MoM's help us pregnant girls out

AMYRENEE27

What is one thing you are so happy you did during your multiple pregancy? or What is somthing you wish you did?

Getting advice from so many moms of multiples in one place is amazing to me. It is nice to hear what you all have to say.

janjag

Hey May lady

I wish I'd read baby books, and sleep books while on bedrest.  Had my head totally in the sand, and only read about pg stuff.

BelleBaby

I really got off of my feet as much as possible.  I hated doing it, but I gave up control of a lot of things to DH just so I could rest.  He did the grocery shopping, dishes, laundry, etc.  I would sit and fold things, but I rested as much as possible.  Probably not the easiest thing to do if you already have a LO, but these 2 were my first.

We took lots of pictures of my growing belly, which was fun.  I stood in front of one of our doors in the same place each time to see how much further out I kept getting! 

Also, get as much done as possible early on.  After about 28 weeks, I was pretty useless.  I'm so glad we had my baby showers right around that time because I got really uncomfy and cranky after that!

macchiatto

Do I have to pick just one thing? 

Best things I did:
* Read Dr. Luke's book fairly early in my pregnancy, and followed her guidelines (with some flexibility)

* Read Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, Mothering Multiples and Babywise before the babies were born

* Had everything set up and ready to go so when we brought the boys home from the hospital, everything was in place, organized and ready to use.

* Took belly pics at least every 3-4 weeks.

* Kept a pregnancy journal so I wouldn't forget everything!

* Made sure to really savor the time left with just DH and me; we would have lazy Saturday mornings together, spent time together in the evenings snuggling on the couch, went out and about as much as we could, etc.

Things I wish I'd done:

* Read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and watched the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD before the babies came. I read the former after 7 weeks and the  latter after 3-4 weeks and both would have been helpful earlier on!

ETA: Also wish I'd done real maternity pics, and this is for right after the babies are born, but I really wish I'd done pro newborn pics as well. Everyone else's are always SO precious and beautiful and I don't have any really good pics of my boys when they were that little.

MoMandA

I swam from week 15/16, when I quit running, through the end of my pregnancy. It was awesome.

jennie13

I'm happy I forced myself to sit on my butt as much as possible.

I'm happy I took pics of my belly on the day I went to the hospital.   It still shocks me!    I forgot to take one the day my first DD was born. 

 

preheatedoven

Glad I did: Had maternity pics taken, had an early shower (24 wks), knew the signs of PTL.

dleigh81

I'm happy I enjoyed my pregnancy and didn't complain. It made the end, which was pretty bad, not as bad because I was positive and happy.

I'm glad I took pictures of my belly each week.

I'm also glad that I left work when I did (@31 weeks) to rest, relax, and cook my babies (born @37w3d).

Haven1

I'll swing the other way and say that I'm happy I stayed as active as I did.  I ran the entire time and I know it made a huge difference in my easy pregnancy.  The end was big but it was never uncomfortable.  The c/s hurt but recovery was really easy.  I gained 36lbs, lost it all by 12 weeks, and fit into most of my normal clothes by 4 weeks. 

I realize I got lucky with genetics, weather, family, time, job, etc, but I firmly believe staying as active as I did kept me healthy, sane, and back to my original shape quickly.

Although I too am happy I took so many pg pictures.  We only had to do the kid thing once, so it's nice to remember it that way.  I do wish I would have done a belly cast though.  It would amuse me and the boys someday, I think.

clarku2000

I'm really glad I took belly pics (almost) every week.  I didn't get one the day of my c-section, but I have one from the wek prior.  I'm glad that I finally accepted the fact that I couldn't do everything and I let DH do a lot (cleaning, cooking, shopping).

I'm also glad I ready Dr. Luke's book early on in my pregnancy, but I wished I would have ready baby books while I still had the time (not much time right now).

Sweet Artistmouse

Great post!

Thanks for sharing ladies.

LakeGenevaBride

I agree with pp.  I wish I read more books on actually taking care of twins and even babies in general.  I read so much on twin pregnancy, yet I knew nothing about how to actually take care of them when they got here.  I wished we would have put everything together ahead of time (swings, bouncers, etc).  Those things have a ton of parts and not the kind of thing you want to be dealing with when you have two newborns.  I'm glad we invested in rechargable batteries for all their stuff - saved us a ton!  

omalley

I agree with so many things the mom's above posted.  Here are a few that stick out in my mind the most:

Glad that I:

-Took belly pics all through my pregnancy (and made a shutterfly book of month by month belly shots, nursery set up, shower pics)

-Got a lot of stuff done by week 30ish (b/c of bedrest at 32) 

I wish that I:

-Read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby while I was pregnant.  I struggled to read & comprehend it once the babies arrived.

-Contacted a photographer while I was still pregnant to set up newborn pics after the babies arrived.

-Slept more when the babies slept.  I think my anxiety/hormones got in the way.

DarthBaby

I wish I would have taken the time to write down the little details of the pregnancy. I am already forgetting everything, and since that was my last time being pregnant - I wish I would have remembered to write it all down.

 

I am glad that we stocked up on diapers and formula (mine were FF). We stocked up more on diapers (in case they hated the formula), but we went at least the first month before having to buy formula and we still have yet to buy diapers for the babies.

AlishaMay

I agree with so much of what the other MoMs have said, but in addition:

I wish I would have thought ahead about how others could best help me.  I got a lot of help offered, but at first I was too overwhelmed and shy to tell people how they could have helped me, so they just ended up holding/playing with babies.  I knew that I was eventually going to be left alone with my babies, so help with the other stuff would have been great, so that I could figure out how to take care of them at the same time.  If I had it to do over, I'd post this list on my refrigerator and let all of my guests know it is there

• Fill me with food: frozen meals, grab and go snacks, and lots of healthy options.  Caffeine doesn't hurt either
  
• Laundry - no matter how little is in the hamper, please wash it, fold it and put it away.
  
• My other babies need love too: please walk my dog or take him to the dog park.
• The yard needs to be mowed/sidewalk shoveled/garden weeded/grass watered
• Take candid pictures of me and DH taking care of our babies (the few we have of these are our favorites, and we don't even care how badly we look in them!)
• Please wash my sheets and make my bed (every time my mom would come she did this - it made what little time we spent in bed heavenly)
• If your your bottle feeding: wash and sanitize any bottles and nipples that aren't being used.  Also, if formula feeding, make 24 a day's worth of bottles up ahead of time so you just have to warm them.
• Run some errands for me

In the end, if they still insist on holding your babies (and how can they resist), try not to use all of that time visiting, get in a shower, eat a meal, step outside for some air, and for goodness sake - TAKE A NAP!

Twinluv

Hi there!

The one thing I wished I hadn't done was stress about the delivery! The moment I found out I was having Twins, I was a basket case with worry. I was terrified of the possibility of having a C-section! I spent my ENTIRE pregnancy paralyzed in fear and you know what, in the end, everything worked out great! I did end up with a section, and it was a breeze. Both my little ones were healthy and my recovery was easy.

My advice is think good thoughts and be excited for the most awesome miracle of a twin birth

 

carolina1178

stopped being a control freak...well temporarily. I am back to my usual ways now that twins are here LOL

I had to let a lot of things go...and listen to my body. Difficult to do with a 2 y/o who I wanted to play and spend time with but it got to the point where I could not lift him and could hardly keep up with him. I felt horrible at the time but in the end, I was glad I took it easy because I carried the twins to 37 weeks :-)

And accept help...even if you don't want someone folding your underwear, just let them do it.

if you haven't get some sleep books and Baby 411....for my oldest ds and for the twins I continually refer back to healthy sleep habits, happy child/twins and also Baby 411, very user friendly and easy to refer to for quick things....full of good info.

start stocking up on diapers now but keep ALL receipts...you never know how quickly they will grow out of premie, newborn and size 1 LOL

good luck!