new to forums, looking for support

Hello all. I am new to this site, I discovered the forums after reading all the FTM stories that made me both laugh and cry because things are so similar. My b/g twins were early at 34wks 4days by c-sections for concerns of IUGR. They are three months as off this month. Both have reflux and other issues and are bottle fed. Today has been a rough day and no one can just come sit with me(my best friend has no way to leave her house and DH is at work still) so I thought maybe I could just find some people to connect with on here I wouldn't feel so hopeless. Thanks for reading all and sorry if I posted this in the wrong area, I am pretty desperate for some contact at this point lol..

 

Welcome to TS! You've come to the right place! :hug: on the rough day. I remember those clearly. I used to stare at the clock and wish it to 5 pm, but that never happened. Lol. Those first few months can be a blur, but as they get older, and start do to more, things drastically improve. Are they on meds for their reflux?

Feel free to ask any questions about anything! We also have a NICU forum that may be of some help to you as well. Pull up a chair, read away, and post away!

 

Aww, :hug: Can you strap the babies in a stroller and go out for some Vitamin D? Some kick as$ music on an mp3 player might help, too. :hug:

 

Thanks both for your replies! As for reflux meds we currently have them on zantac which I'm not sure is working since the symptoms are getting worse. We tried prevacid and it did nothing so just went back to zantac. And I'll sure have to look at the NICU forum. I so wish I could get out but I can't carry both car seats(trust me I tried for a doc appt! I dunno how DH does it) but I do have music on currently, so some help. I was so desperate for a break when DH got home I was happy to sterilize nipples/med syringes(battling thrush) and color code our feeding log lol

 

Welcome Lucy! I have a very similar story to yours. My twin girls were born at 34 weeks 2 days due to IUGR for one of them. They both had reflux (one still does!) and if I recall correctly three - five months was the WORST for reflux. After that it got a bit better. So sorry you're going through this too. Feel free to ask any questions you have - there are no dumb qustions!

Zantac doesn't do anything for reflux, all it does is soothe the burn in a baby's throat. Prevacid and Prilosec change the PH of stomach acid, so when the reflux happens, it doesn't burn. We found that our girls were both sensitive to dairy - so we had to switch to a hypoallergenic formula (Nutramigen) when they had bottles. If the reflux continues, talk to your doctor about whether the formula you're using might be part of the problem.

And hang in there! It does get better! You mention that you can't carry both car seats at once. Can you carry one down to the car and then come back for the other? Do you have a stroller you can put them in to get out of the house?

 

I will talk to the doc about prilosec. We are on the high calorie stuff, Similac neosure, she hasn't given an ok to change formula. And I have actually have two double strollers(used and given to us during my pregnancy). Both are just regular strollers not ones that can hold car seats. Can they just sit in strollers at this age? They both can't really hold themselves straight. Thanks for replying! C:

 

That depends on how far back they recline, if they go all the way back, yes. If not, no. There are also inserts that you can get for some strollers that don't fully recline--you could also try something like a rolled towel on each side of their heads if you are desparate to get out. If you do do that, watch carfully to make sure the towels stay in place, with a special insert you get the same effect with no danger of their faces becoming covered.

Hang in there. :youcandoit:
Before you know it they will be starting Kindergarten--trust me I know.

 

Lol! This is what everyone(well the singleton parents I know) keeps telling me and that I will miss this time of them being this little... I'm not sure I will. One long day at a time I'm taking it. I haven't taken them out of the house except for doc appts, the NICU kinda scared me into it. I remember their exact words 'live like hermits, we hope you get cabin fever'. Which meant for the first month month and a half no one saw them and we had no help. Just now starting to let people help feed(I really can't do it alone now with how much they both cry and feeding at the same time is impossible for us)

 

Some ideas for feeding if you are your own:

1) feed them both in a bouncy seat. I had two, so I was able to do this.
2) feed them in their car seats.
3) prop them both up in the boppy pillow on the couch and feed them that way.
4) sit cross crossed on the floor and have them in the nook of your legs.

Now, my boys didn't have reflux, well, they weren't treated for it. But they had awful awful spit up. It's all they did. I'd be feeding them, and one would be spitting up. I was always covered in it! My dh went back to work after two weeks, so I was on my own there on out. You will find your groove and this will all be, eventually, a distant memory!

 

I've always wanted to be able to feed them on my own. My daughter though is a very high maintenance feeder, not taking the bottle/gags herself on the bottle. And all the sudden my son is really sleepy and won't hardly wake up to eat. I have a couple of those PODEE bottles but they have to be actually hungry for those to work...so disappointed they didn't work better

 

Lol....yeah I bought those too. What a sucker I was! I just found it was easier to feed them on my own. I would also feed one, and prop the bottle up under th other one. So for you, feed your daughter, and prop the bottle for your son. You will find a rhythm and something will work. :hug: One day at a time!

 

The idea of them sounded so amazing didn't it? Lol! But I may have to try that feeding idea, once my little guy gets over whatever he's doing(growth spurt or maybe getting ready to do something new-I don't think he's sick no fever so I dunno why so tired)

 

Are you adjusting for his early arrival? Someone with preemies may chime in, but I think I recall them having a sleepy stage possibly...but don't quote me!

 

Well so I was looking at the calendar and I guess if march first was their original due date they are really only 9wks. I remember them being very sleepy when they came home.. he had just been such a great eater until a couple days ago when he got sleepy again. Oh the wonderful worry/guilt that comes along with being a new mom! Lol

 

Hi Lucy and welcome to TS! It's great to have you here. This forum has helped me in so many ways!

I bottle fed one twin and breastfed the other (latching issues), I bought a bottle holder and it has helped me so much! They are both on bottles now and I sit on the floor with my back to the sofa, and them in between my legs on boppy-style cushions, I use a bottle holder for one and a rolled up receiving blanket for the other. Afterwards I sit them in their Bumbo seats to burp as we had serious gas issues. I've posted a picture before in a previous reply to a post. I will try to find it for you.

PS: I bought the bottle holder from Thailand a lot cheaper as postage in the US seemed quite expensive.

 

bottle feeding twins together and here , you can't see how I'm sitting but my legs are stretched on either side, my knees are too weak to sit cross-legged!

PS as you will see, I wasted my money on some Podee bottles too -too fiddly for me, i ended up using them as normal bottles!

 

Just wanted to chime in, say hi and send a big hug. My babes are three months and it is tough right now for sure, esp. because their sleep is in transition to naps. You are not alone. Now you have a whole community to connect with. Hope you enjoy the weekend and get some support.

 

If he is sleepy again, he may be coming through a growth spurt. Mommy guilt in THE WORST and I always wonder what else I could have done. I am sure you are doing an awesome job.

 

Thank you for the suggestions about feeding, twinkler! But the pictures are giving me an error when I click on them.. And thank you as well Amy for the support! I am so excited to be here and finally connect with fellow twin moms, the mother of multiples club in my area has monthly dues that I just could not keep up with if I started.

 

Oh and Amy how long are you letting yours sleep during the day? We are struggling with naps here too

 

Just take lots of pictures - the actual horror will fade and you'll want to see what they looked like today.

Somebody on TS said that the days are long but the years are short and it's true. But you will get through it gradually and at some point think, wow- she eats without screaming! When did that happen? (BTW-Zantac didn't work for mine either; Prilosec worked really well for a long time, though).

 

My issue with naps is not actually about letting them sleep but getting them to sleep. They seem to resist sleep pretty actively and only sleep for short stints when they do go down. I remain hopeful that natural nap cycles will emerge and until then I just do our routine when they look tired and work with the sleep they get. Who knows, though, as it could all evolve again tomorrow...

 

Cheezewhiz- oh yes I have been picture crazy thanks to my smart phone. And I am going to vs Monday and talk to the pedi about the meds, did you ever try prevacid? And Amy I am having the same problems with naps, fussy and fighting sleep.. drop me a line if you find out what works. Sorry all for the weird replies I am doing thus all on my phone so I dunno how to quote everyone. Thanks again so much for the warm welcomes!

 

Nope, I never needed to try prevacid as prilosec was our 2nd choice and has been effective (one boy was successfully weaned from it but the other still takes it)

 

Any real bothersome side effects??

 

Not that I have foound although Long term usage can leach calcium from bones so we do a multivitamin with calcium and are planning to explore alternative therapies with him if he still can't be weaned off by 3.

 

oh wow.. when did you start a multivitamin? These two won't take meds for nothing...

 

Alice took prevacid for her reflux and it worked way better than Zantac. We noticed a huge difference within 24 hours, it's worth a shot IMO.

 

Yeah I want to do something different then zantac. We tried prevacid for about nine days and I couldn't see much improvement so we just went back to zantac. Plus that prevacid is so hard to get them to take because they like to spit out meds and we were given the solutabs to put in syringes with water...

 

That Prevacid and the water is a PAIN. You might try breaking the pill into really, really small pieces and putting it in the baby's mouth instead of using the water and syringe. It dissolves fairly quickly. We started doing that when our boys were around 4 months old and it was SO much easier. If your baby has a strong tongue reflex still, it might not work just yet, but it's probably worth a try. You could also squirt just a tiny bit of water into their mouth right after you give them the piece of pill to help it dissolve quicker. By the time our boys were 6-7 months, we just gave them the pill (not even in pieces) and they rolled it around and gummed it up until it was gone.

 

That's a great idea! I may try that, thank you!

 

Another idea with the Prevacid is to ask your doctor if it would be more effective if it was compounded. Samantha was on it and it was amazing. It's harder to get (only certain pharmacies will compound prescriptions) but it is well worth it.

 

Hmm I need to check into that. I read though that with the prevacid it can't mean made ahead or it will lose potency? This is different if its compounded??

Be** not mean...still can't figure out how to edit posts..

 

I guess that since it's compounded it can be made ahead. It a liquid and we kept it refrigerated.

To edit just click in the post you finished and you'll see some buttons pop up (edit, delete..). Make your change and click save.

That was from memory since I'm on my phone. Hope it made sense!

 

Lol I'm on my phone as well. I don't know that I have those options.. but that compounded idea I'm going to check with the pharmacy about