First time momma expecting b/g twins in December

The babies are doing great. I am about 5 1/2 months along. They are both already about 2 lbs each! I did find out I am anemic though, so I am on iron supplements which are not too nice on my stomach. The good news is my blood sugar is fine according to my Glucola test, so yay!

My dr. says she can't tell if I will need a c-section or not yet, the babies still have time to turn, and as long as one is turned head first and is the first one to come out, then they can turn the other one and I could have regular birth. Eitherway, I will be out of commission for at least 6 weeks, yikes! My mom is the closest family we have and she lives 3 1/2 hrs away. She is plannning on staying a few days to help, but she won't be able to stay very long. I am thinking we will mostly need help by someone providing us with meals and maybe nap time for me.

Baby shopping has been going pretty well so far. I have had a ton of offers for clothes, my momma is getting us a bedside bassinet that will fit both babies for a few months, we have two cribs ordered, and we have one bouncy seat. I think one thing we would love to aquire would be a swing. I don't know what else we will need....I am realizing how much I don't know about babies!!

We found out we are having boy/girl twins, yay one of each

I am excited and have gotten a ton of support so far when it comes to material things like clothes and bassinets. But, I am most concerned about postpartum care. I have considered having a doula, but my husband and I are both full time college students who work part-time and I don't think we could afford the fees. I am also looking to have help from church friends, but 6-8 weeks of help? I don't know if I see that being very possible. My mom is the closest relative we have near us, she lives 3 1/2 hrs away but would only be able to stay for a few days after the birth.

I am looking for any advice or similar situations you may have been in and how you delt with it. Emotional support from those who have been there is the most important thing for me right now. Thanks

 

QUOTE(Twinsylvania April @ Sep 26 2007, 08:54 PM) [snapback]424855[/snapback]
My dr. says she can't tell if I will need a c-section or not yet, the babies still have time to turn, and as long as one is turned head first and is the first one to come out, then they can turn the other one and I could have regular birth. Eitherway, I will be out of commission for at least 6 weeks, yikes! My mom is the closest family we have and she lives 3 1/2 hrs away. She is plannning on staying a few days to help, but she won't be able to stay very long. I am thinking we will mostly need help by someone providing us with meals and maybe nap time for me.


Congratulations!! Joining up with the local National Organization of Mothers of Twins Club will help you with meals for the first few weeks. I'd give them a call. Also, your church may do meals as well. Good luck! Keep us updated. Btw, love the screen name .

 

QUOTE(pamelastwins @ Sep 26 2007, 04:08 PM) [snapback]424877[/snapback]
Congratulations!! Joining up with the local National Organization of Mothers of Twins Club will help you with meals for the first few weeks. I'd give them a call. Also, your church may do meals as well. Good luck! Keep us updated. Btw, love the screen name .



I didn't think to ask my mothers of multiples club. I know church is definately going to provide me with help. People are so excited for the first few weeks, I am just concerned about getting 2 months of help. I hate bugging people and being a bother, but I feel like I am going to have to remind people that 2 weeks is great, but momma will need more help than that :blink:

 

I think everyone is different. My mom came for a week. My aunt came for a week. My Dh took a week off. If I had to do it all over again, I would hire someone for a few weeks after for a total of 6-8 weeks help. BUT I think there are a few things that made thing unordinarily difficult for me:
1)my dh travels for work and would be gone over night sometimes for a few days in a row.
2) I had a three year old to care for in addition to the twins.
3)I breastfed the twins. I wouldn't change that, but it makes it difficult for others to help with the every 2-3 hour feedings.
If I were you I would start enlisting help now. I had people constantly saying they wanted to help while I was pregnant. I wish I would've kept a calendar with me and started filling in days. Have people come whenever. Even if it is a few hours they can hold a baby, fold laundry, etc... and you can get a snooze...But organize it now! Good luck.
BTW-our twins club and our church organized meals 3x a week for a month. It was great. You can also freeze meals ahead of time to just pull out and put in the oven.

 

If you have the help it will be nice but if you don't you will be fine. By the time I got my 2 home they were a week old. Dh went back to work and I had no one. 1 week after c/s I was alone caring for my duo and the house.

 

I would recommend at least looking into hiring a doula. My twins had a rough start in life, and having a doula when they came home was a lifesaver for me. Our doula also gave us her rates as a range, and let us choose what to pay her. Amazingly enough, I think she mostly works as a doula because she loves it, not so much to earn a living. You may be lucky and find someone like her. Having friends and relatives come help out was nice, but our doula was just so experienced and competent that I felt I could just let her take over while she was here. (Whereas MIL really wanted to help but needed so much instruction that I might as well have done it all myself).

So you might call around and see if you could find a doula with reasonable rates, even if you just hire her for a few days a week.

Best of luck!

-Rachel

 

QUOTE(RachelJoy @ Sep 26 2007, 09:17 PM) [snapback]425339[/snapback]
I would recommend at least looking into hiring a doula. My twins had a rough start in life, and having a doula when they came home was a lifesaver for me. Our doula also gave us her rates as a range, and let us choose what to pay her. Amazingly enough, I think she mostly works as a doula because she loves it, not so much to earn a living. You may be lucky and find someone like her. Having friends and relatives come help out was nice, but our doula was just so experienced and competent that I felt I could just let her take over while she was here. (Whereas MIL really wanted to help but needed so much instruction that I might as well have done it all myself).

So you might call around and see if you could find a doula with reasonable rates, even if you just hire her for a few days a week.

Best of luck!

-Rachel


i was looking into a doula, but there is a limited number to choose from here in the Memphis area. One I found charges 25/hr, I am not sure if that is resonable or not. I think I could wait until I saw how much help I am getting for free and make a decision from there.....maybe that is a good idea, I am not sure :huh:

 

Uh oh? I haven't looked into help yet? Was that something I was supposed to be doing. Guess I am a rookie as far as having twins is concerned. With my first son, his dad went straight back to work working double and triple shifts and I just stayed home with our son and figured stuff out on my own. I am assuming with twins I may be pulling my hair out after a few days...yes?!?!? I breastfed with my first and plan to with the twins but I sure am thinking after a few sleepless nights I may want to grab a bottle and have daddy lend a hand.

The doula thing sounds very expensive. I honestly had never heard of that before. I don't think we have anything like that around here anyways. But grandma's sure do come in handy.

Good luck with finding help. I'm glad you posted the topic. I hadn't even thought about it. Having food delivered sounds like a VERY nice idea. I'm going to look into that one.

 

I just had our boys last Thursday via c-section.

You'll definitely need to relax and not strain yourself afterward, but you won't be laid up in bed the entire time. And trust me, you'll be SO ready to be up and about after your pregnancy. I carried the boys to 38 weeks and it was really rough those last two weeks.

I've had my mom here this week and asked DH to be home as much as possible. My MIL will be here next week to help out until I'm more able to be independent. But really, I haven't needed that much help, mostly just with our one year old. The twins sleep so much, the only time I'm up is if they need to be changed and fed...and that's only if the grandmas don't snatch them away. :lol:

Off topic:
My DH is from Memphis! All of my in-laws live there and we visit all the time. We lived in Southaven from 2000-2003 too.

 

QUOTE(Twinsylvania April @ Sep 26 2007, 09:41 PM) [snapback]425387[/snapback]
i was looking into a doula, but there is a limited number to choose from here in the Memphis area. One I found charges 25/hr, I am not sure if that is resonable or not. I think I could wait until I saw how much help I am getting for free and make a decision from there.....maybe that is a good idea, I am not sure :huh:



hey i also stay in memphis and i understand where you are coming from... we have a moms of multiples organization?

 

Congratulations! x