Moms of twins/multiples...help! LOL

[1bigfamily]

Originally Posted by mom_of_3g_1b People will give you all kinds of advice about schedules and feeding but do what feels right to you. That's what has kept me sane...lol

Amen to that!!!

[twinmommy]

Congratulations on your twins! Mine are 21 months old now and they have been breastfed, co-sleeping, and cloth diapered their whole lives!

All the mamas above answered many of your questions. I'd say the one thing that was absolutely indispensible to me was my EZ2Nurse twin nursing pillow. We still use it for times when they nurse together (especially before nap and bedtime).

I'm happy to exchange pms with you about any specific questions you might have!

Enjoy them!
Karen

[twinsmomkatie]

The only thing I would add that everyone else hasn't already said is (and you won't need this 'til later) - we got 2 of those booster-seat high chairs that strap onto regular chairs instead of the bigger standard high chairs and we were so happy. We had 1 of each thing, too, and just rotated them around. Ours slept in the same crib for 1 year, and LOVED it.

Also, I got a lot of negative feedback when I was pg with twins, plus I read ALL the books out there AND this was my first pregnancy AND I was really, really sick, and what nobody ever told me was . . . you are going to be so happy to have twins in your family. More joy, laughter, kisses - it's the best!

Best wishes to you - do you know if you have g/g or b/g or b/b?

Katie

[1bigfamily]

Originally Posted by twinsmomkatie The only thing I would add that everyone else hasn't already said is (and you won't need this 'til later) - we got 2 of those booster-seat high chairs that strap onto regular chairs instead of the bigger standard high chairs and we were so happy. Katie

I agree with that. We have the big ones but it is bc we don't have a table to eat at house is too small and we don't have a table for 7

[quarli]

Originally Posted by kirk_heidi books- diaper bag- I love my Catini Colorado Backpack diaper bag from Babies R Us

That is one of theeeeee most awesome diaper bags!! There is so much dang room in it!!

To the OP.....i can pretty much ditto what everyone else has said. Lukes book was a godsend for me! I loved it and plan on keeping as a just incase we get blessed again book. One of my best friends got it for me, to keep me entertained during all my L&D trips.

My boys shared a crib in the NICU, and when they came home shared a bassinet for about 2 months, and now share a crib again......our crib is sidecarred to our bed to allow for a much better co-sleeping arangement and for night time nursing. We do have another crib, and eventually they may go into seperate ones but for now, they sleep much better together.

Tons of baby gowns!!! You will learn just how easy it it to nurse one while changing the others diaper.....and the gowns make it much easier...lol

We do have 2 of everything as far as swings go and bouncies and stuff goes. We actually have 3 bouncers, but its only cause we got a different one due to the babies reflux and sometimes needing to sit up more, and it has 3 positions on it.

We have 2 double strollers....but we also have 4 kids 4 and under....lol

I love my Duoglider, but its heavy as heck. I have a Duolite side by side that I love love love!!! Its much easier to manouver around.

I have 2 slings. I carried the boys for a few months in the same one, but now they go in thier own unless we are on the bus or something then its easier to use just one sling.

I have to say though that getting them on some sort of a schedule is one of the easy ways to go. If one baby wakes up to eat try and get the other one up too and tandem nurse...it will go quicker, and you can tandem while laying in bed, and still be able to sleep.......you can check out my pics in the breastfeeding pics thread. My boys were NICU babies, and were on a schedule from day one...once outta there though I didnt keep the feeding schedule like they had it but I did try to feed them at the same time, because that usually meant they slept at the same time....sometimes...lol

Now at 5 months old my boys go to bed around 9pm and are usually awake by 8am....once inawhile one will wake up to nurse at night.....not often though.

Congrats on the twins!!!! Its fun and a challange every day, but well worth it.

Whenever someone says to me "double trouble" I just respond with "double the love"

[rds989]

My dh works with a woman who had triplets and then twins. She says that twins are np big deal!

Seriously though, I don't have twins, but I can imagine that a postpartum doula could be really nice for a few days, just while you're getting adjusted to nursing both kids and all of that. A pp doula will do everything from childcare to meal preparation to caring for you. And I'm pretty sure that they don't stay in your house, or at least don't have to.

[rawkstarwife]

I don't have twins and don't know anyone who does, yet I just sat and read this entire thread!

I guess I'm just amazed how moms of twins can do it....not to mention moms of twins AND toddlers! Cripes, one baby is enough trouble!

My hat's off to you, mamas. I can't even imagine what life with twins is like - I'm sure it's rough, but it also sounds so awesome! You are some terrific gals!

[bethanyjoy]

Mommas, you have no idea how much better I'm feeling just reading through this thread! It is SO reassuring to realize how many experienced multiples mommas are on DS...just knowing there will be people to bug with my questions is a HUGE relief.

And many thanks for the positive words, too! It's amazing how many people respond to the news of twins by saying something like, "Wow, you're going to have your hands full" or "I'm glad it's not me!" Which isn't exactly what I need to hear!

I've ordered Barbara Luke's book from Amazon, should get it later this week! And my mom gave me a copy of "The Joy of Twins" so that's been interesting reading as well.

Another Q for you - did you find out the gender of your twins before hand? Both of the boys were "surprises" and I was planning on that again...BUT...now that I know it's twins...I'm seriously considering finding out. If I were to end up with two girls or something, I've got some serious shopping to do! But...I don't know...any thoughts?

On, and another Q... (yeah, I'm full of 'em) -- do you know of any good books for older siblings about twins? There's some good ones about having one baby...but I was just wondering if anybody knew of any with multiples?

K, that's all for now!

[Carrie]

Originally Posted by bethanyjoy Another Q for you - did you find out the gender of your twins before hand? Both of the boys were "surprises" and I was planning on that again...BUT...now that I know it's twins...I'm seriously considering finding out. If I were to end up with two girls or something, I've got some serious shopping to do! But...I don't know...any thoughts?

We were planning on finding out anyway but when we learned it was twins we wanted to know more than ever. Also with all the ultrasounds I had to have (because of the one placenta) I'm sure we would have seen anyway. It was VERY obvious that they were boys, lol! As your twins grow in the womb, you will start to develop a relationship with each of them. I carried Ethan high on my left side and Ryan low on my right side. Ryan was very strong and active and always moving, but my sweet little Ethan was quieter. The personality differences I perceived when I carried them continue to strenthen and develop to this day. Ryan is independent, outgoing and a total daddy's boy, and Ethan, whom I carried under my heart, is a shy sweet mama's boy. Of course I love them equally and I am equally close to both, but what I think I am saying is that finding out the genders while pregnant was part of the bonding process for me, and I'm really glad now that we knew while I was pregnant. Having twins was enough of a surprise, especially as I didn't find out until 18 weeks!

[mom_of_3g_1b]

We weren't going to find out the sex until we discovered there were three of them. Then I said I only want to know if there's a girl. They thought two of the babies were identical and said that one of that pair was a girl so we had to find out the third. Which was more fun since it was so hard to see them she was a he for a while.

I totally agree with the pp about their personalities in the womb. I remember holding Gwendylan for the first time in NICU, she was about 3 or 4 days old and I already knew her. She always had the hiccups so she was my little frog, Abigail was on the bottom by my pubic bone and felt like she was always using it as her trapeze, so she's my monkey. Kyrra was so quiet that the doctors had to pull out the U/S machine to find her a couple of time since she would hide behind the placenta (it was anterior) so she's my kitty. They are still very much like that.

I heard from someone who had triplets, but it would also apply to twins "It's only as hard as you make it" Get used to the hands full, glad it's not me comments. It seriously takes me almost twice as long to go anywhere because of all the people stopping us. I prefer that to the pointing and whispering though.