A Triple
Play!
By Brenda Caudle
Bixby, Oklahoma, USA
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 13 No. 1, January-February 1996, pp. 9-11
Our fifth baby was due in
November 1993. Our other children were Miranda, seven, Meghan, six,
Drew, four, and Ty, two. We were very relaxed about our impending arrival,
knowing that I had always carried past the due date, had fairly easy
deliveries, went home quickly after delivery, and nursed on demand beginning
immediately after birth.
We discovered the family
bed with our first baby and each baby had been welcomed into our bed
until he or she was interested in moving to a big bed around three or
four years of age. I had tandem nursed three pairs of siblings and we
had experienced baby-led weaning. We were confident that we knew what
to expect and things would go smoothly once again.
In my fifth month of pregnancy
we went for an ultrasound to see if I could be carrying twins, since
I was measuring thirteen weeks ahead of my due date. We had had large
babies before, and I really thought we were just having a large baby
again.
During the exam the technician
spotted two heads immediately and tears of joy came to my eyes. I had
always wanted twins. After a minute or two the technician looked very
concerned, so I worried that something was wrong with the babies. She
said things looked good, but she needed a minute to check something.
After a few moments she said, "I wanted to be sure before I said
anything, but there are three babies in three separate sacs." My
husband and I were relieved to learn that all three looked great, but
we were in shock. We never dreamed we would be having triplets!
After the ultrasound my mind
was racing. Would they be okay? Could I carry to term? How in the world
could I breastfeed? Breastfeeding was all I knew. I was so afraid I
wouldn't get to mother these babies the way we believed to be the best.
As soon as we were home I
began calling to get any information I could find about breastfeeding
triplets. I was told by several different people that we would need
to use schedules, charts and would definitely need to supplement. I
finally spoke with an LLL Leader who said she knew someone who had nursed
triplets without supplementing. She gave me the number, and I contacted
Mona by phone. Mona spoke of using the family bed, nursing on demand,
toddler nursing, and a parenting style close to our own. We were relieved
to learn that what we hoped for was possible.
The children were born at
thirty-five weeks and one day. Brad weighed five pounds, ten ounces,
Macy weighed five pounds, twelve ounces, and Noah weighed four pounds,
eight ounces. Brad and Macy were able to room in with me and nursed
beautifully. Noah was taken to the NICU with respiratory difficulty.
I was able to pump some colostrum for Noah, but was so busy nursing
Brad and Macy that I was not getting milk pumped for Noah. On the third
day after delivery, Brad, Macy, and I were released and moved to a room
we rented on the floor above the NICU.
On the fourth day my best
friend, Mary, arrived and helped me get busy pumping. We quickly had
Noah on breast milk only. He was being tube-fed, and we were told he
would have to take everything by breast or bottle for forty-eight hours
before he could go home.
I attempted to nurse him
several times and went to see him in the NICU every time he awoke, but
Noah was so little (four pounds), he could not take in enough milk before
tiring out.
On the sixth day we decided
to let Noah have breast milk from a premie nipple and bottle. Since
he did not have to stimulate a let-down, he seemed to take more from
the bottle. We were beginning to get very anxious to get him home. We
felt breastfeeding would go more smoothly there.
Tommy or I would go down
to Noah every time he awoke, and we would coax and talk him into taking
all of his milk. At the end of the sixth day we had a few nurses who
were very interested in the effort we were making to get our baby home
as soon as possible. One nurse even called me at 2:00 AM to let me know
that the doctor had just increased Noah's feeding by 10 ccs and did
I want to bring him breast milk instead of adding formula. Yes!
On the morning of the seventh
day, Noah began taking all milk by mouth with no tube feedings. We held
our breath wondering if he would be able to keep it up for two days.
On the morning of the ninth
day, Tommy went down to feed Noah while I nursed Brad and Macy. Tommy
came racing back about forty-five minutes later. Noah had taken all
of his milk and the pediatrician said we could take him home! What a
wonderful feeling it was to leave for home with three tiny, but healthy
babies!
Once home we settled the
babies into our bed, and I began to nurse Noah immediately. I spoke
with the pediatrician, and he agreed with my plan not to use any bottles.
He simply asked that we weigh Noah nightly for awhile. Noah only weighed
four pounds, four ounces so he couldn't afford to lose weight. It was
a blessing to be able to let Brad or Macy stimulate the let-down and
then let Noah benefit from the milk. After a few days Noah was able
to nurse with no help, and he gained well.
We did only a few things
differently than with our other babies. We started using pacifiers around
four months when nursing was well established. For me it was easier
than listening to them cry in their car seats. We tried juice bottles
around six months, but the babies weren't very interested, and any juice
they did get upset their stomachs, so we quit. We did start some solids
at six-and-a-half months. We did not have to supplement, and the babies
didn't consume very many foods until around a year.
There have been some rough
times and times that I considered weaning, but the benefits still outweigh
the difficulties. My husband has been my greatest supporter, but having
other support was critical, too. When times were rough I would talk
with Mona (who had nursed her triplets) and Renee, a Leader in the area
who has been a tremendous help.
Brad, Macy,
and Noah are now twenty months and are happy, healthy, nursing toddlers.
Recently I have put a few limits on their nursing, but I hope we will
still wait a little while for weaning. I'm so thankful that I have the
opportunity to bond with each baby as an individual through the nursing
relationship. I'm also thankful that we have been able to breastfeed
and didn't have to make other choices just because they all happened
to be born on the same day.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004 11:21 AM
by dw.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:29:42 UTC 2007.
