Time for a TWINS thread !!!!!

[smellymelly]

There seem to be a few mums with twins on Mumsnet now, and a few new mums like me, and some expecting quite soon.

So I thought it would be great to have our own thread, as things are different when you are looking after 2 babies.

I also have a ds of 5, and a dd of 2.4, so we have busy house now. I had B/G twins 6 weeks ago and we are doing well.

Are we all too busy to post?

MMMM - I do have a v-shaped pillow, but dd2 has already rolled off once , thankfully only onto the sofa! It is better on the bed, but I don't like going upstairs in the day time.

Does anyone have any invaluable advice for us.

Mine would be, use colic drops! And feed them together as often as possible...

it takes practice smelly. Lots and lots of practice.

my best advice, that was given to me that I would give, is to make sure they are woken to feed at the same time. Keeping them in sync is the key!

definitely agree - keeping them in sync (particularly in the early days) mad the difference between complete insanity and mild derangement . It is the one case when not waking a sleeping baby is to be ignored.

And sleep whenever you can - stuff everything else.

New to the site! What are these codes, dd, ds etc? Perhaps being so tired is just making me thick? I have twin boys who are 2, they are at the fighting stage but atleast they sleep through the night. Agree with the comment made yesterday, definately feed them at the same times etc, always put mine down to sleep at the same time aswell and didn't worry if one woke the other, they soon got used to ignoring each other. It's great in an ideal world to give them individual time, but they are exhausting and I needed/you'll need a break. I also have a girl of 10 and another boy of 7(daughter was gutted at the scan when they said 2 boys, but she does love them!)

Hi toomanypushchairs and welcome to the site.

'D' stands for 'Dear or darling'
SO - DH - husband
DP - partner
DS - son
DD - daughter
DT - twins

I'm expecting twins any day now and will no doubt be calling on your knowledge and experience soon Once again, welcome!

hi toomany, welcome to mumsnet. I have DS1 (12), DD1 (10), DD2 (6) and DTs (1 next Fri).

It's great here. Lots of fun, laughter, tears, advice and the odd row. A proper community. Have fun!

thanks for the explanation! Bubble99 Hope your twins arrive soon.Mine were born at 37+3 by c-section, as both my first 2 were induced I managed to convice consultant that they wouldnt come by themselves. Plus they were huge and I could barely walk,(born at 6lb15 & 7lb4) are you expeting big babies?

Hi to all twin mums and soon to be twin mums! I have non identical twin boys 12 weeks old, just kicking away under their play gym at present. I have found it tough but great fun so far - would be interested to know peoples experiences of how they sleep! I have just got them down to one feed a night, normally at around 3am and am hoping that soon this will get later and later until they sleep through. Also at what age did Mums wean their twins? I am going back to work in May and that is when they will be 6 months - I would like to do it before then...anyone think this would be a good thing?

They are estimated to be whoppers toomany pushchairs- nearly 71b apiece at last scan 2 weeks ago. I've got a scan tomorrow and a 'sweep' on Wednesday and I'm not leaving the clinic without a date for induction. I'm being coached by the marslady, like you were I am now in pain, DH will push me in a wheelchair and I'm going to bawl my eyes out until I get what I want

My plan was to see my consultant and cry if needed, when she tried to tell me to come back the next week I didn't need to try and cry. It worked! I hope you have the same luck. Harrogatemum, my twins are also non-id boys. You've done well to get them down to just one night feed. Mine seemed to go on for ages. In the end I gave up at 14weeks. I gace them some food. They slept all night! 10pm till 6am anyway. That was it, I didn't rush the food but I did continue. Rules always change. I have an older dd 10yrs and a ds 7yrs. It used to be the rule that you could feed them at 12wks, they are both doing okay so I wasn't too worried. My mum said she gave me rusk in my bottle at 8wks and fed me a couple of weeks later, i'm 32 and okay. Imagine rusk in the bottle now! the hv would have a fit!

Hi harrogate. I remember 12 weeks. My DTs will be one on Friday. Time flies. DT1 is a terrible sleeper at the moment. As soon as she got her first tooth she decided that she didn't need to sleep anymore. Now I can't leave her to cry because she throws up. Such joy. DT2 loves his sleep but she likes to walk on him and wake him, or failing that to chuck up on him. Might be time for separate cots, except for the fact that they settle better with the other one there and I can't be ar*ed just yet. I don't think that there are any hard and fast rules, but to be honest I'm too knackered to care. I'm loving having them though. Currently they are like puppies. Forever crawling all over each other, me, DH and the other kids.

Bubble: don't forget, heart-wrenching sobs! and BubbleDH, tell the consultant how hard you find it to have her suffer like this

Thanks Mars Lady and too many pushchairs! I dont put mine in the same cot - well tonight is their first night in their cots...maybe I should put them in together for a while? So far they have slept in separate Moses Baskets and last night was even better - they woke at 4am!
Bubble - I was induced at 39.5 weeks despite my midwife laughing at me and saying that "we never induce twins!" when I went to my 38 week appointment. Mine were both 5lb 15oz despite being told that they would be about 7lb!

Hi guys

The scan went well.Twin 1 still vertex and engaged - estimated weight 7lb12oz. Twin 2 has turned transverse(ish) due to lack of space - est. weight 6lb13oz. Sweep tomorrow which I hope will get things moving. Major housework session booked tomorrow, with me 'supervising' of course and DH and MIL doing the work. The place is such a tip at the moment-I can't face going into labour and coming home to this. I've just been too knackered to do anything lately.

Hi bubble, glad the scan went well, hope sweep does too... Am I right to presume your's are identical? Most twins i've heard of with big weight differences seem to be, or is that just coincidence?

big difference in size with mine toomany and they are boy/girl.

glad scan went well bubble. No leaving hospital without them tomorrow.

Hi,
I jsut had my 32 week growth scan yesterday, and twin b is measuring 5lb1 and twin a is 4lb5, this seems huge for 32 weeks - I'm scared!!! It is a fair difference in weights too, they aren't identical. I'm getting bad cramps a lot int he evenings so kind of hoping maybe to go into labour early, although neither are engaged yet. Twin b is ceph and a is breech at present. A has been causing my rib probs, seems that his head is ramming into my ribs.
Good luck with the sweep bubble, how can you fit two seven pounders in there?? Can you still walk?

Kelly - I kept waiting for one of mine to engage but they never did - had waters broken at 39.5 weeks but everyones experience is different of course! Dont think they would engage this early anyway, I think its normally about 37 weeks ish. You want to keep them in there as long as you can...I know you probably dont feel like it as you probably feel like the size of a house I know I did, spent last 6 weeks of pg on sofa only getting up to waddle to the fridge and the loo!

Bubble - any news??

also Kelly, just because the hospital scan has told you a particular size they have been known to be wrong before. They told me that mine were on course to be a min of 7lbs each. DT1 was 4lbs 5 and DT2 was 5lbs 1

thinking of you bubble

5lbs 14

Had my Sooty and Sweep this morning at 10am. Prior to that I'd been asked if I wanted a CS or not. I've decided to try for a normal delivery with epidural. My cervix is apparently 'soft' but still a long way back. I've had some brownish discharge (sorry if you're eating at the moment) and a few stronger Braxton Hicks so hopefully things are moving along. I'm booked for induction next Wednesday evening when I'll be 39 weeks. I chose the evening as the weekend before last I had to go in to the antenatal ward for a 24hr urine collection (protein) and I was shocked at the amount of women who'd come in for Prostin gel on Monday morning. Four of them were started off and there was no room on labour ward, these poor women were going through early to mid labour, behind curtains in a ward packed with visitors. The MW today said that I'd be classed as a 'special delivery' (does that mean someone has to sign for me ) and I should hopefully get a single room throughout.

So, news and no news really. Managed to get the place tidied up a bit today, my EZ2nurse BF pillow arrived today and we put together the urban detour pushchair. Quickly realised it won't fit through the front door - Doh! But it looks snazzy and seems easy to steer.
MTMML - No tears or wheelchair required. I could have asked to be induced this week but we decided in the end to wait for next week and half term when we've got lots of help available for the boys (7 and 4 years old)

Did any of you have sweeps before your twins arrived?

Bubble, just read in Tamba mag about a lady who had triplets at 37 weeks - 6lb, 5.12 and 5.12, so at least you've only got 2 of them in there. How triplet mums do it is beyond me. Good luck

Good luck Bubble!! Had my twins normally with an epidural and it was just great. Had to have some sort of 'pessary' or something hours before to start me off, not a 'sooty and sweep' though lol!

Hope it all goes well for you - enjoy, it'll be wonderful and overwhelming Wonder what you'll have?!

I'm guessing twin 1 is a boy and twin 2 is a girl. It's really exciting not knowing!

Well done bubble, good decision. At least knowing that you can get through half term helps you get through another week pregnant. I do think though that you should go into labour really late on Thursday and have pinky and perky on Friday. That's when my DTs will be 1 I can't believe that I gave birth just before half term last year. Time has flown.

No sweeps here. The DTs were transverse (lying sideways) and not at all stable, plus one of the cords was lying across my cervix, so no chance of a vaginal birth for me. The little darlings kept turning so one minute they were vertex then they were breech, then transverse etc ad nauseum... My consultant decided to do an elective section. The anaethetist was absolutely gorgeous though so I wouldn't have changed a thing lol

At least you sound happy bubble. Good girl! I hope you are right about your mixed bag. Though being completely biased and having no personal experience of same sex twins, I do so love my mixed bag. Despite DT1's lack of sleep. There she goes again. Grrrrrrrrrr................