Back at it again. Times two! Exclusive pumping for TWINS

YES, you read that correctly, TWINS!
When "let's have one more" turns into two more, after the first initial shock and aw, what comes next ?
I pumped for one, when they said it wouldn't work, but could I pump for two? Could I even handle that? The answer I'm proud to say, was yes, I could!
In the hospital, I had a c section. Immediately after recovery I was given a pump to try and get them their first feedings. It was a struggle. For that first day I was producing next to nothing.
.3ml .5ml were given in a syringe. They said it was effective enough for them because eating was new and if they were breast feeding thats all they would have received. Because they were preemies (36 weeks exact) I gave permission for them to have a few 1oz bottles of preemie formula while my milk came in, in addition to the colostrum.
Luckily, they passed all newborn screenings with flying colors and were perfect little bugs who got to come home on time. (6 & 7lbs respectively qt discharge)
My first day home my milk finally began coming in. At first, i was getting 2oz on each side. Then within a few days I was up to 4oz on each side. By the end of 2 weeks closer to 8oz on each side.
*Remember your story may be different and thats ok.*
I was producing enough to exclusively feed both babies 4oz every 2 to 3 hours and build up a freezer or fridge stash.
I pumped every 2 hours for the first few days, once I established a good supply, I extended to 3 then 4 hours.
It worked wonderfully. If i pumped 8 ounces at 10am I prepaired two 4oz bottles and put 8oz in the fridge for later. At 11am they would eat the pumped milk, and my next pumping was before their next feeding. If I got behind or things came up, i had to bottles I would warm from the fridge. My husband or other family members were able to help with feedings this way.
Overnight I pumped while they ate, having milk for the next feeding at the ready before they went back to bed.
Eventually as they grew and didnt need as many feeding (and after introducing cereals and fruits) i was able to drop night time pumpings all together, and go closer to 5 or 6 hours between pumping during the day. This gave me a lot more freedom in my schedule.
I could pump 10oz x 2 and have enough for two feedings for both and skip right over that afternoon pump session.
I reached my 3 month goal. And my 4 and 5 months goal. Around 6 months I decided to start weaning them. I was ready to have my body back. It was upsetting because i pumped for their older sibling for a full year, but I was exhausted. They had no allergies or issues and I was ok with adding formula into their routines.
Im now happy to say that at 7 months old they still have a tiny stash of breast milk that they alternate into daily feedings.
They drink formula for the majority of the day but they have one feeding from the breast milk stash. They eat 3 to 4 meals a day of cereal, fruits and veggies and even some adult bites here and there. (Pasta, mashed potatoes etc)
Im so very glad that for 6 whole months they received the benefits of being exclusively breastfed. They are happy and healthy.
As of their 6 month appointment they were 16 and nearly 18 pounds!
My little boy was born bigger but now is a peanut compaired to his sister. He wears 6-9 months and size 2 comfortably, while she needs 12 months and size 3 diapers lol.
Just a reminder that for those 6 months i never. Not even once. Attempted to put them on the breast. So if your doctors, friends, family suggest that it wont work without actual suckling or stimulating- it most certainly can.
There is much more information in my previous posts from my first journey with exclusive pumping, and while I dont have all the details ss before, I still wanted to share that I did it again, times two.
Good luck on your pumping adventure.
Breast milk has so many beneficial qualities, for both you and your babies...but sometimes, like in my case, you just aren't comfortable with the actual breastfeeding task. Or want to share your duties and thats ok.
(I even enjoyed some wine on some friday nights while hubbie warmed freezer milk)
Whatever your choice may be, formula, pumping or breast feeding, i hope you do great!
You never know unless you try!

Baby cereal, jar or mix?

I've noticed a lot of controversy on this topic.

As far as I'm concerned,  what is the problem with the added convenience of ready to eat cereal? Same manufacterer, I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter if u mix it yourself or you buy it mixed, there's no big difference in ingredients. The only downside is your not getting the added breastmilk for mixing, but rather the formula or juice they use for mixing.

For two cereal with fruit meals a day, it was costing me about $2 a week for boxed cereal ($8 mo) and $5 a week for 7 jars of fruit, ($20 no) split in half for each twice daily feeding, for a total of $28. Which would technically be more if I had to buy juice or formula to make the cereal, but i use breastmilk.
Which is turn requires mixing, adjusting to get the right texture, heating, and washing a bowl.

For two cereal feedings a day, one plastic rectangle container or one jar lasts for two feedings as she only eats half. So one 2 pack of rectangle containers, is $1 at pricechopper. Theres a great variety of oatmeals, and mixed rice, granola, etc with all different fruit combinations.
$1 is 4 meals or 2 days. 30 days in a month, is $15 cost to have premixed, always the same texture and amount, room temp, no bowl, and ready to take with you or keep in the diaper bag when your on the run.
Even moving up to three a day, still keeps this cost at 3packs/two days to about $20.

So yes, I buy jars/containera and pay for convience, but it also saves me money!

Six month update.

Ok, well actually 5months and 17 days.
I never thought I would make it this far, but it is still routine to me, and it's surreal how much it has faded into the background of my daily life. So little effort to reap such big rewards.
Between thanksgiving, black Friday, and Christmas, I was prepaired to be finished with my pumping, as I didn't think my supply would last through the long hour gaps. I was wrong. 7am thanksgiving was my last mercy pump. 5am black Friday, I returned home and out of curiosity decided to try a session. Same result as always, as if I had not almost gone 24 hours.

My schedule now is about 3-5 pumps a day, depending on when I have the extra time to fit in more if I feel it's better for me to do two short sessions rather then one longer session.

Typically I do about 8am when I wake, 2pm after lunch, 7-8 pm, and then 11-12 before bed. But sometimes its more like 11am, 5pm, and 11 pm.

 I no longer count out my ounces daily, but I also no longer have enough to freeze which was intentional as I ran out of freezer space. So I shortened my pumps to about 5-6 minutes. I get about 3-4oz on both sides which is enough for about two bottles which keeps up with her feedings.

At 5.5 months her schedule is in this ballpark, give or take an hour depending on the day.

8am mixed cereal/rice cereal/oatmeal or granola with fruit and a 2oz bottle.

12-noon 4 oz bottle

2:30pm vegetables or a meat&fruit/vegetable mix. 2oz bottle.

4-5pm 4oz bottle

8pm cereal with fruit and 2oz bottle

11 5-6oz bottle

Occasionally she wakes up around 3am and will drink an ounce or two and head back to sleep. Sometimes her daily bottles vary by an ounce, I make them the smaller size and if she wants more I get her another ounce, as if I make her a 4oz bottle with her cereal, she usually doesn't drink it past 2 ounces and 2 are waisted.

3 month update.

THREE MONTHS!
I honestly never thought I would be able to tolerate this whole process as long as I have. My main goal was one month, then 3 months, now I am shooting for 6 months. If I was to stop pumping today, my daughter being about 3.5 months, I would have enough frozen to get her through to 6 months+

What does my schedule look like? I AM NOT TIED DOWN by the clock, or hours and ounces. My supply is established enough that I can pump 3 times one day, 5 times the next day and still consistently produce the same amount of milk. I usually pump at 11-1130 before bed, 9am upon waking, and two-three times during the day when I have a free minute or feel like squeezing in a session.

what does baby's schedule look like?
SHE SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT!
Baby wakes up between 8-930 A.M. Upon waking she gets changed, eats 1.5tsp of rice mixed with breast milk, and a tsp of fruit (apples, peaches, or bananas) along with 4oz of breast milk.
about 3-4 hours later, usually around 12, she has a 4.5 oz bottle
330 or so, another 4.5 oz bm bottle.
630-7 another 4.5 oz bm bottle.
8pm (average) 1.5 tsp of rice cereal mixed with BM and a tsp of fruit.
1030-11:00pm 5 oz bottle, then goes to bed for the night.
(4- 4.5 oz bottles, 1-5oz bottle=23oz average a day, =2 additional ounces -1oz in ea cereal feeding)

she naps off and on throughout the day, has random tummy time, play time, bath time etc. we dont have a set schedule for her play times.

Made my first goal! One month!

Got through the first month :) its so much easier now, I'm so glad I pushed through the first tiresome weeks without giving up!
I still pump 5-7 times a day for 10-15 minutes each. My output varies from 39-50ounces total in 24hours, depending on the time of day and if I do 15s or 10s.
I usually pump around 5, 9, 12/1noontime, 5, 9, 12midnight. Always about 3or so hours apart, except overnight.

If I pump anytime after 11pm my husband does her first feeding between 1-3 and I sleep through to her second feeding and pump then usually between 4-7am.
Even going the 5+ hours overnight I no longer wake up uncomfortable and engorged in the morning.

The constant leaking all day has stopped and almost vanished except a few leaks when she is crying or eating. Mother natures way of prepairing my body even though its not being used that way lol.

All in all I'm very comfortable with the whole situation now, whereas before I was debating if I made the right choice. It no longer feels like a chore, and its fit right into my daily routine to where I'm not tied down to a clock. That extra half hour of sleep or hour doing errands won't hurt my supply.

And the emmotional side effects from post partum, milk coming in, and breastpumping have faded as well.

Momma and baby are both happy as clams!

Btw the freezer bag total is currently 97 bags at 6oz each. Enough for 166bottles/23 days at her current 3.5 intake :)

Two week update...

Well turns out I didn't have the time or energy for daily posts lol.
At the two week mark my little one is drinking about 2.5 ounces every 2-4 hours depending how long she sleeps in between. At her two week checkup she was 8.6 two ounces above birth weight, eight ounces above hospital discharge weight.
I'm getting between 35-50 ounces per day. About 20 of which goes to feedings and the rest is frozen nightly in 6oz milk bags after I make the next days bottles.
I have cut back my pumps to about 6 per day over the last week and my supply is still keeping up with me.

Storing the b. milk and pump cleaning

I have found what I think to be the least complicated.
I was previously pumping into bottles then using that bottle for the next feeding, lots of washing and rotating.

Now, I spent one day pumping and filling a large container with the milk I didn't need for feedings. (a 64oz juice bottle)
Then I used the bottle to fill ten four ounce size bottles with two ounces of milk each, and with any left over milk I filled six ounce freezer bags for storing..

Now whenever I need a bottle, I grab one of the ten ready made ones, and whenever I pump I add it to the jug.
Once a day I repeat the process of cleaning all ten bottles, filling them, freezing the extra, and starting fresh. As the tem bottles are plenty for the day, and the jug fills enough for the next day.

Some people frown upon using a large container because it can harvest more bacteria and you are mixing old and new milks. However it is only used for a 24hr or less collection before it is used or frozen so I don't have to worry about any of it going bad.

During the day instead of washing my pump parts after each use, I put them in a ziplock bag in the fridge and wash them once a day when I make my bottles. In theory because breastmilk stays fresh in the fridge, the ones on your pump parts will stay fresh also. This saves some time on cleaning....
Baby wakes I grab my bottle and my pump parts, pump while feeding. Return pump parts to the fridge and put my fresh milk in the container and head back to bed. You can rinse the pump parts first before returning them to the fridge to avoid getting milk drips anywhere when you reuse them.