Twin Tuesday this week is something that all people expecting twins ask. What do I really need to buy two of? Unless you have an unlimited budget and unlimited space to put double the baby stuff, you are probably wondering what you can get away with buying one of and what you really actually need to buy in doubles to survive. Since these were not our first babies, we used everything we kept from our first two boys, borrowed as much stuff as we could from friends and registered for the rest for my shower.

We (okay.. okay… just me actually) kind of stressed over this a lot and felt like I needed two of just about everything to be safe. So our house that was already pretty small before the babies were born, got really small with two additional people and a crap ton of stuff. A lot of our doubles though? We did not even touch.

So save your money and save your sanity as I offer my advice on what you actually need to buy two of!

• Obviously… you need two car seats or you can’t even get those babies home from the hospital. We bought Chicco keyfit 30 car seats for all our kids and LOVE them. Another obvious in my opinion is two high chairs. Those babies are not going to be cool with taking turns eating for very long so you might as well take the plunge and have them ready for when they start eating purees or table food.

• You need a good double stroller that fits in your car and is light enough/easy enough for both parents to fold up and put away alone. I knew that I wanted a stroller that I could click our car seats into and go without getting the babies out. A lot of people get the Snap and Go strollers but unless I am misinformed, those strollers are only good while your babies are in their infant seats. We bought a Chicco double stroller and really liked it. We could click our infant strollers in easily by putting the regular seats down and as they grew, they could just sit in the seats that have 5 point harnesses.  I’ll be honest, now that our twins are older and much more mobile, we are not a huge fan of the tandem set up because there is fighting over who gets to sit in the front and actually see. We are definitely in the market for a new side-by side double stroller. However, if we didn’t have our double stroller those first weeks/months I never would have been able to leave the house alone which you have to do to keep your sanity.

• Whether you plan on nursing or bottle feeding your twins, a double nursing pillow is a must. I was pretty determined to nurse my twins so I really researched this one and ended up buying the Twin Z pillow. Hands down the best twin purchase I made. Seriously. This pillow was created by a fellow twin momma and in my opinion, the other choices out there don’t even come close. We used this for nursing of course, but we also used this pillow when we would feed them pumped milk in a bottle or when they just wanted to hang out in it. It allowed me to tandem nurse, but it also allowed one of us to bottle feed them both at the same time. I could go on and on about this pillow (and probably will in future Twin Tuesdays) but trust me on this one- it is worth the price.

• Two rock n plays. We had one from Eli and borrowed another one from a friend and we were so glad we had them. The babies would nap at the same time next to me in them and the rocking/vibrating feature made transferring them when they had already fallen asleep so much easier. I heard people say that they were afraid to get their baby used to sleeping in a rock n play and then have to break them of that habit when they outgrew it to nap in their cribs so they were afraid to get one. Full disclosure: we did have that problem where we had to work on transitioning them to nap in their cribs but it wasn’t terrible at all. I would have much rather done that than not had rock n plays with newborn twins!

• Two bouncers with hanging toys. Once our twins could hold their own heads up, they loved their bouncers! Both of ours vibrated which was awesome and they would sit happily batting at the toys for a long time. I loved the bouncers because they were portable. I would carry them all over the house with me in them to put laundry away, cook dinner or even to bring them in the bathroom with me when I needed to shower. They were lifesavers.

• This one is up to your opinion, but we had two baby carriers and were so grateful we did. We wore our babies everywhere a stroller wouldn’t fit or whenever they would get fussy in their seats when we were out with our older boys. When they were crabby at home, sometimes Josh and I would each wear a baby so we could still get dinner ready and play Caleb and Eli. There were even times during the day when they were a little bigger, that I would be desperate and wear one on my front and one on my back. I loved having two carriers. We had an Ergo (with removable infant insert) and a Baby Bjorn but hands down if I could do it again, I would get two Ergos.

• ONE swing– We had a swing from our older boys and borrowed another from a friend because I was so worried we needed two. We did not. I don’t think we had both babies in the swings at the same time more than twice in the whole 9 months we had the swings out. They were massive and took up so much space (because we had to put them far enough apart so they could move at the same time) which was also annoying because we seldom used both of them. It was infrequent that both babies were content to swing at the same time and usually one preferred to do something else anyway. We had enough other equipment that there was no reason we needed two! Save the room and the money and just get one.

• ONE tummy time mat and other toys/baby contraptions.  Same with the swing, it was infrequent that both babies were content to have tummy time or wanted to sit in the exersaucer at the same time. We were so glad we only had one of those things! We had a lot of baby toys already but also found that there is no reason to buy double the toys when they were infants. They were not aware enough of the other yet to be jealous of a toy or want the same one.

So there’s my advice. Don’t buy the whole Babies R Us or all your baby gear will drive you crazy and likely go unused! I tried to find the items that we have and link to them if we liked them. Good luck shopping for your sweet babies!

So you find out you are expecting twins….now what?

This week’s Twin Tuesday is about preparing for the arrival of your twins. For us, this time was filled with excitement but also some anxiety and worry because we didn’t know what we should be doing to get ready! Let me live and learn for you and check out my list of things we did over the last few months of my pregnancy… and things we wish now we had known to do!

• First and most importantly, take care of yourself! Nothing you want or feel you need to do to prepare is more important than keeping those babies in your tummy as long as possible. Follow your doctors orders, drink A TON of water, eat as best you can, and LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. Twin pregnancies are different than singletons and it is hard work growing two humans. If your body tells you to stop doing something or you feel you might be possibly overdoing it, listen immediately. Anyone who gives you a hard time, has clearly never carried twins. For a list of products that helped me through the end of my twin pregnancy, click HERE.

• Find a pediatrician that has experience caring for twins and/or caring for premies. We had our two other children at a family practice clinic which we loved and planned for them to see our twins when they were born. When we were in the hospital with the babies and each of them had their own set of issues we were dealing with, our hospital pediatrician advised taking them to a pediatric clinic instead. I was nervous about a doctor I didn’t know, but I honestly feel like this was one of the best decisions we made. Our doctor is amazing. She was clearly very experienced with premature babies and twins and was incredibly reassuring and encouraging as we dealt with our share of issues after being discharged. If we were doing it again, I would have looked for a pediatrician with that kind of experience when I was pregnant so we didn’t have to deal with the last minute anxiety among everything else while we were in the hospital.

• Get all the stuff! If you are having a baby shower with your twins, encourage them to hold it at least two months before your due date. The end of a twin pregnancy can be filled with the unknown and twins are known to come early or mommas put on bedrest. I wanted to be able to get what we still needed while I could move around and be able to shop for it myself. You probably are also wondering what you need to get two of and what stuff you can just buy one of. Check out next week’s Twin Tuesday post and I can help you answer that!

• Prepare mentally that things may not go as planned. To a degree, I believe this is true with singleton pregnancies too but even more so with twins. Things can change quickly when you are carrying two and it’s hard to predict how things will go. We had a fantastic OB who did a great job of explaining a bunch of different scenarios I could find myself in and we felt comforted with that knowledge. I went from having a textbook twin pregnancy with zero complications to in premature labor with two breech babies who had to be delivered by c-section in a day. It was overwhelming but we were lucky that our doctor had spent some time explaining that possibility with us ahead of time.

• Talk with your support system, especially your partner. I firmly believe that raising twins and carrying for newborns is a team sport. Make a plan for how you will handle overnight feedings and how each of you can attempt to get an amount of sleep. Ask for help from your support system when you feel you need it and accept it when it is offered!

• If you plan to breastfeed, strongly consider finding a class or support group or finding out about lactation consultants at your hospital. Before my first baby was born, Josh and I took an invaluable class on breastfeeding which I honestly believe was a large part of why I was successful. I felt nervous (but crazy determined) about breastfeeding my twins and the lactation consultants at my hospital during our hospital stay were amazing. She made a plan for me and helped me any issues I had while teaching my premies to nurse. I’m not sure I could have been successful without those things.

• Talk with your other children and prepare them as best you can. Our older boys were 4 and 2 when our twins were born and we talked a lot about what might happen when the new babies were born. As you can imagine, our 4 year old understand way more than the 2 year old did. We talked about being gentle with the babies, trying to wait patiently if they needed something while Mommy/Daddy was doing something with one of the babies, and that crying was how babies tell us they need something and we don’t need to panic. We also really talked about how these babies were such a blessing to us from God and how wonderful it will be to grow up with siblings.

• Consider taking some time to fill up your freezer with meals for after the babies are born. We did this a little and I definitely wish we had done more. We had some friends/family bring us meals or gifts cards which was amazing but it was definitely hard to get back in the kitchen after we ran out of those! We spent way too much money in those early weeks on take out!

• If you have a job that requires you to perform physical tasks or be on your feet a lot, consider asking if they would allow you to work part-time during the last part of your pregnancy or take on a lighter load. I was determined to save my weeks of maternity leave for after the babies were born, but I knew I was overexerting myself being on my feet (doing experiments in multiple buildings) at work everyday. There were so many times I told Josh I couldn’t do it anymore but decided to keep plugging along and promised myself I would stop working at 37 weeks. Unfortunately I only made it to 35.5 weeks before I went into labor and I wonder if that was a part of the why. I know a lot of women can’t afford to take less hours or stop working early… don’t even get me started on maternity leave in the U.S.

There you have it. Some things to help you prepare for your twins and reduce your anxiety so you can enjoy your pregnancy! Any twin mamas have any other suggestions?

This edition of Twin Tuesday is about our sweet now 18-month old twins!

They had their 18 month well child visit this week and are growing like weeds! They definitely have a bit of the ‘stranger danger’ phase going on right now and they clung to me like never before. Thank goodness no shots this time!

We are definitely in that odd time period where they don’t have the vocabulary to express everything they want which results in a lot of whining all the time. I remember this time as being difficult with Eli and with two of them whining for things of which I have no idea, it is even more difficult! We are doing our best to learn new words and a bit of patience.

So far, Luke is more vocal than Reid which doesn’t surprise me. Reid has always been the first to do physical things (crawling, walking, going up/down the stairs) and Luke is usually the first to do the rest (talking, pointing, smiling, etc). Our doctor is not concerned that Reid is a bit slower to talk at this point and neither are we. I’ve heard to remember with twins that they are still two individual people and each are on their own timelines! So far we’ve heard from one or both of them: cheese, mama, dada, bath, go, moo, nodding yes and no, out, up, done. Luke has started saying owie to express his objection to just about anything he doesn’t like. It’s pretty hysterical.

They are giving hugs and kisses freely which is one of the best things ever. They hug each other to say sorry although sometimes a little too fiercely and both end up on the floor. We think that part is pretty funny but they don’t really so much. Speaking of being on the floor though, they have definitely picked up the fighting over toys lately which frequently ends up in a mini-wrestling match over said toy.

Much to my surprise, they both self-weaned at about 17 months. I didn’t really have a plan with these guys for stopping and kind of just thought I would let them do their own thing as long as they wanted. I’m so very happy that I was able to nurse them as long as I did and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss that cuddle time with each of them (but I suppose that’s a post for another day). Most of the time, they are pretty good eaters and will try just about any type of food we put in front of them.

This winter has sort of been their first real winter since we didn’t leave the house much at all when they were itty bitty. We’ve definitely been paying for it with seemingly constant sickies including a car vomiting incident while waiting in the school pick-up line. I can’t even type it without my stomach turning. Spring is coming soon and we hope with it some healthier days!

Reid has had a particularly hard couple of months with some teeth coming in and a constant runny nose that is driving him nuts. Sometimes lately it seems like we can’t even put our finger on what is bothering him but I’m actually starting to wonder if it could either be a combination of everything going on (including frustration with not being able to express himself quite yet) or just a bad case of CABIN FEVER. Of which I can’t even blame him. This winter has been hard!

They are sleeping about 11-12 hours at night and a 2-3 hour nap. Sometimes they stay up after I lay them down or wake up early and spend their time chatting, giggling and jumping in their beds together. It really it the sweetest thing to watch.

We love these little guys so much and they are becoming so much fun as they get older. I have to say though.. I’m starting to understand the wiser twin mommas who say it doesn’t really get easier, just a different kind of hard. I so get that! We have our own special kind of crazy chaos all day long every day! Honestly I would go back and do it all again over and over because at the end of every day there is so, so much more good than bad!

I’m excited for my first addition of Twin Tuesday! When we found out we were expecting twins, I was searching for resources that would tell me what to expect (without scaring me!) and how to make it through.  I didn’t know any other recent twin mamas so I tried to read some books but I found the medical information totally overwhelming. I just wanted to hear the experiences of some real moms who experienced a twin pregnancy and beyond who could offer some encouraging words and advice. I don’t even come close to being an expert on twins but I hope that by sharing my experiences and things I’ve learned, it might help other mamas who are expecting double blessings!

For this first Twin Tuesday, let’s talk about those items that helped me survive my twin pregnancy.

1. Bubba 48 oz. water jug –  Without a doubt, I credit this jug to helping me make it to 35w5d with my big babies. Being pregnant in the Iowa summer and fall heat the year my twins were born, I was very prone to dehydration contractions. My OB had told me to shoot for drinking at least a gallon of water a day which is 128 ounces in case you were wondering.  That would have me waddling over to fill up my regular 12 ounce water cup over 10 times a day! I also was undoubtedly losing track of how much water I had drank and how many times I had filled it up. The Bubba is 48 ounces which I only had to fill 3 or so times a day and easily remembered how many times I had filled it up. I still have this cup and absolutely love it.

2. Motherhood Maternity Secret Fit Belly Poplin Cargo Maternity Pants – I am not one to spend a bunch of money on maternity clothes I would only wear for a few months if I can help it.  I got by during my singleton pregnancies with Target and Kohls brand maternity pants/shirts and clothes I borrowed from my girlfriends. During my twin pregnancy, the belly bands on all my other pants and skirts got so tight I felt like I couldn’t breathe and I tried a ton of different brands.  I even tried out some other pants at Motherhood but this type were the only ones that were comfortable for me. The pants are cute and the fabric of the pant and the belly band were both insanely comfortable and not restricting. Bonus: they are convertible to capris so if you are pregnant over two seasons like I was you can wear them as capris and as pants!

3. Target Striped V-neck Maternity Shirts– Definitely give any maternity shirts you buy for a twin pregnancy the stretch test!  If they aren’t very,very stretchy they won’t last long- trust me!  For my twin pregnancy, my belly outgrew all of my normal maternity clothes by about 31 weeks. I bought some shirts that Motherhood Maternity had recommended for twin pregnancy that were more tunic style with a tie around the back. However, towards the end when my belly was so big in front those shirts hung out so far I felt like anyone could see up my shirt from the bottom!  I was starting to panic that I would have nothing to wear until I found these. I bought two and wore them every day at the end.  Every day.  Thank you Target!

4. Palmer’s Cocoa Tummy Butter– Let’s be honest. I would imagine that the percentage of twin mamas post-delivery that didn’t get stretch marks from their double blessings is extremely low. We also know that our babies are worth every single one! However, I used this every day because it smells really good, it got rid of any itchiness from my growing tummy and I like to think maybe it prevented some stretch marks?

5. Target Liz Lange Maternity Tanks – I love Target’s regular tanks when I’m not pregnant so I tried their maternity ones. I was so happy with how they stretched as my tummy got bigger and shockingly only one size up from my regular maternity size (with my singletons) continued to cover my giant tummy until the end of my twin pregnancy.

6. Tums Chewy Delights Chewables – I had some terrible heartburn towards the end and oddly at the beginning of my twin pregnancy. I used the traditional chalky Tums during my first trimester for heartburn which did their job but did not help my nausea. I assume because I had such intense morning sickness at the same time, I started associating the taste of the Tums with being nauseated.  I was so glad that I found these towards the end of my pregnancy when I had heart burn again. They taste like Starbursts with absolutely no chalky taste and worked wonders for me.

7. Boppy Pregnancy Support Pillow– Somehow I was blessed enough to be able to sleep pretty well all the way through my pregnancy. I loved this pillow and my 6 other random bed pillows I placed around myself because it took some of the weight of the babies off my hips and core so I could get some sleep.  I know there are other more intense pregnancy pillows out there but I totally recommend this one. I was able to flip the pillow around when my stomach got too large to use the big side underneath. Plus it wasn’t gigantic so there was still room for my husband, myself, my tummy, and this pillow in our queen size bed.

8. A decent pair of slip on shoes– I had to wear closed toe shoes at work so I bought an inexpensive pair of black faux leather slip on shoes that I wore for the last half of my pregnancy so I didn’t have to tie or bend over to get my shoes on.  They were dressy enough for work but I also wore them for everything else as it got cooler. If you are pregnant during the summer months like I was and you don’t have a work dress code for shoes, I am jealous of your flip flop wearing self.  Wear them proudly. 9. Bra extender– Towards the end, even the larger bras I bought were starting to become very uncomfortable because my rib cage was expanding from all of the baby. I started having crazy back pain until I found this cheap little ingenious invention. They have them in a 3 pack on Amazon or I found mine for $2 at the checkout counter at Motherhood Maternity.

10. A really really good fan – Like it was yesterday, I remember being hot. All the time hot. We had our air conditioning turned down pretty low but I was still roasting all the time especially while trying to sleep. We had this fan that I loved because I was able to direct it at myself in bed and pretty much leave my normal temperature husband alone. The remote is an added perk because I didn’t have to move my pillow fort to get up to turn it up higher.

And as a bonus tip, towards the end of your pregnancy you are likely to be sitting around a lot.  Maybe on bed rest or maybe just physically too exhausted. Carrying twins is incredibly hard work! I passed the difficult time at the end by binge watching Gilmore Girls whenever my older boys were napping, in bed, or late at night if I couldn’t sleep. I love love Gilmore Girls and it gave me a few laughs and occupied my mind when I was starting to lose it. #TeamLogan If you’ve already seen Gilmore, choose another series that isn’t too serious. Pregnancy emotions are intense- and you have double!

Be kind to yourself. Growing two babies is hard work!