As I think back on a year ago, I've thought of the things that helped me most. In my happiness of our miracle, I researched quite a bit on twins, but at all the wrong stages in life. I know it was my naivete in not having children. I would click on every and any link attached to twins while I followed my babies' weekly growth progress, and gleaned all sorts of oddball tidbits. None of them pertained to how to survive. I heard often from those that had twins the trick was surviving the first year (sometimes two) and then it became much easier. If only they'd thought to mention surviving meant learning how to function with very little sleep. Everyone says any baby gets easier as they grow, but I learned (just as everyone else that is a parent) it was easier in only certain ways, as new stages were encountered which brought new difficulties. One thought that kept me going through each difficult time was "Thank goodness it was just twins!" Whenever I shared this, people would laugh in surprise, as they couldn't believe I was relieved. But I really was. Triplets would've been impossible to do on my own, let alone 4+. With all our family living 750 miles away, me being an introvert workaholic who has made friends with one neighbor so far and the few employees of Bryan's that are off limits due to him being the boss, and Bryan working 70+ hour work weeks, I found myself on my own. So in 20/20 hindsight, here is my helpful twin list for anyone who may be expecting double the baby and wonders how do you accomplish first year survival.
1. Bassinet; specifically Fisher Price Rock-n-Play Sleeper
I had not intended on buying bassinets. With a need to buy 2 of most items, and a lot more of others, I did not want to waste money on an item they'd fit in for just a month or less possibly. My mother happily offered her help when the babies first came home, and after a couple days, insisted on getting us these rocker bassinets. These were the best investment a grandparent has ever made. I was able to slide these around the house as I needed, could have both babies in them and rock away, or hold a baby while rocking the other with my foot. The babies fit in these until they were about 4-5 months old, when they were finally big enough to flip over.
2. Couch throw pillows
With any baby, your arms get tired as you're not used to the extra weight you're constantly carrying around, even at only 5 pounds. Since there were two at my house, my arms' muscles screamed in agony over the first few days until I learned to prop the pillow under my arm, and since couches come with two pillows, I used these to lay on either side of my lap, covered with blankies and then laid a baby on each pillow so I could hold bottles for both at the same time. It was a joy when the babies finally learned how to hold their own bottles, but I did miss our couch routine.
Double the diapers means double the trips to the garbage can. This one was a no-brainer and has saved so much time.
4. Britax Stroller
Everyone commented on my stroller when I was out and about, then they'd comment about the babies. This stroller takes up minimal space so the grocery trips I took on my own were made much easier. I was able to push the stroller while pulling the cart and take up only 'one lane'. It also folded up neatly into the trunk of our car with quite a bit of room for groceries. I rarely had to fit groceries inside the car...and I only grocery shopped once a week because going out was a lot of extra work and effort.
5. Dyson Vacuum
I know, really weird, but it provided the white noise we occasionally needed for babies to calm down and for momma to get her sanity back. This obviously won't work for everyone; but find what does work for your twins and use it. Sanity is especially needed in the first few months of zero, and I mean ZERO, sleep. There's two waking up and they do not wake up at the same time. Twins just means they were born together, not in intervals of a year to several years apart. So many people were shocked to hear the babies didn't have the exact same schedule. Why would they? They're not the same person, they're individuals.
6. Schedules
Yes, I just did say they were individual, but it didn't mean I couldn't force the fact that the schedule had to be as close as possible. If one baby woke up to feed, the other was woken up just after the first finished. Between feeding one baby, then going on to a second, then finishing up by pumping, it meant I got a max of 45 minutes to sleep before baby 1 was up again. If I hadn't forced baby 2, it would've meant even less sleep time. I'd also make bottles for a full day in advance. Once the babies started defining nap times, I would push nap time to be the same. If one baby went down, the other was cuddled and encouraged as much as possible. It didn't happen every time, but now at 1 year old, they both nap at the same time. Having that coveted 2 hour (sometimes 3!) 'me time' is essential. I'm able to do whatever I need, whether it's work, clean the house, get a few extra winks, or just sit on the couch and read a book.
7. Babies
I marvel at my babies often. I'vebeen doubly blessed after an extremely long wait. Although there weren't many windows, every once in a while, my exhaustion would subside and I would enjoy the moment of cuddling my two precious bundles at once. Watching them has become my favorite pastime of all...I love hearing them just breathe, as it means my dreams of a 'large' family finally came true.
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