Tell all! Share your experience and knowledge regarding twin

amother

DarkRed

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 10:09 pm

And if you're a lazy and disorganized mother like me, just sharing that it's possible to nurse on demand even with twins. It might have been easier in the long run to put them on a schedule of some sort, but in the short run it would have been harder, and those first few months I was ready to do whatever was easier in the moment!

Kiwi13

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 10:13 pm

Oh oops, nursing. I didn't, so I didn't even think of that here... Yeah that might have changed things. My babies were on 2 different specialty formulas, nutramigen and neocate. Different calorie concentrations too. It was like a science lab in my kitchen lol.

amother

Grape

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 10:22 pm

The best advice I got was to get help!!! As one kind women told me the more help I take right after the birth the more I'll enjoy them later on! Please get as much help as you could!!!! 24 hours if possible.

Don't be surprised if you'll. be weaker postpartum than your singleton births. Vitamins (iron B complex) helped a lot this aspect.

in regards to schedules, nursing bottles do whatever works for you!!!

Don't worry too much right now as it won't help much 😉 and you'll end up worrying about the wrong things anyways....

I def recommend using a high risk MFM

Hatzlacha!!!

amother

DarkRed

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 10:22 pm

IOW, whether you're a rock star mom like Kiwi who can handle precise formula mixing when utterly sleep deprived, or you're more like me who was so tired she'd sometimes nurse the sleeping twin that wasn't crying until DH pointed out her mistake, you'll be okay. It's hard but hard doesn't last forever.

amother

Chartreuse

Thu, Jul 28 2022, 9:29 am

Okay, I nursed and bottle fed, so I nursed both together, and, when I didn't have a second pair of hands, I bottle-fed like this:
I sat on my bed, leaning on the headboard, legs spread out. Each baby's head lying on one thigh, with their legs meeting in the middle, and held one bottle in each hand.

amother

Chartreuse

Thu, Jul 28 2022, 9:34 am

amother [ DarkRed ] wrote:

My twins were used to being scheduled after being in the NICU, so it wasn't that hard to keep it up. Of course it would have been easier to just let it go, but SO NOT WORTH IT.
Keeping them on a schedule meant that I slept at night and napped, so I had more energy to deal with them.
When they were 3 months old I went back to work, so I stopped napping, but they were perfectly on schedule already so I didn't feel sleep deprived.

Kiwi13

Thu, Jul 28 2022, 11:38 am

amother [ DarkRed ] wrote:

I mean, I kind of had postpartum mania on my side when it came to sleeplessness, so I can't take allllll the credit lol 😂

Also, I co-slept the more finicky baby, which worked miracles, especially once I was able to sleep again (and needed it bad!)

amother

Sapphire

Thu, Jul 28 2022, 2:42 pm

Just curious- how long did it take between when Baby A was born and Baby B?

I feel so weak after delivery, I can't imagine doing it twice in a row! Obviously if it has to be a C-section then it doesn't make a difference.

amother

DarkRed

Thu, Jul 28 2022, 3:23 pm

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

For me, about 20 minutes. Don't worry, that was my reaction too Very Happy

But honestly twin #2 wasn't so bad after the first.

amother

Stoneblue

Thu, Jul 28 2022, 3:30 pm

amother [ Chartreuse ] wrote:

Super mom!!!

amother

Mon, Aug 01 2022, 11:59 pm

Thank you all for sharing your experiences.
Currently right now I'm curious how different your pregnancy and Dr visits were from a regular singleton.
I'm playing phone tag with the Dr office currently and super frustrated at their protocol Can't Believe It

Was there anything special they had you watch put for?

amother

Dandelion

Tue, Aug 02 2022, 12:02 am

Just a lot more visits and ultrasounds. Mine were fraternal, but they still wanted to make sure babies were growing ok and weren’t taking nutrition from the other etc

amother

Blonde

Tue, Aug 02 2022, 1:31 am

Please get yourself a copy of Dr. Barbara Luke's book "When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads". I credit the advice in that book regarding diet and rest with getting me to 38.5 weeks and healthy singleton birth weights with my twins, BH.

Kiwi13

Tue, Aug 02 2022, 5:22 am

My OB had a different protocol for twins vs singleton pregnancies. I can't remember which week it started at, but there were many more visits and scans and NSTs that were standard when someone was expecting twins.

My case isn't one to go by, so I'll spare you the details, but when things go wrong, they do what they need to do to take care of you and the babies, even if nonstandard.

amother

Chartreuse

Tue, Aug 02 2022, 9:08 am

There were more ultrasounds, also I had GD which is much more common in twin pregnancies.
I ended up needing bedrest for the last couple of months, so that wasn't fun. And then they were born early.