u/SomewhereRelative975

The funny thing is that my twin A is normally the fussy one! I was most worried about her.

I’ve only done a much shorter trip with my girls. They were 10 months. Twin A did great. Followed the typical advice to bottle feed on take off. She then slept through the rest of the flight, including the landing. Happened on both flights. Twin B I learned that other people help. She seemed to blame me for her plight and needed to hang with my mom or the flight attendant. Next time I’ll bust out some screen time. I’m sure she’d be pumped about it since all they get to see on my phone are pics of themselves.

I want to shout out Beyfortus in case you haven’t heard of it. Awesome shot with RSV antibodies to protect babies through their first season. Available through your pediatrician until the day they turn 8 months (actual not corrected). My hospital system saw an ~85% decrease in RSV admissions last season since we had really good uptake of the medication!

I was very afraid of my unexpected c-section recovery. Ended up stress buying a shower chair and a foam pad to make the couch taller/easier to get up and down from. Never needed the pad. The shower chair was kinda nice, but I wish I would’ve had it the last month of my pregnancy. So maybe buy one of those now but skip all other adaptive things until they prove necessary. Everything can be bought quickly.

My hospital does offer a visit with OT to every c-section mom. Their tips for getting up and down were helpful! If your hospital doesn’t offer this, I’m sure there are reputable sites.

I haven’t read any studies on this… but just from the moms I have met, I feel like a prior vagjnal delivery greatly increases your chances of a success twin vaginal delivery. Seems worth the switch to me. You could also wait until closer to your planned delivery date. For example, switch doctors at 30 weeks if twin A isn’t notably smaller than twin B and is breech (my OBs rule was twin A couldn’t be more than 10% bigger than twin B to attempt vaginal). Of course, a late switch would mean an unexpectedly early delivery would have to be C-section.

I’m sorry, I remember that stress! We did early immunization and I was so grateful for that option. Also grateful my ladies are in a strict daycare that requires immunizations to occur at the typical AAP schedule.

While this is a hassle, it might be helpful to look for a small pediatrician office to be seen at until they’re immunized. We have two local pediatricians with small offices that do not take anti-vax patients.

They only send babies for NICU for weight if they’re under 1800 grams or about 4 lbs.

-Former NICU nurse

I took the baby aspirin and I feel like it staved off the pre-e! I developed postpartum preeclampsia 2 days after delivery. They were born 37.5 weeks. I know there is good evidence behind the recommendation. I had a ton of risk factors

Our nursery was a 10x10 room before we moved. We had plenty of room for two mini cribs (play pen sized), a large recliner, and a changing table. It didn’t feel crowded. I also sometimes put a foam pad on the floor to sleep in there. Our girls still fit in their mini cribs just fine at 14 months. One twin is small, the other is average sized.

I think this plan will be totally doable

It will get better! I’d say 4 months was a minor turning point (once they could roll over) but 6 months on was notable improvement each month. Right now my 14 month olds are playing by themselves with their shoes 🤷‍♀️ sleep also helps, but there isn’t a good timeline for that. Twin B has slept through the night since 5 months. Twin A is on her longest stretch yet— 6 nights 🎉 I haven’t sleep trained.

My husband would take on the chaos of both babies some evenings so I could relax in the tub. But I also had a few, mostly nice, nap baths— when they were tiny like yours. I would place them to nap in the twin z (safe sleep monitors, I was watching them the whole time!) right next to the tub. Then if anyone became upset, I could try to settle them from the bath. I did this a handful of times and only had to end the bath early once. I think they liked the warm, humid air. Plus I’d play calming music from my phone while I relaxed and they slept. I did learn you should drain the tub before you exit. I woke them with water drips and they were quite upset.

If you’re in US- I was told (way after it would be useful for me) that you can use an HSA to pay for a night nanny. As long as the pediatrician or OB writes an order for one. So, if you have any money in an HSA after all that…. Honestly even if it’s ear marked for the birth, might feel better to hire a nanny for a couple nights at a tax advantage 🤷‍♀️

So… is it just twin A’s role to be fussy?! It evens out when you need to. I usually hold twin A a lot because she is clingier and twin B just does her own toddling thing. But twin B has been sick and I’ve held her constantly for the last week. Twin A took a minute to adjust to this change and gets jealous. But it made me feel better that B will ask for cuddles when she needs them!

I worked out at my usual weight lifting/HIIT class until I got too dizzy at 24 weeks (definitely lowered weight and intensity though). I lifted light at home until 28 weeks. From then, I took the shortest little walks when I felt able. Even getting to a mile was rough and slow. I did pelvic PT and completed my daily exercises at home. The PT lowered the difficulty of the exercises to match my abilities. I like to tell myself that I would’ve been in even more pain if I hadn’t done the exercises and stretches. Maybe by DR would’ve been worse. But who knows… it was freaking hard.

We’ve loved the graco xl lite… because they’re the lightest I could find. I only have to carry two and man they get heavy as they grow! I’m sad they’ll be growing out of them in the next few months. It’s much easier to carry them inside places with one baby on my hip and one in the car seat. I will echo everyone else up top and say do not skip the infant seats. Not only do they make life easier, but babies under about 6 to 7 pounds do not fit well in convertible car seats. Part of my career has been spent fitting babies in car seats.

I only have an n of one, but my mom had marmoleum in her last house. She loved it! It looked cool, but I didn’t like it. It scuffed very easily with chair use (they had pads on the feet). You could get the scuffs out, but it was a hassle. Like I said, she actually lived there and thought it worth the hassle for the look and feel.

I would call in advance. They often have a list you need to get on before delivery if the office is popular. In my area, you need to call 2-3 months early to get your ped of choice (I work with pediatricians and am privy to this list).

I like April and Sadie together! Brooke is a good name. I love Brielle too, but couldn’t do with Brooke if avoiding the same initials (which I recommend)

Congratulations! This is still such fresh news! I don’t think I started to feel excited for the girls until about the 18 week mark honestly. I was just too anxious for excitement until then. With each passing healthy pregnancy milestone, my excitement grew. You’ll get there!

I don’t think there’s a world where I won’t grieve not experiencing a singleton pregnancy and newborn stage. But that’s life. And it is so special to see my 13 month olds interact.

I have never been a runner, but kept going to my HIIT class at the gym until 24 weeks. Anemia got the best of me, so had to give up cardio. But I kept strength training until 28 weeks. From that point until 37 weeks (when I delivered), I was still able to keep up with my PT exercises, though they were modified to my ability. Since you’re so well conditioned, I bet you’ll be able to keep up activity for a while yet

I’m about to buy my first minivan. So excited for the easy access middle row with captain seats. And no door slamming. My only suggestion is maybe you don’t need new— do you want a payment again? I’ve been out of a car payment for 6 years and I love it! I downgraded from a luxury (paid off) sedan to a small, basic SUV about 3 years ago. I missed the drive experience but it was so worth it to not have that payment! I loved the feeling so much I honestly didn’t even debate getting a luxury SUV. Or a new one for that matter. Maybe sell it (private) after you’ve looked around and know what you’d like. Get a small loan to get a slight upgrade if needed.

Emmett, Callum, Holden

I don’t have personal experience to share, but want to send hugs your way!

I used to work as a NICU nurse, so my only follow up on these babies is seeing their photos on our NICU graduates Facebook. Many babies where I wasn’t sure about the outcome seem to be doing well! My biggest tip would be to ask your doctors and nurses for a list of who works at the NICU follow up clinic. Most big NICUs follow babies after graduation for 2-3 years. Often the providers (MD, RN, and OT/ST) who work this clinic also work in the main unit. They would have great tips from working with families after graduation over the years. You are going to take wonderful care of your babies, it’s evident in this post 💕

Reusable zip lock bags, gallon size. I have two that I alternate. Wash them when I wash the flanges

Medically, the PPD symptoms the first two weeks are called “the baby blues” and are due to the huge hormone shifts. So hopefully you feel better soon! Sleep helps a lot too. Just getting one interrupted 3-4 hour chunk per day made a big difference for me. More is better, but is harder to come by initially.

Just family, since that was already 20 people and we bought a taco bar from costa vida at our house . No real theme. Dollar store helium Mylar balloons were a big hit (they’re still tied to their animals and holding strong 2 weeks later!). I agree with another person on this thread, you need to be firm with the invite times. Maybe add the cake time. We waited on the cake for the straggling grandma , since I knew she’d be sad to miss that, and they were very tired and whiny. No interest in the cakes other grandma made for them. I think that could’ve been different if we didn’t have to entertain them for an hour and half after they had lunch.