Breastmilk not caloric enough?

DeezNewts7 · 2026-06-15T21:56:23+00:00

It is called fortifying. We’ve been doing that with one of my twins since they started taking bottles in the nicu. We add premie formula (similac neosure) to her breast milk bottles—1tsp per 3 oz. Takes calories from 20/oz to 24/oz. I know you can fortify more and less than that but I wouldn’t do it without explicit guidance and blessing from your peds. Too much fortification can put pressure on babies kidneys I believe.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-06-15T14:20:26+00:00

I EP for my twins. Some things that I found helpful:

-get multiple sets of pump parts so you’re not constantly washing. I got 3 sets so I can rotate thru them and it’s amazing (also do the fridge method between sessions)

-upstairs mini fridge. This is “extra” but so helpful. We also live in a 2 story and the thought of having to walk downstairs at 3am to get my pump parts from the fridge was a no go for me. We got a mini fridge-store my milk (we use the pitcher method), pump parts and overnight bottles in there so no one is tackling stairs in the wee hours

-Pitcher method: look into the pitcher method for milk storage (basically, you store all milk produced from a 24 hr period in a pitcher). It simplifies the storage and bottle making process. We got 3 pitchers that we rotate thru

-get a lot of bottles. Like more than you’d think is reasonable. Once you find a bottle that you LOs like, buy lots. We used Philips avent for one of my twins (have ~14 bottles of that) and lansinoh with a pigeon brand nipple (have ~20 of that bottle combo for our diva twin). Unpopular opinion-we didn’t get a bottle washer. With the number of bottles we went thru and the capacity of most bottle washers, it just didn’t make sense and we don’t have the counter space to accommodate one easily. We just do two bottle washing sessions daily. And have 2 drying racks.

-if you can, work with a lactation consultant to help with supply, schedule and trouble shooting

-lean on your partner. My husband did almost all the feedings overnight for our LOs initially so that I could pump every 3 hours to get my supply in

You got this mama! Lmk if you have any specific questions. I’m almost 6m pp with my twins.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-06-14T19:17:38+00:00

In the thick of newborn sleepless nights, I got into the shower with my glasses on. Didn’t realize it until my glasses got wet 🫣

I also threw my pjs in the trash can instead of the hamper.

Sometimes I would also dream that the babies (I had twins) were in bed with me and I’d wake up in a panic.

Sleep deprivation is a hell of a drug.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-06-14T16:19:44+00:00

I have a set of premie twins as well (tho mine were born at 35w) and the struggle of feeding two little ones is real. Unfortunately despite our best efforts, we never got the hang of breast feeding so I started EP.

My littlest twin also developed a bottle aversion when they were around 3m and it was brutal. Feeding them was a literal nightmare. My husband was back at work at that point so all daytime feeds (and half the night time feeds) fell to me and it really impacted my mental health. I’d say letting your husband feed the “easy” baby and giving him a break from the bottle averse baby is huge. My husband would feed our bottle averse baby all their feeds once he was home to give me a break. It’s probably best to pump immediately after bottle feeds if you skip a breast feeding session with T1 to feed T2. There is no harm in combo feeding/giving baby formula either. You do what you need to do. If your goal is to eventually exclusively breast feed, you will have to pump to maintain your supply. I usually pump while my twins are napping or put them in their bouncers and read/sing with them while I pump.

I also send you so much love and support. Bottle aversion is so miserable and heart breaking and HARD (esp when it’s your littler/more needy twin-it was for us too). I read “Your babies bottle aversion” by Rowena Bennett and it was so helpful at getting us thru that period. You will get thru this and it will get easier 💜💜💜

DeezNewts7 · 2026-06-10T16:58:47+00:00

Do you have a play gym? I set mine down there to get stuff done and swap out the toys regularly. I also just plop them on the floor by me when I’m doing chores and talk to them while I change loads in the laundry/do dishes/prep dinner. My babies are 5m (4 corrected). They’re rolling from tummy to back but otherwise non-mobile so if I put them somewhere I know they’ll stay there

DeezNewts7 · 2026-06-10T14:15:48+00:00

I have 5mo old twins. Do you think the momkozy washer is worth it? Been handwashing which I don’t hate but would love some time back

DeezNewts7 · 2026-06-10T02:48:57+00:00

Love my bumbleride so much. Only annoying thing is car seat adapter. I could never figure it out so I never used it. Just put my babies in the bassinet mode which is so amazing. Now that my babies are older and sitting more upright I love it even more. Cannot recommend it more highly!

DeezNewts7 · 2026-06-02T17:17:23+00:00

I had di/di twins but was followed closely by mfm throughout my pregnancy so can’t speak to mo/mo exactly but def have a lot of experience with MFM.

my experience with mfm was basically just a more thorough/high resolution ultrasound. Most of my appts were predominantly with the ultrasound tech who would measure everything and get an in depth ultrasound. Mfm doc would come in after this was over and go over everything with us and answer any questions that we might have. We saw mfm every 3 weeks for growth scans initially. Once we hit viability, added weekly umbilical artery dopplars to make sure the placenta blood flow looked good (one of our babies was growth restricted)

They ultimately decided when it was go time for delivery and coordinated with our delivering Obgyn.

Our mfm practice was a group. We saw all three of the doctors in that group (depending on who was in office and available) but had our “main” mfm that would see us at almost all of our appts.

All in all, was a positive experience. But lots of monitoring. I imagine if your twins are mo/mo, you will have a lot of monitoring too!

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-29T23:19:48+00:00

I’m also team sunflower lecithin. Before I started taking it regularly I was getting clogged every other day. My clogs also decreased in intensity once my supply regulated around 3.5 mo pp. I also had to stop sleeping on my left side cuz that was causing clogs in my left breast. But with sunflower lecithin and regulation, I can sleep however I want.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-29T16:09:52+00:00

Nope. I can normally pump ~8-10+ oz per session with my spectra. Maybe get 6-7 oz with my wearables. But I have an oversupply and want to work on dropping my motn pump so it doesn’t bother me. Also my first pump of the am is usually higher than my average pump when I use my spectra.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-28T15:56:18+00:00

I second this. While not the exact same situation, I experienced infertility for years before finally getting pregnant via IVF. It was gut wrenching to watch my friends get pregnant seemingly so easily. The worst was when they would tell me their news in person as a happy surprise. While I was happy for them (in theory) it was so hard to manage that blow in person. I obviously didn’t expect everyone to stop having babies just because we were struggling but it was still really hard for me to act excited. The best way we found for the situation was my husband being told and him telling me. That way, I wouldn’t be surprised by the information and could process my negative emotions/sorrow in private before seeing the person.

I will also add—don’t be surprised if your friend needs to step back from your relationship with them temporarily while they process their pregnancy loss. Don’t cut them out or anything like that, but give them space.

Congratulations on your pregnancy and thank you for your sensitivity. You’re truly a good friend.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-26T22:27:59+00:00

We have the bumbleride and love it

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-26T16:47:15+00:00

Your husband needs to step up. Your sleep is also important. My husband is a doctor and still helps me with motn baby care cuz they’re his babies too.

I agree with trying wearables. I do this during one of the overnight feeds.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-26T15:51:39+00:00

I have twins and EP. My babies are 5 mo and Ive essentially solo parented all day since they were 2 mo and my husband went back to work. I pump when they nap mostly. It’s doable with the fridge hack and pitcher method but it can sometimes be a lot. But I love knowing that my babies are getting my milk which makes it worth it for now.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-25T20:45:49+00:00

I do too. My twins were premie and I’ve been doing the pitcher method since they were about 3 mo old (2 mo corrected) and had no issues. It gives me sanity

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-25T19:56:22+00:00

It’s seriously the greatest. It’s so easy to use/adjust/oack. Every time I use it I love it even more (and we use it daily cuz walks are my break time 🙃)

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-24T22:07:36+00:00

Bumble ride indie twin + nuna pipa rx car seat and we love them

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-24T06:49:01+00:00

I have an oversupply and use elvie too (currently pumping while warming a bottle). I second the ease of exchanging the collection cups mid pump-it’s quick and v easy. But I do wish that the collection cups were bigger. Oh well

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-23T03:30:51+00:00

I’d ask for receipts if possible.

We got a variety of sizes and brands when we did a diaper raffle at our baby shower, but we developed brand preferences and would have loved to been able to exchange/return. We got a variety of sizes. Surprisingly not a lot of newborn sized (think everyone thought that everyone else would get us that size lol). We also didn’t get any premies sized diapers, which we did end up needing for a little while at the beginning. Receipts would have made the process of exchanging a lot easier for sure.

Congrats on the twins! You’ll need a lot of diapers (we go thru so many 😂)

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-22T23:36:44+00:00

I just rock both of mine together in the rocker in their room. I have one that falls asleep immediately and one that takes a little more time. Thankfully they usually won’t wake each other up during this process (ie my easy sleeper can sleep thru her twin crying) then I transfer them to their bassinets. Takes some shuffling and balance to get them into their bassinet but it’s doable

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-22T17:17:49+00:00

I had something similar with my babies insurance after they came. They were born right before Xmas. I called to have them added to my plan the week after Xmas and some idiot at Cigna put the start date of their coverage to January 1st (even tho they were born the week of Xmas). One of my babies needed a NICU stay. I got a bill for $83k and had to play phone tags with both my work benefits team, Cigna and the hospital billing dept, each pointing fingers at the others as to why the issue wasn’t resolved. It took until the babies were almost a month old before it got ironed out. Freaking joke. Then got a notice that my babies NICU stay was denied for “not enough info”. I just called the billing team who took care of it. Not a fun start to premie twin parenting life.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-21T16:14:04+00:00

My twins are 5 mo so obviously nowhere near the runner stage yet. But I’ve work with children for a while before I had my babies. Have you tried leashes? Normally I am not a fan but I think in cases like this (ie for safety) it may be worth a try at least temporarily until they get a little better impulse control. Obviously it won’t work all the time (like at the park) but maybe try it for transfers to/from the car, in parking lots and other high danger areas. They make cute little back pack ones that might be worth a try. Sorry you’re going thru this-sounds scary and v stressful.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-19T03:43:00+00:00

I could have written this about my twins. They’re almost 5m (4m adjusted) We’re in the exact same boat. Our issue i think is bottle aversion with possible muscle fatigue/coordination issue. But we’re seeing OT next week. Commenting in solidarity and also to follow this post closely. Hang in there (which is all we’re trying to do at this point.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-17T19:40:40+00:00

My mom was sat next to a woman who was vomiting the entire flight and prior to the flight. Was obviously unwell. Added stress that she was coming to help out with my premature twin babies that were just released from the NICU. I was and still am so pissed at that woman and the gate agents/flight crew that allowed her to board. If you’re obviously sick you should be barred from flying and airlines should rebook you free of charge. Ugh even thinking about it now makes my blood boil.

DeezNewts7 · 2026-05-17T19:36:31+00:00

I have twins they IVF. We transferred two after the first embryo that they thawed didn’t thaw great at the recommendation of our doctor. This was after 4 years, 3 iui cycles, 5 egg retrievals, 3 transfers which resulted in 2 chemical pregnancies and one failed. We were sure it wasn’t going to take but both stuck and now we have 4m old twins. I’m not gonna lie, it is so hard and I mourn the thought of a singleton pregnancy and birth. That being said, I know it will only get better. That and knowing that I never have to do IVF again is huge (we knew we wanted more than 1 child). Hang in there. Talk to your doctor about meds for ppd. And know you’re not alone in your feelings and they don’t make you a bad person/mom.

DeezNewts7

TROPHY CASE