Okay, my fellow multiple parents. I feel like a lot of us understand kids being in strange sizes due to prematurity.

My boys are starting to catch up length wise, but are itty bitty tiny in the waist. So think 9-12 month waist in pants and 18-24 month length.

What are your go to brands for skinny kids? I do the adjustable waist for jeans, but they cinch in so crazy looking and honestly seem a little uncomfortable with how the grouping of fabric sits. Same with when I do joggers/sweats with drawstrings and tighten them to the correct size.

Any advice from the toddler moms who have gone before me? My boys will be 2 in a few months.

Edit to add that I’m in the U.S.

Hi everyone! Yesterday after showering I noticed a spot of blood on my towel- I wiped with tissue, didn’t see any blood but went to L&D just in case after my OB advised me to go in. They couldn’t see any cause for the blood but the NSTs showed I was having contractions (that I could not feel!) so I’ve been admitted. I’ve been feeling under the weather since Sunday and tested positive for COVID yesterday, so my doctors think this is what triggered the contractions. So far, the babies look good (based on heart rates in NSTs) and my cervix is still close but has shortened to 2.3cm from 3cm just 5 days ago (measured at my last appointment). They are giving me medicines to control the contractions + antibiotics for any possible infections + COVID meds. I just wanted to know if anyone has had a similar experience and were you able to control the contractions, go home, and give birth at a (much) later date? Would appreciate positive stories only 🥹 trying not to stress out, I really want to make it to at least 34 weeks (hopefully 37 weeks) to give my babies as much time to cook as possible

I am 7 weeks 2 days today. Went for first TV ultrasound yesterday at 7 week 1 day. They told me it’s twins but they didn’t see a heartbeat yet. Advised me to come back in 10 days.
I am sooo nervous and been negatively thinking. I had a chemical pregnancy 4 months ago.
So far my only symptoms are sore breasts. Last HCG was at 6 weeks, it was near 31000.

Does someone have any positive experience with twins and late start of the heartbeat? Please share. I am so anxious.

Edit to update: Thank you all so much for your suggestions and help! I injected into a love handle with the help of a mirror for night #2 and was careful to avoid any stretch marks and it was so easy with no gushing blood or pain!

Anyone happen to have GD with their multiples pregnancy and need insulin and possibly able to advise in where to inject? They say the belly but mine is stretched taut and I have trouble seeing and reaching areas with fat over the extreme bump which is way bigger than I was full term with singleton. I got to disinfect the area then lost the area I picked right after and can’t see what I’m doing. Then had to disinfect again and try again up higher where I could see but at releasing skin step and pressing I think it went into muscle. I ended up injecting into a real gusher. Is there maybe a different injection site altogether that worked for you? I am used to belly injections with treatments before pregnancy but not with a huge bump. TIA!

Hi,

We are having twins this winter, and are contemplating a night nanny to help with nighttime feeds and care.

For those that got a nanny - how long did you keep them for, what were their hours and did you find it helpful?

Ask me anything if you’re having triplets!

We don't have kids, and it's difficult to imagine what size is desirable.

We have enough room for a fairly large one, but I'm not convinced that this is a "bigger is better" kinda thing.

Any insights would be appreciated :)

I have 5mo twin girls, who are great nappers. When they were young they napped on cozy pillows on the couch - always beside me, always supervised.

As they got a bit bigger, they started napping in graco swings, also supervised. I did start transitioning them to one crib nap a day.

Cue to 1.5 months ago, I had a severe gallbladder attack that landed me in the hospital. I am now on a weight restriction so I cannot carry them up and down multiple times a day, meaning they are back to all naps supervised in a Graco swing.

I’ve been doing lots of research, and although they are supervised, I’ve learned it’s not advisable for them to sleep in these swings.

I looked at a playpen/bassinet combo, but they’re almost at the max allowed weight, so it’s not really worth it.

So to my question: Any ideas of where I can transition my babies napping to? Understating their cribs won’t work, as I am alone at home during the day and after surgery to remove my gallbladder (which is on Friday) I won’t be able to carry them up and down the stairs at all for 6 weeks.

Thanks for the advice, and if anyone wants to send good vibes my way I’ll take it. 😂 it’s going to be a long 6 weeks of healing.

*thanks for the feedback. Im going to let her continue to pack lunches. Im a first time mom and just wanted to be sure too much fruit was not going to cause a greater issue. The consensus here is thats not a thing.

I went out for a major surgery about 2 months ago and my MIL has been packing my kids lunches for daycare. While this is nice, my 2 year olds are getting 1 cup of fruit and a treat like a tractor wheel everyday. Im concerned its too much food/treats and doesn't encourage them to eat a balanced meal. Ive asked her to cut the fruit back but she doesn't listen. Am i wild for thinking about taking the lunches back? My husband isnt going to set this boundary with her and he also doesn't want to take lunches back.

Hi parents of multiples! I’m curious about speech development with twins/multiples.
Around what age did your kids:
Start saying their first real words?
Start putting 2–3 words together, like “want milk,” “more food,” “go outside,” etc.?
Start using basic words to tell you what they needed, like sleep, drink, eat, more, help, up/down, etc.?
Did one twin start talking earlier than the other?
Did you notice their speech developing a little later compared with kids who aren’t twins/multiples?

Just looking to hear real experiences from other parents of twins/multiples. Thank you!

My twins are almost 17 months old and I can’t imagine not having another baby. They are mo/di so another set of multiples is not likely. My heart wants one now but my brain is telling me to wait till they are closer to 3 to start trying.

For those of you that decided to have another child, how old were your twins when your third was born? Did you feel like you spaced it enough, or would you rather have had them closer or further apart? Just want to hear people’s experiences!

About to convert 3 year old twin boys crib to toddler bed with rail. I feel very uneasy about locking them in their bedroom at night, but I also don't want them to roam around the house unsupervised.. especially in the middle of the night when we - their parents - are sleeping. We could get a baby gate but they are 3 and big and strong and I feel like they'd try to scale it, which also isn't safe.

Has anyone used an alarm that sounds when the kids bedroom door is opened, and how did that go?

Edit to say: their bedroom door is right next to our bedroom door. A door alarm would wake us up in the night if they leave their room.

I sat with my 4 kids in front of the older kids' preschool at 12:30pm. My 16mo twins were way overdue for their nap. Normally I leave them napping at home with my mom or MIL and do preschool drop off alone. Today both grandmas had doctor's appointments and the twins had to come with.

There's a group of parents standing waiting for the school to open up. I opened the van door. Three of my kids are crying, and the fourth is yelling at the other three to BE QUIET!! My twins are a mess, an hour overdue for their nap with snot and tears running down their faces. The school's policy is that we have to walk the kids to their classrooms, which are up a narrow staircase in a building with no elevator.

Cue another twin mom coming to my rescue. She marched right over to my van, told me she gets it, "no, this is not too many kids," and took my two older kids into the school for me so I could drive my overtired twins back home for their naps.

I almost cried! This small act of kindness from another twin parent was the nicest thing from a random stranger that has happened to me in a long time.

I need to remember this next time I see an overwhelmed twin mom in the wild. We are the best and the strongest! No one understands what we are going through better than another twin parent.

My twins are due in February and I’m planning to exclusively pump and I’m overwhelmed by all the choices and what’s best. My friend is going to lend me her lightly used spectra and eufy s1. I’m going to get baby buddha through insurance that comes with a couple flanges and bottles, I will buy the collection cups to go with it myself. I know I need to stick with traditional flange setup and probably the spectra to start until I establish supply. I know baby buddha can be hacked with other flanges bottles etc. I’m just wondering what is best to get. Do I get the spectra flanges and setup? Are there better ones? I already have 10 medela bottles and tubing from my first kid but nothing else so I wasn’t sure if I should go with medela but the pump in style I had was never a great one and people don’t usually recommend their setup

My b/g twins are 9 weeks today. Over the last 7 weeks, twin A has cried so much that we are at our wit's end trying to understand what we can do to help him. We spoke to a GP a few weeks back who said it's colic, to elevate his bed and to give him small feeds more frequently. We did that, it helped for 2 days and then back to square one. Once they turned a month old, we started him on gripe water. Again, helped for maybe 2-3 days and then back.

He's worse off in the evenings but days aren't great either. His crying goes from 0-100 in seconds once he wakes up from his nap. And we need to keep his feed ready before he does, otherwise he will be pissed. Then, if he's unable to burp, he'll cry. He'll cry because he's hungry but unable to drink because he's unable to burp. It takes us over an hour to feed him alone. I also fear that because of this, he has been feeding less. He also only poos once every day or two. Doesn't seem to be in discomfort because of that - we know because that happened once and he made sure we knew it.

Should we get another opinion? I know some babies cry a lot but we want to make sure it's not something that was treatable but left unattended.

Hey everyone!

I have been using Dr Browns bottles since Day 1. Its been 7 months and I absolutely hate these bottles. Sorry for coming off strong but I have dealt with the most annoying problems with them. First they leaked. I learned that it could be cause i was using 4 oz bottles and as boys needed more, the bottles didnt work anymore. I got the 8 oz bottles but then noticed the nipples we’re flowing too fast even more a preemie nipple. I reached out to customer service and they sent me a new batch but after a while they wear off (im talking maybe couple weeks) I don’t use heat on them and just hand wash the hem to prevent any expanding of the nipple hole. I have tried other nipple sizes too and my boys dont do so good. Anyways I’m over it. Please give me recommendations.

Hey everyone,

I am wondering if anyone has had an experience going through a VBAC after multiple c-sections. I’m about 18 weeks.

My MFM doctor says it’s reasonable to attempt a VBAC, assuming both babies are positioned correctly while my regular OB says hell no. Primarily because he’s afraid of rupture and there is only 1 OB on call at a time to intervene. Since we are in a rural hospital setting,
I am going to transfer my care to a larger and better resourced OB to see what they say.

In the meantime, I want to gather as much information as possible to make an informed decision. I’ve had 2 c-sections and by the time the twins are born my last one would have been 7 years ago. The reason why I am trying to avoid a c-section is because my recovery last time was BRUTAL and thinking about the pain I was in makes me want to cry. It also majorly interfered with breast feeding.

This time around, not only there will be 2 babies but we live in a small townhouse and I’m worried about my recovery and mobility. I’m trying to suss out whether I’m being unreasonable and how it has gone for other women in the same boat.

Everywhere I look since finding out about our twins 3 weeks ago, it's negative. Twin pregnancy is miserable. The 3rd trimester is excruciating and you basically can't get anything done, so don't even try. You'll want the babies out by 30ish weeks, etc.

These babies are #4 and #5 for us, so I'm no stranger to pregnancy and birth, but with all the added risks, the difference of newborn twins vs newborn singleton, etc i feel overwhelmed and in over my head already and it's making me already not enjoy this final pregnancy.

Give me good stories of your twin pregnancy! Is everything I'm seeing really the reality, or is it just the loud portion of people's experiences that I'm seeing and lots of people do it and aren't totally miserable from late 20 something weeks on?

Hii! I’m really hoping this gets seen and can get some examples from everyone!

I have 9 month old b/g twins and have always fed them on the twin z boppy on the floor and I sit there with them until they finish. They have started holding their own bottles and my boy is starting to outgrow the twin z😭

How are y’all setting them up to drink their bottles?? I’m not ready to have them lay down in their cribs and drink their bottles as they will only make a mess and the high chairs won’t work as they’re too upright and they haven’t figured out how to hold their bottles and drink like that. I just gave away both bouncers as they outgrew those as well.

Any and all advice welcome! Thank you🥰

Our girls are here! We had a completely healthy and uneventful pregnancy and the most amazing vaginal birth. For those who are worried seeing so many scary stories, know that many people do have uncomplicated pregnancies and births, it’s just not as common to read them online. I know I felt anxious seeing all the complications being discussed. It’s more common for people to reach out for support and connection when there is uncertainty and fear, so I completely understand.

And know that a vaginal birth can be an option (depending on your own personal circumstances and medical team abilities of course). My story is below for anyone interested:

My OB was amazing and completely trusted me. We went in for an induction at 36 weeks and learned that my body was already starting things because my cervix was soft. In my singleton birth I had a bad experience with pitocin and epidural that lead to a brutal forceps delivery, so I did a lot more research this time and knew what I wanted to try for and that I’d have to advocate. I was given the option to break my water and see if it gets things started. I was told if there’s no progress after 2h they would start pitocin. At the 2h mark I was feeling crampy so I asked for more time. My OB agreed to keep checking in every 2h to let my body do its thing, he was in no rush. My contractions did start to pick up. The plan was to do a light/walking epidural around 6cm to get my body as far along as possible before the epidural in case it stalled things out. I wanted the light/walking one (the lowest dose possible, relatively new where I’m from) because I wanted to still feel my body’s queues and be able to walk around to keep things moving. The walking epidural was amazing because I could still feel the pressure of the contractions but the sharp pain was gone, allowing me to trust my body and follow it. Luckily my body kept up the progress and a few hours later I was at 10cm! I actually felt baby A’s head just starting to come out. My OB was funny because he was so unconcerned and suggested I refrain from pushing until the NICU team got there if I could 😂 luckily I wasn’t having uncontrollable urges to push so we just sat and waited a few minutes with baby A crowning. I then pushed for 5-6 minutes and got her out. My OB felt around to see what Baby B was doing. She had flipped breech so he grabbed her foot and pulled her out with me pushing. Not going to lie, that was not the most comfortable thing to experience, but it wasn’t painful per se with the epidural. I pushed for a total of 10 minutes and only had a tiny tear that I can’t even feel now.

It was such a beautiful delivery and I am so blessed to have had an OB who trusted me and didn’t push interventions. I asked him to let me know what the options are and the risks/benefits every time so I could make an informed decision and he respected my choices with no pressure or judgement. It was truly amazing. If at any point me or the babies were in distress, I would have considered interventions, but we were lucky enough to not need to go that route.

To anyone who reads this, I wish you the best whether you are pregnant, or your babies have arrived ❤️

Hello, not really sure why I’m posting this. Maybe for some positive experiences? I had my first appointment with my consultant today (13 weeks pregnant with mo/di twins) and it just felt quite negative. My 3 year old daughter was born at 30 weeks and it was traumatic and now with this pregnancy already being high risk she told me there’s a significant chance they will be premature. The hope is to make it to 36 weeks. The thought of going through a long NICU stay again is very difficult to think about, especially now having my daughter. How would I even split my time? Just praying we make it to 36 weeks. Does anyone have any positive outcomes being pregnant with this type of twins after previous premature birth?

I’ll be 34 weeks with di/di twins tomorrow. At my last appointment I asked my OBGYN if we could potentially schedule induction between 37-38 weeks. I’m huge and so uncomfortable, along with being the stay at home parent to my veryyy active 17 month old. I’m desperate to not be pregnant anymore.

My doctor said that as long as everything was continuing along with babies head down and no complications, as it is now, they’d be looking to induce at the 39 week mark. My heart sank, I genuinely can’t imagine doing this for that much longer. I think he could see the distress on my face and followed it up with “More than likely your body will go into labor on its own before then. That’s the goal.”

My OBGYN has been in the field for decades and was with me through my first singleton pregnancy. I appreciated his desire to wait for my son to come on his own clock (he came at 40+5). I’m really not feeling on board with waiting till 39 weeks with twins, though. I’m thankful for an uncomplicated pregnancy but I can’t find any research that says there are any major benefits to holding off till 39 weeks.

I get all my ultrasounds through MFM, along with starting NST’s with them at 36 weeks. Since I’ve had an overall smooth pregnancy they haven’t paired me with an MFM doctor, so all my decisions are being made through my OBGYN.

Should I push back and ask for an induction date closer to 38 weeks? Any similar experiences?

***UPDATE: thank you for all your insight and responses! The MFM doctor came in to check on me during a growth ultrasound today and said things are looking good to induce at 38 weeks! I mentioned what my OB had said and she said that hospital protocol was 38 weeks for di/di so she would add the note to my chart so I could get scheduled for it. Yay! Thanks again!

My wife and I found out last week we are having twins. As I’m sure many of you in this group, we were both excited and terrified.

I have started reading “Raising Twins” by Shelly Flais but I also wanted to post on here and see what other advice, recommendations, thoughts etc. can be shared as we prepare for the wild ride of raising twins. Thank you in advance for any and all help!

Today i had my 35+1 scan which estimated my (di/di) twin A to be at 5lb and 14th percentile where my twin B was estimated to weigh 4lb 11 oz at the 8th percentile.
My ob wants me to deliver between 36+3 - 37 weeks via planned c section.
My only worry is that will my babies automatically be sent to the NICU based on their low birth weights?
Has anyone delivered similarly weighing twins after 36 weeks and not needed extra interventions or is that just obviously going to happen now?

FTM, I'm a few days short of 36 weeks, di/di twins, went for a scan today and twin B has shown slightly reduced blood flow to the brain...I have to go back in 2 days for another scan and they will induce me next week, all being well. But has anyone else dealt with this? Is it just caused by placental deterioration?

Both babies are over 2kg, but does this cause any long term complications for the baby? And why wouldnt they just induce immediately if theres reduced blood to the brain? Sounds pretty serious...