As the girls birthday draws nearer I keep thinking of the things that have changed over the last year for them and for us. It has been a wild ride with twins but we wouldn't trade it for the world. They are the biggest blessing we could ever have.
Then: 22 bottles a day (this usually got us through 26 hours; time enough to turn around and wash them all again)
Now: 6 bottles a day (heck yes!!)...soon to taper off to zero bottles (even better!!)
Then: 3 solid sleeping hours at night (at the most)
Now: 11-12 solids sleeping hours a night
Then: Kendall was 20 inches and 5 lb 12 oz Seren was 19 inches and 4 lb 14 oz
Now: Kendall is ~ 30 inches and 18 lbs Seren is ~ 30 inches and 19 lbs
Then: NEVER going out to eat or getting out of the house (way too much work)
Now: Being able to go out whenever we like (although trying not too for money and health)
Then: They HATED bath time
Now: They love to take a bath and don't want to get out.
Then: Depending on us for their every need (feeding, changing, snuggling, etc etc)
Now: Able to feed themselves mostly, they crawl to us for snuggles and kisses but they still need changing (darn it) haha
Then: Both bald as a cue ball
Now: Seren has a decent head of blonde hair and Kendall's red hair is coming in (it's curly so I think that's why it has taken time)
Then: They were barely noticing each other and took months to interact.
Now: They kiss each other (the open mouth to head kind), they steal from each other, they chat it up after naps in their room, they chase each other around and they sit and laugh at each other. So fun!
Then: Wondered at times (when they were both crying or screaming and we were surviving on 3 hours or less sleep a night) what we had gotten ourselves into with twins.
Now: Can't imagine not having both of these wonderful girls in our lives and now seeing the fun that people with one child are missing out on...I'm sure there will plenty more sleepless nights to come anyway.
10 comments:
Thanks for posting this. I'm 30w now and I've been feeling a lot of anxiety about our future and our (my) ability to mother our twins. I'm sure I'd feel this way with just one but gosh, it's a bit overwhelming. I've been feeling like "what the hell did we do?" lately but I'm sure it'll pass. These are all normal feelings, right?
Anyway, your post spelling out how far you've come is helpful.
It's crazy how quickly things change with babies. Before you know it, they'll be going to school! I like the bottle comparison...22 bottles...Yikes, I need to get bottles still. Which ones do you use? I can't wait for the fun times!
Michelle...totally normal feelings. I remember crying from exhaustion the first few weeks and wondering how we'd ever make it. The stress of caring for two never really hit me til we got home from the hospital though. You will make it through one day at a time (at first) and then the days just fly.
Hope...I get sad now realizing how fast it goes by. They are getting closer to walking and it just makes me want to cry sometimes. We just used the cheap Gerber First Start with the clear nipples. The first couple months I swear it was one load of dishes just for bottles. So fun though and I'm sure you guys will have even more fun with your daughter being involved as well.
I love your post, it's amazing how fast they grow. Sounds like they are in such a wonderful stage now, enjoy and hope you have a Merry Christmas with your DH and gorgeous girls
Blue...Thank you. It is a lot of fun all over but this has been my favorite stage so far. Merry Christmas to you as well.
Did you own 22 bottles and just make one batch per day? I have a mismatch of bottles people have given me. Do you think it will matter (to the babies) that they are given different kinds of bottles/nipples? Also, do you start out with slow flow? When I google them, I see that there are bottles called "Gerber First Essentials". Is that what you used? Do you recommend 5 oz or 9 oz? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to get ready and appreciate your advice!
hehe no problem michelle. You are getting so close. We owned 22 bottles (yes Gerber Essentials; started with about 15 and added on when we didn't make it through the day).
I don't know that your babies would care about changing it up. If your babes do have issue with switching nipples I believe most nipples are pretty universal with diff brand bottles though (ie my friend used her Medela bottle with Gerber nipples).
The Gerber bottles/nipples are somewhat cheap. You start out with slow flow (until around 3-4 months) then you can go to medium until 6 or 7 months and the to fast flow) although depending on the baby I'm sure this varies. We bought 5 oz so that we could get new/clean bottles later but you could skip the 5 oz if you don't plan on replacing bottles half way (ie if you use nicer bottles).
I hope that helps or makes sense. Good luck. Can't wait to hear more on how you are doing.
You can make formula ahead of time but we never did that. We would rinse out the bottles (or try to) after each meal and then do a load of bottles in our dishwasher once a day usually. Also I recommend those nipple holding baskets (Munchkin I think) if you don't have one or two yet ;)
Excellent. This is super helpful!!!
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