Including Big Sister

With the arrival of my twin sons, life as we knew it was never going to be the same. My daughter couldn't prepare for what life would be like with not just one new baby but two. I'm truly grateful of how well my daughter has done since we brought the twins home. She has been so warm and loving to both of them. However I try and have as much Mommy-Brooke time as I possibly can. I INCLUDE her in almost everything, whether it is with the babies or not. I don't hold my twins very much with Brooke home,(they are to the point where they are rolling over anyways), but I really try to make it about her.

Here is a list of examples you can include your older siblings to help with

Baking

Bath Time

Laundry

Mopping floors

Grocery Shopping

Picking up Toys

Washing Veggies

Dusting

Entertaining Baby

Helping Feed Baby

Watering Garden/flowers

 

 

 

             

Parent's Night Out

With having 5 month old twins and a 3 year old toddler I rarely have 5 minutes to myself. But recently my husband and I were invited out to dinner since having our new babies. We went to our local Melting Pot which I consider an upscale restaurant. We took 2 hours eating and drinking and having a great time without having any little ones. It was nice to not have to worry about the kids. I recommend after you have a baby to go and have a nice dinner night with friends and without the kids.

Skin to Skin with Twins

The first thing I wanted to do after meeting my twins in the Operating Room was hold them skin on skin. I knew this was very important and something I missed out on with my daughter. Studies show importance to skin on skin after birth which include but not limited to, baby's temperature will be more stable and normal, stable blood sugars, breastfeeding starts sooner, babies are being exposed to normal bacterias on moms skin lastly skin on skin contact with mommy after birth helps baby transition into life outside of the womb.

Here is a picture of me in Recovery with my sons, you can see his hand on my chest, we did start breastfeeding very quickly after surgery.

Then once we got into our room I am doing skin on skin with my 1 son, while my husband did "The Kangaroo Technique" with my other son.

Easy Guacamole Recipe

This is a simple quick Guacamole recipe, which I loved during my twins Pregnancy. Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid. Which is always welcomed when expecting.

Easy Guacamole Recipe

3 Avocados- Peeled, Pitted & Mashed

1 Lime-Juiced

1/2 cup of diced Onion

3 Tablespoons chopped Cilantro

2 Roma Plum Tomatoes-diced

1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic

In a Medium bowl mash the avocados and add the lime juice. Then mix in the Onions, Cilantro, tomatoes and Garlic.

Refrigerate for 1 hour. And then serve with carrots and celery.

Which Diapers to use?

Before I gave birth to my daughter, I decided I would strictly use Pampers Diapers. On my baby registry that is what I put for gift suggestions, also I told my family that is what type of diapers I was planning on using. Now 3 kids later and with 5 month old twins, I honestly don't care what type or brand we are using. But a good brand I feel does everything a diaper needs to do it LUVS. It's a savings on my wallet yet doing it's job with keeping everyone clean and dry.

Meeting Ina May Gaskins

This past spring I had the honor of meeting the great Ina May Gaskin, who is the founder and director of The Farm Midwifery Center in Summertown Tennessee. Which is one of the first out of the hospital Birth Centers in the United States. Ina May has attended over 1200 births and is the author of many great books. Three that I own and read personally.

Look for these great reads:

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding

Spiritual Midwifery

Birth Matters

Bathing Twins

Bathing more then one baby is never going to be easy. With twins or more this event can be just that an "event". This is still one of my least favorite tasks with my twins.  It's a lot of work and prep for something that only last 15 minutes. However here are some tips I learned the past 4 months:

-Have extra help from your spouse or older child, this might seem small but having extra arms is always a great thing.

-If using a bath mat chair, put a clean wash cloth over it when bathing baby number 2, this helps the second baby stay dry if the chair is wet.

-Have all your bath supplies ready, and in arms reach.

Bonding with Twins

Bonding is something every mother and newborn needs during the first year of life, however so many moms of multiples are finding it harder and harder to bond these days. I think with a few simple yet powerful steps, any mother of a newborn can bond even if you have more than one.

So here is what you need to know:

First if you are pregnant with multiples try and stay pregnant as long as possible. My twin pregnancy was amazing and I delivered at 36 weeks. The longer the babies are in the womb the healthier they should be at birth outside the womb. My twins were never taken away from me to the NICU which made it easier to bond.

Second have your babies to your breast almost immediately! This is a natural away both mother and baby bonds. Also the skin on skin contact with your newborn baby is key in keeping your babies temperature normal. With Twins have your partner take their shirt off and do the same skin on skin, this helps dads bond also. Plus you can always ask for the nurses or dad to help you hold both babies at your skin at the same time. It's very natural to want to have both breastfeeding at the same time or just near you.

Third once in your room with visitors, limit the amount of people holding your babies. Use your time in the hospital for bonding and nursing, while of course recovering. The more the babies are with you the more bonding time and emotions you will have. This is hard because everyone wants to hold your brand new babies, however bottom line is these babies need their momma!

Lastly don't forget about DAD. Dads are great with twins and bonding, they can always be bonding with one while you have the other. My husband and I would really enjoy once visiting hours where over because that meant just our time with the babies.

mamaRoo

I found this amazing looking swing at a " baby" Bed Bath & Beyond in Lancaster PA when I was 6 months pregnant with my twins. Since I already  saved my first swing from my daughter I knew I wanted one of these to have for the second time around.

This is the mamaRoo swing, by 4 moms. I never seen anything like this at my local BabiesRus or Walmart. This was pretty cool, with the reclined seat that looks like a bean shape, and the 5 unique motions, I knew this was a must have on my registry list. My son's favorite motions are the Car Ride and Tree Swing. It also comes with built in nature sounds, along with the connection for any MP3 player. Retail price is $199.99. I have not seen it any cheaper anywhere else. Amazon is about the same price along with shipping. However we did get so money off when we used a 20% coupon I got in the mail from Bed Bath & Beyond.

Here is my son Bentley who loves our mamaRoo!

The Big Sister

My biggest concern with bringing two newborns home was my 2 year old daughter. She was and still is the apple of my eye. She was the first grand-baby on both sides and was every ones little princess. I was worried what my daughter would think and feel when Mommy would have to stay in the hospital for a few days, we started to talk about it more and more as I got closer to my due date. I also worried how jealous she might become when the boys came home to live at her house. I knew this was going to be a big change for her, for all of us. Surprisingly my daughter did amazing with the transition with the twins. She came to see us the day after they were born, and was so excited to see them and hold them. She also missed me and while others held the twins me and her got to spend some time together. Family members helped out watching her overnight so my husband could stay in the hospital with me. I arranged play date with my friends and family for her during the days.

 My daughter has done great from the moment she met her brothers, I've had no jealously issues at all. She is my mother hen here at home! 

Twins BIRTH Day

When I found out I was having Twins my plan of a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) went out the window. I didn't think having a natural birth with twins was right for me. I also considered a Home birth which again with twins I didn't feel was right for me. I went along a scheduled a c-section, after my due date, yes that sounds different and it was. In my OBGYN practise there are 12 different doctors I wanted to schedule my delivery with the one I wanted and the only day he had available was 3 days after my due date. I knew in the back of my mind I would never make it to my due date and have to take the chance on who would deliver my babies.


At 36 weeks on Friday March 2nd I went to the hospital for my 4th regular Nonstress Test, which is normal with a mom pregnant with multiples. I was hooked up to the monitors and was clear after an hours of monitoring the babies heartbeats. I mentioned to the nurse I had been crappy the last 2 days and they wanted me to stay and have a midwife on call check me. The midwife came in and stated I was 4cm dilated. My heart kinda skipped a beat, I knew that wasn't the answer I needed to go home, she called my OBGYN on call doctor and he said for me to stay 2 hours and re-check me to see if I continued to progress if so I would be meeting my babies today. To make a long story short I called Hubby he came with overnight bag she waited upstairs was recheck and I was 5cm. So my doctor told us our c-section would be a 3pm that day.


Around 12:30 I met the Anesthesiologist and he informed me he would see me in the operating room soon. I was very nervous I thought it wasn't going to be until 3 now it was in a few minutes. I was prepped which included IV's,shaving,signing papers and changing into a gown. I was then told I would walk to the operating room. My husband was taken aside so he could change in his uniform scrubs. I sat on the table I was told I would get my spinal, and lay right down. I felt the warmness and heavy feeling in my legs which the anesthesiologist said I would. Ryan then ended and sat right at my head. I then started vomiting at random, my husband told me it was because my blood pressure dropped fast. Then before I knew it I was fine and I heard babies crying. My husband then went over and helped hold up my 2 newborn sons to me it was a great feeling. Here are a few of my picture of their birth.

Expecting Twins

It took myself a good 10 weeks to settle with the idea of Twins. The Roller Coaster of emotions started at the 8 weeks ultrasound. After that I had a hard time thinking about  2 babies at the same time. It was very very overwhelming. But soon the scary feelings subsided and I started to feel more and more blessed to have a body that could carry multiple babies. Then at our 18 weeks ultrasound we found out we were having 2 baby boys. As the months went on we became more and more excited for the arrival of our new babies. I had many ultrasounds which I wasn't prepared for, which the doctors say is "normal". At my last ultrasound my Baby B was in the breech position and it was recommended to move ahead with a c-section. I was very healthy during my twins pregnancy, gained 15lbs and carried my twins to 36 weeks 4 days. Then on March 2nd going to the Hospital for my routine none stress test, I was told I would be having my babies today!

Back with Double the Blessings!

My break from blogging took longer then I thought! My last post was in August 2011. Thank you for waiting patiently for my return. In August 2011 I learned I was pregnant for the second time. I also found out I was carrying 2 babies at one time. TWINS became the word of the day at my second ultrasound in my OBYGN's office. Soon the shock of twins was put on hold when the doctor told me my Baby B was not going to survive, for the baby's heart was too weak and would be gone at our 12 week ultrasound. We felt crushed, not only did you just tell us I am having twins but then you tell me one is going to not make it. Out hearts were heavy as we left the office. I remember the car ride home was quite and very emotional, I remember my husband starting to cry tell me he was sorry it was his fault. I told him it was no ones fault and I knew God would only give us what we could handle. We decided to go right out to his parent's to explain the journey we had ahead of us. I was 8 weeks pregnant and we hadn't told anyone I was pregnant. They we taking us down south that night and did not have much to say, other then did we still want to go to the beach. We wanted to keep everything the same and not change our plans mostly for our 2 year old daughter whom was looking forward to going to the ocean.

 My case was called Vanishing Twin Syndrome-A vanishing twin, also known as fetal resorption, is a fetus in a multi-gestation pregnancy which dies in utero and is then partially or completely reabsorbed by the twin.

Time would soon tell, and now we prepared for a loss at our 12 week ultrasound. As the ultrasound Tech. started moving across my belly said "This is Baby A and over here is Baby B". I was shocked, here was this little flicker of a heart beat and a black sac which according to the doctors wouldn't and shouldn't be there. Here we were pregnant with TWINS 2 healthy TWINS.