Shocked to find out I’m having twins
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Anonymous
DP here, I knew I was only going to do pregnancy once. It would have been nice to have two kids, and to have them be more likely to be playmates. |
Anonymous
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Eat a high protein diet and drink tons of water while pregnant and breastfeeding. If you have difficulty breastfeeding two babies and end up needing to supplement with formula, then alternate who gets breast milk and who gets formula at each feeding. Don’t make yourself crazy trying to do both for both babies at every feeding because it’s just too much. Put your pride aside and accept every offer of help you get. If somebody wants to bring you food, say yes!
Congratulations! |
Anonymous
| Talk to your husband about night duty. Who does what? My husband and I made a plan where I nursed one baby and he bottle fed the other. For each feed, we switched. It worked very well. We woke up the babies so they would feed at the same time. |
Anonymous
| Op here. Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I guess I need to find a multiples FB group. I live in NW DC, is the NOVA one only for VA parents? |
Anonymous
| Find out now about night nanny options. Especially if you have preemies, a c section, the older child has particular needs it is good to know that you have an option if you can afford it at all. Also figure out if you need a high risk practice. |
Anonymous
| Start saving for a night nanny even a couple nights per week. Give yourself the gift of sanity. |
Anonymous
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Congrats OP! Our #3 turned out to be twin boys. For pregnancy, the best advice I got was to eat as much as my body would allow in the first two trimesters because after about 28 weeks you are so huge it makes it very hard to find room for any food. For when they are infants, it is ok if they are not on the same schedule. They are two different babies after all and ironically I found it easier to breastfeed and look after two solo when they were tag-teaming naps.
You got this OP! |
Anonymous
| It's THE BEST! And mine are even teenagers now, which is kinda awful in general, and it's still the best. We're excited for you! It's a lot of work, but tons of fun, too |
Anonymous
I wanted twins to be “one and done” with pregnancy and childbirth! Now that we have one I’m quite thankful to have just one, but still think twins would be awesome. |
Anonymous
| Plan for an early birth, plan for the NICU stay. Plan for things to not go the way you are thinking. Most likely you'll have a c section and need a lot of help for years to come. |
Anonymous
| Congratulations! My husband and I had twins after our 5 year old. Totally unexpected. I found twin mom groups stressful! I had a wonderful midwife, PostPartum Doula that saved my sanity from Balanced Bellies. She had twin experience and helped get them on same/similar schedule and navigated breastfeeding twins. Delivered at Frederick Birth Center with Mychal and it was amazing!! On thing I recommend is a lot of swaddles. lol I also baby wore a lot, I used the Weego Twin Baby Carrier. This The Twin Z Pillow was a lifesaver when I breastfed. The only 2 books I read were Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins: A Step-by-Step Program for Sleep-Training Your Multiples and When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads 4th Edition: Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy. |
Anonymous
Yes! We used a Postpartum Doula 7 nights when we first got home and then 3-4 nights a week for 8 weeks! Life changing! |
Anonymous
+1 two for the price of one! I hate being pregnant so I always wanted twins. my favorite sleep book (helped me get 3 beautiful sleepers) is called the "baby sleep solution" and she specializes in twins! I gave it to my friend who had twins. That friend was shocked too and now she is smooth sailing. You've got this! |
Anonymous
Identical twin mom here. Also was a complete surprise (first pregnancy & happened immediately after I got off the pill). There is no DC twin mom group - only MD and VA. I found the NOVA twin group to be very stressful and judgmental ("formula is poison" & "sleep training is child abuse" types). Even thought it was only a handful of those moms, they always chimed in with stuff like that and publicly shamed people. I quit the group soon after I joined. We went to a couple of the MD twin meet ups but never clicked with anyone. I really like the website and FB page Twiniversity. It has a bunch of good tips and info. If you can afford it, get a night nanny once a week when they are first born for the first few months. Saved my sanity. Also, be gentle with yourself as things will not always go as planned (re: breastfeeding, delivery, sleep training, etc). It is a wild ride. Get as much help as you can from family and friends, and then pay for as much help as you can afford. That's the best advice I have. Once they turn 5, things will calm down. LOL. Also, if your twins are the same sex, even if the Dr. tells you they are fraternal, they could be identical. That was our situation. Had them tested after they were born and confirmed identical twins. |
Anonymous
| OP, congrats! Just curious, did you have previous ultrasounds and just not see two babies until the NT? Or was the NT your first ultrasound? |