Introducing myself...32wks with twin boys

[RM09Mama]

Hi everyone,

My name is Rebecca and I'm 26 years old. My husband and I have been married since 2008 and our son Nicholas just turned 2 on Feb. 14.  I'm an at-home mom and trained as a birth doula last year, although that path is on hold since I got pregnant last July.  My son was born with a CNM at a hospital, but we planned a homebirth for this pregnancy.  I had a great CNM and the first six months of my pregnancy were perfectly normal, healthy, and very happy.  We were excited about growing our family and felt much better prepared than before our son was born.

AND THEN...at 26 weeks I was measuring 4cm ahead, and my midwife sent me for an ultrasound at 27 weeks.  I had opted out of earlier ultrasounds -- I didn't want any unnecessary testing.  I wasn't excited about this ultrasound -- my 20 week ultrasound in my first pregnancy was a 2 hour long ordeal that left me with nothing (not even a decent picture) except a huge bill.  I told the ultrasound tech that I wasn't thrilled about being there and I absolutely did not want to know the baby's gender -- we were just there to "rule out twins or anything else bad" (total foot-in-mouth moment, especially since the tech turned out to have 15 year old identical twin boys!).  Of course, a few minutes later she announced that she saw two heads...and thus began the roller coaster of the last month!  

Fortunately both babies (believed to be identical) were a good size and appear healthy.  Obviously that's the most important thing.  But this was a huge shock -- I really had not prepared myself that we might be having twins, despite measuring big -- and we've had to make a lot of adjustments, emotionally and practically.  I wanted to keep our options open after this pregnancy and possibly have a third child, but my husband was really set on 2 kids.  We don't have any family nearby, although they are going to come help after the birth. We just bought a new car for my husband in November, but after finding out about the twins, we decided to trade my car for a minivan.  Our homebirth plans had to be scrapped -- my CNM only does low-risk births, and even if I could find another midwife willing to attend a twin homebirth, we're more than 40 miles from a decent hospital (our local hospital has only a level 1 nursery).  I've struggled to find a supportive care provider to give me the best shot at a low-intervention, preferably unmedicated vaginal birth.  And I'm nervous about how I will mother TWO newborns, plus my toddler.  I'm committed to breastfeeding the babies and also plan to use our cloth diapers. But I only have two arms, and I'll have 3 kids under 3!

I could really use any advice, encouragement, or just commiseration from some like-minded mamas right now. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you and learning your stories!

[Red Pajama]

Congrats and welcome!  I had three under three for a short time, but my twins were first.  The twins and little sister are a bit more than 2 1/2 years apart.  I'm not sure what advice you are looking for, so I'll toss a bunch out there and you take what you want.

When I first found myself pregnant, I knew I wanted a minimally invasive birth, wanted to breastfeed, planned to cloth diaper. Then we found twins. I had a really hard time letting go of some of my birth plans, and perhaps I shouldn't have.  My delivery ended up with a scheduled section at 38 weeks. I had no complications from the section (except a failed v-bac attempt with little sister).  My ob wouldn't attend a vaginal birth of twins unless both were vertex.  I decided not to fight, as I had a myriad of other things going on in that pregnancy.  The take away lesson for me is stay pregnant as long as possible, because 38 week twins (in my case) were not nearly as mature as little sister was at 40 weeks. It makes a difference, those 2 weeks.

I had a great lactation consultant at the hospital, and was able to tandem before we left the hospital. I started pumping right away also, to build supply and create a freezer stash, as I would be going back to work later. The EZ2 nurse pillow was very helpful.  We also used cloth diapers, which everyone thought was crazy. The brand I used was Mother Ease, and they held up well enough to be used by little sister and be passed down to others.

I found we didn't need nearly as much gear as one first assumes, and since I had two boys, they could share a lot of clothes.  we did need a lot of thin blankets for swaddling, as that's my "happy baby" trick.  Swaddle and nurse.

WHen they first came home, we really needed an extra adult (not just me and husband).  I would nurse and rest, husband would care for babies, my mother ran the house.  If you can get someone  to come and help for the first little bit (you define that for your house), it is such a gift.

Again, congrats!  My twins are six now. I can't believe how much they've grown. 

[Llyra]

Welcome! It's horribly overwhelming, isn't it? My DD1 was almost 2, when I found out I was pregnant with twins. We were living in a one-bedroom apartment, and shopping for a compact car. We were floored. Like this:

Anyway, DD1 is six now, and the twins are four, and it's been a long, strange trip. But every minute of it was worth it! I've learned so much from the experience, too-- that there are things out of my control, that even the best-laid plans go awry, and that even if something seems insurmountable, when it's right in front of you, you can do it. You totally can.