To all the twin mamas to be...
With a year of being a twin mama almost under my belt I thought I'd try to come up with some advice and comments for twin mamas to be. Here's a list, all the other twin moms who read, please chime in in the comments with anything you think I missed :)
1. Get help for the early months. I had someone with me almost constantly for the first two months and I'm sure I couldn't have breastfed otherwise. Anyone who has twins without help (and with an older sibling at home!) astounds me. I barely was functional with all the help that I had.
2. Lower your expectations of cleanliness for your house. My house was never all that tidy to begin with so now it's borderline horrific. If you are a tidy person, you probably only just need to expect a bit of chaos ;)
3. Be ready to expect the unexpected. My plan of action changed constantly. From the idea of two babies sleeping in one crib (ha!) to separate cribs, to all of us sleeping in the living room, to buying a house so everyone could have their own room so I didn't have to sleep in the stairwell any more.... be ready to go with the flow and do what it takes to figure out what works.
4. Be ready to be a celebrity. People talk to you. People ask you inappropriate questions. And people tell you that you have your hands full. BOY do they tell you that you have your hands full a lot!
5. Take lots of pictures and try to write down lots of how things feel in the first couple of months. You likely won't remember them very well.
6. Mother's helpers are awesome. All you need is an extra set of hands. A teenager fits the bill perfectly.
7. Having a room that is baby proofed that you can dump the babies in once they are moving and know they are safe is a really nice thing to have. We didn't have room in the old house, but that's what our living room became in the new house. If you have a room you can spare - do it.
8. It gets easier.
9. Watching your twins bond and play together from a much younger age than singletons do is a very special thing.
10. As slow as every day may feel in the beginning - time disappears in a flash. And suddenly you went from this:
to this:
and you can't believe it.
5 comments:
Good post, all good advice-points which I have taken/experienced too.
My tip: I live in a 2 story house and decided to get one of those packnplay with a change table for the main floor and it saved me a dozen trips up & down the stairs.
During the day, the twins took all their naps in the packnplay with a toddler running around I found they could sleep through anything! It was great. Once they were too big to sleep together I moved them upstairs in their cribs for their 2 naps a day.
I still use the packnplay as a change station and a safe place to plop them in when I can't keep a watchful eye on them, especially now that they are crawling/rolling.
Does the novelty ever wear off, of the fact that you have TWO babies? Sometimes it still astounds me that you do. I also remember when you first told me it was twins, thinking that if anyone can handle twins, dude it's you!
I couldn't agree more nor could I have come up with a better list!
Thanks for the amazing list of advice. I could really use it as I am a recent mom to twin girls who just turned 3mths and I have two older girls that are almost 6 and 2yrs of age. It has been a crazy adjustment and still is. I am trying to find the time to set up a blog just so I can capture all my girls precious moments but can not even find the time to do that. It is crazy hectic and my house constantly looks like a bomb went off. Oh well, I am just trying to enjoy their newness and cuddles as much as possible, I know it will be gone too fast.
I was referred to your site just based on this post, I have never seen or heard of this site prior. I am currently expecting twins and live several states away from any family and also find it hard to find baby chat online and in books that is twin related. Thank you for posting that list. I am going to share with hubby so he is aware too!
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