Joy Comes in the Morning: Nursing Twins--Part III

As promised, here's the next bit of my twins' nursing story. You can read Part I and Part II to get caught up.

Taking the boys home from the hospital was completely surreal. Over the 4 days that I spent in the hospital, fall happened. We came home on Halloween, so the trees and bushes everywhere were completely transformed, which made the world I knew from before seem like a million lightyears away. Add to that the fact that I was no longer pregnant and we were on course for our apartment with 2 tiny lifeforms, made for a bewildering trip. My husband was talking non-stop to the boys in the backseat, although I'm sure they were probably asleep during the 10 minute drive home. Getting them inside with all our gear was a sight, I'm sure.

Beautiful fall colors outside our apartment bringing the boys home

That first night at home was absolutely terrifying. We thought we could do it on our own, but when we got home and fed the boys and put them in the pack n play in our room to sleep, we realized we had no idea what to do with them. Putting them in the nursery at the hospital was great to let us get some sleep, but we didn't know whether they had slept in a light space or dark, with lots of noise or quiet, if they had been rocked to sleep, or anything. We didn't know if they stayed up at night or if they were up during the day more; we basically freaked out! So we called my dad, who had been off work the entire week (he really gets into celebrating Halloween), to see if he could come stay the night with us for some additional support. He was able to come right over, and while he isn't the most mothering type, he was a great help and made the entire night easier.

I purchased a Medela breastpump because that was the most popular and the easiest to spot at all the stores we visited. I purchased mine (although I know you're not supposed to) via Craigslist, and it seemed to be in good working order. I had never seen one in use, so I had no frame of reference, and I was too afraid of prematurely triggering contractions during my pregnancy to even think of trying it out, so I hadn't yet had a chance to find out if it really worked. I bought new tubing for it and all new equipment, and cleaned it thoroughly weeks before I knew I would need it, so I thought I was ready.

The night we brought the boys home, I hooked up all my equipment and put it up to my breasts, and started panicking. It was working, but it was not sucking on both sides. I knew from the hospital pump what it was basically supposed to do, and it wasn't doing that, so I thought we would have to go out the next day and purchase a brand-new $400 one. I took all the tubes off and disconnected every piece I could, and tried it again, and found that it was not faulty, but that I must not have had something hooked up correctly, because after that, it worked like a charm. I wasn't getting but a few droplets, but that was to be expected at that time.

Our schedule that night went something like this: change the boys; nurse the boys, one at a time, then give each boy a supplement of formula; while one person is feeding the formula, I would nurse the second boy and then pump for 10 minutes afterward. We would put the boys down to sleep, I would eat because I was starving, and then we would get about 45 minutes of down-time before the next feeding. I remember lying down on my bed at one point that night, with my head spinning so badly from exhaustion that I thought I was falling out of bed. It was the worst feeling, knowing that I would barely get my eyes shut and then have to get up to start all over again.

I know my dad didn't feel like he really had much to do, while I was nursing and pumping, but just having him there made me feel so much better about what we were going through. He would hold the boys and give them their bottles while I was pumping or nursing the other one, and I think he even let my husband get an extra shift of sleep by doing this. It was a relief to know that we had an extra set of eyes and ears to help us hear when the boys were up, and I got to talk with him some while I was sitting there pumping. It was a little awkward sitting there with my breasts hanging out, and he was very respectful not to stare at me while we were talking, but we did get to joke about next year's Halloween costume and how I should go as a cow from now on.

I prayed more that night than I can remember doing at one time, for myself, my husband, and my boys, that we would have the strength to get through the night and I know that I would not have made it without God's mighty power. He was so good in helping us get some rest, and after the longest night I've ever lived through, the morning came and we had made it.

We were all exhausted and worse for the wear, but thankfully, we had family in town that could relieve Dad and let him go home and get some rest while the next shift stopped in.

Dad taking a shift with one of the boys

Today's encouraging verse: Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:4-5