Preparing for the babies

I don't feel like starting my work yet, so I think I'll do two posts in a row.

First of all, thank you to everybody who wrote back with advice on diapers. You all really helped to confirm and set my heart at ease about doing cloth diapers. I had been leaning this way and wanting to try it, but was afraid because it is so much less conventional and seemed like alot more work.

Brandon and I have decided to order the cloth diapers for 4 weeks and see how we like it. If it goes smoothly, we will continue on with the cloth diapers. I will have them delivered sometime next week as they recommend delivery about 2 weeks before your delivery date (they don't charge for this early delivery). However, we have also bought a few packs of the Pampers Swaddlers just in case the babies are too small for the cloth diapers, if we take them out of the house for the day during the first 4 weeks (I really don't want to transport smelly, poopy diapers in my cute little diaper bag), or any other unexpected things arise. We're ready for anything!

I've also been working hard to prepare myself for breastfeeding twins (if you're male and don't want to read all about breastfeeding, I suggest you skip the rest of this post). I knew absolutely nothing at all about breastfeeding before I got pregnant. I didn't even know how often newborns have to eat, I thought it was 3 times a day like me. Boy, was I wrong! Good thing I started looking into it!

There's a wonderful (and free!) breastfeeding clinic downtown and I've attended a couple of classes there during my lunch hour. They were specifically geared towards breastfeeding twins and were amazingly helpful. I learned so much! I am so glad that I went because I feel much more prepared for any problems that might arise. I naively thought that breastfeeding came so naturally and that you just automatically made enough milk to sustain however many babies you are carrying and that the babies would always want to/be able to breastfeed.

I learned, though, that while it is the most natural way of feeding your babies, it's not always easy and may not come naturally to all moms and babies. Some babies (especially twins) are too small and aren't strong enough to suck effectively. If that's the case, they won't get enough to eat and will lose too much weight. Also, if babies have jaundice or fall asleep too easily, they won't get enough milk either. There are ways to correct these problems, but if you're not prepared, you might just assume that your baby couldn't breastfeed and stop trying.

Also, every woman has different breasts and therefore will have different challenges to breastfeeding. I won't get into all of these, but I had a breast assessment at the center and was told that I might experience some problems getting my babies to latch on correctly at first. Now that I'm prepared for this, I won't freak out if/when they don't latch on and will get help immediately.

I also learned how you can tell if your baby is getting enough to eat, how to pump to increase your milk supply (this is absolutely crucial for twin moms), how to encourage your baby to enjoy breastfeeding, and how to troubleshoot a multitude of other problems. Once I get the hang of nursing one baby at a time, I think I'll even try to do both at once. Eeek! Wish me luck with that!

The director of the center is apparently referred to around town as the 'breast whisperer' and I plan on having her come to our apartment for a home consultation a day or two after we get out of the hospital. She can help me with any specific issues I'm having with breastfeeding and show me how do it more efficiently. There are so many different factors that affect breastfeeding (the size and shape of your breast, the size and shape of your nipple, the size and shape of the babies' mouths, your milk supply, your hormone levels, what type of delivery you had, your stress level, your diet, the health and strength of the baby, etc.) that I'm sure it will not be a cake walk for me. I'm really glad to be so well prepared before birth and to know that I have somebody I can call for help after birth. I'm excited for the challenge!