"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...
My sister in law gave birth to twins 2 weeks 3 days ago at 26.5 weeks
gestation. They were born via c-section because of an incompetent
cervix. The babies are holding their own and are now above birthweight
(which was 1 lb 12oz for one and 1 lb 14oz for the other).

just wanted to say here that it's not normal to give a c-section for an
incompentant cervix, more the babies are going to be born because the
cervix
is incompetant and the position or health of the babies means delivery
needs
to be by c-section, you could try posting on misc.kids.pregnancy, there is
a
lady known as Paula J who had 26 week twins and pumped for them.

She is pumping every three hours and is getting about 12oz in a 24 hour
period. The babies are now taking 12 oz in a 24 hour period. So she
needs to increase her output.

the first thing that strikes me is that I've always heard you should pump
every 2hrs with a newborn, they would usually feed that frequently, so you
have to mimic that. Is 12oz the most she has produced? it surprises me, as
when I was pumping (but also fully breastfeeding), in the mornings, even
after feeding Ada, if I didn't check on the pump and stop I would get that
much in about 10 minutes, admittedly it's my 2nd baby, but when your milk
comes in you usually have gallons of the stuff, so it makes me wonder if
either her milk hasn't come in properly, or if she is not responding to
the
pump. Do they do Kangeroo care, where they put the babies on the mum or
dads
bare chest, it is good for the babies and for the mum's milk supply. Where
does she pump? often a photo of the babies can help, if she is away from
the
babies.

My guess would be that her milk hasn't come in and she's still getting
colostrum, which would be expected since the babies aren't anywhere near
their due date yet. Alli was almost 2 months old before I started getting
really mature milk and before I really started to get engorged, and she
wasn't nearly as "preemie" as these little ones were. Remember, she was only
a bit over halfway through the pregnancy. Not only were the babies born
prematurely, but normally she wouldn't have had to produce milk for several
months yet either. Once I started getting mature milk, I could easily pump
12+ oz at a sitting until my supply regulated itself a few months later, but
those first weeks where I wasn't getting "milk" exactly yet were tough. And
that was with a much older preemie. I remember calling my LC at one point in
tears because I was only getting about 12-15 oz a day, and having her tell
me that was actually a LOT of colostrum.

I do agree with the pump every 2 hours. My LC recommended pumping every 2
hours for 10-15 minutes on the fastest speed setting, but with low suction,
with one 4 hour stretch of uninterrupted sleep. I did that for at least the
first 3 months or so, then once my milk was in, started stretching things
out farther.

And, I certainly hope she has a good hospital grade pump with a double kit,
variable speed, and suction. If they're driving back and forth to
appointments frequently or from home to the hospital, a car adapter would be
a good thing. She should be pumping directly into whatever containers the
hospital wants used to avoid contamination.




I'd need more details, such as what type of pump she was using, how long
each session is etc. but like everyone else, I'd recommend trying to work
with and LC on the spot.

Anne