Anyone expecting twins April/May?

[Amelia891]

Hi!

I’ve recently found out that I’m expecting twins early May. Over the moon and super excited but obviously also a little nervous! I have a DD who will be 3 just before the twins arrive. Anyone else here expecting twins around the same time? Would be great to have someone to chat to who is going through the same thing!! x

Our nursery does a 10% sibling discount. As DD will still be there when twins start, hopefully we will get it across all three. There’s not much difference in price between childminders and nursery round here. I preferred nursery as they can cover staff sickness unlike a single childminder. I suppose it depends how sympathetic your employer is.

Doing this and the 20% tax free childcare actually makes it more affordable than I thought. I thought initially it wouldn’t be worth me working. We’re going to do all the sums properly and see then. The other advantage is if I stay in work DD continues to get 30 free hours rather than 15.

@Weenie12 it is a worry. I don’t feel that I’m enjoying this pregnancy like my first singleton one, because of the risks and worrying about how we’ll cope. It’s a shame because if everything works out I don’t plan on ever being pregnant again, so should enjoy my last one!

Hi!

Our twins are due in late April / early May so place-markingif that's ok?

Welcome @TheRedFox! How many weeks are you now?

Just about 12 weeks so still early days but starting to feel a bit more relaxed about things!

Hi @TheRedFox ! How are you feeling? Do you know what type of twins you’re having yet? Am I right in saying everyone on here so far is having fraternal except me?

Has anyone started to think about prams yet? I’m definitely going to have to buy 2nd hand but I’m looking at the Bugaboo Donkey vs the iCandy. I think I prefer the idea of them next to each other instead of in tandem although it’s so hard to know without being able to go into places to test these things out!

I'm feeling much better thank you! Have had some awful morning sickness but that's starting to ease which is great.

Buggies - yes! We've had the Mountain Buggy duo come highly recommended and it is the same width as a single.

I've looked at the Donkey (and had the icandy for our first) but they are HUGE and as we live in London I'd like something quite compact.

Lovely to meet you all on here and hope you're all doing well so far.

My silver cross wave has been delivered today! It's a double decker type one - I had a silver cross for my DD abs really liked it and felt the side by side ones were a bit too wide for me as our house has narrow doorways

Ooh now I’m googling both of those and I like them too. I really need to go into a John Lewis or something and have a look once lockdown is over but don’t want to go all the way there to find out they only have single prams on display! We live in a small market town so I never get public transport but there are some narrow pavements in town so maybe the donkey would be too wide. I do like how big the silver cross basket underneath looks!

@Amelia891

I'd check ahead before visiting any shops - most of them don't have twin prams in store - they might have the Wave but not set up for twins but it will give you an idea of size

I went to John Lewis and a place called Baby Barn before lockdown for this exact reason. I was set on a Uppababy Vista big afternoon seeing them I think I’ve settled on a mountain buggy duet and buy the extra pieces to adapt for small babies. I preferred the idea of having them side by side after all my own research but the door width does concern me.

@ivfbeenbusy we have the Pioneer for DD and thinking about getting the Wave. DH does a fair bit of pram pushing and is 6ft 4 so lots of prams were too short with the exception of Silver Cross. Does the Wave extend as high as the Pioneer? (Assuming it does).

@Amelia891 the base basket in the Silver Crosses is huge and sturdy, DD likes to climb in it now and make a little bed in there! Not so much space with the pram top but loads of space when front facing pushchair mode.

Only thing I will say though is that the chassis is quite big and heavy.

@TheMagicDeckchair

Yes that was the main reason we got the silver cross as DH is also 6ft4 and he found it uncomfortable when we tried out other brands to stoop down when pushing. We had the wayfarer for DD.

Agree about the chassis being heavy though so not great if you regularly take the bus and need to collapse it to let wheelchairs on but I'll be walking everywhere in attempt to shift the weight once the twins are here! Abs hoping a heavier chassis will sort the bingo wings too 🤣

@ivfbeenbusy that’s good to know. We’ll probably get the Wave then, DH saw some good deals on EBay. Probably a bit soon yet as I’m only about 13 weeks. My bump looks more like 18 weeks though!

I spoke to the midwife today about hospital protocol. Apparently on the Labour ward partners can still only visit 1 hr a day! I desperately hope the restrictions are lifted by next spring as I just can’t imagine recovering from a twin birth whilst trying to look after two newborns. It was hard enough first time round with just DD. I had an awful experience of hospital last time around with DH helping loads and I’m dreading it being worse this time.

Yeah there are some good ones on eBay and I was going to get one from there but when I added up all the extras I'd need as many of them aren't for twins they are the baby/toddler ones it wasn't as much of a saving as I thought so I got mine when John Lewis had 10% off the other week

I'm dreading being on my own with 2 in the post natal ward too - plus I'm having a c section. From what I've heard they are trying to get people discharged within 24 hours but don't know if that includes twins and mummies? I'm expecting mine to come early as one is smaller than the other and I'm most afraid of having to leave one or both in NICU and not be able to see them

Hi all

Saw this thread and thought I would jump on to congratulate you all. I had b/g twins in April this year and they're just the best!

Can't recommend the mountain buggy duet enough, never struggled through a door!

Good luck to you all. X

Thank you @Snailandthewhale!

Can I ask - did you get the newborn cocoons as well or was the lie-flat just fine?

TiA!

@TheRedFox I got the carrycots too - they prob only lasted 4 months but they turn into parent facing seats (if you buy the carrycot+ bundle) which have been great.

Also I love being able to clip both car seats on with the car seat attachment, so handy!

@Snailandthewhale Ah I’m so pleased you jumped on as that’s the exact setup I’m looking into in the hopes that it takes me from newborn to toddler relatively easily once I’ve bought the carrycot+ and car seat attachment. It was the lightest one I tried out and seems to have everything I need.

Can I ask what carrycots you got? And for everyone else what ones you are looking at? I’ve been looking at a Joie I snug mostly because of weight.

Clarification! I mean car seats rather than carry cots in the last part.

@Gidget19 I'm honestly really impressed with the pram, it's the best purchase we made.

We have the joie I-gemm car seats, tbh I didn't do much research, I went to online4baby and they made a bundle for us, buggy, carrycots, nappy bag, isofix bases, car seats and attachments. The car seats are ok but I've had to buy new isofix to make the seat tilt. The bundle also came with rain cover for the double buggy, I had to buy the carrycot rain covers separately- I use these on the car seats too and think they work fine.

We paid £1200 for the bundle, we got the luxury herringbone

@Snailandthewhale thanks for sharing your story! I love to hear positive twin stories, everything else I read is about the negatives which doesn’t make me feel any better about the situation. Do you have any other children? DD is so demanding of our time, we have to constantly play with her or be dragged off to do something- I can’t think how two more will fit in.

@TheMagicDeckchair

I know what you mean, I had lots of negative comments (always from singleton parents) but it's great. I was lucky in that I had a really good worry free pregnancy, my twins were born at 37 weeks exactly via section.

We don't have anymore children, although I wouldn't rule it out.
How old is DD? I can imagine it being daunting but you'll manage and hopefully she can help out - two real life dolls to play with!

Great to read your posts on childcare, that's my main worry at the minute. We're trying to find a nursery.

Also here's a list of cars with 3 isofix
www.evanshalshaw.com/blog/used-cars-that-can-fit-3-child-seats/

I would recommend searching for local twin clubs, they give really great advice and lots of cheap/ free items to pick up! I bought a mini monkey sling and some extra car seats for grandparents. They usually meet up but because of covid that's not happened this year.

@TheMagicDeckchair

Sorry this was cut off for some reason...

I don't have anything to compare to as a ftm but I wouldn't say it's double the work. I feed one after the other and try to get them to nap together etc (not always successfully) so it takes longer but at least they want the same things

Don't get me wrong, I have been envious of friends who have recently had singletons thinking they have it easier but I suppose that's normal 🤷🏻‍♀️ I hope!
I won't take them out by myself if they both need feeding because I've had a few meltdowns and feel people staring, lockdown had been a blessing in some ways

@Snailandthewhale DD is almost 3. Mostly potty trained (a couple of night accidents recently) and can mostly feed herself etc. She is very caring so I hope she will enjoy looking after her little siblings!

Yeah childcare for two is a biggie. It’s very expensive for the first 2 - 2.5 years then you get the free hours at 3 which is a big saving. If you did decide to have another you could time it so that your eldest 2 get their free hours by the time the little one starts to spread costs. But you’ve plenty of time to think about another!

If all works out I will have 3 under 4 next year which was not my plan but at least it gets all the school runs etc done close together. And hopefully they will all be close- we can hope!

Great info @Snailandthewhale thanks for sharing!
@TheMagicDeckchair my DD is quite independent play wise but not potty trained yet and still has the sides up on her cot, 2 things I really want to have cracked before the twins arrive. She’s only just turned 2.5 though so trying not to rush her. I’m conscious that if you potty train too close to a new babies arrival though they can regress so feeling the pressure a bit!

We already had a maxi cosi pebble car seat for my DD so was planning to just get another one of those so they match for the pram adapters. But no idea how everything is going to fix isofix points wise, still figuring that out! Will have a look at that car link now @Snailandthewhale thank you!

So the Mountain Duo does have the option for toddlers to be parent facing? They don’t just have to go straight from bassinet style to toddler facing outwards?