Breastfeeding tips for desperate mommas!

I’ve had five kids and breastfeeding has never come easy for me. Over the years I’ve listened to women talk about all the extra milk they make and how they love breastfeeding because it practically sucks their fat away. Hmm… not my experience, but I certainly wish it was. To be honest, my experience is completely opposite. After my fifth, I did a lot of research, talked to a bunch of moms and things went much better. I thought I’d share what I learned for any moms out there needing an extra boost in their milk supply.

Background – so you know where I’m coming from.
Breastfeeding Preslee, my oldest went alright, I still had to supplement about a bottle a day and nursed for 8 months until I dried up.

Ledger came and after a couple months I threw in the towel. It was a nightmare and I kept getting mastitis. Later down the road I learned he couldn’t breathe through his nose and the first question the ENT asked was, “Did he struggle breastfeeding?”

I never produced enough for the twins. I’ve since learned I don’t produce as much pumping, and that my boys were tongue tied. But I kept trying and worked with a lactation consultant until my sweet husband sat me down and told me it just wasn’t working, and that it was okay. I told him I felt so much pressure, probably because the first question people often asked me was, “Are you breastfeeding both?”  Life became much more doable for me once I turned to the bottle.

When it came to Oaklee I did a lot of research beforehand and decided I was going to give it my best effort. (She couldn’t have breathing or tongue issues, right?) I was able to nurse her for 11 months and this time it went 100 times better! I still didn’t overproduce and it took a lot of effort, but it was a much better experience due to the things shared below.

Ways to Increase Your Milk Supply

1. EAT! I don’t tend to lose weight while breastfeeding, (I’ve since learned many others don’t either!) so my natural reaction was to count calories. But this time around, I ate… a lot! I made sure most of it was healthy and I saw results. I could definitely tell a difference in my milk supply if I wasn’t eating enough calories during the day. I had to mentally remind myself I’ll drop the weight in the end.
2. Water, water, water! I bought this tumbler here, (If you don’t have one, it will change your life!) and made sure to get at least 100 oz. in every day. Make sure to drink, drink, drink! It will make a world of difference.
   
3. Oatmeal for Breakfast. I ate oatmeal nearly every day for the first six months. After six months, my body didn’t seem to need as much help. Many times I’d throw in a little ground flax seed as well. (Flaxseed is known to help with breastfeeding)
4. Supplements. I took Fenugreek daily for months. Many people suggested Milkflow instead of fenugreek, but my supply actually went down. After reading the comments I think I may be the minority, but I’d still recommend giving it try. Another great supplement to try is Mother's Milk, it’s a tea and many swear by it.
5. Booby Bites! When I was low I’d make some of these energy bites, (aka booby bites as my friend called them). I swear by these healthy little treats, they tasted great, and I snacked on them regularly. (Recipe below)
6. Smoothie. When I got sick of oatmeal, I’d replace it with this laction smoothie recipe. (Recipe below)
7. Mastitis? I feel ya, it’s the absolute worst! I got it one time with Oaklee, and a friend shared that she immediately takes Lecithin as soon as soon as she felt symptoms. The next time I felt it coming on, I immediately took it and it seriously worked! Why hadn’t anyone shared this stuff with me before? I’d have these babies on hand at all times while nursing. If you’re prone to mastitis, get some!
8. Ouch! As I was leaving the hospital, my nurse heard me talking about how sore I already was from breastfeeding. She ran and grabbed some Black Tea Bags and instructed me to place them in as hot of water as I could stand and then place them over my nipples. I gave it a try and it worked wonders, even better than the Lansinoh cream I was given. It needs to be black tea, and be careful, because they stain a little bit.

It seems like a lot of work, doesn’t it? But I felt it was definitely worth it, especially since Oaklee gave the binky and bottle up after a couple of months. But if it doesn’t work out, I promise that it’s okay. Don’t let the pressure get to you like it did me with my twins. As long as you are doing what’s best for you and your baby, that’s what matters. For me, that included bottle feeding twice.

Do you have any other tips that I missed? If so, please leave a comment below!

Booby Bites
1 cup of old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup of honey
1/2 tablespoon Brewer's Yeast
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1.  Combine and mix the dry ingredients - oatmeal, coconut, chocolate chips, Brewer’s Yeast, and flax seed.
2.  Add the peanut butter, honey, and vanilla and mix together.
3.  Refrigerate mixture for at least one hour.
4.  Remove from the refrigerator and roll mixture into small balls.

These are addicting! My boys loved them, too :)

Lactation Smoothie
1 banana
1/3 cup rolled oats
2 TBS honey
1 TBS peanut butter
1 TBS brewer’s yeast
1 TBS flax seed
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Toss ingredients in a blender along with some ice. Blend well.

Speech Therapy

After Cannon and Cruiz had their tongues clipped, the next step was to get them into speech. They’re currently enrolled in a weekly speech class through the school district and are thrilled about it.

Their first class was this week, and they were so excited, especially since they were able to wear backpacks and came home with homework, just like their big brother.

As you can see below, they were a little nervous leaving me for the first time, especially my tender hearted Cruiz. But all went well, and they both came walking back to the car with big smiles. I love being a mom, and being able to be apart of each and every milestone. Here’s to hoping we see some improvements in their speech.

 

Identical Twin Boys

Someone recently asked me how I was doing, and I responded with, “Four kids are keeping me busy!” They gave me a strange look and our conversation went a little like this.

“Really?”
”Yeah, it’s been a little bit of an adjustment.”
”Huh, does it really seem like four kids?”
”Uh… (I didn’t know how to answer) Yes?”
”Hmmm… I’d think it would be more like three.”
”Three? Why?”
”Because you have twins, they’re the same age.”
”HAHA!”

A surprised laugh escaped my mouth and I replied while grinning,

“Having twins makes it more like having eight! We call them seek and destroy, because they literally destroy EVERYTHING when I’m not looking. I’m breastfeeding, and it takes up most of my day, and the twins take full advantage of every minute I’m strapped to the couch! My newborn hasn’t been the challenge, but my three year olds have!”

The person was genuinely surprised. And I left chuckling to myself.

Cannon and Cruiz have recently kept us on our toes. When two little minds think so much alike and take on the world together, they sure do know how to leave their mark. Good thing we love them so much, because they will without a doubt leave us with gray hair. But I honestly can’t wait to see what these two accomplish, together, and separately.

We love you boys.
Life is nothing short of an adventure with the two of you.

Twins Speech

Cannon and Cruiz have been slow talkers from the beginning, and once they began talking, they conversed in twin talk, which sounds like gibberish to the rest of us.

At appointments with different pediatricians, I would ask about their speech and would always be assured they were fine, and told it’s just twin talk. But I recently began feeling that their limited speech was affecting them in more ways than one and felt they needed help in the area. So I scheduled the boys for a speech evaluation. The first step was to check their vision and hearing. Cruiz passed both with flying colors, (He had tubes placed at 11 months) Cannon passed the vision test, but barely passed his hearing, they noticed there was one frequency he wasn’t responding too. We were then referred to an ENT, where we learned Cannon needed tubes put in his ears, and both boys were tongue tied! (I had never heard of this). Tongue-tie means they have an unusually short band of tissue tethers the bottom of the tongue's tip to the floor of the mouth. When he asked the boys to put their tongue to the top of their mouth, they couldn’t, their tongue just twisted. So surgery was scheduled to place tubes in Cannon’s ears, take Cruiz’s tubes out, and clip both of their tongues.

We arrived at Primary Children’s Hospital at 6:30 am. The boys were so sweet, and had everyone loving the fact they were identical twins. A couple hours later, Cannon was taken back, and thirty minutes later, Cruiz was taken to have the procedure done.

Cannon, Cruiz

I love their different personalities. Cannon chose to be taken back in a car and a candy cane smell in his mask, and Cruiz chose a wagon and banana smell.

Cannon woke up hysterical. He was angry and began thrashing, and literally cried for an hour. He would rarely talk, but kept pointing to his mouth. Poor little guy.

 

We were nervous for Cruiz to wake up across the hall, two hysterical toddlers seemed overwhelming, but to our surprise, he woke up with the biggest smile on his face. He was as happy as could be the entire time, laid with his hands behind his head, enjoyed a show while his dad fed him a slushie.

It has now been a few weeks since the procedure and we’ve been surprised how quickly it has helped the boys with their speech. They both had 4-5 dissolvable stitches under their tongue, and Cannon’s tongue tie was quite a bit worse. The first couple of days they drooled a little bit, and spoke like they had a numb mouth, but after that they’ve been fine. When we saw family at Christmas, they commented on how much better they could understand them, especially Cruiz.

I’m so happy I listened to my gut, here’s to hoping we get these two talking better quickly!

Cannonball and Cruizer

It’s no secret that these two are trouble.

But trouble or not, we still adore them.
Even if they figure out a way to break everything... seriously everything.

 
Cruiz, Cannon
 
Cruiz, Cannon

Cruiz/ Cannon, Cruiz
Dog pile

But something has happened over the past few weeks. They’ve become…easier (Knock on wood). They’ve spent hours playing together - and actually getting along. They are really trying to communicate with each other, and those around them. And they have started listening a little better. (Other than today when Cannon painted Cruiz with desitin.)

With all this good behavior, I decided to attempt a trip to the mall... without a stroller! I only had one store to visit, so I braved it. I know, I know, if I was reading this when I only had Preslee, I’d be thinking, “What’s the big deal?” But let me tell you, with three crazy boys (Who all love to run) and two of them being two, this is a big deal! Cannon and Cruiz only took off in different directions a couple of times, and I only truly panicked once when I couldn’t find Cannon, who was hiding in Sephora. But I was so happy with what was happening that I bought lunch!

 
( Cruiz only ran away while I was grabbing the food once :)
I just wanted to document that for the first time in two years I felt like I had things under control as I sat there in the food court eating a corn dog on a stick. Haha

Oh the joys of motherhood.
Just a few short years ago, I would have never dreamed this would be one of my biggest accomplishments.
But it is, and I love everything that it entails.

Today as we played ring around the rosie for what seemed like the 100th time, I desperately wanted to freeze time. I hope to never forget the way they look at me and exclaim, “Momma!” or how many kisses the two of them plant on my lips in one day.
 

And I hope they never forget how much they are loved.
We love you Cannonball and Cruizer.

Two

 

Cruiz and Cannon’s 2nd Birthday was the first time we didn’t have family to celebrate with. Luckily we love our neighbors, and they came over and partied with us. The more kids I have, and the older I get, the more I realize a Birthday is way more fun if I keep it simple! We played hard during the day and didn’t have much to get ready for before the party started. We had a really fun day, and the boys received a lot of Paw Patrol things, along with a McQueen and Dusty. They were pretty excited. Thanks for coming Jensen’s!

Two years old

   
Cruiz, Cannon

 
Cruiz

Cannon, Cruiz   
Cruiz, Cannon

What I Want to Remember 

(Cannon, the other pic of Cruiz was too dark to post, but I caught them sleeping in the exact same position. They do it often.)

Sleep - Cruiz is one of our best sleepers, Cannon on the other hand… our worst. But that’s okay, he just needs to work on NOT waking up Cruiz every chance he gets. He has this scream that is specifically designed to wake up Cruiz, and soon as I hear it, I sprint in. But the boys usually sleep from 7pm-7am and take a nap from  12:30pm-2:30pm.

Clothing – They both wear 3T, and often put on Ledger’s 4T clothes which don’t seem all too big. (Yikes! Watch out Ledger!) I’ve been on the hunt for size 9 shoes. Cannon will not keep his shoes on, but raids Ledger’s sock drawer multiple times a day to wear socks. It drives me a little crazy :) Though I looove dressing them the same, and I do it often, if we are going to a park or somewhere to play with other kids, I’ve started dressing them differently. If one boy acts out towards the other kids, I’ve noticed the other kids think Cannon and Cruiz are the same person if they are wearing the same clothes. Therefore, the other brother suffers the consequence along with the one who acted out. So I’m working on giving them a separate identity :)

Talking – They are finally really starting to communicate. It’s making our life much easier! I doubt we will experience the twin’s speaking their own language though. Cruiz speaks a little better, but this past week Cannon’s vocabulary is rapidly coming along. Cannon surprisingly speaks with a very quiet voice, which I love.

(Cruiz, Ledger, Cannon) 

Nursery – Since moving to UT, nursery has been a mess. Our first two kids never had an issue going to nursery, so the fact Cruiz and Cannon won’t go is super frustrating! Especially since they have each other in there! Cannon screams if I sneak out, which makes Cruiz nervous, so he starts crying. Then if we just grab Cannon, Cruiz can’t handle it, and we end up taking both out. So the key is to get to Cannon before Cruiz gets nervous. Here’s to hoping we can figure it out soon.

We cut their hair! Goodbye curls.

  Cannon – This boy is by far my most independent child. He hates to receive help for anything! He’ll kick and scream if I attempt to help him get dressed, open a roll of smarties, or nearly anything else. He has the determination to keep with anything until he figures it out. I keep telling Pat, if he makes the right friends in the future, this kid will go far. He still prefers men, and is obsessed with his dad. Cannon will go through naughty stages where he refuses to listen, and won’t want anything to do with me, but I’ve learned this is when he needs me most. If I force him to cuddle and sit on my lap, he eventually gives up and enjoys the affection he needs. And for whatever reason he’ll stop acting out as bad. He loves food and to cook in the kitchen with me. He’s super physical, and loves wrestling with anyone who will play with him. We say he’s a more independent Ledger. 

Cruiz – This Momma’s boy is much softer than his brother, and usually more obedient. But when he acts out, I usually fall apart, because I’m used to him being my constant. He sits still much longer than any child I’ve had. Especially while watching Paw Patrol or Mickey Mouse. Cruiz loves animals and music. He’s my peacemaker in the family, but we are trying to teach him to stand up to his brothers… or he’s going to have a long life. Though it rarely happens, when he snaps, he really snaps, and usually has both brothers in tears! Cruiz has a very similar personality to Preslee, he’s more aware of others and makes friends easily. He will be the first to show anyone affection and still takes advantage of this dimples and can win anyone over with his irresistible smile.

The boys love to go on walks, watch Paw Patrol, sing songs, and play Ring Around the Rosie. They seem to always be copying their older brother, and love to climb in bed with Ledger at the end of each day and listen as I read them all a book before bed.

Cruiz, Ledge, Cannon

Though I love the bond identical twins have, I love their differences even more. I can’t wait to see what both boys accomplish in the future!

We love you!