Twins Change Everything

by Jennifer
(Sonora, CA)

I was a young mother to begin with, at age 19, unmarried, and living with my boyfriend at his mothers house. I discovered I was pregnant and then a few weeks later that I was having twins! I was considered a 'trend-setter' because twins do not run in my family. At about 4 months into my pregnancy my feet, hands and face started swelling and I was having mild contractions so my doc put me on disability from my retail job and I got to stay home and grow my babies for the rest of my pregnancy. I was already determined to breastfeed and the rest of my family was not very supportive with the acception of my step-mother who nursed my brother for 5 years!
When I was 31 weeks I looked at my boyfriend, who was completely terrified of growing up, and told him I wanted to get married before the babies arrived. So we made the appointment at the courthouse, said our 'I dos' and went out to dinner with the family to celebrate. About 5 hours later, my water broke. We successfully created a family of 4 in one weekend. :) Since the twins were so premature they had to stay in the NICU for about 3 weeks and I used the hospital breast pump to express my colostrum and milk to be fed to them through their feeding tube. When I was first introduced to the super powered hospital breast pump I had never seen such a thing and was completely trusting of the nurse showing me how to use it. She instructed me to turn it up full blast to 'help bring my milk in'. YOWZAA! I ended up with bloody milk and blisters on my nipples. With hormones full blast along with the breast pump and two tiny babies too small to even latch on I asked my grandmother for help and she contacted the hospital lactation consultant. She helped me get started with latching on and keeping my girls awake long enough to get some nutrients in them the old fashioned way. :)
I nursed my twin girls for about 7 months and when I started supplementing my milk supply subsided and they lost interest, turning to their solid foods and instant gratification bottles. They are now 13 years old and I am so grateful for my experience nursing twins first. I had another little girl in 2005 and she nursed for 16 months until I started working full time. Then I had a little boy in 2008 who nursed until his 3rd birthday. After my experience with my twins everything else seemed like small beans and I was able to relax and truly enjoy the connection between mother and child. We women are amazing creatures! We create more humans and if that weren't enough, keep them alive with our own milk that doesn't have to be processed, changed or bought at the grocery store. Having twins was really an amazing way to begin my mothering 'career'. I am officially retired from breastfeeding and I honestly do miss it.