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Syncletica
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| Posted: April 01 2013 at 2:14pm | IP Logged
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twins!!
Yes, we are expecting twins! I'm still trying to get over the shock of it.
**For anyone who knows me, please know that we are trying to keep it secret in general, but especially from family and most especially our children. (I feel relatively safe posting it here.) Can't wait to see their shock when they first see them!**
Those of you who have twins or know of other couples with twins -- what are some things you would advise to someone who knows nothing about them - pregnancy tips, postnatal tips, I'm open to hearing anything and everything!
TIA
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MaryM
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Congratulations, Syncletica! No advice - but prayers coming your way.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 01 2013 at 3:05pm | IP Logged
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Haven't had twins but..
Eat high high protein. Don't eat any empty calories.. everything you eat needs to count and you need more protein than with just a single.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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Servant2theKing
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Congratulations on your double blessing!! 
Dd (Pilgrim) has twins ~ I'll ask her to respond, though I know they're pretty busy sometimes. Again, congratulations!!
p.s. As a grandmother, I know it was helpful that we knew about their twins in advance, so we could make arrangements ahead of time to be able to help out.
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Pilgrim
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| Posted: April 01 2013 at 4:26pm | IP Logged
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Just wanted to post quick to back up what Jody said, eat high protein, and make sure you're eating enough. Fat is also very important from what I remember.
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*Lindsey*
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| Posted: April 01 2013 at 6:53pm | IP Logged
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Ditto the high protein advice.
La Leche League has a good book, Mothering Multiples. Also a book by Dr. Barbara Luke about nutrition "When you're having twins, triplets, or more". Sorry no links, it's bedtime. 
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Lindsey
Mama to DS (11), DD(9), twin dds(7), DD (5), DS (4), DS (3), and 5 angels in heaven.
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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 02 2013 at 11:17am | IP Logged
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No advice but 
That is wonderful news!
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zookeeper9
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| Posted: April 02 2013 at 11:35am | IP Logged
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First of all welcome to the wonderful would of a mom of multiples!
Here is my advice:
Protein, Protein, Protein. Stay hydrated.
I also highly recommend Dr. Luke's "When you're having twins, triplets, or Quads" It has great information about getting through a multiple pregnancy.
http://www.amazon.com/Youre-Expecting-Twins-Triplets-Quads/d p/0061803073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364920530&sr=8-1&keywor ds=barbara+Luke
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 02 2013 at 1:38pm | IP Logged
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oh! hyrdation and summer's coming up. I can't recommend SmartWater enough. No sugar or colors just electrolytes in plain water. Generally you should drink it in a 2:1 ratio.. so drink 1 quart of smart water and then 2 quarts of plain water.. I actually use smaller amounts.. like 8 ounces.. I find it helps me drink more fluids than I could otherwise stomach and I've been able to stay hydrated while pregnant outside at a swimmeet in 100* weather for 2 full days.
And yes I was really truly hydrated following that. I kept something to drink in my hand at all times.. and I saw my midwife straight from the pool so I know that I was hydrated.
Staying hydrated is work. You need to drink all the time and not just when you're thirsty. The good news is that you can form a habit and as long as you keep a water bottle or something you'll find that you'll keep sipping at it.
And of course while water is the best things.. any fluid that doesn't have caffeine will help hydrate you.
And a bit of lemon and sea salt in plain water can change the flavor and make it easier to drink. not enough to make it sour or salty.. just to buffer and give a hint of flavor.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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AmandaV
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I'll have to come back later but congratulations!! I have twin boys, age 4.5, along with an 8.5 yr old boy, 7 year old daughter and 20 month old boy. Like many of you, its a full life! How old are your other children? That will effect my advice. I had a relatively "easy" twin pregnancy as they go. I ate A LOT. So eat a lot.. drink a lot. Rest if you can. exercise. And don't procrastinate. There were things I tried to get done before my twins were born but I didn't, through my fault and other circumstances. We *survived* but we are still digging out, and beginning to see the light after almost 5 years. Because for some time, you won't have time for anything but basics once they are born. If you have supportive friends/family, try to arrange that they provide meals 4 or more times a week for about a month. Or start filling the freezer. My olders were almost 4 and 2 1/2 when my twins were born so I had diaper helpers and runners and baby smilers but no older child help so things were crazy. But we made it. its been an adventure!
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stefoodie
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| Posted: April 02 2013 at 6:41pm | IP Logged
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Wow, awesome! No advice, but wanted to tell you
CONGRATULATIONS!!! 
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Angi
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Congratulations!
My twin girls are almost 8!  While pregnant eat as much protein as you can, it strengthens your uterus to keep the babies in there long enough. If you plan to breastfeed, do not read any twin forums (every one I found was all about which formula to use and when to schedule your c-section). Mothering Multiples is a wonderful book by LLLI, and I am not just saying that because my twins and I are pictured in it 
Retain your sense of humor at all times. Twin brains work in overtime to cause maternal mental breakdowns ;) - mine could climb the ladder to the top bunk at 9 months, climb down it at 10 mons (this I taught them), could move a stool to climb onto something at 6 months, but did not walk until 15 months.
I am very much an attachment parenting type of mom, but I had to let go of the, "I will never..." ideas that parents have. I DID use pacifiers, I DID have to let one cry sometimes, I DID have to put my older children before the babies sometimes. All of that was hard at first because it went against my beliefs.
Get used to being stared at in public, even more than if you have a big family. Every single person will feel that it is okay to stop you in the grocery store to ask you if they are twins, if they are identical, and if they are natural (yes, they are asking if you used fertility assistance of any kind!).
Twins, as all children, are a blessing, and you will have to trust that God will provide what you need.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: April 03 2013 at 6:57am | IP Logged
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Wonderful news! Congratulations!!
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Becky
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Nique
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| Posted: April 03 2013 at 12:29pm | IP Logged
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Just seeing this now Syncletica!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Whoot-whoot!
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Mrs. B
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I have 31/2 month old twin boys. In addition to what's been mentioned before I would add use a support belt and if you can use a chiropractor do so. My body hurt so much more with the twins than my other pregnancies. Also get a wedge to sleep on because as you get larger it will be hard to sleep at night starting around 4 months (for me.)
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10 Bright Stars
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Yipee!!! So happy for you! I was in a state of shock for days too. I just sat on the couch, staring off into space for a few days!! What a blessing! It is SO MUCH FUN!!!! Nothing like it. Advice: Protein..you may feel more ill than usual. If not against docs orders, do try to walk a bit daily while you still can. Once I hit 6 months, there was so much pressure, I had to call it quits with housework by noon, and could no longer manage my daily walk!!! (I am a bigger girl though, and had VERY big babies (14 lbs total in just baby...not counting anything else!) so maybe that won't be the case with you. Also, rest while you can! Sleep WILL be an issue once they come and you need to plan for this now. Practice tandum nursing positions before they come with dolls or something. I didn't, but in hindsight, it might have proved useful. If you do plan on nursing them, you really can only use a pillow on both sides in a rocking chair, and then they have to nurse in the football hold, or I would use a few pillows and sit cross-legged on a bed. Makes it easy for you to lay one baby down if they have fallen asleep and then reposition the other baby if necc. Anyway, this was all something I was NOT used to! And, husband HAD to help me out because they are so floppy when they are little. I had to have him help me hold them to get situated. Something I hadn't thought of!!! (I did nurse them separately as well. And, I DID had to supplement with formula. It got to a point where I had nursed them both and they were still both screaming!!!  So, I had to have some help from the powdered stuff!) Keep it simple as far as clothing. Get into a bit of a routine with them. Plan on having husband maybe take one of the babies one night and you the other. (Mine would formula feed one baby and sleep with her in our bedroom, and I would nurse the other and sleep in another for a time.) Sound weird? Well, so is sleep deprivation!! They would always wake each other up, so sometimes we would resort to this. Don't worry so much about school while you are adjusting to them. Soak it ALL in! I wish I had really pared down school the year I brought them home. I was super high strung for some reason, tried to do too much school, even enrolling in a very high intensity program for some odd reason that year. I regret that very much and wish I had just enjoyed them the whole time!! OH! And you WILL NEED A TUMMY SUPPORT for the third trimester!! One of those tummy belts. Even if you are tiny, I can still see the need for the supprt. That puppy can get very heavy!! It is so fun to feel tiny toes and hands on each side of you though, and watch so much going on in your belly once they get bigger. SO fun to see them on the sonogram, bumping into each other. Just a wonderful, beautiful experience all around! Just don't try to be a perfectionist about it. Some moms want to have all the right "stuff" and do it "just so". You DO have to let things sort of roll off of your back with twins or it can become stressful. OH! And you have to figure out how to pick up two at once sometimes in some situations, which sounds odd, but you will see! Tricky at first. Ah..so many memories. Mine are 7 now.  They are such a delight! And, don't be afraid to ask for help. Also, you may want to freeze some meals in the freezer or have someone make and freeze them for you as you get closer to the due date. (DO ask for help. You WILL be tired then!!) Anyway, this was so essential for us!! In our case, our parish family went completely overboard and someone brought a dinner to our house every night for...get this...TWO MONTHS!!!!!! I was in shock by the outpouring of thoughtfulness, and as this was our 6th and 7th baby, it was SO helpful for the smooth running of the rest of the family as I was quite preoccupied, exhausted and it was so nice to know that someone would be bringing a healthy dinner every night. But, even if you do not have that option, or maybe you could hint to a friend to suggest that option to the parish family , then do try to get some meals made. This will be helpful to poor husband who will have to probably tackle a lot of the household stuff with the kids for a time. You MAY have to very well have a c-section. They tend towards this with twins. Mine were BOTH breech, something that had not happened with any other baby, so these thins can happen with twins. So, you will have to rest, and just nurse, sleep, nurse, sleep, and...I was just teasing about the sleep!! You won't be doing any of that!! Just kidding. I think that was just our twin girls, who, if you knew them now, would very much make sense. They were just high energy from the get go. My SIL has adorable identical twin boys, ours are fraternal, and they were very peaceful little fellas.
YIPEE!!
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10 Bright Stars
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Oh, and again..once I got over the morning sickness, which was severe with me, but I always have severe morning sickness, the next "hurdle" physically was having to lay down on my side more often then I enjoyed. The doc wanted me to specifically lie down on my left side as I got further along, for a half hour at a time, and put my feet up too. Did anyone else have to do this? He said it was better for the blood flow to the babies?? Anyway, it did feel rather nice as my feet got a little swollen from time to time, and it gave me a nice time to pray, reflect on the little lives forming within me, and to feel each baby moving around during their "time" which would be the one closest to the couch! Or, the other would "complain" internally about sisters postion, and there would be a little kitten fight going on for space. (One sister went so far as to sort of push the other down into my hip area on once side from time to time. The sono lady saw it once and took the little wand and was pushing on the pushy twin to sort of "stop!" All in good fun, but she said, while gently moving the wand on my belly, "HEY! Quit kicking your sister in the head!" It was so funny! We always tease the one twin about this! They have such a wonderful bond too, even as fraternal twins. They would even hold hands while they often nursed together. SO CUTE!!!! They loved to sleep together too. To this day, they are always together, and as they share a full size bed, even then!!, they are still all wound up together whenever I go in to check on them! Even though they were fraternal. (Which just means they were separated in separate sacs, but it was very thin and they could feel each other, just not as much as identical twins would have. Do you know if yours are fraternal or identical???
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Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
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Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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Elena
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No advice, but congratulations! They will always have each other to be with and that's really a blessing!
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Mrs. A
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Congratulations! There was a short period of time during my last pregnancy when we suspected twins. It turned out to be only one, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed after I'd begun gearing myself up to face the challenge. Many congratulations and may God grant a smooth pregnancy and easy delivery and healthy babies!
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herdingkittens
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How WONDERFUL!!!! Twins are such a HUGE blessing. Honestly, there is not a day that goes by that I don't marvel at what a great adventure mothering our twins is! You are on your way for the ride of your life!!!
So much great advice already, so forgive me if I am doubling up, but these are the things I remember from when they were little (once they get older the biggest issues are more like having enough energy to not give up on discipline and making sure they don't spend too much time together...that is my experience at least...)
-Belly Band! Those belly slings that keep your belly up. So unattractive, but so great. It is nice to have them hoisted up. 
-Protein! My morning sickness was doubled, and that was the only thing that got me through. Preggy Pop Drops (those morning sickness candies) worked when I could not bear to eat another egg. There is a great tea that helps, too (currently sipping this!) by Mama Earth Angel. And don't worry too much about weight gain in the beginning. Eat lots of good real food in the beginning. As you get further into the pregnancy you will not be able to eat all that much anyways, for lack of space. I gained less with my twins than most my other pregnancies because of this.
-Help! Line it up and say yes to everything. Meals, housework, taking your older ones out so you don't feel guilty for not being able to take them somewhere, etc. If someone asks if they can help, tell them exactly what you need if they don;t know what to do. It will bless them to help you and you will be a much better mother for it in the ling run.
-Baby Carriers! I spent a long time with one on the front and one on the back. It was survival and sometimes the only way to get them to sleep was to carry them around. My back was RIPPED and you'll get nice strong arms, to boot! If you don't have a sling, or another kind of carrier that you love, try to find one.
-KING SIZED BED! We put our mattress on the floor (no risk of falling off) and turned the bedroom into a giant crib. Everything was baby proofed and there was always a basket of toys and a basket of books for them to play with in the morning if I needed a few more moments of shut eye (which was always). We've kept that setup since.
Oh, and please make sure you have a twin friendly midwife or OB. They should not talk about scary stuff at every visit, or make you feel guilty for wanting to have them naturally or for breastfeeding. This seems obvious, but I had to go through a couple midwives and countless doctors and still ended up with a dud.  They should realize that twins are normal and not a reason put up all sorts of alarms, like you are a ticking time bomb. Because, they are normal. And you CAN nurse them (at the same time even!), and you most likely will be able to have a normal delivery, and most of the time, they don't need to be premature (if you let them be).
I have to 2nd what Angi said about twin forums, as well. I joined a Mothers of Multiples group that was very depressing. They had a very militant/schedule minded way for raising the babies, barely anyone nursed, and they almost always talked about not being able to wait until they could go to school. That being said, If you can find a group of mothers of multiples, it is a great resource. That group did help me out in many other ways in that 1st year.
The best advice I received when we were expecting our twins came from a mother of twins who were 5 or 6 I think. She said, "You gotta do what you gotta do!" She was SO right. My standards dropped in ways I could not have imagined, and everything was fine. I have video footage of them doing things that I cannot believe I let them do (twin boys are double the testosterone and it is a sight to behold! ) and in the background I am laughing all easy and relaxed. Watching it now, my stomach turns and I cringe!
You will get lots more great advice and MOMs are always happy to talk and help, so never feel alone. Just know that I am so happy for you and will keep you covered in prayer! love to those sweet babies!
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