Twin Pregnancy: The things they don’t tell you

I didn’t have too many “symptoms” when I was pregnant with my girls. I had a little bloating in the beginning but that went away in a couple of weeks. I never had any morning sickness and my blood pressure was always good.

However, one thing that started very early on….probably around the beginning of my second trimester, was swelling. It was mainly in my legs and feet and would get worse later in the day. Swelling is normal in twin (multiples) pregnancies because you have so much blood volume and fluid flowing through your body to accommodate TWO or more growing babies. My doctor assured me it was very normal for a multiple pregnancy and to just put my feet up as much as I could. In some instances swelling is an indication of high blood pressure but this was not the case for me. In fact, I had pretty low blood pressure during my pregnancy.

Toward the end of my pregnancy the swelling got so bad I could barely wear shoes. Even if I would have my feet up most of the day the swelling wouldn’t go down.

So my advice on swelling…get your feet up as much as possible and be sure to have regular blood pressure checks and just know that swelling is very normal.

Another “symptom” I had during my pregnancy was numbness in my hands. It started out pretty mild but about a month after it started, I could barely write. This is also normal because the babies are putting so much pressure on your body that they’re bound to be pressing on nerves. My doctor suggested wrist braces but they didn’t really help. Just another annoyance to deal with but is also totally normal. I will say though that they numbness didn’t go away until a few weeks after the girls were born.

Be sure to check in on Monday when Amanda gives you her take on her twin pregnancy.

Also, if you have any questions about twin pregnancy that we don’t cover, feel free to email us!

You Might Have Twins if.....

We are proud to welcome our guest blogger Mary from A Day In The Life! Her blog is about the everyday life of raising one year old twins!! She is an awesome blogger and MOM and we are so excited she is our guest blogger today!!

1.  You might have twins if a perfect stranger have ever asked you if your twins are "natural" or if "twins run in your family".  I was blessed to have no fertility problems, but many others were not.  I don't think people understand what a personal question that is and that it can bring up a very painful time to people.



2.  You might have twins if the simple act of leaving your house could be considered an Olympic sport.  I know leaving the house with one baby is tough.... but 2!  Trying to get out of the house with a HUGE diaper bag, carrying two babies, getting those babies in to two car seats only to find out one is poopy.  No fun!  I still manage to carry my 2 1 year olds at the same time, but it's getting really difficult!



3.  You might have twins if the simple act of changing a poop diaper is one of the most stressful times of the day.  I can't be the only one whose babies find the other baby's poopy diaper fascinating or tries to touch the other baby's poopy butt, or trys to step on the other baby's face.  And if they are not busy messing with that, they are across the room doing something they know they are not supposed to do.  Whew!  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  And with two.... poopy diapers happen twice as often!



4.  You might have twins if you take advice from well meaning friends and family and just chuckle to yourself.  Clearly you have never tried to give a bath to two 10 month olds by yourself if you think that is an easy way to improve my babies mood.



5.  You might have twins if you have masters the art of parenting with all limbs.  I have used my legs and feet to rock babies, block babies, bounce babies, and even tickle babies.  Raising twins is literally an all hands on deck job (even all feet on deck please!)



6.  You might have twins if you hear "my kids are only 18 months apart, I know what you're going through!" and you want to laugh.  I'm sorry, but no you don't.  It's just not the same.



7.  You might have twins if your life is scheduled to the minute.  You know what time those babies need to eat and you do not follow the "never wake a sleeping baby rule."  You want both those babies to sleep at the same time.



8.  You might have twins if you get angry when you see someone at Target using the two seater cart with a 3 year old and a 5 year old while you had to go back to you car and get the stroller and only be able to get half the stuff you needed.... Really?!  Your 5 year old can't walk!?



9.  You might have twins if you get slightly panicked when you see a play ground.  There are so many places to run and hide.... in two different directions.... with two kids.... and there is only one baby swing.... I should just go home now?



10.  You might have twins if you get to count in twos.  Two smiles, two giggles, two hugs, two kisses, two sweet babies to wake up every day.



You definitely have twins if you know it is all worth it and the joy of watching their special relationship and hearing them laugh together makes all the extra trouble worth it.

Oh, These Girls

 

When I found out we were having twins I was excited about have two to entertain each other and looked forward to seeing the twin relationship develop. When I found out we were having two girls I was even more excited about watching the relationship that would develop between sisters.

Once I started to feel them move, I started to realize that their relationship wasn’t going to be all sunny and roses. They often kicked each other, fighting for room I suppose. Tensley was the one who usually kicked first. In fact, we have video of an ultrasound where it looked like she was kicking Tillie in the head. I knew from that moment that having these two girls was going to be a wild ride.

Little did I know how much this was going to go both ways.

One night this week as the girls were winding down for bed I watched as they were walking around the living room (they should have been laying in their bean bags). Tillie was following Tensley with her hand on Tensley’s back. She followed Tensley to the TV console where they often stand to watch if they are deeply involved in the cartoon that is on at that moment. My husband and I watched and thought how sweet it was to see them getting along.

When they got to the TV console, Tillie then put her hand on Tensley’s shoulder and then tried to hold her hand. SO sweet!

Ten seconds later, she tried to snatch Tensley’s paci right out of her mouth.

Oh these girls. They are definitely going to give their momma some grief through the years.

September Link Up: Play Rooms

It’s time for our monthly link up! This is open to anyone with kids and/or a play room. Don’t have a dedicated room, that’s ok, link up your kiddos favorite place to play!

We have a play area in our living room for the girls but I have been looking for inspiration to get it a little more organized and a little more fun for the girls. I can’t wait to see everyone else’s play space!

Source: bungalowinsanity.com via Heather on Pinterest

Picking My Twins Names

When The Hubs and I found out we were pregnant with twins we immediately came up with four names that we liked. Two boy names and two girl names.  If we would of had two boys their names would be Levi and Peyton and if we had had two girls their names would be Emma and Callie.  Once we found out that we were in fact having a boy and a girl we chose the names that felt right for them.

We of course had the conversations of do we want to do the same letter which was hard because I didn't like many names that went with either letter.  I love the name Levi but couldn't find any L girl names I liked and the same with Emma.

One thing that never came up with us was rhyming or similar names.  I am find if people do this but it just wasn't for us!  I really think it is important for them to have their own identities.  It really bothers me when people call them "The Twins".  It's OK for now while they are still young but as they get older I don't want them to be known as "The Twins" I want them to be able to be their own person. 

When it came to picking middle names it was important to me that they be family names.  We went through several but ultimately chose names that fit both. Emma's middle name is also my middle name. I was named after someone on my dad's side. I am not quite sure exactly. Levi's middle name is special for many reasons. It is the middle name of my dad and brother but also the name of The Hubs' beloved grandfather! 

You know what 's funny is that now if we have more kids Peyton and Callie aren't on our list. So funny how tastes change!

So there you have it!  That's how Levi William and Emma Gentry got their names.  How did you choose names for your kids?

Our Bedtime Routine

 

From around 2 months until around 8 months, the girls would not go to sleep in their cribs. They napped in their bouncers during the day and at night, we would fight to get them to sleep. We would bounce them in their bouncers, watch cartoons and try sound machine apps on our phones until they finally fell asleep around 10 or 11pm then move them to their cribs. This was not working for us. We were both tired and I was tired of waking up to a messy house that I would have otherwise picked up the night before.

I’m not against co-sleeping but it just wasn’t/isn’t an option for me. The girls were/are so wiggly and I couldn’t sleep in fear that they would shimmy or crawl off the bed (even though they were in between us). Also, two babies in bed with us? We’d never sleep!

Our problem wasn’t really getting them to sleep through the night. In fact, once they were asleep, the slept (and still do)  for 12 or more hours. The issue was getting them to go to sleep. We were already doing a bed time routine and naps were finished before a certain hour, and even though they were VERY sleepy, they would fight it and not go to sleep at a decent hour.

One night, with a little push from my mom, we tried CIO (I don’t really consider what we did CIO but some might...and probably do). I’m not a fan of it but nothing else was working and I was willing to try anything. We put the very sleepy girls in their beds. Typically, one of them would be fine and the other would stand up and cry…and cry. It seemed like it lasted quite a while but in reality it was no more than 5 minutes and then sudden silence. She/they would lay down and go to sleep! The second night, the crying lasted less than 2 minutes and by the 5th night, we would put the girls in their bed and they would assume their preferred positions and go right to sleep. Even from the first night they never cried consistently, they would cry and then stop. I knew they were waiting to see if we were coming so we didn’t go in there.

This is our current routine:

• Dinner
• Play time
• Baths
• Winding down period (usually involves an episode of MMCH or Backyardigans)
• Bed time

We don’t really have a set bed time for them but when we take the girls to bed, we prepare ahead and turn on their noise machine and lamp. When we take them to bed we tell them it’s time to go night night and when we get to their room we do night night kisses and put them in bed. Then we turn out the lamp and walk out of the room.

I really believe having the lamp on for my girls is key. It allows them to see where they are and that it’s a safe place.

We still have nights where one or both girls still won’t go to sleep and will cry (here lately it’s been because of teething). After a certain amount of time we will go get them and bring them back to the living room with lights out and the play area gated off. We lay them in their bean bags (replacement for the bouncers) and will sometimes let them watch another cartoon. Usually, once they calm back down, we can take them to bed and they will go to sleep.

And that’s my version of CIO. It may not work for all but it works for us.

How do you get your babies/toddlers to sleep? Do you have a routine?

Flies By

Everyone tells you that when you have a baby that time flies by and you are like "oh, OK I'm sure it wont go by that fast" Well I hate to tell you this but it DOES!

It is so hard to take advantage of every second but we as moms try very hard to do just that! Not only by taking pictures but really enjoying those moments. Those moments where you are holding your precious little one and they look up at you with eyes filled with love and you think to yourself "how could I possibly love this little one anymore than I already do"? And then they give you a kiss or just fall asleep in your arms and you realize you do love them more and more with everything that they do. These are the moments that we need to remember.

I know that I have the worlds worse memory!! I can barely remember what i wore yesterday! I would like to think I will remember these "little" moments with Jocelynn and JP and I hope I do because we cant get this time back!

To help my awful memory I try and take LOTS of pictures and videos! Well, my husband is the actual "video taker" in our family because I always forget!

Since i have SO many pictures and it would be way too costly to do a photo book at the end of their first year, Ive decided to do a photo book every 4 months! Ive already done their first one and the 4-8 month old one is still in progress. Hopefully I'll have all 3 done by the time they turn 13 months! After that I think I will do a photo book individually for them every year.

I have been using a great program called MixBook! I like the way you can personalize it and really make it your own.

Also, every time I see a deal for a 16x20 canvas i purchase that! There are usually deals all the time going on Living Social, Groupon, Plum District and even the actual sites like The Canvas People! I think purchasing canvases is also a great way to capture special moments!

These are just a couple of ways I make sure to remember these days;) I'm sure I will never forget but it goes by too quickly and I would like to capture every single second of it!

What do you do to "capture" the moments? A photo book? Scrapbook? We would love to hear!

PS~I would like to thank everyone for all the kind words and wonderful support from my news!! We are excited to be expecting and having wonderful friends like you makes it that much more special! Thank you!!

They Said What

When you become a mom of multiples you will get lots of funny comments. Heck when you are pregnant even with just one people will say the weirdest things.  It always catches me off guard and I've heard it all!

When I was pregnant people loved to ask when you are due and then when they realize you have months to go they always follow up with a "Wow, your huge." Ummm, thanks!  Another thing that happened to me was that people were so shocked that I was showing so early! Well I am growing TWO humans so yea I'm going to show early!

After you have the babies you might as well get the words "Freak Show" tattooed on your forehead because you will get all kinds of look, comments and even weird behavior!  I guess that people just aren't used to multiples or maybe they were raised in a barn. Who knows but here are some of the gems that I have heard:

"Wow, Twins! Hmm better you than me!"- That's right jerk it is better me than you!

"Are they identical?"- Well hmm lets think about this. He's a BOY and she is a GIRL!

"OMG, Do you have two babies in the stroller?"- Yes, yes I do! 

"So you've had twins, I guess your done!" - wow! I'm so glad you get to do my family planning for me!

"So you can tell me, Which one is your favorite?" Ummmmm What!? There are no words.

These are just a few! So yea, people can be nuts!  Please leave a comment and tell us the weirdest thing someone has ever said to you about your kids! 

Hope you all had a great Labor Day!