Hello lovely ladies... I am 30 weeks and a bit pregnant with twins and are in the process of getting everything organised.

Is there anything that you wish you knew before the bubs arrival?
or
Is there anything you wish you had before the babies arrived (things you can't live without IYKWIM)?

I wish that I knew more about sleep and settling!!
We had horrible issues with this!!

The QEC have a new area for video links and podcasts which might help
QEC

Things that are invaluable IMO is a local multiple birth assoc - here you will feel normal and make some great friendships and have a safe place to go to for regular outings. To find a club go here Club finder

Also check out this site for ideas, books and groovy twin gear Think Twins

Huggies (newborn) have a wetness indicator (took me till 5 weeks to discover )
Swings were great for mine
These things; http://www.thinktwins.com.au/catalog839909...products_id=446 would have been awesome for us.
Get along to your local MBA groups
WOMBIES (Thanks Kitty-N )
Karicare formula discounting
Frozen meals
Bubba mat (lurve this).

Am sure I will think of more!

ETA: A decent pram from the start, and capsules. Loved ours.

Bath cradle thingos to keep hands free for washing them.

Decent breast pump

Sorry, I'm crashing this thread for triplets too

Have contacted SAMBA and met up with triplet Mum's, this has been fantastic even just through pregnancy!
Steggles they don't have those cool gizmo's for triplets!
Formula - I have contacted Wyeth and they actually donate for triplets as long as you have a letter from your Dr and they send it to the surgery! Not sure if they do same for twins but could always ask?
Frozen Meals - Have already started ordering Lite N Easy dinners for myself and DH as cooking is way too uncomfortable (and cleaning up) and he works shift work
What is a Bubba Mat?
Breast Pump - Have bought a second hand Medela Advanced double electric fancy pants one for $280 from a twin Mum!

I am sure you could just buy a 3rd one HAL - I have seen them stocked elsewhere in single lots
Thought of another one Jobstar - A good lounge for feeding

really trying hard to think of something. my 2nd pg so I knew what to expect kind of and what to do differently second time around. I am generally pretty organised. I had everything I needed. Even bought an electric pump but didn't get much use out of it. Exclusively expressing with twins is tough.

The only thing I did think twice about afterwards was booking a trip to the USA with the twins even before they were born. That was pretty crazy but as it turns out, it's not that hard to travel with twins. They were about 9mths old and the trip was awesome.

HAL thats brilliant about Wyeth donating forumla - only thing to be wary of is a lot of babies are really spewy on S26, so just be prepared for that. Plenty are fine, but I hear so many people say Karicare was better for them (Im one of them). So just dont get a rude shock if that happens, maybe contact Nutricia as well and ask if they do the same deal for HOMs?

Yes, woombies earlier in the peace would have helped me a lot.

I wish I knew how long babies REALLY took to feed and that Tandem feeding wouldnt come naturally. My babies initially took 1.5 hrs to feed, and it was one at a time, and when you do the maths of how long between feeds x 2 babies, it doesnt leave a lot of time for sleep or anything else really.

I wish I had the pram I have now instead of a lumbering great big second hand peice of junk. My shoulder is permanently damaged because of it. Baby jogger all the way

I wish I had known the slightest thing about having babies before I had them - it was totally a steep learning curve for me, since I had only been around children a little bit before having them.

I wish id babyproofed the house before they arrived because I am now in the process of doing it as they start to crawl, which is very difficult and I end up putting them in thier playpen more often than I would like.

Mine are 6.5yrs old now so it's been a while.

I found it much better when I splurged and bought a 2nd pram. I had one that lived in the boot of my car and another really good one for walking.

Oh, and dummies. I wish I had used them right from the start. They really saved my sanity even though I didn't want to use them.

The other thing is I wish I had just listened to my own instincts more. From very early DD2 showed mild signs of being CMPI. (We found out later she was and still is.) Little sick ups after bottles and hard to settle which I was told was normal. When I think of how long she must have been in pain and feeling sick. (When we did our last trial she told me it hurt her tummy and she felt sick, she has never had the typical bowl reactions that most people have.)

Oh, and I wish I didn't listen when I was told I should really stop waking the other twin when one woke for a feed. I definately should have stuck to what was working. I ended up a blubbering mess that hadn't slept at all in 2 days.

If Steggles meant Woombies and not Wombies I second this - these made it really easy to swaddle the babies, a great time saving device. Also at least one car capsule to help getting the twins to the car.

A good pram is essential, none were available at the time for me but a pram that takes 2 car capsules would be worth selling one of my other children for

A small secondary umbrella double stroller is also very handy for times when a bigger pram would be too awkward

The 2 things that worked for me:
1. Get a decent breastfeeding pillow to fit 2
2. Always wake the 2nd baby when feeding the first - did this during the night mostly and it def. saves some sleep.

Good luck!

The twins were 2nd and 3rd babies for me so the baby care thing wasn't too bad.

Things that were important to me as a second time mum to twins
the support of other multiple mums (especially with breastfeeding and generally baby care for 2)
support from community nurses and the local residential mother-baby unit (QEII)
Husband taking at least 6 weeks off work (mostly to help with toddler too)
I swear by rockers, swings, dummies, any comforting aid that doesn't involve you holding them both. It is hard to hold both at once and they will cry at the same time at least some of the time.

Things I wish I had known
That twins don't automatically mean difficult births and premmie babies - I had a full term uncomplicated birth with no NICU/ Special care time. (although the last bit of the pregnancy was horrific to put mildly)
I spent a lot of my pregnancy worrying about the babies being born early and/or with complications or health issues.
My older son needed alot of understanding and time to adjust.

Steggles I contacted them and they've done a triplet set for me for $110. Stoked

Exactly this except for the bold part. We wasted money buying a swing that rarely got used and mine never took dummies, even though I tried.

I would also add to this that routine has been sooooo important for us. From Day 7 we were bathing at 6, bed at 7. The rest of the routine built up around this timeframe. This house runs like clockwork and it works and keeps me sane.

Good luck!

All really good answers.....I wish I had have known about formula discounts :-(

I would forego the swings too....they are bulky and we found the bumbos much more practical and compact. We use them a lot.

We were also really strict with routines after DD1 nearly broke us. From day 1 we woke them both to feed at the same time. It was a tough four months at the start but they are much better for it now. I second that not all twins are small/early too.....mine were induced at 37 weeks (I could NOT wait any longer) and weighed 3kgs each. We were still up every three hours and waking them meant we got some sleep. My husband also had 7 weeks off to help with dd1.

And if you're lucky....and it sounds selfish but seriously consider enlisting people to help. We thought (read hubby thought) it was too much to ask people to help with both of us home. The minute (!) he started back at work I had friends and fam lined up to help here and there ..... Even overnight. I reconciled it that without my being sane and happy no one in the family would be happy either! It's so important to take care of yourself....as women we find it difficult to put ourselves first but if you don't just a little bit it can all fall apart very easily.

Good luck!!

All really good answers.....I wish I had have known about formula discounts :-(

I would forego the swings too....they are bulky and we found the bumbos much more practical and compact. We use them a lot.

We were also really strict with routines after DD1 nearly broke us. From day 1 we woke them both to feed at the same time. It was a tough four months at the start but they are much better for it now. I second that not all twins are small/early too.....mine were induced at 37 weeks (I could NOT wait any longer) and weighed 3kgs each. We were still up every three hours and waking them meant we got some sleep. My husband also had 7 weeks off to help with dd1.

And if you're lucky....and it sounds selfish but seriously consider enlisting people to help. We thought (read hubby thought) it was too much to ask people to help with both of us home. The minute (!) he started back at work I had friends and fam lined up to help here and there ..... Even overnight. I reconciled it that without my being sane and happy no one in the family would be happy either! It's so important to take care of yourself....as women we find it difficult to put ourselves first but if you don't just a little bit it can all fall apart very easily.

Good luck!!

Hi There,

1. That there will be hard times, but you just do it, and you will surprise yourself how well you will cope BUT also be aware there will be down times when you feel isolated and over-whelmed BUT they do pass!!
2. Take up offers of help.
3. Hire in help if you can afford it, maybe a night nanny once a week, or a cleaner, or Lite n Easy.
4. I lurve swings and dummies. I could not survive without dummies as I have two older children, unfortunately I can't always be cuddling them, so dummies are an absolute life saver. The swing works when I can't settle one.
5. Do what works/what is easiest to start with, don't force yourself to be perfect and do everything the books say.
6. Rest when the babies are are sleeping otherwise you will be a wreck.
7. Two rockers are great for them to sit in and you can move them around the house.
8. Be ready to be stopped constantly when you go out with two cute babies!
9. Start preparing your nighttime meal in the morning and invest in a slow cooker.
10. Instigiate a good night-time routine of feeding and bathing and wind-down and try to get them into bed at a reasonable hour so you can at least rest/relax for a few hours before the next onslaught!


Good luck
Michelle

P.S. my babies are the only ones in the world who HATE the woombie!! Grrrr.....

Thanks for all your great suggestions and replies. I have only had a quick scan through them and tomorrow I will create a list from these suggestions. It is always nice to hear from those that have been through the same experience.

My DD has 10 month old twins.

She has 2 lists!
Helpers and Visitors!
Helpers are welcome anytime. They usually do housework or babysit so she can shop/sleep or just have quality time with the girls etc.
Visitors are invited at times which are convenient to her. These people usually just sit! and disappear as soon as the bubs go down for a sleep!!

my bil & sil have twins that were delivered 11wks early. They manage without a lot of luxury items. Slow cooker meals, easy cook meals, that sort of thing are very valuable to them. They live in a regional area of vic, and grow their own veg, so this does help.
Long before the kids were born, they asked my mil to go down for a few weeks to help out (mil had 3 under 3, so is awesome at organising). all i can say is accept help, start cooking towards the end and freezing, buy a slow cooker, a electric rice cooker and some frozen meals (spesh when they are on special) so you guys at least get fed so you can feed and function. (buy a small bar fridge sized freezer to hold the meals, and then you can start putting food aside for the kids too when they are at that stage) ring up your local nanny school, if there is one, and see if they would send out people to do their prac to give you a hand.
I do like the pp who stated her daughter has 2 lists - at my sil's house, i know which one I am on, We cooked, cleaned, babysat, and helped out everywhere we could (even though i was pregnant and a bit blech at the time, and on holidays) By the time we left, you barely knew we had been there, except for the fodd in the fridge and freezer for bil's lunches or dinners for them both.

I agree with the feeding.... it takes FOREVER in the early days.
I also wish I had realised I wouldn't be leaving the house for a long time. I had visions of meeting friends in cafes and the like, and it just didn't happen. My boys are 7 months now and I'm only just starting to do this.
I wish i had prepared for how hard breastfeeding is. I perservered and got to 6 months, but man, was it a massive struggle.
I'm really, really glad that we started the boys on a routine from leaving hospital. And we ALWAYS fed them both at the same time... including waking the other when they were asleep. And another thing we did which is brilliant now was to not pick them up once they were in their cots. Unless it was an emergency, we only ever settled them while lying down. Now, they settle perfectly while still awake and we've never had marathon hours of screaming.
The best bit of advice I can give you is to be flexible, don't be too hard on yourself and to get as much help as you can. You'll need help in those early, hazy days.

It is amazing how different things are with different twins! I was out by myself before they were 2 weeks old - out and about the day we left hospital with DH. I recommend pushing yourself to get out earlier - sure some bits might be hard, but you will be glad you pushed yourself and have confidence down the track

I'd generalise this to babies. When I had my first baby I expected to visit friends and cafes etc. but he was an absolute nightmare to take out (feeding every 3 hours, screaming, projectile vomitting etc.) and, although I persisted for months, it just wasn't worth the effort (he was much happier at home). Then my second was a dream baby, we were out and about a couple of weeks after she was born.

When I was pg with the twins I really let go of expectations of what we'd be doing. I took them out when they were about 5-6 weeks for a bit of shopping and coffee (we'd done plenty of MCHN visits by then but no "fun" outings). From then on we went out a couple of times/week - playgroup, visiting friends, pottering around the shops - but they were very like my second singleton, easygoing and happy to just go with the flow.

Having a freezer full of meals and some very helpful friends (and mum) was the biggest help to me. All I really had to do for the first few weeks was feed babies and try to sleep, and spend some time with the older kids.

I wish I had known that the hospital wouldn't let me stay more than their standard three days, and I guess I'd assumed that the babies would probably come home together with the hospital letting me stay an extra day or two. My OB and Paed both tried to get the hospital to be more flexible but they wouldn't budge. This was very upsetting at the time - I understood their business arguments but I was sleep-deprived and hormonally teary when they told me that I had to leave so was quite an emotional mess for a while. I gather that different hospitals have very different policies on these things so it is worth finding out.