"You Can't Nurse Twins!" and Other Urban Myths!

by Rebecca Kerr

I went into pregnancy open-minded. In the first trimester I decided breast or bottle... not my business. That was really a choice best left for the baby. Secretly I was hoping it would choose the bottle, as my breasts were so sensitive that I couldn't even stand for my husband to look at them fondly. Then at one particularly eventful ultrasound, the doctor asked if we wanted a boy or a girl. We told him we didn't care. He said, "Well, how 'bout a boy AND a girl." To which my husband casually replied, "Nah. That's not for us," as I nearly fell off the table. He didn't get it until the doctor showed us the head, and then "the OTHER head."

As it turned out, the two little heads the doctor pointed out that day (which made my husband drop cold on the floor) were in fact Anna and Sarah, my beautiful baby girls. The knowledge that Anna and Sarah were on their way, and that they were a terrifyingly unexpected twosome, prompted me to frantic reading and research on everything to do with parenting, including feeding. I quickly learned that breast or bottle was NOT a decision my babies could make for themselves. It was up to me to make sure they got my poor, sensitive breasts and nothing else!

I also learned that, while entirely in support of singleton nursing, many doctors (including my OB), nurses, friends, relatives, and other opinionated bystanders, are decidedly opposed (or at least highly doubtful) to twin nursing. This made absolutely NO sense to me. I reasoned, "If I can feed them now, while I'm pregnant, and they're thriving in my uterus, what's going to keep my breasts from sustaining them outside the womb?" I took support from my breastfeeding book (So That's What They're For!), La Leche League, my mom, and my husband-- who had never actually seen anyone breastfeed, but was afraid to oppose me when I was on a crusade. (He was an amazing supporter, when it came down to the wire.)

When the babies arrived, there was no end of doubts from the nurses and doctors. My own obstetrician, who had developed a respect for my research and determination, finally gave her approval, but cautioned me to supplement as soon as they failed to thrive. I listened politely, but inwardly had no intent to give my girls even a drop of formula. And I never needed to.

Today Anna and Sarah are happy, robust one-year-olds, who wouldn't wean for the world! And instead of making my life an isolated bore (as I was warned nursing twins would), nursing has freed me to enjoy healthy, well-adjusted girls who are rarely sick and easily comforted. Instead of dealing with the twice the bottles, twice the formula expense, and twice the upset tummies, I got twice the cuddles and twice the smiles at half the effort. I wouldn't trade my twin-feeders for all the bottles in world! (And my husband can enjoy them now, too!)

Now if anybody questions me about nursing the girls--which they rarely do, seeing how healthy they are-- the answer seems obviously plain... It's even more natural than nursing one! Two babies, two boobs!