I remember having my twins early at twenty nine weeks and the doctor telling me they were too little and that they needed donor milk until my milk came in. Prior to this, I had decided I would formula feed the twins because I figured my life would be chaotic enough without trying to breastfeed two new babies. I mean, I hadn’t had an infant to care for in almost seven years so I wanted to set myself up for success. 

After speaking with the doctor that night I decided if they needed to have breast milk I would do my absolute best to pump and give them everything I could. For a few days I was getting practically nothing with the pump. I felt defeated. I would walk into the NICU with a few tiny syringes and watch as other moms had tubes and tubes FULL of milk. I looked at my husband one day and said “oh my god look at that super star!” trying to laugh off the self doubt. I believe it took about a week of the twins receiving donor milk before my milk came in ever so slightly. I consulted the lactation consultant and she insisted I pump every three hours no matter what and include sessions of power pumping. It was extremely difficult as I was traveling each day and had a one hour and thirty minute drive each way. 

I rented a hospital grade breast pump (The Medela Symphony Breast Pump) and used these kits. I kept one kit at home and kept one at the hospital. 

Buy Medela Breast Pump Kit Symphony Double Pumping Kit from Canada at Well.ca - Free Shipping

I pumped every 3 hours overnight, I would get up in the morning, pump. I would take brooklyn to school, come home and pump again before leaving for the city. We would walk into the NICU and I would sit by the girls’ isolettes and pump again. After our snuggles I would pump one more time before heading back home for the night. Even with all this pumping my supply just wasn’t there. 

I truly was deep into my postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety at this point and I felt like I had failed the girls by going into preterm labour (I have resolved these feelings but this is where I was at early on). Through all of this the only thing I felt I could do was show up, snuggle and provide my breastmilk for them. I went to the doctor, expressed my concerns and I started on Domperidone to boost my supply. Within 2 days I saw a huge increase. At this time I also started using the herbal supplement Fenugreek as well. These two things combined offered a huge increase in my breastmilk supply personally. I was finally able to supply enough milk that they actually had to freeze a large supply of it at the hospital. One of our neonatologists actually called ME a SUPERSTAR and I almost cried. At the peak of my pumping journey I was pumping almost 2 litres of breastmilk per day and I am so fortunate that I was able to get to that point.

When I brought the twins home from the NICU that’s when things started to get really challenging. I would pump my milk, measure it out, fortify it with an additional formula, bottle it, add their vitamins/medications and feed it to them. One twin at a time or I would lay them on their loungers and feed both at the same time. It was A LOT and I would be straight up lying to you if I told you it was easy. At this point both of the twins needed a lot of support during feeds so it was easier to have two people so each could feed a baby as the whole process took about forty minutes to an hour. After a little while I made the decision to switch to exclusively formula feeding. I struggled with this decision for a little while but for my mental health I really believe I needed to. The girls are now thriving, growing and exclusively formula fed. I sometimes wish I would’ve experienced physically breastfeeding them, like tandem feeding my twins would have been such a huge accomplishment but through our journey in the NICU and the feeding requirements I didn’t feel it was a good idea to introduce breast when they were already working so hard to take a bottle. I didn’t want to cause any confusion for them. I just wanted them to thrive on their bottles so I could bring them home and eventually that is what happened. It was the best decision I could make for us at the time and I am at peace with it now. Anyways here are some things that helped me with boosting my supply

1. Pumping every three hours with included power pumping sessions. Here is a link explaining what power pumping is.

 Power Pumping to Increase Milk Supply: Tips, Techniques and Schedules - The Breastfeeding Mama

2. I used warm compresses prior to pumping sessions while I was at home. This helped me tremendously. 

3. Double pump whenever possible. 

4. Massage the breast or use some manual expression prior to pumping. 

5. Pump near your baby or have pictures/videos of your baby.

6. Try lactation cookies or natural supplements (check with your physician first)

7. Maintain a healthy diet (I ate oatmeal every morning and I swear that’s when I would get the most milk).

8. Try to relax and reduce stress, especially stress related to milk supply/pumping. (easier said than done, I know).

These are just a few things that helped me with my pumping journey. I was able to utilize our Well-Fed clinic where I could see a doctor and lactation consultant regularly. They offered some of this advice and were able to start me on Domperidone when I needed it. It is an incredibly challenging and rewarding thing to do. To all of the moms out there exclusively pumping, you are rockstars, keep it up because the work you are doing is amazing. Let me know your favorite tips for pumping or breastfeeding!

Well Fed Clinic | Breastfeeding & Postpartum support Calgary, AB (Calgary, AB area)