Double Trouble

[tolbee]

Hi Girls,
Sorry for being MIA. It's been a little hectic with the hiring of a nanny and preparation to get back to work. Luckily, I've been with the same company since 2001 and they've been very supportive of me taking long maternity break. I haven't told them about my pregnancy yet. I hope I won't shock them so much!

Steph, that belly of yours brings back memory! By 32 weeks, I was 48 cm! Do people comment about your belly? Towards the end, people just stared at me with amazement!

Kim, hope you had a good time at October Fest. It's been a dream of mine to go to the one in Germany someday. Yours sound more kid friendly. Your kiddos eat more variety of foods than my 2 and 1/2 year-old. So, I think you are doing a great job! Sean loves PB&J sandwitches. He'll eat one full sandwitch with two loafs and a half sandwitch for one meal.

Kimberly, Sean is the pickiest eater. He still has issues with textures. I am an enabler and I think it's a hard to have eat what I serve or no food attitude. Bodie and Annalise are still young, so they might start eating veggies all the sudden. In the end though, since Mike and I love veggies, I think he'll learn to eat anything including sushi. So, I try to feed him as much as I can but not worry about it too much. So sorry about your friends divorce. It must be hard when you didn't expect it at all. I love your pictures near the fall in Oregon. How beautiful. You guys sure don't miss out on things and enjoying life! That is wonderful!!

Sameera, sorry you are feeling down. I also have a friend who lost a baby during birthing. I cried and cried and patted my belly and appreciated very much that my twins were healthy. All you can do is just rest and keep the positive thoughts. About packing for the hospital, I couldn't take it with me initially since I went to the delivery room in an ambulance, but I asked my husband to bring a few things such as toiletary things for me and clothes for the twins and myself. It's not that different from signleton except you just need two sets of chothing etc... With twins the things to take home gets huge, so I would not recommend packing too much. I didn't use nearly half of what I took.

Suga, hang in there! I am rooting for you!
Every time I fed them, I thought of them nourishing themselves and getting closer to gaining the ideal weight for sleeping through the night. First, they'll start sleeping five hours at night and after that, they will start to skip the middle of the night feedings. Whenever my babies were alert and fussy and not wanting to sleep, I took it as a sign that they didn't get enough feeding. Most of the time, that worked. Good luck!

I hope I didn't miss anyone.
Well, my kids are napping very well now. I am happy!!

take care!

Kimi

[kholtan]

Kimi~ Let us know what your company thinks when they hear you are pg again! They should be pretty surprised. How's the nanny working out? Like I said, Come here to Boise and I'll watch those cutie pies for sure! The babies had their first ever rough day of eating. I tried all "grown-up" food all day and by dinner they were meltin! The loved cauliflower, fish, mashed potatoes, avocado, cheese, and yogurt but with it ALL. . .they refused to eat anymore after about 3 bites. The ate everything else but these items were hits right away and then they swatted at the fork, spit it out, cried and literally about drove me NUTS! I'm not as nice as you and am a total "If this is dinner and you don't eat you'll go hungry" girl. Lunch was a total failure after the three bites and I thought they would be starving by dinner but nope! Try, try again! I'm super careful about too much sodium as well so I may need to let go a bit and by a box of Mac and Cheese!

Suga~ Do you have a peditrician's office that is more personable near by? You may want to look into others if you would like to see the same Dr. everytime. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Dr. and just cannot say enough about him. He knows every detail about my babies and can recall even their weights at birth when just talking to me. I feel so looked after and as if my babies are his only client. It's great for sure. Mine started sleeping so well at that time after they were born so techincally 2 weeks after their due date but it wasn't every night. Anna was better than Bo but it was sure nice!

Gotta run. . .guests are here for a late dinner!
Kimberly

[SilverAngel679]

Hey ladies, I'm sorry to crash your thread but I had a question for all you mommies who've carried more than 1 baby. I'm currently pregnant with a set of twins of my own, almost 13 weeks along now, and I was wondering if I could ask you all about when in your pregnancies did you first feel your babies move?
I've read that you feel twins sooner than you would feel single baby (Which is usually about 18-20 weeks) But I was wondering how soon? 14 weeks? 15?
I've waited my whole life for this. I just can't wait to feel my babies move and I was wondering how soon it would happen.
Thank you so much!!

[stephjim]

I felt the flutters around 16 weeks and started feeling an occasional bump in there around 21 -22 weeks. I started actually seeing my belly move around 28 weeks. I think it is different for most women but it is actually almost right on track for single baby pregnancies.

[sugabeanzs]

Actually, I was right on track with steph. The flutters were hard to feel at first but once i knew what they were it was easier. Then 21 weeks I felt them move. At around 26 weeks my husband could feel it on the outside then 28 weeks when you could see something make the tummy go out. I went into labor at 31 weeks so I did not get to the point where they could really go at me.

[sugabeanzs]

Baby WIse moms help!! Okay so I finally read the book all the way through. So, I am now doing every three hours feeding them. I kinda have to stagger them till they are bigger so Kenzie is eating first then Brooke. Questions though!!

First, if they wake up in the three hours hungry do I feed them or have them wait till their actual time if they are not crying in hunger pains?

Second, do I do the wake, eat, play, sleep at night too or do I just put them back to bed at night.

Third: Do I do every three hours at night still or let them sleep as long as they want to after 9PM feeding?

Also, Mackenzie is not eating near as much as she did when she was eating every four...now she is only eating 2 ounces when she was eating over three. So is this ok?? Brooke has always been on the three hour so she is not really affected.

What happens if they will just not lay down for a nap after they have been awake for 15-30 minutes? Mackenzie today just stayed awake for the whole time!! I was taking a nap so the husband had them and he did not make her cry it out and fed her in-between the feeding...so we had a little chat lol.

Any other tips would greatly help!!

[kholtan]

Suga~ I'll tell you what I did and hopefully it may help. If my babies woke up and weren't hungry and it wasn't time to feed them, I waited as long as I could to make it to 3 hours apart. If it's been three hours when they wake up then I would have fed within 30 minutes to stay on schedule. At night they just go straight back to bed. I never even turned on a light or anything. I made it as dull as I could so they had nothing to stay up for. Now at night I made some modifications for us. I only woke them up to feed every 3 hours until they hit their actual due date of Oct.11th. Then after they hit that day I let them sleep as long as they could until I woke them up for the 6 am feeding to stay on task. This worked for me really well. I wouldn't worry about the food intake too much. If they are steadily gaining and they aren't crying all the time or acting like they are hungry then I would guess you are fine. Also, if mine didn't nap during the designated time I just made sure it was quiet time. Sometimes they would only get 10 minutes of sleep before I woke them up to feed but they eventually learned. Hope any of that helps.

Silverangel679~ I thought I felt flutters here and there but could never real tell but at 20 weeks on the dot my kids started kicking up a storm and never stopeed. Good luck!!

Better run. It's a rainy day here and I am trying to clean up the house in between playing.
HAve a good one!
Kimberly

[sugabeanzs]

Kholtan: That helped so much! Thanks! I was wondering about the night time routine! So I suppose that starting on their due date (THIS WEEK!!) I will let them sleep how they like at night and if they wake up hungry I will feed em and start the 7AM feeding the three hour thing. Thanks so much. Hopefully this works and they start to sleep through the night here soon.

Yeah, Brooke stayed awake during her nap for like an hour but I just put her in her crib and she just stayed awake in there not crying and eventually fell asleep. Mackenzie finally fell asleep after her feeding. They are due to eat again here in 30 minutes. I can not wait till they are a little bigger and I can feed them at the same time in their boppies or something. At least 2 hours of sleep at a spread at night will be better than one at some times...

Brooke is finally starting to outgrow some preemie outfits!! However, they both do not fit into newborn yet...I do not know why there is such a difference in the size...So everything is huge on them or I squeeze them into the preemie stuff at night so they are not cold. I have been blessed not to have to buy diapers yet. My mom really loaded me up. I think they will outgrow the newborns here soon so I will have to return some. She also has already bought tons of size one. Hey, that makes me happy. One less thing to buy!

[sarahalf]

Ditto with movement!
I had heard you feel twins sooner but I def felt my single preg sooner. I think it also depends on the babies.
I felt flutters around 17, movement around 22, and string movement around 28.
Good luck! It is so much fun to feel them in there!
Sameera,
Im great! How are you holding up? Im ansious to go to my peri on Fri to see if twin A is getting bigger!
XO

[buckeyegal]

Suga--I hope tonight goes well for you...I basically "ditto" what Kholtan said. I didn't wake my kiddos at night...they woke up to eat. When one woke, I fed them both...As for Mackenzie eating less, she probably will because she's eating more frequently...but that's okay. She's probably getting close to the same daily intake as she did before. Now that they're awake more, that's good--they need to learn to soothe themselves to sleep. Sometimes I had to swaddle mine in a blanket to go to sleep. might want to try that? Try to keep with the schedule as well as you can...this is sleep training, and it will eventually happen. Just try to be as consistent as you can! Oh, at night I NEVER had play time. They just ate, got clean diapers and went straight back to bed. I also became a NUT CASE about trying to keep them awake during the day as much as I could...I was so neurotic! When family would come over to visit, I would eventually have to remind them, "Please don't rock the baby to sleep---I want to sleep tonight!" ha ha--I had to explain the babywise sleep training. They thought it was nice to have a sleeping baby in their arms---it annoyed me, because I knew it meant I wasn't going to get to sleep that night! I'm sure you can understand, huh?

AS for kicks and flutters--it took me a while to recognize the feeling. I think it was around 20 weeks or so?

The kids were GREAT at Oktoberfest last night! They loved eating the good food and dancing to polka music. Braeden was kindof grumpy because he's getting a few new teeth, but he was still a good sport. Today we had a first b-day party to go to--our best friends also have twins! The kids enjoyed seeing their "friends" get new toys...they even were kind enough to show their friends how to use their new loot! ha ha!

[sugabeanzs]

Ok, I know I am getting annoying with all these questions! I love the advice though!! When you let them sleep at night...

Okay, so I want 7PM to be the last feeding eventually. So I do the three hour thing during the day then at 7PM make it their last feed/play routine (most likely bath time). Then I will let them wake up whenever they want to to eat...my question is, when I wake them up at 7AM to start the day off, what if they had just woke up at 5-6AM to eat?? Should I feed them that early or make them wait till 7AM if they can bear it?

Buckeye: I agree on the people coming over. I have already told my mom when she is hear about the schedule and when play time is and sleep time is and that we have to work around that. Because I am the one that has to deal with it after she leaves to try to get them back on schedule. NO thanks! lol.

OK...results from last night!! During the day I did the routine...at times is was wicked hard to keep them awake but even if I made them stay awake for 5 minutes I was happy. They only fussed like once going down for the nap but then fell asleep. Both woke up at their time to eat (sometimes a little fussy but not bad). The 3:30AM feeding neither one woke up (I still woke them up) they barely ate and passed out during the feed. So maybe that is the first feeding they will drop hopefully?? Then this morning at 7AM I made them stay awake for a bit and started over. No fussy!! It was really hard to keep them awake this morning so hopefully this afternoon it will be a little bit better. But they seem so much happier!! Especially Mackenzie! She is not as fussy and it is wonderful!!! I LOVE IT! At times I would just have to do "quiet time" because they would not sleep but they did not fuss! So hopefully tonight is just the same! I got 6 hours of sleep!!!!

[buckeyegal]

Suga--I do remember, I tried to make the last feeding around 10 or 11 at night....then I'd let them sleep as long as they could. I didn't always make the first feed at 7. If they woke up at 5, I'd feed them...then feed them again at 8, 11, 2, 5, 8 and final feed at 11. I just did the 3 hour thing....the starting time didn't really matter, IMO.

Glad they did pretty well last night! Keep it up!

[sugabeanzs]

Ok, I swear! ONE last question!!! If they do not sleep during nap time but stay in their crib and do quiet time/cry time...when I feed them at their three hour feed, do I still keep them awake for 15 minutes after they eat or just let them go to sleep cause they are so tired??

Thanks buckeye...I think I will follow that if they wake up early and want to eat. If that happens, I will have to wake up the other to get them on the same schedule.

You girls are great.

[buckeyegal]

Hmmmm...they didn't sleep at all during that cycle? Be careful that they're not getting OVER tired...when that happens, they get too cranky and won't sleep. After their next feed, I'd keep em up for 5 or 10 minutes and then let them sleep....but you might just have to see what they're feeling like. Very rarely did mine miss a nap, so I'm not sure what to tell ya. Sorry!

[sugabeanzs]

Last night was a night out of you know where! I mean I did everything during the day I was supposed to!! At 10PM after that feeding, Mackenzie did not want to go to sleep!!! I kept it dark and did not talk but she was not having it! Then her reflux kicked in and she was spitting up/throwing up till about 1:30ish?? So I fed her again at 11:30 because she was hungry...then again at 1:30. So she felt better and went to bed...THEN Brooke started having her reflux issues!! So she was up screaming and vomiting!!! So I did not get a lot of sleep and their schedule got all out of wack for real. So I fed them at their 7AM feeding and I was bad....I just put them back to bed so I could get some sleep since I had not slept. There when the routine! haha.

So they had their 2 month check up today and got their shots Poor babies! So I switched their schedules on them today since all their doctors appts. were hitting during a feed. They keep me at the same time every time I go in so I decided instead of putting up with a fussy baby I would rearrange their schedule a little bit. Plus this gets me to sleep in till 8AM almost which I will like in the long run.

So after their doc appt. I fed them at the same time (hubby helped) and they were so pooped from crying and being awake the whole doc. appt I just kept them awake for like 2 minutes and let them sleep. So they feed again at 4 and 4:30 and I will keep them awake for 30 minutes there. Hopefully tonight will be better than last. I just do not know what to do when they get themselves off schedule. Plus I do not understand why they do not want to stay awake after a feed OR they stay awake the whole time...What am I doing wrong?!?!!