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Chris V
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Who is the official Patron Saint of Breast-Feeding? ... I've read conflicting articles.
*** Update, Dec. 29th ***
From the depths of my heart, Thank You, to all of you who have written to me, posted on this thread, offered your prayers, advice, and hugs on my behalf, and that of my two-week old little girls. I just simply cannot express to you just how much you have all lifted me during this time. I really had no idea just how difficult this was going to be ... and perhaps that's just as well, I would have only dwelt on what was to come, rather than taking it moment by moment as best that I could.
We all arrived home on Tuesday, Dec. 27th (thanks be to God). Sweet Alix was discharged on Christmas Eve, but Mira was just not ready yet. Her discharge come a mere 3 days later. I thought that being at home would bring me such peace and ease, but after being home for just a day a flood of emotions just kept creeping up and I realized that for the past two weeks I had done a good job of keeping my stress, anxiety, worry, and heartache supressed as I kept myself well composed amid the hospital staff, each day spending 15 hours per day at the hospital with my babies. ... it all came to a head after finally being able to bring both girls home.
I feel better today. I feel like I'm regrouping, coping, and am able to relax and focus on just enjoying my babies and doing nothing but feeding them, holding them, and changing diapers ... just what my priorities should be  .
Breastfeeding, praise God!, is going well ... it's not perfect, but it's happening, I'm doing it, and we are getting better and stronger (the three of us) each day. If was a rough, rough start, but I kept myself focused on pumping to encourage my supply, taking supplements (from Mother Love), and getting my little babies to latch on at each feeding (even though they were only getting a small amount of milk at each feeding, and were then supplememed with formula). Being able to make use of the "S and S System" (which the hospital nurse supplied me) was absolutely instrumental in the success of my babies being able to "nurse" off me - essentially they were latched on, but were actually suckling formula through the tiny, tiny tube. What started out to be a (sort of) adversarial relationship with this particular nurse turned into a wonderful working relationship ... she was my biggest advocate for breastfeeding.
As it is now, I've only had to supplement formula a very, very small amount. I am now producing enough milk to feeding both of them, however not entirely from my breast. I do have to use a bottle just about every other feeding. I do this for a couple of reasons: to make sure that they are getting enough to eat. Eventhough I know how much I am able to pump, they are only sometimes ferocious eaters and other times get too tired. With the bottle, it is so effortless that they will eat with good vigor all that is provided. I am truly amazed and over-joyed at their ability to both breastfeed and bottle feed, going back and forth between each without struggle. I honestly did not think that this was possible.
As it is now, I'll be working little by little each day to exclusively breastfeed. I've no doubt that my confidence (in them getting enough to eat just by nursing), when I am able to see the weight results and rest assured that they are gaining as they should. And along with that, as they grow and get stronger, so will their ability to "empty" me out while nursing ... (thus far they don't, I'm always able to get more milk after their feeding when I pump).
Again, my sincerest thank you to each and every one of you for your amazing encouragment. You truly lifted me and I would read, re-read, and re-read your posts each day to give me a full heart to continue on and not succomb to the pressures of the (ahem) "not-so-supportive" nursing staff that were taking care of my babies during the wee hours of the morning when I wasn't able to be there.
Love to you all
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Chris
Happy Wife with my Happy Life
Mama to My Five Girls ('04~'07~'09~'11~'11)
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guitarnan
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I don't think it is St. Martina - she is my dd's patron saint and I think I would have remembered that!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Lara Sauer
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You can always turn to Our Lady of La Leche.
You and your family will be in our prayers.
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You can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but you can't take the Wisconsin out of the girl!
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stellamaris
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I'd go for St. Giles.
How's the breastfeeding going with the twins, Chris? It is a challenge! One thing I did was to always feed them in the same order, so no one had to wait overly long for a meal. Take care of yourself and drink lots! Praying for you  . To St. Giles  !
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Caroline
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MaryM
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Lara Sauer wrote:
You can always turn to Our Lady of La Leche.
You and your family will be in our prayers.
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I definetely go with Our Lady of la Leche on these matters.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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JodieLyn
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Definately Our Lady of la Lache scroll down and you'll see a picture of her.. isn't she lovely? My dh ordered a small statuette from the shrine for me.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Angie Mc
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Praying to Our Lady of La Leche for your intentions, Chris .
(And it is totally reasonable to bring in as many saints as you like to intercede on behalf of your most tender and pressing concerns.  )
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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JodieLyn
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And Chris, don't be afraid to ask for suggestions and prayer from the ladies here.
Oh yes definately, asking for prayer isn't exlusive. The site I normally use says St. Giles is the patron of breastfeeding.
So let's also include St. Anne and St Monica as the patrons of mothers, St. Nicholas as the patron of children.. hmmmm
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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stellamaris
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JodieLyn wrote:
| So let's also include St. Anne and St Monica as the patrons of mothers, St. Nicholas as the patron of children.. hmmmm |
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One certainly can never have too many prayers of assistance, especially in the case of twins  .
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
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Chris V
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Thank you all so much. I'm going to have to make a list of all the saints I need to petition, and of course, how could I possibly forget Our Lady of La Leche.
Today is a discouraging day, and I need all the help from Heaven I can get. The only obstacle our little girls need to overcome now is feeing on their own (without the help of the NG tube). Sweet Alix is making such wonderful strides in this area. I am currently using what the nursing staff refers to "the S and S" system, where we fill the vile full of milk (either formula or breastmilk) and it decends down through a very, very small tube that you tape near your ni*ple, it does not gravity feed, so my babies have to actually latch on to me and suckle. It works wonderfully. However, this takes all the energy little Mira has and she can't barely make it through a feeding (we usually have to end it early because she just cannot continue), certainly not two feedings in a row, before she needs to have the rest of the milk fed to her through her tube that goes directly into her tummy.
On top of this struggle, my milk has been very, very slow to come in (this has been an extrememly stressful situation that began with me having medical complications from the preeclampsia; there's no doubt that having the girls early, my medical issues, the stress of having them in the nursery, and lack of sleep have done me in). The girls are a week old now and I only have enough milk to feed one of them. Both girls need breaks between feeding orally and through the tube. So I'm also pumping like mad and taking a fenugreek supplement (it's actually not just fenugreek, but a blend of fenugreek, fennel seed, raspberry leaf, blessed thistle, and marshmellow root).
I think that I am doing all the right things. The nursing staff is extremely supportive of my breastfeeding, and have cautioned me against not allowing bottle feedings during the night (such as the midnight and 3 am feedings), and because the girls have consistently shown that they have a good latch and the ability to nurse, I'm not worried about a handful of bottle feedings. The reality of the situation is that sweet little Mira is just not progressing forward because she simply isn't ready. ... it doesn't look like either one of them will be home for Christmas  (I won't have them release one without the other because I'm at the hopsital so frequently that toting Alix back and forth is not healthy for her and will uneccesarily stress her).
I know that so many of you have had babies in the nursery for extended periods, not just twins, but singletons too. I humbly welcome any advice or well-wishes that you can offer. I'm feeling quite sad today.
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Chris
Happy Wife with my Happy Life
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Angie Mc
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Chris, you are doing an AWESOME job taking care of your littlest girls . I'm very glad to hear that you have excellent support, good information, and encouragement. I will let the moms of multiples and those who have more specific experiences akin to yours to share their details.
What I can do for you is to keep the fire burning with you! The west coast ladies can keep you company tonight. I'll keep checking in on your presence here .
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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SeaStar
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Oh, Chris-
Big breath. I think one day at a time is too much right now. One moment at a time is about right for the mother of new born twins.
I am going to use this moment to remind you of a few of the awesome things you are and have done:
1. You are a great wife and loving mother
2. You carried twins to 36 weeks and had them by yourself! SuperMom status just for that.
3. You are doing everything humanly possible for your babies, especially in the food department
4. You are letting us carry you in prayer.... a true gift for us
5. You are reminding us how sweet and precious life is ... all the time. Another gift!
I am praying for you tonight, right now.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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mathmama
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Chris I am praying for you. Is there any possibility you are low on iron? A friend of mine became very anemic while pg with twins. I know that I was recently anemic and after just one day of supplementing I saw a nice increase in my milk supply (I was nursing a toddler at the time). Perhaps adding in some Floradix might help?
Beth
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Therese 11/04
Anna Mary 6/07
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cathhomeschool
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I am so sorry, Chris! I have no advice as I haven't had any in your situation, but I have lots of prayers for you for strength, encouragement, joy, hope, peace...May our Mother Mary hold you close and give you the graces you need to make it through this difficult waiting. Of course, I'm praying LOTS for Alix and especially for sweet little Mira too!
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guitarnan
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Adding my prayers, Chris, and hoping you will find peace knowing that we are praying for you and your darling girls.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Erin
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Chris
Offering all my prayers for you today
I'm going to ring my friend who is a breastfeeding counsellor but also had a premie herself. I'll let you know her advice.
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Erin
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JodieLyn
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You are doing INCREDIBLE CHRIS!!
Definately get your sleep BUT your body responds especially to night nursings so you may want to wake and pump in the night at least. Decide which will be better for you: extra rest by not waking in the night or improving your supply perhaps faster (no guarantee to that).
EVERY SINGLE BIT of breastmilk your girls get is good for them and them having formula part time does not negate the good that the breastmilk they get does. It's not "in vain" just because you're not able to get your supply up so easily. I also found supply wasn't so easy with all the pressure to "perform". Sure they tell you you're doing good but they also worry and fret about it if you're not on their perfect schedule.. don't worry about it!!! you'll get there.
Christmas is a season and your dh and yes even your other children, have the BEST gift you could possibly have this year.. it's ok that nothing is "normal" for this holiday. And you can always have your big celebration after you and the girls get home. What a celebration that will be. Even though it'll still be hard I'm sure.
And that's the other thing.. it's ok to say it's hard.. because it is hard. I was so close to this I can just imagine all you're dealing with because I learned so much while I was in the hospital in case it was me dealing with it.
Also remember that if you're not comfortable with the things like staying away all night.. you do NOT have to do that, you can be there as much as you want. I know the lactation consultants let me know at the hospital I was at that the NICU nurses would encourage me going and sleeping and taking care of me etc. But she also told me if I wanted to sleep in the recliner in the room with the baby and nurse at all feedings I could certainly do that within the limits of what the baby could tolerate.
Beth has a good point on doing things to improve your nutrition as well. Keep taking your prenatals, take floradix (or alfalfa.. I took it while at the hospital and even with all my bleeding they were amazed at how good my blood levels were), take B vitamins especially since they help your body deal with the stress.
Keep water with you at all times.. if you're not doing something else.. drink more water. You've got to keep your fluids up.
This is not the fairytale ending you'd hoped for I know. But you can do this. You are doing it. And as I once said about being in the hospital.. the number of days is short but the hours of each day are still long. Hang in there, we're praying for you.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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Erin
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Chris
I've had a response, so praying this is of help. Offering up my Christmas preparation stress for you
Quote:
You are doing everything right, encourage the staff to just tube feed at night if you are not there even though the babies are sucking OK with the bottle. Bottle feeding is actually more draining to a premmie than breast feeding.
They need to start out very slow at attaching or they get too tired. They should start out with one breast feed a day, if they can handle it then go for two eventually working up to every second feed and then two breast to one tube. Once they get the hang of it they will just all of a sudden will "wake up" and then want only mummy feeds.
If you try to push them too fast they can get over tired and stressed and then end up taking longer to start feeding properly.
The more you can express the better, a good way to build up milk supply is to pump for 5 minutes on one side, swap to the other and then swap back so that each side gets at least 3x 5 minutes, express every 2 - 3 hours (but no bigger gap) and you will find you should soon have enough milk and overnight expressing is very important too, don't be tempted not to because you are tired as it is the most important time to express to build up milk supply.
Once the babies are feeding on the breast your supply should build up as long as you are prepared to sit around and feed almost constantly for a few days or so. |
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Erin
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stellamaris
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Dearest Chris, my prayers and heart go out to you this evening. I was in almost the same situation 10 years ago with my twins. The smaller one had a lot of trouble latching on and nursing, I was using the tube-syringe feeding system, one twin was in the NICU and one twin not...similar in many ways, but I was in the hospital with them for a week so I didn't have to go back and forth as you are doing (because of the C-section).
What you are going through right now is so difficult emotionally and very exhausting. Remember you are probably also experiencing some serious post-partum depression. I found the emotional roller-coaster was a lot more difficult with the twins, maybe more hormones? I would just sit and cry, but I knew I would get through it, and I know you will, too.
Take it one moment at a time; very soon those sweet babies will be home. Cast yourself upon the loving arms of your heavenly Father each moment, trust that He is working all things for your good and the good of all your family, and do the next thing in peace. These are the lessons having twins taught me; they were worth all the trials that I went through!
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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MaryM
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Praying for you Chris and for the girls...asking Our Lady of la Leche for her intercession.
Yes, you are doing the right things to help increase your supply. Some moms find there's a delay in copious production after pre-eclampsia. Throw in all those factors you mention (like stress and fatigue) and you have a challenging situation.
Another thing to consider - did you get steroid injections for lung development? A recent study found a link to the timing of steroids, birth and milk production. The issue seems to be delay vs. long-term problem.
With delay in milk production, it's easy to get discouraged with pumping. Lactation Consultant (& mom to twins), Karen Gromada says "It's like priming a pump -- you gotta keep pushing the handle up/down even if you get only drops for awhile. If you give up, one never gets water, but if one keeps pumping, suddenly water gushes from the spigot. Same can happen at times with pumping milk!"
Is the supplement you are taking Mother's Love Herbal More Milk Plus? - I think it is the best on the market and can be very effective for many women, though not all respond the same.
Continuing to pray for you...
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: St. Giles, St. Basilissa, or St. Martina?
