10wks pg with twins need some advice

[helle]

Kawazuki I only know my levels at 4 weeks they were 896.

Hmmm.... at 3wks and 6days my levels were 688.

Congrats for your little twins! Sending lots of stick vibes your way! xx

[volcanocandy]

Hi,
I'm new here (I just joined as I was looking for a twin discussion forum, this one seems relatively lively) .

I had twin boys (fraternal) in January. They were unexpected and our first children! We nearly fell over when they told us - very excited! Now the boys are 4 months old and things are going very well.

RE: breastfeeding twins - yes I'm doing it. It was incredibly difficult in the beginning and I tried various things (expressing and feeding one with bottle, one with breast, feeding one at a time etc) but feeding them together works best for me! I have a twin feeding pillow which is sooooo awesome - If i were a celebrity I would endorse those pillows for free, I love mine so much. I think they're about $100 from big baby stores but it's the best $100 I ever spent!!!! I have been able to save sooooo much time feeing them together too. I'm going to continue doing it for as long as I can!

Our routine is to breastfeed all day and then give a bottle of formula at night before bed (about 7.30am) when my milk supply is lowest - then express before I go to bed. The boys then sleep 12hrs and get up about 8am so I have no complaints! It's a great routine for us.

I also had gestational diabetes (2 placentas.... fun!) and only put on 3kg for my twin pregnancy. I guess the extremely low GI diet helped that a lot.

Anyway, I just have to say that the first few weeks are CRAZY and you'll feel so overwhelmed and be constantly feeding (my bum would go numb from sitting on the couch so long... sometimes almost 90 minutes of feeding!!!) it was very draining. But there's a light at the end of the tunnel and life does get easier.


xx

[azzrenae]

Valcanocandy it so good to see another twin mummy here. Thats great you are breastfeeding your twins it sound like a great routine I think that it is important to have. I plan to breastfeed my twins but I had so much trouble breastfeeding my first bub and I hope that I can do it this time round, I will try my best but it will be hard with my daughter running around. I will definately get one of those breastfeeding pillows.
I to had destational diabeties with my first pg and I only gained 5kg. I have a feeling I will get it again so have to get my diabetic recipes out again.

I just have a quick question did you put them in the same cot for the first couple of months? What pram do you have I am looking at the moment but I find that they are to big to fit in the boot of my car. I had a look at couple of the Valco prams they look good and I had a look at the Maclearn (I think thats how you spell it) but it was hard to put it down it took my husband and the shop assistant to put it down.
Any advise would be helpful to all of us twin mummies to be.

AFM going off to get my bood test done today, I also got my hair done yesterday it was so good I have been feeling abit blah lately so it was a great pick me up. I feel so hugh and I am only 13 weeks gee I think I am going to be hugh.

I hope everything is going well with everyone else

[VTmom]

WOW Valcanocandy!!! you make it sound so easy and thats amazing for the twin mums to be bcs all you hear while you are pregnant is who hard its going to be and how difficult life will become (at least thats the way it was for me).
In reality yes its hard but you learn to adapt...you change your life and become more organzied and it works!! my babies are almost 9 months and most the time i am with them on my own and the situations i have been in (no car, living in a dangerous country, being alone without any help...etc) weren't easy and we survived and are happy and healthy which is the most important thing!

as for the prams i have the Maclaren which is small and great for getting around but as you said its hard to close. you get used to it and get really good at it but i am sure there are easier ones out there. with twins most of the time your hands are full or you are in a hurry or somethign like that so you need something that easy to open and close...thats NOT the maclaren!

the sleeping situation: well because i move around alot i never bought cribs. i have had porta-cots everywhere i go. so for the first 5or 6 weeks they slept together and then i seperated them bcs the porta-cot got too small as they grew. for the first few months its ok but i believe you need to separate them after the 2nd month bcs seperating them later on while be much harder!

Any other advice you need let me know bcs i know how hard it can be getting prepared and don't know what to expect!

good luck and take care
Shereen

[bella55]

Hello lovely ladies,

It's nice to read about how other twin mums are coping!! It's reassurring and believe you me i need some reassurance!
As for the prams - i went out shopping about a week ago - i loved the Phil + Ted's and the mountain buggie double prams - but they were so cumbersome when put down - and sooooo heavy. I then found the baby jogger prams "city mini & city elite" they are easy to fold down - i mean really easy and best of all they are light.

I to would be interested to hear more about the sleeping arrangements - i was thinking of buying a double bassinett (haven't found one but apparently they exist) for the bedroom initially then ?having two cots side by side?.

Azzrenae - i hear you about feeling huge - i feel huge and i'm only 10weeks!!

xxBella

[Kezzabird]

That is great to hear about the breast feeding! I too had problems breastfeeding my boy, so am determined to do it this time around. I ordered a twin feeding pillow just last week and it came the other day, I can see that it will make life easier even if I end up bottle feeding it will be useful.

Luckily for me my Gestational Diabetes test came back clear, I was sure I it was gonna be bad news as my mum has diabetes and I heard that it was more common in twin pregnancies, but I escaped! Yipee!!

We are a bit short of space in our bedroom so decided to give the bassinets a miss and go straight to two cots in their own bedroom. We have baby chairs for them for the family room, to be honest you don't need all the fancy stuff they sell in the shops, it's so easy to get sucked into the oh that's cute lets buy it syndrome.

AFM- I am approaching 30 weeks now, I feel like a big fat elephant! Moving around is difficult, sleeping is hard and I am so over this pregnancy it's not funny! I know they need to bake a bit longer to give them the best chance, but jeeze I am soooo fed up of not being able to sleep and get on with stuff. I am in constant pain with my back and am on a diet of heartburn and reflux tablets (yum!!) I have made an appnt at the hairdressers for tomorrow morning to try and make myself feel better, but I just feel like a frump right now. You ladies in the early stages invest in a pregnancy pillow NOW! I wish I had, it's a bit late for me now, but you guys would benefit from one being in the early stages. Oh and I am really hormonal, I keep bursting into tears at the slightest thing.

[azzrenae]

Hi Bella I will check out the city mini and city elite. I have my DD cot and its pretty big so I was thinking of putting them in it for a couple of months them buy another 1 as soon as they get bigger. I feel a bit embarrased when people ask me how many months I am, I quickly tell them then finish with and I am having twins

OMG Kezzabird hang on in there I know it feels like it is never going to end you have made it through 7 and 1/2 months. Ok looking into a pg pillow now thanks for that info. How much was your breastfeeding pillow? Hope you are looking after yourself.

[Mon]

Hi Gals,

Welcome Volcano Candy. Inspring to hear your boys are sleeping through the night. would love to get my twins into a similar routine. Did it take long to do this?

I also intend to breast feed and pump and use formula if need to, but really want to b/f. What b/f pillow do you have? Its probably the only thing i dont have yet, so I probably should invest in one. Did you take it to the hospital when you gave birth. kezzabird which one did you get and which site did you order from? might be easier to buy online than go to a store as i can hardly move and if send my husband off to buy one for sure it will probably be not what i want LOL!

Pretty amazing you only gained 3 kgs! I have already gained 20kgs and 8 of those has been in the last month, but am suspecting a lot of it could be fluid retention. My feet and legs are so bad it looks like I have elephantits and feels really uncomfortable. Is anyone else suffering from fluid retention.

V Candy what size where your boys when they were born? Did you express at the hospital? did anyone else. i have an electrcic b/pump machine, but not sure if should take to hosp? Anyone have any suggestions?

Azzranae it can be quite daunting the pram choosing. I ended up buying the Valco Ion as it was one of the lightest on the market and also looked easy to fold and easy to manouver esp if trying to lift pram wheels up a curb. Maclaren a bit clunkier and also found harder to close plus heavier than valco ion, but was curious as my sis has the single maclaren and other ppl I know and they love it, but maybe not so efficient as a twin pram. Some time ago i found on a website 'thinktwins' a pdf which compared all the twin prams with costs and specs. I found it after bought the pram but it just made me more convinced that made right choice in pram. Hope it lives up to my expectation.



Kezzabird i hear you on the sleeping thing and advice re pillow. i am now at a point where I have to sleep in a sitting up position and cant sleep on my left or right side regardless of sleeping pillow because of weight of belly and discomfort. I went to OB on thurs and had growth scan. Bubbas are already measuring at 2.5kgs each which he was happy with. i am now scheduled for a c/s date of 5th June ... so a little over 2 weeks! I cant wait! Am feeling very uncomfortable and can hardly move!!!!!!

We set the cot up for the twins today as were waiting for MIL to arrive from o/s. So had my mum and MIL over this morning. We have bought 2 cots but have decided to sleep them both in one cot to start off with as a lot of ppl have recommended sleeping them together. So intend to do this for about 4 mths or so and then put them into seperate cots. Havent heard about double bassinettes Bella but def sounds like an interesting option. I like the idea of sleeping them together as they have already spent 9mths in the belly together and have also heard that they settle better when they are sleeping together.
Hi to all the other gals.
Mon

[jenc77]

Hi ladies

I thought I'd join in if that's ok - I'm in Bella, Kaydees and Azrenae's buddies group/s and hadn't thought to venture much outside to see if there's a specific twin forum. So I'm really pleased to see this one. It's nice to be able to ask twin specific questions.

I'm just over 18 weeks preg with fraternal twins thanks to a successful IVF ICSI cycle after a long TTC experience. It's so exciting.

It's been really wonderful to read some of the twin mummies' experiences, because, while I'm really excited about the new additions to our family, I can't get beyond the 'logistics'. I wake up the middle of the night thinking "how will I manage the shopping trolley and a pram?", "what happens when one cranky one wakes the other one up?", "how on earth will I manage breast-feeding?", and "will I get time to shower?"!!!!! Crazy I know. But nonetheless, that's what's going on in my head. Usually, the light of day, I can come up with a logical solution (like, duh, don't go grovery shopping on your own!!) but at 3am it's not quite that easy!

I've been feeling movements for a couple of weeks now, which is wonderful, and we have our morph scan next week, where we will find out their sexes, and we're really excited about that. I'll really go on a shopping spree then I think

My sisters are twins and I was chatting to my dad the other day about it all, and he said that my sisters wouldn't sleep unless they were in the same cot. He firmly believed that they got used to each other's company in utero and didn't want to disturb the balance! So, we have two cots, but we'll probably co-sleep them at first and see what happens.

He also told me a *nightmare* story about feeding them when they weren't in the same routine - he literally didn't sleep for nearly 48 hours straight because they were feeding every 2 hours and he'd finish one, burb her and put her to sleep, only for the other one to wake up immediately!! argh!! I think that's the thing I dread most. So I really like the idea of feeding at hte same time and expressing so that DH can help out for the night-time feeds

Thanks all for the book recommendations - I haven't ventured into twin books yet, but am planning to do so very soon, so it's good to get some ideas about which ones to buy.

Anyhow, glad to find you all. Take care.

Jen