One at a time, I was given each of you at the hospital and I fed you for the first time. It was strange and wonderful and stressful and confusing. You were so small and got tired so fast. You would last only a few minutes before falling asleep. Your dad would tickle your feet and rub your head, while I held you and myself and tried to get it right. It was hard for all of us.

We brought you both home and every two hours continued until we got approved from the doctor to let you go longer overnight. You both cried, I cried and then wed do it all over again. I wondered if I would be able to feed both of you and if you were gaining enough weight and if we would need to supplement. I pumped and gave you pumped milk overnight, when I was tapped out from nursing for the 8th time in the past hour. I hoped I wouldnt run out of what I was producing.

Time went by and things got a little easier. You slept longer stretches, you learned head control and stayed awake to eat. We got in a routine and you both could eat at the same time. Then, I went back to work.

I pumped. And pumped. And fed you. And pumped more. And woke up to pump. And checked ounces and used the calculator on my phone and all the milk storage apps. I again was fearful I would run out.

But here we are. A year has passed and somehow through all of our struggles and learning and depending on each other has led to us making this work. I am so very proud of each of you for learning with me and being as patient as your little souls, hearts and stomachs could be. I am so excited for the next part of our journey. The one where the stress and worry are gone and this is just for comfort and sleeps and tears. Just for love. Congratulations my sweet girls and I love you always and will always cherish this time we have had.

These photos were taken in celebration of all three of us making it one year being able to breastfeed without ever needing any supplement. We did the every two hour wake ups, combined with taking an hour to nurse them and lay them down. We did cluster feeding together. We navigated teething. We went through nursing strikes with screaming instead of nursing. We learned how to tandem nurse, how to nurse in the car, in public, in bed, on the couch.One of the hardest thing about finding out you are expecting twins is having to throw your expectations out the window. One of the things that changes is the nursing experience and I was unsure if it was even possible. With all the other compromises that we made because we were having multiples, I very much wanted to make this work and not have to compromise on this too.There were times when they were little when I forgot why I wanted to nurse so badly. I didnt get naps, because I was the only one who could feed them, or pump while someone else did. I couldnt leave my children very long at all and for a while, I just couldnt, because they didnt take bottles. But along with those hard times were the best ones.I got to experience what it is like to continue to sustain my babies outside of the womb. I got to give them the best nutrition they could ever hope to get. I have so many fond memories of quiet moments in the dark where all three of us came together in beauty.There is so much false information regarding nursing that is commonly spread in the US and in honor of breastfeeding week, I am sharing my prides and joys, as well as the pride and joy I’ve had to be able to continue nursing one of my children at 16 months (the other one has better things to do and laughs at me when I try). I also hope that if you are wanting to nurse or are struggling, that you can take these photos and my experience as encouragement. I am one of the many women who is here to support, encourage and give information to you as you go through your journey along side us:)