OK, I am hoping I aren't the only twin mummy to be that ponders the strangest things. Come on twin mum-to-be's help me out and also bring up some stuff you are thinking about!

I have a few things that I have been wondering. Like

-when you have the twin pram out and about and you only have one baby in it as the other is being carried or looking at something with DH or whatever, does it affect the prams manoeverability? Like wouldn't it be a nightmare to steer being heavier on one side?

-when the babies go through the 'put everything in the mouth stage' do you worry about them munching on the same rattles etc. or is it a lets all just share thing?

-when you are doing bum changes do you always just do the second baby when the first needs it to save getting yourself sorted again in 5 minutes or do you find they poo and wee on totally different schedules so it doesn't work?

-do you ever find it hard to keep track of who hasn't poo'ed in 3 days etc. as it feels like you have changed a million bums so one of them must have been X baby!

-If you have one baby in a sling, a capsule in one hand and a nappy bag on your shoulder, what do you do when that sock falls onto the ground?

Don't get me wrong. These things aren't keeping me up at night or anything, they are just little thoughts that I think of, particualrly when I watch other mums with their single babies doing stuff. I think I am however a little TOO obsessed with what I am going to do when I want to go to the supermarket o:



Cat & Nath
Finally BFP on ICSI attempt#1.
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Hi Cat
Your questions made me giggle, I think everyone wonders what it is going to be like to do things before the babies come along, suprisingly though when they do arrive I found I sort of just did things and didn't really have to think about it.
Except the other day I went to a fete with my 3 yr old and the twins and Alana wanted to go on a horse and carriage ride and I was trying to figure out how I could take two babies with us, it turned out I saw another twin mother that I knew at the fete and she watched the babies in the pram while my daughter and I went in the carriage.

A one sided pram, probably won't bother you, you'll have so much other stuff in it that it will still be balanced. My father recently pushed a double pram (empty) at the airport to the arrival gate to pick us up and he got just as many comments with an empty pram as we got going the other way with a full one!

Slobber - Basically my two just share slobber constantly.

poo - you'll have days of constant poo and often just change one without a poo and voila in the next five minutes there will be a new poo. I am sure they hold it in and wait for a clean nappy sometimes.
I didn't bother keeping track of who had pooed I figured I would notice it if it didn't happen for a long time. A soley breastfed baby may not poo for a week or more sometimes, if you are lucky! My elder daughter could go 10 days or so, neither of the twins went more than a day unfortunately.

Requiring a 3rd arm - these occasions tend to be frequent, my solution, simplify everything and only take the necessities, put them in clothes with feet so no need for socks, attach all toys with rings, I leave the nappy bag in the car at the shops and just change them in the carpark on the way home. When I picked up my daughter from childcare I would carry both babies in the same capsule to and from the car.

Groceries - I love the double shopping trolleys I can put all 3 in there, not much room for food though. Getting from the car to the shop, I use a sling for one and just carry the other and then deposit in the trolley.






cheers
Beth
dd Alana 3 yrs
dd & ds Charlotte & Samuel 11mths

You're definitely not the only mother of multiples to think about all these things (I worried about most of these things - and more - in advance!).

The double buggy with one baby - on the few occasions this happened, I put my bag in the empty side (more out of ease than balance) and I never noticed it felt hard to push.

Everything in the mouth - didn't even try to stop them gumming the same toys. But I also used one spoon and one bowl for feeding - honestly you'd be running behind them all day with disinfectant wipes if you tried to keep things separate and clean - and then they'd just suck on each other's hand anyway!!

Nappy changes - when they were newborn I'd change each one after each other (unless it was only 5 minutes since the last change which happened too many times to mention). Once they were a little more predictable, I'd do the "routine" changes (eg before and after sleeps) at the same time and the other ones "as required"!!! LOL

Keeping track - until the girls were about 5 months old we kept a hardback exercise book (Harriet on the left page and Eleanor on the right) where we recorded feeds, sleeps and poos - we got into the habit at the hospital and it helped on the days when things were a blur. And now I love looking back and saying "this time 2 years ago, Harriet slept 7 hours for the first time" or whatever.

Hands full - if you have your hands full and drop something, I either appeal to a bystander (most people will take pity on you in that situation), use my toes to pick it up (I have a special ability according to DH, actually he thinks the fact I can pick stuff up using my toes is a little creepy ) or, if it's all too hard I've been known to abandon things!

Supermarket - send DH! Seriously - I haven't done a big supermarket shop with the girls, ever - it just all seemed too hard. We've now got into a routine where DH gets what we need in the week (he cooks as well so he chooses what to buy) and then he does a big shop on Sunday night after the girls are in bed while I relax and then he gets takeaways for us -what a guy! Failing that, have you thought of internet shopping? The advantage of our routine is that now when we go to pick up a few things with the girls, it's such a treat that a trip in the trolley is the highlight of their week! LOL



Maree

Eleanor 1/8/03
Harriet 1/8/03

Cat, you are completely normal! Here's my 2c...

Twin pram - it has been a rare occurence where I have only had one in it, but I didn't have any problems with steering. When they both climb into one side, that's a different story!

Stuff in mouth - never bothered seperating anything. They slobber all over each other all the time anyway and they put far worse things in their mouths than something their sibling had slobbered on :gasp: We also shared food bowls and spoons when they started solids, unless one of them was sick.

Nappy changes - at first you tend to change to a routine (eg before each feed etc) so I did those together, and any others as required. Might be freaky, but my 2 still tend to poo within a few minutes of each other so if I smell one, I always get 2 nappies out just in case.

Keeping track - When you are in hospital they make you write anything down so you tend to keep track anyway. I didn't write things down at home, but I seemed to be able to remember who had done what.

Extra pair of hands - I have "monkey toes" like Maree so they came in handy. Other than that, I relied on the kindness of strangers or kicked the thing on the ground along until I got to a spot where I could put a capsule/baby down.

Nicolie
DDs Paige & Hannah (23/09/03)


Paige & Hannah

Hee hee! I always used to think of stuff like this, it's good though that way your contingency plans are worked out for when they arrive and your brain goes on holiday! Everyone seems to have answered these pretty well, just wanted to write something about sharing drool.
When mine were 2 days and in the same trolley at the hospital they were asleep facing each other and one suddenly did a huge powerchuck all over the other one's face, i was laughing so hard! Even funnier is that the chucked on baby didn't even flinch, just slept peacefully! Drool is the least of your worries!
Good luck with everything!

kelly, 1@01/04, 2@03/05, 1due04/06