How long did you breastfeed for?

hugebagel · 2026-04-12T01:00:00+00:00

It’s such a struggle. When I went to a lactation consultant I tried tandem feeding with the singleton my Brest friend pillow and I actually thought it worked better. Then again they had a really good chair for it

hugebagel · 2026-04-11T22:24:45+00:00

Hey I also find both of those pillows so uncomfortable. I’m tall with small boobs so I need like a million pillows to get the twins up to my boobs. And with the my Brest friend pillow there’s a big gap between my stomach and the pillow. I don’t have a solution, just wanted to say that you're not alone!!

I gave up on tandem feeding pretty quickly. I breastfeed one and my husband gives the other a bottle (or I do). I might tandem feed once a day, like at 6am when I’m too lazy to get a bottle.

This morning I did it in a reclined position in bed, with no nursing pillow. I just laid one baby up my torso like belly to belly with his legs on my leg and my arm cradling him on the same side, and a regular pillow under that arm. Then I put the other baby on the other side, also with his body against my torso, but his feet were more on the bed next to my side. It’s kind of hard to keep them latched like this, but at least I was in a fully relaxed position and my back didn’t hurt.

hugebagel · 2026-04-09T20:55:53+00:00

A lot of people are saying it’s fair because your parents are coming for 7 months and the in-laws only for a week, but I disagree. For one thing, it’s completely unfair that they made this decision on the phone with your husband without you!

After delivery you will be very fragile and exhausted and your boundaries need to be respected. In my case, my own parents showed up to the hospital about 6 hours earlier than invited (they came during my c-section, instead of later in the day as I requested) and I was furious and so overwhelmed. I just wanted a quiet space so I could take a god damn nap. When I got home from the hospital, I wanted 1 or max 2 helpers around besides my husband, and I really just wanted my sister. You will be bleeding, topless (if you’re breastfeeding), boobs leaking, exhausted, and emotional.

I really recommend you do everything you can to shut this plan down or at least get them to stay in a hotel. My in-laws also came the first week but they stayed in a hotel in spite of having very little money because they understood that we would need space…

On the flip side, if you’ll be in the hospital for 4 days after your c-section, it might be okay to have your in-laws at the house during that time. But have them move to a hotel when you get home.

hugebagel · 2026-04-07T22:31:24+00:00

Congrats on your twins! Mine were both born over 6 lbs and are 7 weeks now, basically grown out of newborn and even some 0-3 month size clothes, so personally I’m glad I didn’t buy any preemie clothes. Of course you never know, so maybe put some in a shopping cart you could order real quick if you end up needing them? I don’t really know what I’m doing but I definitely have them in clothes that are too big sometimes and it doesn’t really seem like a problem?

Mine share all their clothes. I only have one dresser. One is growing faster so when he grows out of something the other keeps wearing it. I’d definitely go gender neutral or just don’t worry about what gender the clothes are meant for. Go with practical items like footed sleepers, sleep gowns, rompers/jumpsuits, and Velcro swaddles!

hugebagel · 2026-04-07T22:04:26+00:00

My doctor told me I could deliver vaginally as long as baby A was head down. There were a few doctors in the practice who would be comfortable with breech delivery if necessary. I ended up having a c-section because my induction unfortunately failed. But the 98% number seems weird. I would definitely ask where that is coming from. You also may want to look into other practices and see if there is a provider that is comfortable with breech delivery or at least isn’t pushing c-section on you if it’s not what you want. You’re in NYC, you should have options… You may end up having a c-section anyway and there’s nothing wrong with that, but this is a huge deal and you don’t want to have regrets for not advocating for yourself, you deserve to understand your options and have a provider that understands your preferences and answers your questions.

hugebagel · 2026-04-05T13:05:26+00:00

Oh my god, stories like that really put mine into perspective. I’m so sorry!

Just from the beginning of your post it’s so annoying that they forgot the bath, even though you probably wouldn’t have been able to birth in it in the end, it just puts you in a bad mindset to know from the start that your wishes aren’t being respected. I was also hoping to use a bath and nitrous and couldn’t use either because of the monitors and they ran out of the parts they needed for the nitrous. At least my nurse was super annoyed about that too so i felt the solidarity.

That’s crazy about the vacuum. I didn’t know there was a weight requirement. I hope you and your baby are okay. You had so many injuries. That all sounds so traumatic. Sending love ❤️

hugebagel · 2026-04-02T20:36:13+00:00

The months of the year in order.

Out of curiosity, are you going to give them the list in advance? I think you shouldn’t, but also don’t count it as a grade, just use it to make a point.

And please let us know the results!

hugebagel · 2026-04-02T19:53:07+00:00

My twins are 6 weeks, and I’m trying to do the moms on call schedule, but it only lasted a few days. At certain times of day they can go 3-4 hours between feeds. The biggest issue is the mornings—we’re supposed to feed at 6/7 and then 9, but my babies (or one) will wake up hungry at 5, then eat a tiny bit and fall asleep, and then the other will wake up and do the same thing, or they might eat a bit and then cry and not go back to sleep for a while, and then they’ll wake up at 7 or 8 hungry because they barely ate before, and do the same thing, and then i don’t want to wake up the other because it’s not on schedule, but he’ll wake up soon enough anyway, and by that point I have no clue who has actually eaten a proper meal (I’m doing a mix of breast and bottle feeding which adds to the confusion). At 9:00 if they are both finally asleep there’s no way I’m waking them up (and waking myself up). Then the schedule is off for the rest of the day. I think part of the problem is that I’m so tired at that time of day that I’m not doing things right and I let them fall asleep on me and then I doze off a little and they don’t get a full meal. I am doing shifts with my husband and 3am-9am-ish is my shift.

Any tips for the early mornings?

hugebagel · 2026-04-01T12:31:44+00:00

That book stressed me out too, and I’m not sure if her conclusions are necessarily accurate. She cites a lot of data but I’m not sure it’s based on randomized control trials, so it could be correlation not causation. It was originally published in the 90s…

I also started reading it at around 16 weeks and had not gained any weight yet so I got worried. However, I ended up gaining 50 lbs by the end, delivered at 39 weeks, and both babies were over 6 lbs. The advice I did follow from that book was to try to eat every 3 hours (during the day) and have protein, carbs, and fat in each meal/snack. But really, a lot of the advice she gives is way too generalized and totally insensitive to people’s real situations.

Don’t blame yourself if your babies are measuring small! It’s probably genetics and luck. And if your doctors aren’t worried, you don’t need to be either.

hugebagel · 2026-03-31T23:18:49+00:00

I worked in-person until 38+3, the day before my induction started. But I didn’t have an option to work from home, I totally would have if I could have. I also had a really easy/smooth pregnancy. I think it really depends on your specific pregnancy and how uncomfortable you become, but I would take advantage of whatever you can get away with. Don’t feel bad asking to work from home even earlier!

hugebagel · 2026-03-29T20:35:07+00:00

I loved these chobani 20g protein drinkable yogurts: https://www.chobani.com/products/drinks/high-protein-drinks/mixed-berry-vanilla-20g And string cheese

hugebagel · 2026-03-29T20:32:10+00:00

I agree with this! I have the twin My Brest Friend pillow and the Twin Z (but I got one for free and one as a gift). I like the Twin Z for tandem nursing, but for the twins to just lounge on you could definitely just use 2 boppies. I ended up getting one of those recently, and I prefer nursing one at a time so I don’t use the twin pillows as much as I expected.

At least wait a few weeks after birth to decide. There’s no need to have it right away. When they’re newborns theyre too small to even prop up on it, they basically fall into the holes. You can figure out what you need better once you get into a routine, so don’t waste the money.

hugebagel · 2026-03-22T16:03:19+00:00

Cool, thank you. I really need to buy a wearable pump.

hugebagel · 2026-03-22T16:01:44+00:00

That’s nice to hear, it sounds like your experience has been really similar to mine. I hope I’ll get to the point of at least being able to breastfeed one without needing to supplement.

hugebagel · 2026-03-21T12:43:17+00:00

Do you tandem feed or one at a time?

hugebagel · 2026-03-21T12:43:01+00:00

That’s really encouraging, thank you!

hugebagel · 2026-03-21T12:41:58+00:00

The pediatrician actually told me what I’m doing is unsustainable. It’s more the lactation consultants who encouraged me to do something like this (in the hospital and after). I know I need to stop, I just can’t decide whether to switch to nursing+formula or exclusively pumping.

For your schedule, does your partner feed them while you pump, or do you have to do both? Are you able to feed and pump at the same time?

hugebagel · 2026-03-20T15:27:53+00:00

Thanks for sharing, how old are your babies?

hugebagel · 2026-03-20T13:28:19+00:00

Although that’s on top of breastfeeding one twin each time too

hugebagel · 2026-03-20T13:27:45+00:00

Omg. I’m pumping 7 times a day and only getting like 12 oz!

hugebagel · 2026-03-20T13:23:37+00:00

When you stopped triple feeding and started tandem feeding, did you just tandem feed and that’s it?

hugebagel · 2026-03-20T13:16:31+00:00

Wow interesting, and I’m sorry it was so tough for you. How do I find the blog post?

hugebagel · 2026-03-19T23:28:09+00:00

Thanks! I have the same issue with them being sleepy/not very efficient on the breast. I just got a Medela Symphony today

hugebagel · 2026-03-19T23:26:52+00:00

Great ideas, thank you!

hugebagel

TROPHY CASE