Bottle Feeds

So in the last post I mentioned that we are now bottlefeeding but that it is a whole story in itself...so here is my story:

We were successfully breastfeeding for a good while and all was right in the eating world. Around 7 weeks I took Hannah Kate in for an acute care visit because I thought she may be sick but knew that something wasn't right. She wouldn't eat for very long and she would just scream and cry so hard right after she ate. Well, the doctor looked her over and said that she was just fine, no sickness. Whew, that was music to my ears! But the problem continued around feeding times. Finally, my best friend Amanda (who is also a lactation consultant) came to visit and was able to help me figure out what the problem was...I had overactive letdown. Guys, sorry if you don't want to hear this- just move onto the pictures :) Now for those of you not familiar with this it's equivalent to making a baby funnel milk and try to keep up with the flow. And what occurs is that the baby fills up on the sugar rich foremilk and doesn't get enough of the fat rich hindmilk. This produces lots of bad gas buildup in the gut so they have really bad gas pains and because they're not getting enough hindmilk they aren't able to grow quite as well. Well, I was determined to make it work and since Charlotte didn't seem to be having too much trouble with it I could work with Hannah Kate trying to teach her that she didn't have to try to keep up with the flow...she could just take a break when it became too much and resume eating once the flow slowed back down. And since I had many letdowns during a feeding I had to help her the entire feeding. Well, that was going so-so and it was a feed-by-feed basis as to whether or not she did okay. And it was manageable since Charlotte was so easy going and didn't require any help or attention during a feeding. Until...2 weeks before Christmas- Charlotte began having the same problem. Oh no! I simply don't have enough hands to help both out at the same time! I tried though for another few weeks and finally on December 29th I gave up- we were all absolutely miserable every time it was feeding time. They were screaming the whole time and I would end up crying by the end of it all. And because things began to fall apart around Thanksgiving and they had dealt with some other changes at that time (sleeping with arms unswaddled and sleeping in their own beds), no one was getting any good sleep anymore. I was absolutely exhausted...I don't remember a time in my life that I was as tired as I was then. So I was left with 2 options regarding feeding: 1. I pump and feed them my milk in bottles, or 2. I feed them formula in bottles. I went with option #2 after much thought and tears because I knew that they needed a sane mother more than they needed breastmilk and if I had to pump around the clock in addition to my normal daily routine and activities I would never rest. So, there you have it. The girls are now on formula and everyone is happy at feeding times again :) I am still having a hard time knowing that breastfeeding days are done because it was really such a sweet bonding time and I know that babies fed breastmilk tend to be healthier (seeing it firsthand working in the NICU). But I have to keep reminding myself that my sanity is even better for them! Anyways, here are a few new pics for your viewing pleasure :)

All of the girls gathered on the couch for feeding time

HK on the left, Char on the right

Playtime! Char (L) & HK (R)

HK in her new Jumperoo! Notice her feet don't quite touch the ground yet so it's more of a Sit-a-roo right now :)

The newly rearranged room with both cribs.