Twins Club 3!! All welcome :-)

[dreamfeeder]

Hello to everyone expecting twins!
Join us here for some mutual reassurance

MrsStevo, #1 & 2, EDD 23/08/2011, Lincs, MCDA ID,
Tiggersreturn #2+3 EDD 26/09/11 NW London DCDA - not finding out
silverangel #1+2 Sophie, 3lb3 & Alice3lb1 born at 31+2 on 01/08/11 EMCS
PrincessScrumpy #2 & 3, girls
BB3, #2&3 (#1 DS) DCDA girls born 20.09.11 by EMCS at 37 weeks exactly - Edith-May 5lb 11.5oz and Ayse-Rose 6lb 1oz.

PeelingmyselfofftheCeiling #1+2 EDD, DCDA, Boy and Girl, Born 14 Sept
Twinnerves, DCDA, #2&3, girls Francesca and Isabella, born 18/11/11 EMCS 6lbs 6 oz and 6lbs 9.5oz
xkatyx , ID girls, DC 8,5,9months, EDD 21/12/11
Quempin #1&2 EDD 27/1/12, ID surprise
Ravenlocks DCDA, #1&2, EDD 28/01/12
Tabbycatt, DCDA, 2 boys, DC 2 & 3, EDD 30/1/12
Claireinmodena DCDA, Boy & Girl, DC 3 & 4 (!!), EDD 23/02/12
Dreamfeeder, DCDA, DC 2 & 3, EDD 12/4/12
BigBoobsAtLast, MCDA, DC 2&3 EDD
CarrieInAnotherTWOBabiTWINS DCDA DC 2&3, EDD 28/06/12
Caesnake, DCDA, DC 2&3, EDD

Hope everyone's having a lovely Christmas!!! Xx

Yay for date quemp! How exciting within 2 weeks you will have your babies (sorry I forgot if you know what flavour you are having).

Hope everyone had a lovely day yesterday - I've got no idea where we are going to put any of the kids things - they had so much x I did not anticipate the sheer volume of things they would have from people - the girls cot bed is full from top to bottom with toys (not even including ds') and I've had to sort all their clothes out to fit half of the new ones in! I'm going to be writing thank you cards for weeks! It's one of those things where you know there is two if them but I didn't expect two of everything and just quite so much!! but I can't complain really it's lovely they were so spoilt!! Just be prepared to invest in lots of storage!!!!

Oh quempin, 2 weeks til you meet your babies!! That's so exciting. Is it any easier having a date and knowing the end is in sight?! I'm guessing boys as twin, bb3 and Katy have all just had girls... Or does that mean I should guess girls?! Either way, they'll be just perfect. It sounds really really hard at the end though. You're doing so well, you can be counting the days left now!!!

How lovely they got so much bb3. I'm glad you all had a good Christmas as your first for a family of 5! Dreading the storage issues, our house is poky upstairs anyway- single storey extension downstairs so ok there but not massive and we struggle for storage already!! An influx of girly toys and clothes for your household then?!

We had a lovely Christmas and heading home now from the last of the family visiting. Stopped off to look at these cotbeds for sale from a lady with twins nearish us- she'd sent such a lovely msg on the fb group (and was lovely) that i felt obliged to say we'd buy her twins old cotbeds even though they're not really what I'd want...doh!!!!

Oh quempin, 2 weeks til you meet your babies!! That's so exciting. Is it any easier having a date and knowing the end is in sight?! I'm guessing boys as twin, bb3 and Katy have all just had girls... Or does that mean I should guess girls?! Either way, they'll be just perfect. It sounds really really hard at the end though. You're doing so well, you can be counting the days left now!!!

How lovely they got so much bb3. I'm glad you all had a good Christmas as your first for a family of 5! Dreading the storage issues, our house is poky upstairs anyway- single storey extension downstairs so ok there but not massive and we struggle for storage already!! An influx of girly toys and clothes for your household then?!

We had a lovely Christmas and heading home now from the last of the family visiting. Stopped off to look at these cotbeds for sale from a lady with twins nearish us- she'd sent such a lovely msg on the fb group (and was lovely) that i felt obliged to say we'd buy her twins old cotbeds even though they're not really what I'd want...doh!!!!

Oh dream yes a humongous influx and the thing is I just wasn't expecting it! Christmas is always ott in my family (we don't really do birthdays) but it was such a shock going from one set to three sets of presents and the storage issues that come with it! I've decided to box everything up in big plastic toy boxes and put them in the spare room and rotate them every 1-2 weeks as I just can't have it all over the house! On the plus side girls have all 3-6 outfits they will ever need - they just need to grow into them!!!

I was bagging up all the twins newborn clothes today as they are - at 3 months - almost too big for them (although not everything!) and found myself keeping hold of certain things (like their new-born thick sleeping bag suit things) 'just in case' - I must be mad!!!!

Hope you had a lovely time with your family - we have everyone at ours on Xmas day and boxing day is always just us with leftover food - yum!!!

quemp have you thought of names? Oh I remember those last few weeks just waiting for it to happen... Frustrating but Sooo exciting too!

I'm currently waiting for ds to decide it's bed time so we can give girls their milk and settle them while dh and I watch a film x

What are the cotbeds like?

Oh wow, no, for that amount of storage needed sounds like a huge influx of stuff indeed bb3. Next year with three age 2 and under we will stay at home, but I've no idea how to produce a good Xmas dinner!! These cotbeds certainly aren't horrible, they're mamas and papas modensa in maple. Bit 'modern' for my taste and not that keen on maple. I just wouldn't have/buy other furniture in maple, would go for pine or something, so wouldn't have a matching room.. not a big thing i know, but dd is in a third hand oak cot, with a dark wood wardrobe from our room which we can't fit in our room since we moved to our current house with said pokey upstairs, and pine bedside cabinet, and ancient scrappy small white chest of drawers from our last house which was old and horrible when students left it behind and we inherited it. Hence my hankering now for the children's rooms to look nice... Am going to have to buy dd some furniture too as not enough with what we've got for her, never mind three! But I've said I'd buy these blinking cotbeds!!!!

Oh, and I'm still on the bedtime battle. Bar leaving her to cry (not v keen but Dh getting keen) I'm stuck and running out of ideas, but also running out of patience spending hours and hours each evening getting her to bed....

Hey everyone - happy Christmas! Feeling even more huge after all I have eaten! All good though and DD has had a really good couple of days. Off to my parents tomorrow so I should be able to relax while dinner is cooked for me.

Good luck Quempin, looking forward to hearing your happy news.

Dozey , hope your LO has given you an easy bedtime - evenings are so important and if a difficult bedtime eats in to your time it is not good!

wish I could have a bottle of

quempin, I'm a paediatric physio, so work with Downs Syndrome and kids with physical disability. I see way more twins than occur naturally in the population- at one point about 18 months ago I worked out about 15% of my caseload were twins, or one child who was a twin. I have never seen a DS twin myself though, and I see a lot because of problems related to prematurity which is obviously more common with twins- most of the twins I know have cerebral palsy (hence why I'll be worrying til I'm a good 28, preferably 30-something-good weeks!!!). ANd of course, that's only because thats my job. You are past that stage now, these kids are mostly ex-26, 27, 28, 29, 30 weekers. And even for loads of them only one twin is affected- I see an ex-28 weeker boy who is quite disabled, but his twin sister is fine, very bright, passed the Grammer school exam, not a single issue. And those who were premature with problems are only a small proportion of twins, I think the stats are most born at that gestation won't go on to have any problems. For an uncomplicated pregnancy, at term (or pretty near, 35 weeks on) I don't think you will have any problems, it is so unlikely. With all the scans, surely the twins whose DS wasn't picked up would be unusual?! I can imagine not spotting anything on a 20 week scan and not therefore knowing throughout your pg with a singleton, but scanned every two weeks and never realise one had ds?? Very much doubt it. I have the to-good-to-be-true fear (and bb3 crowned me biggest worrier ) so I totally know where you're coming from, but really really don't think there's anything to worry about.

There were tears from more than one person in our household over the long-drawn out bedtime tonight. I have just bought Toddler Taming, and hope DD isn't too young at 15 months, as I must have her back to her good evening routine before these babies come!!!

Hello all, hope you had a good xmas!

Thank you dream and bb3 for your kind words, you did make me feel better!

Yesterday was very lovely, with my family here, very chaotic but very nice too. They all left in the evening, incl my mum and it had been nice being just the four of us again after 4 long weeks!!!

Dream, I have to admit that I've had it so easy on my firts 2 pregnancies that i suppose this is my karma, even though I was secretly convinced I'd breeze through this one too!!
I do hope you manage to get your dd to sleep better before the twins arrive, you really do not need this!

DH has been helping out a lot (he was lucky though, lots of leftovers so not much cooking to do!) and I know he is only doing this for me as he'd much rather have someone else take care of all the domestic chores, so I feel a bit guilty about this, even though I really need it!
I have to add though that my pelvic pain gets better if I move more, so felt better all round!

Quemp I am so excited for you, its good to
Know when you'll meet those babies! And its perfectlh normal to be anxious about the birth, but it will soon be iver and you'll have your babies with you!

Our girls always get really spoilt for xmas, so
Much that I normally only do stocking fillers for them, as it feels wromg to add to the huge pile. Also the house is so full of toys that its about to explode. I was going to sort it all out before xmas, but didnt manage. I cant imagine whats it going to be like with 4 kids!
I am currently planning mental trips to ikea as we need to improve storage for toys, would have lived to have had everything done before the birth, this sooo frustrating!

Good night all

Hi all, glad Christmas seems to have treated everyone well. We had a lovely one here, and friends cooked so no cleaning up for us to do! Whoop.

quempin - when I was pregnant with DD I started my maternity leave a month before she was due (it was round Christmas/NY and seemed no point going back), but then she was 2 weeks late and it was the year it really really snowed so I was stuck at home for almost 8 weeks with just myself to worry about what could/would go wrong with her, the birth, me etc etc etc. I think it's totally normal to get anxious before the birth - you're facing something you can't predict or control, you're life is about to change (for the better!) forever. I had all sorts of feelings of guilt in that I was worrying about what could happen to me more than about the baby - and then beating myself up for that. But it IS scary, it's like being on a roller coaster you can't get off. If my Mum hadn't turned up and made me fill my last child free days doing stupid things like getting my hair cut and going for a pedicure (I never do these things normally) I think I would have driven myself and my DH mad. It's going to be fine, you'll do great, your babies will be OK too. DON'T PANIC!

dream - I'm so sorry you're having a hard time with bedtime, that can't help. I think maybe a week of crying it out (a little bit) might help, she might go back to normal and then you'll be sorted till the new ones arrive? It's always a toughie as I hate hearing them cry, but she's got out of her routine so maybe you need to help her find a way back to it?

I've been feeling a bit odd the last couple of days, short of breath/heart pounding and very very tired. think it might be anemia, going to get the mw's to check my iron when I see them next. But i'm really appreciating have DH home - it's amazing round the house, especially considering how fussy I am!

Sorry for the long message - I read all your ones once you've all gone to bed! Very funny the time difference.

quempin, hope you're feeling better today. The birth will be lovely, nice planned CS, you'll be able to begin the name arguments instantly over your perfect babies, hardly any time to wait now!

rednellie, we have tried crying it out a bit over the last week as DD finally seemed better after the last 3 months of bug after bug after bug despite an ongoing cough... Unfortunately, she pipes down, and we think oh great, she's given up, but always starts crying again. She can keep going like that, on and off, for well over 2 hours . It's awful. I can't relax while she's upset on and off, and awake and fretting all evening, so either way it's no fun for us, and she didn't get much better after 4-5 days of that- no noticeable difference. Typically, after I finally got her to sleep last night, she woke up again after an hour or so- and then again, and again, and again.... she's got yet another cold, and is coughing so much and is so bunged up she can't stay asleep when flat in her cot. Again. I can't believe it, I really can't. I thought we were finally going to hit a time of wellness for her. Speaking of hair cuts, I really need one! Will beg some babysitting time from one of my parents. My mum gave me a massage voucher for Christmas, I'm really looking forward to it, so maybe I could push my luck and tag on a hair cut!!

claire, sounds like a lovely Christmas, and a nice present to you that DH did so many jobs around the house so you could have the family time to yourselves. How many weeks are you now? Are you starting to be able to move around a little more? I still fluctuate between thinking I'll continue to meander through this one til 38 weeks with no other issues and worrying about prem labour as I am about the size I was at 30 weeks with dd now, so i worry I'll be so big it'll trigger labour if I hit stretch capacity!

Enjoy being waited on cooked for at your parents bigboobs! I am feeling pretty enormous too. 24 weeks on Thursday- feels like a bit of a milestone. I am ridiculous, and look forward to these scans and dates with a mixture of high anticipation and dread in case something is wrong every time... As my dates fall on the day of the consultant clinic, it is literally 24 weeks- scan, 28 weeks-scan etc. Every 2 weeks from then, so at least that should keep me happy the babies are doing ok. I dreamt one was a girl last night and now find I keep thinking one might be!! Oh dear.

Stupid question for those much further on or who've had their babies-will maternity clothes just keep stretchng even though we'll get bigger than a singleton pg? I was bought these maternity leggings for Christmas, which are phenomenally comfy, and I intend to wear nothing else!!! My mum didn't know what size, so bought a small- perfect now, and a medium, just in case. I am wearing the small, but should I keep the medium, or will the small keep fitting and keep stretching as my bump grows and grows and grows ??

Do your girls look very similar bb3? Will you get them tested to see if they're ID? The cotbeds we looked at yesterday were DCDA boys' beds, and their mum had them tested at 6 months and they're ID! Plus I keep seeing posts on the TAMBA website (while looking at the message boards instead of the 'for sale' bit which is what I actually joined for in a large part!) saying they had their DCDA same sex children tested and they're ID. One mum has two sets of twins, boys, then girls, and the boys were non-ID on testing, and the girls ID (both DCDA of course). It's got me curious! And do you have a twin sling? That's what I'm on the hunt for on their boards....

Hope you're doing ok with your 3 aand had a good Christmas twinnerves!

dream - that sucks. Have you tried all the usual stuff like propping up one end of her cot, vicks in some hot water etc ? Once they get a cold this time of year, it really is hard to shift. Keep up with the putting her to bed though, it will work eventually - I know how hard it is, I can't bear to hear DD cry. I often go in every 10 mins or so just to let her know I'm still around, or potter around upstairs so she can hear me. Either that or leave DH or parents to do it and you go out of the house for a bit during bedtime? Hope it starts getting better soon.

And yeah, get a hair cut - always makes you feel better!

dream they do not keep growing unfortunately x I wore my singleton maternity clothes up until 28-30 weeks then had to buy new ones (i was very bitter!!)

Girls look nothing alike! They go through phases where they morph into each other then look different again! I met a lady at the drs 2 weeks ago with id twins that looked nothing alike! Very strange but not getting them tested I don't think xx

I have two slings, dh and i carry a baby each and ds gets hoisted along either on a hip, stroller or on his bee backpack. I didn't know you could get twin ones and I'm not sure I could carry two babies for any length of time one is heavy enough!!

Feel for you with lurgy, ds has it again, temperature, cough, bright red. The whole house is getting it again - it's never ending!! In terms of sleep a lot of people will say I'm mad but have you tried putting dd in bed with you? Ds had a really bad phase when i was about 4 months pg and basically got into the habit of waking and kicking up a fuss - I took him in with dh and I for about 10 days and at first he slept with us and when he woke I soothed him back then when he started sleeping through I'd put him in his bed half way through night then when that worked we moved on and went to sleep in his bed and I left him then eventually he was back in his own all night (after about 2-3 weeks). I think ds was acting up because of all the changes but it seemed to work (but then I'm a wimp and cannot do anything gina ford like as I cave in at the smallest wimper!!) It might be too much with the babies and like I said you might think I'm mad!

Glad you all had good Christmases - just think about the craziness of next year with two more lo's round the table! and all the extra presents!!! :) xx

Really quick post as stuck with coughing, snuffling dd on my chest in dark n think phone light bugging her a bit...

Rubbish about the clothes, I'll keep the medium then too! Gina Ford has never been opened in this house either. I just don't think I could do controlled crying, leaving her to cry would break my heart!! Maybe if she was bigger, but 15 months would seem too little for me (certainly in current hormonal state!) I'm back onto anything goes with this current bug. Her cough is pretty bad.

Room is a fug of olbus oil for babies rednellie, onwards and upwards with the sleep deprivation...

Good luck dream. I think BB3's idea ain't half bad either. I didn't realise properly your DD is 15 months - that is a little young to be left crying, especially as she's been poorly for a while. I also found my LO went through a bit of a stage round about then, wanting me more and needing to nurse more etc - I think around 18 months they hit another separation anxiety stage. So yeah, crying it out probably wouldn't help at this stage.

I've never read GF either, am just plain mean ;-)

Lol rednelle I'd like to be more mean but I'm a wimp - ds has me wrapped around his little finger (and dh) which isn't helpful at all as he will play up for us in ways he won't with my family x I think it's mostly guilt from working lots with him as a baby so when I was home I didn't want to be mean mummy - I'm much much tougher with the girls (partly because I have no choice) but have learned from my weakness with ds (saying that I'm not all that tough - I do have two children that don't like to be put down which is completely mine and dh's fault!) Oh well!

Ds has full on lurgy again cough, temperature and flushness he's been up most of the night and up since 5 this morning! I'm Knackered!!! Supposed to be going for lunch with friends today

Oh bb3, sounds awful and exhausting for your poor ds and you. I hope he gets better soon, you must be barely functioning with 3 to look after . Dd is coughing, wheezing and snuffling continuously, fractious and under the weather but doesn't sound as ill as that... Tried taking her in with us last night, she seems to think its a game and woke up more- backfired a bit. Stopped the crying though!! Signed her up for baby sign language course in January, my new theory being having three under 18 months will be easier if she can sign a bit and communicate more. I did always mean to do baby signing with her, and she uses the three I know (mostly all done, very annoying, I never agree she's all done with her tea when she starts saying it!). You'll have been up for 5 hours by now, you poor thing. Hope lunch goes ok, if you can face it and don't opt for a nap instead!!

Sure you're not mean rednellie, if she just sounds cross I do try and leave her a bit.. and when she's a bit older I think it'll be more appropriate. I never thought I'd be this soft, precious first born and all, but it seems I am. She plays up most for me, though that must be partly as I'm the main cater so spend most of my time with her so it'll always be a bit like that I think.

So sorry to hear so many ard hzving trouble with sleepless nights!

Snc not very helpful, but I believe that controlled crying works better the younger they are... As they get older they become more aware of being left there and more resilient. Ideally it wirks best with the under ones. Then again kids are all different, and I think I've mentioned thixbefore to you dream, it did work for us with dd2 at 18 months to break her habit of waking up every night for s little party. She was going down fine though. I And it only took 2 nights and 30 mins of crying at most. I would nit hzve mznzged to endurd hours of crying thats for sure!
I imagine you already do a good bedtime routine..? Will she fall asleep if you stay with her? With dd1 we went through s "i cant sleep" phase, so we ended up lying in our bed with her til she fell asleep then movd her tk her cot again. This was when I was pregnant with dd2 so maybe they do get unsettled by our pregnancies?

You have probably tried it all already...sorry I csnt be more useful!

I met my future babysitter today, have I mentioned she's just qualified as a midwife? She is lovely and young, the girls like her and I am sure she'll be a huge help. It'll be s bit of z burden, financially, but it will save my sanity (and my relationships with mum and mil) in the long run.

32 weeks tomorrow! And fridaywe get to see the little wrigglers again, and check their weight, I havd been gtowing massively in the last 2 weeks (over 2 kgs), and i'm not eating that much really...so I'm hoping they're fattening up!

And on the subject of irrational fears is finding out at ond if the sczns that one of the babies has died without me being aware of anything... I would love to fast firward s few weeks and know they're here safe and sound.

Love to all

Claire, that's a fear of mine too, but I'm sure it must only be a tiny proportion of babies... Not helpful if one is you, but incredibly unlikely (so I tell myself!). I've already done a panicky visit for a scan once for ? only one set of foetal movements so i know what you mean, and I'm only 24 weeks tomorrow!! I hope your babies are indeed fattening up nicely on your scan on Friday. I have my 24 week scan tomorrow and am the usual mix of delight/ dread, just in case...

Oh goodness quempin, its even worse than I feared... I was an 8-10 before this pg so most of my old mat stuff from dd is an 8, I've only bought 10's and 12's so far but was clearly deluding myself... Not long for you now, I bet you're excited and terrified at the same time now!

I think if I knew dd was well Claire, I'd be able to leave her more. The fact she took 3 hours 15 min of crying on and off to get to sleep on Christmas eve doesn't bode well though I fear. I definitely couldn't endure hours of it. And that was with popping in and out- she'll lie fairly quietly while you sit in the room with her but howl if you leave... And keep on and on )(with breaks where you get your hopes up) for up to the new record 3 hr15!!!! She's done it for a couple of hours several times. I keep saying I will sort it out when she's well- never for long enough for me to do said sorting out!!!

So far I'm liking toddler taming- its starting off saying how unreasonable most parents expectations of toddler behavior and understanding are, going through norms etc, not too prescriptive- but as I'm getting no evenings to read it I've not even got to the sleep bit yet!!!