins (no bottles, no formula)!
When we got home we still had plenty to do before we were smoothly nursing. Both babies needed tongue and lip tie revisions and one baby was very tense so I dealt with clamping down issues. After they healed from the revisions, we were able to wean off the nipple shields and I didn't have to deal with milk dumping on my lap, yuck! I weighed them constantly and did some finger feeding to be sure they were gaining enough.
They are now 6 months old, growing well, chunky, squishy babies and we are still in the beginning of what I hope to be a long breastfeeding journey together. It was a very rough start and I have no doubt we will have more challenges ahead but when I look down at their healthy, beautiful bodies and remember their tiny, stick bodies as preemies, I'm so grateful for what my milk was able to do.
August 2021
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