Twin Pregnancy

* EXTREME morning sickness. Was basically bedridden for the first 15-17 weeks. I lost a lot of weight & was hospitalized.

* I couldn’t work for a lot of the first 15 weeks. We relied on my income so it was financially hard at the time.

* Went into labour spontaneously at 30 weeks.

Singleton PG

* Bad morning sickness, but not bed ridden.

* Went a week overdue, spontaneous labour.

Twin Birth

Emergency C section in a hospital not equipped to deliver babies, but there was no time to transfer hospitals. I saw my babies for about 2 seconds after the birth before they were taken away & I went to recovery. The C section made me vomit & I was wiped out for the rest of the day, while my DH & MIL spent time with the babies. Babies were premature, weighing 1.2 & 1.3KG each.

Singleton Birth

Successful VBAC. Baby posterior, healthy 3.6KG. Needed a little oxygen straight after birth, but was then handed to me for a cuddle & nuzzle at the breast (will never forget the 1st few mins). I did have a bleed straight after the birth, but thankfully I already had a drip in my arm & it was stopped very fast.

Newborn Twins

The days following the birth were less than ideal. The day my girls were born one was flown to a hospital 3hrs away. I didn’t get to see her before she left & that was hard on me. By midnight I demanded to get up & see the other baby.

I was flown to Brissy on the 3rd day & I had to leave twin one behind. Having 2 babies in different hospitals was hard, very hard. I had to stay at Ronald MacDonald house, & it was great. It was hard walking the distance from the hospital to Ronald MacDonald house a few times a day though. When my DD was flown back to the local hospital I had to catch a bus back & had to carry bags up a hill to get to the bus stop (not great after having a C section less then 2 weeks earlier).

They spent almost 7 weeks in hospital. I had to learn to express & had problems with breastfeeding & supply issues from day one. I wasn’t given much help in regards to expressing & being shown what to do etc. I had to try & find help on breastfeeding while I was staying in a different town. My milk never “came in”.

My babies eventually leant to breastfeed & suck from me. It was hard being at the hospital trying to express & feed. I wanted to be with them all the time, but that wasn’t possible. In our time we stayed at 3 different hospitals all with different nurses, DR’s & “rules”.

Once home, life really began. It was such joy to finally bring them home. I tandem fed them & we had a pretty strict routine. Just going out was a major action plan. We had a high set house, so I would take one twin, strap her in the car & then return upstairs & repeat. Then often one would do a big poo or spew in there somewhere.

When we finally “went out” every man & his dog had to stop us. Total strangers were in awe of 2 perfect tiny little girls. People asked the most personal questions & often made some pretty rude comments “double trouble etc”. It was nice at times to get lovely comments, every mum is proud of her babies/ children, but every single outing soon felt like we were the circus or something. People would let their grotty toddlers touch them & I really didn’t like that! We were also on a tight schedule as I could NOT breastfeed in public. It’s IMPOSSIBLE TO FEED TWINS DESCRETLEY! I had to either feed them singularly or not at all. It often took more than one hour to feed them & then burp them both! They were tiny & would often fall asleep etc, so feed times took ages.

There were some places I just couldn’t visit. I could go to our local post office as my double pram couldn’t fit through the doorway. There were a few places like that & I found that frustrating (you can get nice trim double prams now though). For the groceries I would have one in the baby trolley & one in a sling (no double baby trolley’s then).

When they woke during the night, I had to get up & feed them. I could never feed them in bed, not possible for me even though I did try a couple of times. I also found it a little hard when they were both screaming at the same time, but thankfully that didn’t happen too often & if it did I put them both to the breast. At almost 6mths we stayed at a sleep school as my babies were not sleeping well or gaining enough weight. I felt I wasn’t coping well at all. The problem was that I simply didn’t have enough milk to breastfeed, no matter how often or long I fed for. Soon after they went to formula feeding & I felt like I had failed, when I had really wanted to breastfeed until 12mths. Once they were sleeping well & gaining weight things were good again.

I also felt I didn’t spend much time “enjoying” my babies. I didn’t have a lot of time to sit & play & if I did they both wanted my attention. Things like baths seemed to always be a rush, trying to get one done then the other, so we could have them fed or in bed.

Singleton Newborn

He came home after a few days in hospital. My milk came in during the 1st week of his life. I didn’t find breastfeeding a breeze, but it was still heaps easier than with twins. He had no attachment issues, he sucked well & he was content.

I could go out & about with him from day one. Even though I had 3yr old twins, I could still do the grocery shopping! I carried him in a sling & still had my hands fee. I loved being able to go out & about & not being stopped by strangers all the time.

During the nights I fed him in bed! That was BLISS. Not having to get up to feed in the night made such a difference. I would wake & he would be asleep & I’d pop him into his cot.

I felt I enjoyed” my singleton more, I had time to enjoy little things like bath times. Although I had 2 older kids, I could still spend quality time with him. The girls were old enough to sit in the bath, get out dry & themselves. I was there to “help” them, but at the same time I could take the time to enjoy my bath times with the baby. We had a basic routine, but the routine didn't dictate our days. I could still go out, even if he was due for a feed & pop him on the breast. Such a difference to the twin experience!


Toddler twins

I felt like I almost went insane. They were both very good climbers & runners. I was limited in what we could do & where we could go. I couldn’t go to the park or pool unless I had another adult to help me. I couldn’t run after 2 kids in different directions. I had been going to a mother’s group, but that ended due to them going places like the pool & coffee shop. I lost contact with them not long after I stopped going.

We had locks on just about every cupboard & gates up across doorways. It’s the only way I could cope & keep them safe. They liked climbing on my bench tops, table, ANYTHING. I have photos of them sitting in the kitchen sink with water on! They seemed “to help each other” in their antics.

They started fighting over things & that included me. If I sat down they would fight for my lap. We also had lots of biting. I had one twin that would bite the other so viciously, it was horrific. It was impossible to keep them apart or watch them every second. She would chose her moments well like when they were sitting side by side in their pram & I was paying at the cash register. That happened a few times.

They were out of cots at 19mths old. They both could climb out even in winter sleeping bags. We went through hell when they went into beds. They wouldn’t stay on their bed. They would egg each other one & hype each other”. I couldn’t really separate them at the time. Often during day sleeps, they would totally trash their room. They would pull the sheets off both beds & also empty the clothes from their drawers. Eventually they had no clothes in the drawer’s b/c I was sick of cleaning up the mess everyday.

Toilet training was OK. They got the hang of it eventually, but cleaning up poo & wee twice as much isn’t a fun time. I think the hardest thing was being housebound. I found it too hard to go out on my own & had no family help. They wouldn’t sit in a pram so it was hard. My DH also works very long hours, so he’s not here that much to help. The best thing was watching them both develop into little people & see their personalities shine. They are very similar, but also very different. They seem to "swap personalites a lot too.

Singleton toddler

It’s been a lot better so far. Going out places is not impossible with one child. I can keep a handle on him; even though he is a climber & runner (I also have my twins as well as him). He is very active, but one at a time is so much more manageable. He is in childcare 2 days a week & has been since he was about 6mths old. I could go in & breastfeed him when I needed to & that worked well. He self weaned at 16 or 17mths old.

I had time to “play” with him more. He wasn’t in competition with a sibling. Yes he had other siblings, but he didn’t have to “compete” for my attention. While the girls were busy playing outside or a game I could give him my attention. I have loved this special time with him.

Things like eating dinner have also been easier with one. I guess the biggest difference is that there a lot less noise. With twins they are at the same developmental stage, you can say, Ït’s coming, wait a min” goes no where. Although he also has to learn to wait, when he’s crying it’s a lot less stressful then 2 toddlers crying.

At 20mths old he is still in a cot. He hasn’t attempted to climb out yet & I’m trying to let him stay there for as long as I can. He has much the same temperament as his twin sisters, he is active & full on, but it’s half the workload. It feels so much easier than with the girls! It feels like a walk in the park compared to them. He has just started throwing tantrums, but one at a time is a lot easier to deal with. We are yet to TT, so not sure how that compares yet.


I thought I would share this with multiple Mummies. Some people may see this is a “negative twin” post, but it’s my reality. I love my girls with all my heart & I would never ever choose not to have them. But since having one baby at a time, it’s such a huge difference. I know not all twin mum’s have the experience I have had too. I still think that the child’s temperament makes a huge difference & all of my children are very headstrong & active.

How has having twins been different to singleton’s for you???

I was discussing this with a fellow twin mum this morning. She had a singleton first and then twins whereas I had twins first and now have a singleton. We both agreed that it is a totally different experience that others don't really understand: the little things that are logistically nightmare'ish or the small things that are amplified are hard to adequately explain.

For me I don't think I ever realised how hard having twins was until I got a singleton.

Now that I can 'just' run into the supermarket and grab something whilst holding him or use a trolley I have realised how logistically difficult it was. Not having to get the pram out a zillion times a day just to get in anywhere is an absolute dream.

As I sit here and type this I have a baby sleeping on my chest. He fell asleep there and has stayed there because I didn't have to rush off to settle the other one. If he is extremely unsettled overnight I can put him in with me as we can fit ONE in the bed with us and can safely co-sleep. When he was a baby with reflux I could put him in the sling if I needed to or could just put him over my shoulder whilst I continued with life: could do that with one but never with two.

I haven't done the singleton toddler thing yet so can't comment on that.

Having twins though instead of having all singletons though has had some of the positives. It was cheaper in pregnancy photos as I only needed to get one lot done rather than 2. In my case I will be off Full-time work for less time and the difficult phases are over quicker by doing it all at once. When we go out I can double up on 'spare' clothes and just use their brothers if there is an accident . In the future they will be in the same age groups for sporting etc. and kinder so less running around I hope and when they go on school camps for the first time they won't be leaving behind all of their family. Am sure if I thought about it I could come up with more but still quite difficult because these things kind of fall aside when you are struggling with all the other stuff!

Cat~I never thought of the school camp thing! At the moment my twins are in different classes. At times it's a pain b/c they both want me to drop them off/ pick them up first. They both want me at the same time & I just can't be in different rooms at the same time. Yesterday they had their very first cross country & it was so fun watching TWO girls in the same race .

Belinda

Off topic, Belinda - re the picking up from school and always wanting you first, we've had lots of problems with this (including who gets to go to the toilet first or brush their teeth first!) so we've started a new plan where we have alternating days where one girl gets to be first all day, the next day it's the other's turn. It's written on the calendar and has stopped lots of arguments. Just a thought.

Back on topic, great posts from you both, I don't have a singleton to compare but could really relate to your posts re twins and even nearly 5 years later the thought of the first year (all right first 2 years) makes me want to cry - it was all soooo hard. Will be interesting to read other's experiences.

Thank you for sharing this your experience. My B/G twins will be 4 when my new daughter is born in July. I'm really looking forward to the singleton experience. Like you, my twins are a huge handful and I have been worried about how we will all manage, but I'm sure we will get there. I must say though, I'm really hoping and praying this will one will be a sleeper - the twins never and still never sleep!

I also can't wait for the single pram - bliss!

Cheers
Megan

So agree with that!! I never realised how hard it was with the boys til I had DD and taking her out by herself is a breeze. Today is DD & my day together (the boys are at preschool) and she is asleep right now and it is awesome! I love having 3 hours to myself to do housework or go on the net , or just watch TV!

With the whole toddler thing - my boys have their moments but aren't too bad - whereas DD is going through a terrible two phase right now and she isn't even 2 yet! I am scared of her as she has such an attitude. Argh! Saying that though it is easier to handle one who is chucking a tantrum than two! That is what I keep telling myself anyhow!

Thanks for starting this BusyB!!

Also I so hear you on the locks on everything. We were the same and sadly still are! It drives me bananas!!!!!! We have locks on the fridge, pantry, under the sink, under the bathroom sink etc. It is the only way to keep me sane.

Saying all that though it is getting easier. I am going back to work 2 days/week in a month or so and I can't wait!! I am hanging out to have a break and for my kids to have some fun at CC without me! I absolutely adore my kids and would never change having twins. 99% of the time the boys are a joy and are so funny. They adore each other and their sister (when they aren't fighting), and I love watching them playing together.

ooooohhh!! Iam SO joining in here, just as soon as I get my ratbag twins to bed and set the singleton up in her sling!!

Thank you for sharing your experience with us mulitiple mummies.

Today I have had quite possibly the worst day ever with the two of them (they are 13 months). These bubs are usually pretty good to look after, but today has read just like the realities of parts of your post. Especially the bit re: singleton play group.

We were there this morning and of course both of them take off in different directions. The playgroup "leader" insists on keeping the doors open to the outside area. As you all know, this makes it impossible to actually even enjoy yourself, let alone stop to have a cup of coffee because you are too busy watching two toddlers in different directions.

Then the clinker came when the "leader" who only has a singleton says, "Your boys keep getting in the way of the older kids who are using the trikes". I felt like screaming and saying, "well if you did not leave that bloody door open it would not be a problem". I have asked a million times for it to be shut but that "would not suit" the singleton mummies.

Sorry, did not mean to have a whinge, but boy do I feel better for getting it out to others that understand.

Seriously short on time so will have ot be brief...

Twin Pregnancy

Hyperemesis, severe softening of ligaments from 12 weeks that had me in excrutiating pain, slept no more than and hour at a time from 12 weeks due to the pain and sickness. Pregnancy was just plain awful! Never enjoyed being pregnant one bit.

Singleton Pregnancy

Hyperemesis, but not as severe as last time, but I didn't have the "luxury" of being sick cause I had 2 x 21 mth olds to contend with so I gave in and took hard core drugs (zofran) for my entire pregnancy (I managed to only take that a couple of times a week with twin pregnancy). I didn't suffer from pain from softening of ligaments at all. I LOVED being pregnant aside from the m/sickness. As my twins were prem though I was "at risk" for pre-term labour and had far too many BHs for my Ob's liking so had to go on nifedipine from 28 weeks (I think it was 28!) to stop me from potentially going into labour early. I also suffered from a seriously bad haemorrohoid late in pregnancy that required lancing twice! That was pretty hideous. Once I got that sorted though, and my m/s disappeared at 36 weeks I could have gone on being pregnant for ever!


Twin Birth

Spontaneous labour (PROM) at 30+6 weeks, attempts were made to stop labour but they failed. I had to lay on a bed so babies could be monitored constantly therefore there was no way I could get by without an epidural Impossible to get through contractions when you're pinned to a bed Vaginal delivery, fortunately both babies were head down so it was relatively "easy".

Newborn Twins

I saw each baby for seconds before they were each whisked away to the NICU, the next time I saw them they were wearing CPAP masks, had drips in and covered in wires I wasn't allowed to hold them for 24 hours, was only allowed to touch them momentarily through little portholes in their incubators. Enduring the NICU/SCN journey for almost 5 weeks was the single hardest thing ever in my entire life. I still can't watch any of the video from their time in there. We never had time to take photos of them before they were taken to the NICU, so our first photos are of them in their incubators. Fortunately our babies were healthy, just early so needed fattening up (1.5 and 1.6kgs)

Breastfeeding involved hours of expressing initially before they were finally able to attempt BFing. I REALLY REALLY RRREEEEEEAAAAAALLLLLYYYYYYYYYYY wanted to BF. They were kicked out of hospital (I believe FAR too early) at 35+5 weeks weighing spot on 2kgs, fully BF. However, they soon struggled to gain weight as they were just too tired all the time to feed properly, so then we had to intro bottles of fortified EBM, soon they preferred those (although "preferred" is used loosely cause really they just didn't want to feed at all - solids were a major drama too! Typical premmie issues). After 9 months of persisting persisting and trying to get help from everyone, expressing after every feed, day and night so I could ensure that my supply would stay up and they could have EBM in their bottles (they always did part BF, followed by a top up bottle of EBM, they just got used to that routine and refused to do a full BF, they wouldn't suck after the initial letdown!), I finally gave in. I was DEVASTATED!!

Sleep - disastrous - I survived on 2 - 4 hours of broken sleep for 9 months before I caved and did controlled crying or else I was going to throw all 3 of us off a cliff!!!

I could go on for ages, but the first year of E and K's life were Hell frankly!

Newborn Singleton

Lifted straight onto my chest where she promptly latched on and stayed there for 3 hours. NO WAY were they taking her away from me till she was done either!! LOL
She stayed with me (and has still stayed with me) for every single second after she was born. She has not left my sight once (except for when DH keeps her busy whilst I shower of course!). Breastfeeding was brilliant for the first 2 weeks, but then she got super fussy and started refusing to feed. It turns out she has silent reflux and that her attachment wasn't too brilliant. We're almost sorted with all that now. At any rate, given she was a healthy 3.9kgs, we had "room to move" to get her sorted with feeding as she didn't HAVE to gain X amount of weight!


* will have to reply more later, the singleton has awoken! *

Great thread

Singleton pregnancy 2mths of horrible morning sickness but besides that the pregnancy was great. I was actually doing the gardening and lifting a heap of pavers the day before I went into labour (2 days before my due date). 30 hr labour, Emma was posterior but turned just before she was delivered, she was placed straight on my chest and I b/f her straight away.

Twin pregnancy early bleeding at 9wks, morning sickness wasn't as bad as singleton pregnancy, was in maternity wear by 8 weeks and continued to get bigger by the minute. I felt like I had been drugged for the first few months.. I was sooo tired. Was lucky enough to be able to give up work at about 16wks. Found it very difficult to sleep at night. It was also very hard looking after a toddler being so huge. As awful as this is I kept wishing that the girls would come early as I was so over being pregnant but they decided to stay put until d-day (38wks). I had opted for a C/S which was terrifying. Could only hold Jess for a few minutes as both had breathing issues. Nothing serious though and the girls were in my room by the end of the day.

Singleton Newborn Apart from not having a clue as to what I was doing things went fairly smoothly. I would b/f in bed of a night and ventured out all the time. Joined a mothers group and went back to work when Emma was 11mths.

Twin Newborns I picked up the tandem b/feeding fairly quickly but didn't really enjoy it. I'm quite a shy person and there is no way that you can be discreet when your tandem feeding. The girls feed every couple of hours around the clock for the first couple of months and it was an ordeal to take them from their cots, set up on the lounge, change each of their bums and get back to bed only to feel like you just got back to sleep and it was feeding time again!! At 8wks we ended up at a sleep school where I was diagnosed with postnatal depression.

Twin Toddlers

We still have sleep issues so nothing has improved there. We did join a play group for about a month when the girls were about 12mths but found I couldn't sit down and relax as I was always attending to one of the girls. We don't venture out much these days as they hate being in their pram and will scream and carry on. This is the same with shopping... when you can find a twin trolley.

I feel guilty that the girls have not had swimming lessons as you need two people to get in the water with them and that's not possible.

Emma was a breeze to toilet train but I'm not looking forward to toilet training two toddlers.

The girls play fairly well together but when one decides that they want what the other has well it's WW3!! They have also worked out how to open the doors recently (pull down handles which you can't lock). Not sure how many toilet rolls and whatever else they decide to put down the toilet I have had to retrieve!!

They are starting Child Care one day a week next week which I think will be good for them... and me too!!

Look forward to hearing others experiences.

I have found something that I preferred doing with twins: solids! I am finding it feels like it takes forever to feed Hunter because you put a mouthful in and then have to hang around doing nothing ready for the next one. With twins though you can spend that time spooning the next one: am worried I am going to shovel it into Hunter too quick!

I think I'm going to be the odd one out.

Pregnancy

Singleton #1 morning sickness till the second trimester. A lot of pain just under my shoulder blade that just wouldn't go away. After she was born I had surgery to have my gall bladder removed.

Twins Morning sickness, didn't have a clue until I was at the ultrasound. Addmitted to hospital at 34 weeks due to severe oral thrush, the worst they'd ever seen . Only reason it got that bad was because a GP prescribed me antibiotics for mouth ulcers . Then my local public hospital messed me around more and by the time I called the maternity ward, I was severely dehydrated, couldn't eat or talk. My kidneys suffered and didn't recover until after birth. But all of that had nothing to do with twins, just chance.

I had more appointments, more scans, more blood tests because my OB was too stressed. After the above mentioned problem, I had more to make sure everything was ok.

Singleton #2 Morning Sickness. One day I woke to an awful amount of pain shooting up my face. One of my teeth just turned to mush, despite being fine a few months prior in an xray, and I needed to have it either pulled or root canal treatment. I opted for the root canal treatment. Just after birth had appendicitis that thankfully settled down without the need for surgery.

Singleton #3: Morning sickness, Extreme sinus problems that had me living on panadiene forte from October to December of months before he was born. Just after birth had all 4 wisdom teeth removed (Certain it was actually a combination of both sinus and wisdom teeth pain)

Birth:

#1: 6hr 45m induced labour with gas & pethadine, 11 days overdue. Completely pain free afterwards.

Twins: 1 hour induced labour with gas at 38 weeks. Didn't believe the OB when he said Adrian was born because I didn't feel it. Victoria was born breech, no issues. Completely pain free afterwards. Did have a borderline PPH, but since my iron levels where high, only required an extra hour or two attached to the drip.

#2: 1hr 30m induced labour 11 days overdue with just gas. she was born with the cord around her neck a couple of times, which had to be cut before she could be born. She had broken blood vessels all over her face and eyes, Royrie later told me the pressure of the cord made her look like her eyes where popping out of her head as she was being born. I was pain free afterwards.

#3: 3hr 45m induced labour, 2 days early as I couldn't stand the thought of 'drugging' my baby any longer. He barely moved, I was concerned and I wanted him out. The labour was ok, but as he moved down the birth canal I felt the most incredible amount of pain. I had a shot of pethadine and was using the gas, but it didn't even begin to take the edge off. I screamed for an epidural (I had never ever considered one before that) and honestly was hoping someone would pick up a plank of wood and knock me out. I have had 8 hour long gall stone attacks before, but nothing was as painful as that. After he was born, my back was a mess. I couldn't sit properly for 3 weeks and still have pain every now and then.

Beyond that, I didn't really find much of a difference. I already had Chloe who was only 16m old and had 3 to try and juggle at once. 15 months later there was #4. The only thing I did do differently was have a strict routine in the first few weeks, something I didn't do with my singletons. Chloe was still in nappies, bottles, waking during the night, so when they where born I was still in the habbit. I always treated them seperately, they shared if it was the best situation and where seperate if that was better. If I went out sometimes I would take 1, or 2, 3 or all 4, depending on what suited my situation the best. After the first few weeks I just changed nappies when needed, gave bottles when needed.

Busy B - great thread as there really is a difference between having a singleton and twins...and your road has been a hard one....

my singleton suffered severe reflux and couldn't hear properly(causing many many meltdowns from him) but that experience still didn't prepare me for raising twin boys....6 years on and I still have days where they just wear me down...

I was going to explain my experience but after recent threads I realise that I have coped very well with my boys and get very positive comments from teachers(at least I have done something right lol!!!) I have found it very very hard and it has been a struggle and throw in PND, DH working away most of it and an older son who has had problems but I have done it...

I am proud how well I have coped and all you twin mums out there that have found it hard and are brave enough to admit it should all be proud of yourselves too...

Because what I have realised on EB and IRL that most people who find it easy don't understand what a huge thing for alot of women it is to say they find it hard and throwing comments to people struggling like "It is all about the attitude" "I don't find it hard so why do you" blah blah blah I feel are just plain nasty....
and I am over comments like this as everyone's experience is different and don't forget that alot of these children are all young and they do grow up. Some people may not have challenges now but their challenges may be later in life, so I always say be careful what you say as you never know what is around the corner.

I am off to bed absolutely exhausted(so sorry if my post doesn't make sense) as I started working full time this year with kindy kids and I can't believe how well I cope at work but my twins just take it out of me.
Tonight is the first night in 6 months they have been asleep before 9.30pm, because they constantly feed off each other.....my singleton was a dream at night once he hit 5 but these 2 nothing is working.....

It has also been very rewarding and has been an amazing experience watching twins grow together and truly is double the love...

In one moment they can make you smile, make you laugh, make you proud, but also make you very mad lol!!!!It really is double everything to the extreme....

Just wanted to say this thread is a great read for me, expecting my twins to be born in October. Here I am enjoying life with my singleton...things are really going to change soon!

Thankyou to ppl for sharing their experiences.

Great idea to share.....

Preg #1 - Singleton:
Excellent pregnancy, no problems at all. No morning sickness either, not even a hint! Went into labour at 40+5 weeks. After 12.5 hrs of labour I gave birth to a beautiful 8.5lb baby girl. Needed some stitches but she fed straight away and we went home a few days later.

Ashlee was a dream baby that slept like clock work and breastfed wonderfully. Toddler years were a bit more of a handful but I only had her until she was 7 years old.

Preg #2 - Singleton:
Again, excellent pregnancy. No morning sickness again. Everything great until 35 weeks when I went into labour. After only 40 minutes of labour I gave birth to a 7lb 5oz baby boy who was very sick, deep blue, not breathing and covered in merconium (sp?). He was whisked away were he was "worked on" for nearly an hour before being transferred to a more specialised hospital. I saw him briefly before he left. I then had to go home, pack extra clothes etc and make my own way to the hospital an hour away. After spending about 2 weeks in NICU & SCN we took him home.

Mitchell was a difficult baby. Spending all day sleeping but after 6pm he was awake all night crying, no matter what we did. He did breastfed well though. Luckily Ashlee was alot older and at school so I had that bit of extra time to spend with him. He is now a VERY active nearly 4 year old!

Preg #3 - Twins:
I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy with the twins. Apart from TERRIBLE morning sickness from weeks before my ultrasound that showed me to be 6 weeks 5 days (should have known it was twins) All was pretty managable up until 29 weeks when I went into prem-term labour and was flown to Melbourne (5 hours away). I spent a few days there on many different tablets but it all came to a head when my waters broke and cord prolapse was discovered moments later. After being rushed to theatre they were born weighing 1.4 and 1.5kgs.

Then the "fun" started. Zach on the ventilator for a few days then moving onto CPAP for a week. Anna went straight to CPAP and was off in 5 days. Had major trouble with Anna keeping milk down but they ended up in HDSC after 2 weeks and down to SC a week later. They spent 2 months in hospital before we finally brought them home. Both came home fully breastfed which was great.

I must say that they have been my easiest babies so far (minus the hospital stay - Anna ended up in critial care with RSV this past January) Both slept well from the time they came home in the same cot and still at 10 months old share the same cot. I'm yet to experience the toddler years though so will have to get back to you on that one I have had the best experience with breastfeeding this time around though. Zach and Anna have already out done the other two in the amount of time and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Thanks for all the replies

Cat~ I have to agree on the feeding one child thing, it seemed to take forever! Plus he was never ineterested in solids & I had to work hard to get food into him.

Maree~ Thanks for the tip. Today I let Danika be first for everything; Kateleigh was not impressed lol. We already have rosters for some things. Since they have started school we have a "jobs" chart. They must do certain things, like get dressed, brush teeth. If they do all their "jobs" they get some pocket money ($2) & if they don't, they get a cross & lose 10 cents. So far this has worked really well.

Megan~ I hope you get a wonderful singlton experience like I did. I'm sure your twins will love having another sibling too

Rach~ I think I have 2 of your DD's, she sounds so much like my girls! They did & do sleep well, but when they are awake, they can be a handful. They are 5 & we still have big meltdowns

Butterscotch~ Your story is very similar to mine. I remember when you had your girls & the problems you had with breastfeeding, so much like me. I must say that mine slept well though (exept when they were being underfed & I didn't realize).

joshuakalan~ I feel so much for you! I really, really do. Unless you have had the experience of running after toddler twins, you don't really realize. It's draining. I think that some of the mum's at your playgroup at being selfish. Is there any other playgroups you could check out that might be more accomodating to you?

mylittlemunchkins~ I feel for you, I remember that toddler stage very well. It's hard work & I felt very iscolated in that time. Once mine were about 3yrs old it got much easier to go out & about.

Chadvikise~ It sounds like you were born to be a mother! Sounds like you got a great experience & it's good you shared that with us.

gypsy33~ Thanks for sharing with us. I must admit that I am SO thankful my twins didn't have reflux, colic or wind! My sister's 2 kids both had reflux & I think I would have gone around the twist if I had 2 at a time with it. I soo hear you on the attitude thing too. I love my kids to death & each day is a new day, but there are days when it's hard from when they are awake (one woke the other, so there is a fight). I think there are both good & bad sides to having twins, but most of the general public only notice the "cute" things.

luvmybaby~ I hope I haven't scared you! It's really wonderful having 2 newborns alseep. I enjoyed my 1st 12mths with my twins, there were so many special moments. Yes it's hard, but there are also lovely moments too. Plus they are your kids, so you love them with all your heart no matter what may go wrong. At least you have experience of being a mum on your side. In some ways having twins first was a bit of trial & error. I seem to be so much more relaxed with DS. Not sure if it's b/c he's my 3rd child or b/c he's a singleton.

2plustwins~ I am glad you have had a great twin experience despite some setbacks at the start.

Belinda

I am currently pregnant with twins and have a 3 year old daughter...Thanks for these posts...looks like I better get some extra sleep in now and get used to being topless to feed in public!

sesameellis~ Yep LOL. I think having a 3yr old would be a great help! I'd often get all set up (pillows in the right places, babies attatched etc) & then realize I forgot a burping bib/ washer, TV remote or something. I'd have to "undo" everything & then redo it all. A 3yr old can get things for you & help in that way. To be honest my babies were pretty good sleepers & slept through the night long before my singleton .

thank you so much girls

my singleton is only 2w old - i was extremely lucky that my multiple pg resulted in an induction at 37+3 so i've never had the SCN/NICU experiences a lot of multiple parents go through.

both pg extremely different and i'm already finding some glaring differences with a singleton v multiples.

that being said - my day never ever ends - my twins don't do day sleeps so it's go go go from the moment they are up til they go to bed (which reminds me - why aren't i in bed )