A mum has taken to Instagram to share her 'emotional breakdown' over her struggle with tandem breastfeeding.
Elaina Bellis, from California, gave birth to her identical twin girls, Quincy Kay and Rowe James, on 12th March.
For the last five weeks Elaina has been tackling a breastfeeding problem that many new mums never publically admit - not having enough milk.
The mother-of-three, whose first son Lincoln James tragically died in childbirth in 2014, took to her Instagram page to share her feelings with her 21k followers.
Elaina said; 'I tried everything in my power to build a supply for my girls.'
The new mum has tried all the usual suggestions to encourage milk flow, including pumping, visiting lactation consultants, taking tea and vitamin supplements and staying up all night.
However, none of the conventional suggestions had helped and it was causing the Art Director to have 'emotional breakdowns' and not understand why her body couldn't build up any milk - not enough for even one twin.
Elaina and her husband James had a traumatic delivery experience which resulted in an emergency c-section being performed, and she believes this trauma caused an excess of fluids in the body.
The babies, who weighed 5lb each at birth, have been sharing one ounce of milk between them – the result of a day's pumping for Elaina.
Elaina admitted that her friends have saved her by donating their own milk and she never thought this problem would affect her; 'I never thought I would have problems breastfeeding and realize now I did the absolute best I could do.'
After giving herself a difficult time, the new mum has gradually come to the conclusion that those who can breastfeed are 'incredibly lucky' and admits; 'All I can give them is my love and that's most important.'
The post has been liked nearly 6000 times and many mothers have commented explaining their own private struggles with breastfeeding.
Cindy said; 'You are doing a great job. Those babies are blessed to have such a wonderful caring mother. Sometimes our bodies work against us but that doesn't make us any less of a mother.'
Jules Batt reminded mums about the bigger picture; 'Thank you for sharing your story in breastfeeding. I say this as I pump for my 17 day old second child. I too have struggled to make enough milk and have tried every avenue. While this experience has not gone as I anticipated with either of my children I feel much stronger and am able to see that even 1 Oz a day is a success. As my son's pediatrician said to me.... at high school graduation when all the kids are lined up no one will ever know or care about which child was not exclusively breastfeed.'
