Double Trouble

[Malinka]

faithandhope
congratulations on your twins! Sorry about your MS. I didnt' have any ( thanks G-d), but I heard crackers can help.

Laura such an adorable pic!!

Kim, how is Ellie feeling?

Kimberly, did you get your lil ones to sleep yet?

[kholtan]

Faithandhope~ Wish I could help w/ the MS. I didn't have it either, THANK GOD! He knew I couldn't handle it! I hear eating first thing in the morning helps people as well. Good luck to you on that!

Laura~ How sweet! I love identical twins!!!! Sometimes I just think it would be great to have one more set of twins, especially if they could be identidal but then I hear crying and the feeling passes. They are adorable.

Quick question? My babies are 10 weeks and I am trying to figure out what they should be doing? I'm not quite sure because they were 6 weeks early. They are starting to do so many things but nothing a whole lot. They smile, but it's not so easy to get them to do it. They grab on things but don't really reach very often. They barely coo or gurgle but love to focus on things and are VERY alert. I'm not trying to compare I was just wondering where other preemies were at at this age to help give me an idea. Thanks moms!

Hope all is well with everyone! Take care~
Kimberly

[buckeyegal]

Lauralou--the boys look great! How cute! I'm glad that going to work has gone so well for you! I know what you mean...getting out of the house can really help the mind!

Faithandhope--I AM SO SORRY!!!! I, too, had horrible morning sickness. Mine lasted 24 hours a day, which sucked. I never actually got "sick", I just felt nauseus all day. They say that twins can actually cause worse morning sickness, too. Good news is, that it does eventually end. Mine started calming down around 13-15 weeks. Some things that helped me: wrist bands for sea sickness--you can usually find them at a drug store. SEnd DH out to get them. Also, unfortunately for my weight, eating usually helped. I tended to have to graze ALL DAY in order for my stomach to feel somewhat okay. For some reason, too, lemonhead candies helped, as did mints. With the holidays coming, just go buy a huge bag of those starlight mints cuz they help a ton. Crackers, pretzels, too. I also had to lie down whenever possible (which was hard when you're a 1st grade teacher), but it does pass. And hey, good news--they say that morning sickness is a good sign that the pregnancy is progressing nicely! Good luck kiddo!

Malinka--how are you hanging in there?

Kimberly--I remember being the SAME WAY!!! I kept wondering "what the heck am I supposed to do with them?" Honestly, since yours were more premature than mine, I can't give you great advice, but I do know that around that age, mine started to love when I read them books. I would sing to them, dance with them, put them on their playmats (even if they only stared). Since they like to look at things a lot at that age, I would just put their bouncy seats wherever I was, and I would talk to them as I did things. Mine also like to watch rattles and toys, so I would move them back and forth across their field of vision. Trust me, they will get much more active before you know it! Mine are constantly wanting to play now! Thank goodness they can't crawl yet!

Laura and Di--I've got to ask about naps...my two tend to still take several short naps during the day. They do sleep through the night. I'd like to start keeping them up more during the day, so they take a couple of longer naps--like one in the am and one in the pm. Any advice? It just seems that after 1 1/2 or 2 hours, mine are done. But then they only nap for about 40 minutes. ?????

Ellie is on the mend. Her brother caught the cold on Saturday, but he's already better. He's a much quicker healer. By the way, Johnsons makes a great Vapor bath, that really seemed to help! But, it's for 3 months and up.

[faithandhope]

Buckeyegal....I'm in the same boat...it is nauseouness 24/7 unless I lay down and do completely nothing then it calms down. It's seriously bad! But I know it will be worth it! I am getting the seabands!! People were telling me about them! Sounds exciting!

So, can you all tell me your bedrest/when you actually had the twins story....I'm due July 4th and some people told me to start expecting them in May.

Also, what books do you recommend that I read for twins right now? I have the basics....What to Expect and The Pregnancy Journal.

I sure am learning so much from you all! I hope I can offer some advice soon!

[buckeyegal]

faithandhope--I was due July 6 and had them on June 14--36 weeks and 6 days.

Becoming Babywise is a GREAT book about sleep and routines. I haven't read too many twin books yet...i figure I have time for that later???? Read Jenny McCarthy's book about pregnancy--it'll give you a great laugh!

[Malinka]

Kim I am ok, but I am so heavy it is not even funny, it is so hard to walk or change sides when I am laying down. I feel like a whale seriously.

faithandhope, I am reading dr Luke book on expecting twins, triplets and quadruplets. I like it, I mean it can be intimidating , I only use it as a guide line, but it teaches you what to do and what to avoid during the twin pregnancy.
I also have "twinsparation", from a twin's mom who went thru the same thing we are going. It might not give you advice from a medical point of view, like Dr Luke's book does, but it is funny and from a real mom of twins.

[kimberli]

Hi everyone,
I just found out I'm expecting twins yesterday. They are 6w 1 day old. I'm due July 2nd.
One good book I just read was called "The girlfriends guide to pregnancy". It's a very candid easy reading book. Although it's not about twins but just being pregnant and what to expect from beginning to end. Plus it's kind of funny.
Faith/Hope sorry to hear you are nauseous I haven't had that yet. Not looking forward to it either.
Have a good weekend.
Kimberli

[buckeyegal]

Kimberli--congratulations! Another set of twins due next summer, yeah! You're also our 3rd kimberly. This could get confusing!

I also read the girlfriends guide...it's funny! I'm now trying to read the girlfriends guide to surviving the first year--I'm not making much progress, but it seems just as light hearted!

Good luck to you.

[kholtan]

Congratulations Kimberli!!
There is nothing better than twins, not even a good nights sleep although it's a close second! Just kidding. Honestly, I found this web page way more informative than any book. These mommies of twins were able to answer my questions specifically and that really helped. Plus they ahve been a shoulder to lean on and no book has done that for me. I read a couple of twin books but none really related to me that well. Good luck and we are all super excited to have more twin babies aboard!

Kim~
Thanks for the reassurance. We do alot of the same things. The kids LOVE to dance and sing with me. I can get through one-2 short books and then they are on to something new but they seem to love it when they are in the mood. The black and white pages of "The Giving Tree" have them sedated half the time so I love that book! I guess we will just keep plugging along.

Right now they are so over tired and screaming to go down for their afternoon nap. Two steps forward, one step back somedays. Bodie is a mess in there and I think he has cried his sister to sleep. I went to a twin mom goup on Friday and one mother said after she puts them down and goes in once, she never goes in again as long as she knows they are fed and clean. I'm trying that this afternoon and it's not that fun. But all the sudden I hear silence. . . !!!!!!

Have a great afternoon everyone~
Kimberly

[buckeyegal]

Kimberly--How long are they awake for before you put them down?

[kholtan]

Hey Kim~ you know, it's random. I try to only have them up for an hour to 90 minutes or less but some days we are sooner and some days later. In the morning I can almost always get them back to sleep within 45 minutes and it works great but they are much more curious in the afternoon for some reason. It always works for one or the other no matter what I do.

things are much better around here but by no means are we sleeping through the night like I would love. When did your little ones start sleeping through? I'm hoping we are just around the corner from that goal.

[buckeyegal]

That sounds about right. I know that mine can only handle being up for 2 hours MAX and they're nearly 5 months. So, an hour- one and a half sounds pretty good. I know it sounds insane, but if they're really fussing when you put them down, try putting them down even sooner? Maybe after being up for 45 minutes, try putting them down and see what happens. Yours are gestationally around 5 or 6 weeks, right? So, they may not be able to stay up for very long. It's worth a try, I guess. As for sleeping through the night, mine did it at 11 weeks (gestational age was 8 weeks). Ellie probably could have done it sooner, but her brother was usually the one waking them up at night. (Around that time, mine were about 12 pounds. I hear that around 11-13 pounds is when most babies are "ready". But, I've also read that it depends on their neurological development, not weight.) Good luck. don't worry too much, it WILL happen, when they're ready.

Hope is on the horizon, though. Ellie slept about 9 hours last night, but Braeden slept almost 12!!!!!! HOly cow! I'm still frustrated with their nap schedules because I feel like we're going down for naps all the time. But, they seem to need it.

Di and Laura, I'd still love advice from you?

[kimberli]

Kimberly and Kim thanks so much for the welcome and congrats. I look forward to learning from you.

[DianeC]

Hi all

My two are at childcare so I have the time to post

Congratulations Kimberli and welcome to this thread

Faithandhope - morning sickness went to about 18 - 19 weeks with my two The good thing is that it does end!

Malinka - you are at the most uncomfortable stage of your pregnancy - not long now, Before you know it it will all be over and you will have your precious babies with you - hang in there.

Lauralou - your babies are looking very handsome and growing up so very quickly! Before you know it they will be crawling around the place.

Kimberley - Awake time is something we really had to work out. It took us a while to realise that it was overtiredness that was the problem for them crying and not sleeping. We reseached a few sites on the internet and found that young babies only need to be up for an hour or so and then put back down for a sleep otherwise they get overstimulated and will not sleep. As they get older they will want to be up a little longer but only 1/2 an hour not more. Our babies started to sleep through at about 15 weeks. It was at the same time they changed to 5 bottles a day. We still feed them at 9.30pm and again at 5.30am - they sleep through inbetween this feed. They also have a morning sleep for between 2 - 3 hours and an afternoon sleep for about 1/2 - to an hour. I worked out last night that they are still sleeping at least 14 - 15 hours a day! Our two are 5 months on Wednesday.

Sleep and play/feed times are very routine in our house. For instance, they feed at 5.30am up for an hour then back to bed. They wake up at around 9am and I bath them, feed them, they have play time and I put them back to bed at around 11am. They wake up at about 1.30pm so I feed them, play time or walk time and then back to sleep at around 3.30 - 4pm. They awake and have some playtime then bottle at around 5.30pm. They go back to bed at around 7pm. We wake them up for their feed at 9.30pm up for an hour and back to bed for the night. This routine works very well for us but if we change it in any way their usually is a small price to pay . I put them to sleep even when wide awake (keeping to the above routine) and they know it is bedtime/sleeptime and we have no hassles. In saying all this it took us until they were nearly 4 months old before we settled into this routine so it is not instant and you have to work at it. Eventually they complied and it is better for everyone. Hopefully they stay this way for a while yet. I know their day sleeptime will decrease as time goes on but I will keep this routine as much as I can - small price to pay for my sanity!

Kim - WOW - that is a good stretch of sleep! Have they consolidated their daytime sleeps as yet? They may not - my last daughter only slept cat naps during the day and hardly ever slept a good stretch in the daytime.

Us - well the babies are over their viral infection at long last. We had some very fusssy time with Bronte not wanting her bottle - so frustrating! I did some internet research and found that babies go through some developmental stages and when they do they can experience fussyness including loss of appetite. We think they are taking a few steps backwards but in fact they are taking huge steps forward as they adapt to their changing environment. It was very interesting reading and explained Bronte to a tee. Saves me from running to the doctors yet again. I will take them on Wednesday to weigh them again to make sure they are progressing OK.

Hope evryones week goes smoothly. I will keep reading the posts but usually only get to post when the babies are at childcare on Monday's and Friday's. Uni is also back today so will be busy with that as well. Will post when I can

Take care all

Di

[buckeyegal]

Di--I"m glad your two are over their illnesses! I think we're nearly back to normal here too! Our biggest giveaway is that both babies have their old appetites back. I'm with you on the routines. It's like clockwork around here, which I think drives our relatives nutz because I will not veer from our schedule out of fear! We usually do get good nights sleep, but again, no long naps. I have really tried to work on that this weekend, and I think I might have figured out some ways to keep them sleeping.

First off, we have officially separated them into different cribs. I know it's for their benefit, but I LOVED to spy on them when they were sleeping together, and they would be holding hands or just cuddled next to each other. BUT, I have noticed that Braeden is sleeping longer naps, and I think it's because his sister isn't disturbing him. I'm also letting them stay in their cribs when they fuss just the tiniest bit. I used to think they were waking up, but I think they're still in a light sleep state. So, they've drifted back to zzzzzz. Today, we nearly got an hour and forty five minute nap! That's their longest ever! So, instead of four naps today, we got three. We'll see how tonight goes! (Plus, we'll see how the week goes when I have to be a bit stricter with time due to my work schedule.)

It's amazing the huge difference in our babies over the past week! Now that they're feeling better, they are getting really active. They're batting at and grabbing toys, they're spending a LOT more time on their tummies, and they just seem to be so happy. I HOPE this lasts for a while!

I'm off to wash bottles....