I Survived Week One With Twins!

The first week with my newborn twin boys was a lot different than expected.  Mainly for two reasons: breastfeeding twins is logistically WAY harder than I thought, and Jimmy has been WAY more helpful than I thought (more on this).

I didn’t have any trouble breastfeeding with Aspen so I just envisioned I’d tandem feeding my babies. What a sweet little thought!  Hart was a shallow sucker with his tiny little mouth and my nipples bled when he would feed.  When he spit up black the first day at home this mama lost it.  Turns out it was just my old blood he had spit up but I couldn’t handle seeing that again.  A quick call to a friend who let me borrow her pump (mine was still en route from Amazon) and I became a bottle-feeding & breast-pumping machine.  I’ll put the babies on my breast every now and then (I even tandem fed this morning for the first time on my own!) but then I risk their schedules being thrown off or not knowing how much they’ve eaten… twin problems.  I hope to tandem feed more often when they become stronger and less “floppy”.

Speaking of feeding, Hart had high bilirubin levels, that was a fun phone call:  My pediatrician said his levels were high enough for treatment and if they couldn’t find an available light from a home health agency he’d have to be readmitted to the hospital – cue the tears again! They found a local light and 48 hours later and he’s completely in the range of normal, but just the thought of him going in the hospital was almost too much to handle.  Making sure he was eating and pooping enough is a big part of passing the bilirubin and making his levels go down so by pumping and bottle feeding this made it possible to know exactly how much he had eaten.

Jimmy has been incredible.  He wakes up every morning at 6am when the night nurse leaves and that allows me to shower or pump or sleep for a few minutes.  It’s incredible what 20 minutes of uninterrupted sleep can do for the mood!  Especially when I haven’t slept for more than 3 hours straight since they were born! (I pump every 2 hours during the day and every 3 hours at night.)  I’m still bleeding a lot (another unexpected present that I didn’t have with Aspen, likely due to two massive wounds inside me where two placentas used to be) so I am relegated to using the stairs only once a day and not moving around in the house too much (plus my pubic bone is still killing me and so I’m still waddling) so Jimmy will do everything from make me breakfast, refill my water, hold babies, feed babies, help me put on my underwear – well this was in the hospital but he did it!  Let me tell you how sexy it must be for him to help me put on massive underwear with a pad the size of my head!  Helping me take it off just takes the cake though.  There’s a special place him heaven for that man.  Some of you reading this might think “Well those are all things a husband is supposed to do” and he’d probably say the same, but that surely doesn’t mean I can’t be thankful and grateful for him and all he’s done.

Overall, twin life has been great.  We are all settling in better than I anticipated: Aspen is a little lover of her baby brothers, our nanny has given Aspen a ton of one on one time and allowed me to bond with the newborn babies, Jimmy has doted on me while balancing his own work and daddy hood, my friends and family have rallied around me with food, help, support, and understanding.  I feel settled in my home life and I’m experiencing a feeling of peace I didn’t feel after I had Aspen.  The love story has begun.

39 Comments
  1. Love how honest and open you are sharing this with my sister who is having twin boys as well in August!!

  2. What a blessing these two little boys have bestowed upon you! Love hearing about your real life story!

  3. Thank you for sharing! I’m from OC and having twins due in Sept! Please feel free to share some tips as your journey continues

  4. I love watching, reading about your gorgeous family. Your doing amazing and are keeping it real. Look after oneself and your precious baby. Your doing amazing thank you for sharing with us

  5. My best tip after exclusively pumping with my 1st child is to get a baby scale (Amazon). I weighed my 2nd kiddo before I nursed, then after to determine how much he was getting. I successfully breastfed for 13 months due to the sucess of this at the beginning!

  6. I love reading your story. I’m so glad everything went with with two healthy babies. You are a family of five now. I remember early on when you longed for a little baby to hold. Your cup runneth over!

  7. FYI, A comment on tandem feeding. I did that w/twin boys and as they grew and sensed the other it literally became became a race to see who could get the most and get done the quickest. Really. #competitivetwinboys

  8. Girl you are a rock star. I too gave birth naturally to twin girls and remember every 2nd of it. The 1st 3 months were incredible and I had a sense of peace that was the best! Let people help you if they are not around ask! Thank you so much for posting your experience as I am reliving my experience just reading yours. Thank you thank you!

  9. Thanks you for sharing your story from an expected twin Mum! I read this to my husband so he know what he is in for and if Jimmy can do it so can he!

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