We found out yesterday at a reassurance scan that I am over 6 weeks pregnant with twins. The thing I am most worried about is how my 18 month old DD will deal with having her world turned upside down. What can I do to start preparing her for upcoming changes? I know it is still very early but I thought it would be easier to start laying the groundwork and hope for the best.
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KingOfTheStupids ·
17/05/2015 09:23
Congratulations!
Keep her involved from the start.
My toddler was about 18 months when we found out we were expecting twins. He came to the scans, we talked about babies a lot with him, showed him the newish babies of my friends. He helped choose things for the babies and we talked about what he thought their names would be.
We made sure that he wouldn't feel that they had taken anything from him so he kept his own cot etc. when we were decorating a room for them we also did some decorating in his.
When the time came he was really excited. DH bought him a 'best big brother' t-shirt which he wore when he came to the hospital to visit them. He didn't want to see me, only his sisters 
There have been times when he has been a bit clingy, especially in the first few months, but he absolutely adores his sisters. I have always made sure he had some time with me each day when the babies were napping. He helps me choose their clothes and helps wash their bottles and make up their milks.
He goes to my In laws one day a week, and nursery 2 mornings so we kept his routine the same as possible. We asked them to only speak to him about the babies if he mentioned them, that way he could have a good break from the twins.
Also, let her see you holding other people's babies so she gets used to it.
It'll get hard looking after the toddler as you get towards the end of you pregnancy, but having two babies and a toddler has been so much easier than being heavily pregnant with a toddler!
Good luck
KingOfTheStupids ·
17/05/2015 17:49
You'll get more energy once the placenta(s) kick in.
The sickness and the heartburn was so much worse with the twins. My bump wasn't huge, but the babies seemed to be up under my rib cage so my lung capacity was reduced. It was so strange when they were born again and I could breath properly. The best thing though was walking out of the hospital 3 stone lighter than when I went in
KingOfTheStupids ·
20/05/2015 08:20
DH had 2 weeks pat leave and then 1 week of half days where he just worked mornings. Those first few weeks are a bit of a blur. There were some times where we only got half an hours sleep in 48 hours.
The worst times after DH went back to work were when all three were crying. I used to sort DS out first and then comfort the twins. Any visitors that came round were pretty useless 
The best times were when I took all three into town, then the babies would sleep and DS was entertained. Oh and lots of trips to the park. When DS had his afternoon nap I used to settle on the sofa with the babies asleep and happy on me and try to stay awake.
KingOfTheStupids ·
20/05/2015 22:57
Mine were MCDA so I had fortnightly scans for TTTS. You should hopefully avoid that risk with DCDA twins.
It took me weeks to get over the shock of discovering it was a twin pregnancy. Of course everyone else was delighted, but they didn't have to do all the hard work .
One other bit of advice would be to invest in one of those pregnancy pillows (if you don't have one already) it was brilliant for support whilst sleeping and useful for feeding the babies on when they arrived.
Also, start looking for bargains now on any extra kit you'll need. Luckily for me a local baby stuff shop had a closing down sale when I was about 20 weeks. I got the extra car seat, bouncer, cot, bedding and loads of other bits I needed at bargain price.
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