almost home

One of my girls came home from the NICU at 1 month old last night. The other little lady should be home within the week. Do you have any advice on having them both together and how to manage feedings, pumping etc.. they are still to little to BF.

Will post a pic once I have them together. Very exciting!

Re: almost home

That is fantastic news! I'm sooooo happy for you!!!!!!!!

I wish I had advice, those are the things I have struggled with the most. I'm finding it very difficult to find the time to pump with twins, especially since they need to eat every 3 hours.

My supply is dwindling, and it wasn't great to begin with at all. If I'm lucky I'm getting enough pumped for 1 bottle a day for each of them. They're eating a ton more mL now than when they were in the hospital. I just fed one of them 110 mL.

We have done everything in our power to keep them on the same schedule as the NICU (2, 5, 8, 11 around the clock). It helps with our sanity to have them on the same schedule and I think its one of the bright spots of having them in the NICU before coming home - the nurses started it for us.

Re: almost home

Great news!!

Try to keep them on the same schedule that they have been on since being in the NICU. Mine were on a 3,6,9,12 o'clock feedings and I made sure I continued with it when they came home. I EP and I would do it as soon as they fell asleep. So basically my schedule for the first few weeks/months was to change them, feed them, as soon as they fell asleep I would pump and then go to sleep myself. Wake up and do it again every 3 hours. It's rough but keeping them in a routine is so important and will help you and them out in the long run. Can't wait to see pics of them home together!

Re: almost home

I formula fed, but I agree with what the other said. one of the up sides of a NICU stay is your baby comes home on a great schedule. all 3 of my kids were NICU babies and i LIVED by the 8-11-2-5 feeding schedule the first few weeks. i would feed them att he same time if someone was there to help me or one right after the other if not and kept them on that schedule.
i know a lot of people say not to wake a sleeping baby, but during the day i ALWAYS woke them to stay on schedule. then would give them a little more flexibility at night. then regardless of the time of their last bottle we startd all over again at 8am to stay on track.

it worked for me. you will figure out what works for you!! congrats and good luck!!! enjoy them!

Re: almost home

I was pumping and bfing also.

I kept the every 3 hour schedule from the NICU. They were just starting to bf at the time for very short periods of time. I would first change them. Then I would pick a baby to try bfing with and then give the other a bottle at the same time. When the bfing baby was done (they would only do 5 min or so) I would give them a bottle of pumped milk. I would then swaddle them and put them down and then pump and then I would go to sleep. The whole process would take about an hour and a half so it was definitely tough...but the first few weeks I would go to bed around 7-8 pm so I would at least get 5 hours or so of sleep (in chunks).

As the babies got better at bfing I decreased the amount in the bottles until they were only bfing. After the 2cnd or 3 rd week I was able to bf them together. I always pumped after I bf them to keep my supply up.

Good luck, congrats and enjoy your babies