Twins!

[glasshalfsomething]

Biggest shock ever. Had a private 8 week scan today for reassurance and they’ve found twins! Two sacs, two heartbeats! Bloody hell. We were not expecting that.

Absolutely thrilled. Absolutely terrified.
Won’t be telling family until next weekend so desperately trying to sit on such good news.

Money will be tighter, but we’ll manage (until uni 😮).

Parents of twins. Give me the lowdown. Both the good and the bad?

I’ve not had twins but just wanted to say a huge congratulations to you xx 😘

Twins are the best! Mine are two now and are such a brilliant little duo. They entertain each other hugely and are content without hanging off my knee 24/7 (I'm looking at you, DS4!) and are tough too, perhaps as a result of not always being able to be scooped up the instant anything doesn't go their way. I was also terrified and delighted in equal measure but would say, put the terror aside - you've got a lot of fun ahead. Oh and take a lot of prenatal iron to stop the little darlings sucking you dry.

Twins are awesome. Massive congratulations mine start school I.. September. Best tip ever. Look up and join your local twins club. Mine has completely changed our lives !

Congratulations!

Agree look up and join your local twins club now, get al the info on prams and all the other paraphernalia you'll need.

Also look at joining TAMBA. I think they have rebranded as Twins Trust now, but they have lots of useful twin discounts.

Good luck with your pregnancy

Did they say if they are DCDA or MCDA?

How exciting, congratulations!! Did you have any inkling it was twins?! I'd love to be given that news... I have my first scan at 13 weeks tomorrow, not had a private one. Not told anyone either, just my husband. So hard sitting on the news it's killing me!!

No inkling at all @Ran88

@AriettyHomily - I’m not up on the lingo and acronyms yet but she did say it was the lower risk variation. Am I right in saying two placentas? I’ll be honest; I didn’t take everything in!

@villainousbroodmare and @BurnIt, that’s exactly what I needed to here. Will see what I can find locally.

Buggy wise, will trade in DDs single baby jogger for a double. An additional cot, new car seats (new car 😯?) and an additional baby chair and I think they will be the basics sorted. Oh, and some tiny baby clothes.

Any other twin essentials to add to the list?

And hope all goes well for you tomorrow @RaN88!

Congratulations! No advice, but pleased to see it's not your first child. I always think twins might be quite a nice addition to a family but probably a bit of a shock for your first...

My twins are 13 now. The shock of hearing that there was two of them is still a vivid memory!!

Twins are great - hard work at times but such a special bond and experience.

Will usually come early, you'll be big and tired (so potentially plan maternity leave to start earlier), the first few weeks will be a blur of sleepless nights. It will feel like one continuous cycle of nappy changing, feeding and crying .. and repeat.

But, I'm a twin and have had twins. Its so unique, they'll have a bond of shared experiences that nothing can replicate. They will entertain each other, be friends, bring you so much joy. Its like a little special club you're now invited to.

Twins are great at entertaining each other, settle each other when they sleep together, great ready-made friendship.
They're hard work at times but worth every minute.
You can't go out without being stopped a million times.
I only had one cot (they slept together). Bought a bigger car (because 3 car seats are difficult in a small car).
Mine are 11 now and are still the best of friends.
School uniform costs a fortune (I'm dreading uni!).
A midwife who'd had twins told me don't ever compare to when you had a singleton, do what you have to to get through this, you can have a natural birth and breastfeed if you want it won't be easy but it'll be worth it - she was so right.
Cogratulations and good luck.

@glasshalfsomething congratulations!! I found out2 weeks ago at my dating scam I'm expecting twins! Went for my screening scan today and saw the little munchkins again and they're looking good In there. I'm now13 weeks.
I've not told anyone other than one close friend that I'm expecting she also knows it's twins but when my partner has told his other son at the weekend I'm going to tell my family who are just going to die I think lol I have a little boy already who is just 16 months so all being well I'll have 3 under 2 😳. I do worry as they grow up my eldest will maybe feel a little left out with the twins having a different kind of sibling bond as they are identical twins too! Anyway we shall find out in time I'm sure!
Congratulations again!! Mad times ahead I think!! X

Mine are 6 months, and I'm home-schooling a shielding 5 yo and the babies largely ignore or annoy each other so i have no real takes of joy yet lol but I'm told it gets better lol.

Yes two placenta is the lowest risk, means they may or may not be identical. Huge congratulations

Oh, and some tiny baby clothes. nOt necessarily lol. Boys were 6lb 13 and 6!b 15 at 36 weeks. At 6 months they're comfortab!y in 9-12 month clothes. They're in clothes my first one wore at 12 months

@SleepingStandingUp you advice is useful, thanks, but you’re username concerns me 😂

Congratulations! No great advice (I’m only 8 weeks ahead of you). There’s a multiples board in the parenting forum, that’s a good place for advice.

Two placentas is good news. I’m pretty sure you’ll still have scans once a month after 12 weeks (mine share a placenta, so I have them every fortnight). I wouldn’t get tiny clothes just yet - because you’ll have scans more often you’ll know roughly how big they are going to be as they give a weight estimate at the scans, so I’d suggest getting newborn sizes and leave tiny till a bit later - if they come earlier than expected, they are fine to be a bit loose! My DD was a bit early so her newborn clothes swamped her, but they were fine for 2 days until DH could pick up some smaller ones. She looked kind of cute with her sleeves hanging over her

No rush yet, but I’ve started thinking about what things I’ll need 2 of and what I can get away with just using DDs old one e.g. DD’s beside bed cot was quite big, so I’m planning on just sticking both in there for as long as possible. But a double pram will be necessary (there are very few doubles that are baby-facing, btw, if that matters to you, so eBay is a good call) and eventually I’ll need a second high chair etc. Might be worth checking over your budget - ours is a little tight as I’d assumed I could just use all DDs stuff again and would only need to pay for 1 lot of childcare. It’s a bit early now, but if you put the word out that you would be happy to receive hand-me-downs, you might get a fair amount of stuff - it’s particularly good when they are tiny because it probably won’t have been worn many times!

If you have sure start centres in your area, they probably have a twins group one day a fortnight. Obviously not running at the moment, but I’m hoping they’re open again by the time I have mine as I’m sure knowing some local twin mums will be helpful.

Cheers @crazychemist. Have reworked my necessities list. Thankfully kept most of DDs baby things and the rest are out on loan. Will call them back in on time and think we’ll be ok for the small amount we need to buy.

Childcare does concern me slightly, husband is working through a cash flow projection for next three years as I type!

We found having a nanny worked better for us when I went back to work. I work 4 days a week compacted and so does my husband. I have them one day a week and so does he so we only needed 3 days a week childcare. Until we got funded hours st 3. Having a nanny made it so easy. Shed arrive at 7 and I could get off to work for 8 and hubby left at 4 so would be home for 5ish. I found her through twins club as she also has twins!

We had the out n about nipper as it wasnt expensive, it folded up nicely and was suitable from birth although we did buy the basinets. It's very light to push. Other popular twin options are the mountain buggy duet and the baby city mini jogger. The majority of other twin mums had these or swapped to one of these.

One cot to begin with is plenty. We started out with moses baskets and they lasted until they went in their own room at 7 months

Controversial but I had a tomee tippee perfect prep machine and it was fabulous. Best buy for us ever.

We bought a 2nd hand Cmax grand. Sliding doors are a god send and a massive boot.

I had monthly scans until 20 weeks then I had appointments every other week. It gets intense at the end. My consultant was very much pro natural birth. I was induced at 36+4 and one popped out and the 2nd was not budging so had a csection anyway 😂 home after 3 days.

Its been hard work as we literally have NO help. But so worth it. They're amazing little souls and mostly play nicely together. It's been invaluable during lockdown I don't know how parents with o.e have managed!

And yes. People love twins and you WILL be stopped every 2 seconds. A 5 minute trip can take an hour. I called it the twin tax 😂

[quote glasshalfsomething]@SleepingStandingUp you advice is useful, thanks, but you’re username concerns me 😂[/quote]
It predates them, the eldest was an awful sleeper from 18 months but the sleep dep with twins is hard. Sounds obvious if he did it with your first one but make sure Dad does his share at least. He has to do nappies, if you bottle he has to do feeds. If you're breast feeding he has to pick the slack up elsewhere. He has to do more with your eldest. He to do more housework. It's the only hope of sanity you have. Doesn't matter if 6 hours after having your first you whipped up Sunday lunch for 20, they're will be 2 of the little beasties this time

Controversial but I had a tomee tippee perfect prep machine and it was fabulous. Best buy for us ever.
Seconded.

@SleepingStandingUp - he’s currently in shock, but actually great at taking on at least his share...although I still think we’ll be in for a surprise at how much there is to do!!

Perfect Prep will be dug our the attic: ideally I’ll get to combi feed, and would prefer a c-section. But I’m under no illusions about plans going out the window so the next few months will be go with the flow!

congrats! my surprise twins are scheduled for a c-section next friday and i am scarecited but i think about as prepared as i can be.

ours are also the 'lower risk' kind - DCDA (two placentas, two sacs), and i haven't found pregnancy too terrible. that is to say, i've felt generally awful, with morning sickness through to around 25 weeks, then when that started to ease off is around the time that my hip and pelvic pain started which has been miserable. the last 6-8 weeks i literally haven't been able to lie down due to hip pain so that is not fun. recommend getting a decent maternity pillow and support band early on to help you.

it's also knackering carrying two babies around - they're bloody heavy! but aside from that i have had a relatively straightforward pregnancy, no iron deficiencies, no GD, generally well at all my appointments.

i have found that i've had excellent care during the pandemic which i think is probably due to having twins, where some single mamas have unfortunately found their care to be a bit lacking.

oh bugger i hit enter before i meant to :(

despite my pregnancy generally being straightforward, an issue was identified at my 32 week scan with one of the twins bloodflow and growth, and ive been monitored weekly since then and will be delivering a little bit early at 36+5 - though i am pretty ready to have them out of me now! and like i mentioned i have felt like i've had really good care and generally have been well looked-after.

in terms of prep / stuff, we have:

• a cot for our room - planning on keeping them in this together until 6months depending on how quickly they grow out of it, then moving into their own room into separate cots probably

• we got a preloved icandy peach tandem pram - we live in a narrow victorian terrace and a double pram was just never going to happen, though a lot of twin parents i have met really love the bugaboo donkey. we're planning on using the pram bassinets for downstairs / daytime naps so at least it's a bit multifunctional which makes me feel better about how expensive it was even preloved.

• we had to get a new car! our hyundai i10 was not going to cut it for two car seats lol. we've gone with the joie 360 spin car seats - i figured that being able to spin them around to get babies in and out more easily was fully neccessary with two babies to deal with, and they supposedly last up to 4 years so we only need to fork out once.

• 2x bouncer/rocker chairs - we got the kinderkraft felio rocker which is adorable i can't wait to put babas in them. hope they like them.

• 2x boppy pillows... not sure how neccessary these will be but they're reeeallly cute

2x sling wraps (we went with the Hana wrap)

• i'm hoping to breastfeed but want to express too so my husband can help and also as i'll be going back to work before they're 6months old. so i have got a double breast pump (the ardo calypso) and the tommee tippee electric steriliser kit. depending on how bf goes i have no idea how much or little i will need these but i like to be prepared!

also as someone noted above, i recommend joining Twins Trust - there are a few good discounts available for picking up general stuff, plus they have lots of support and info on their site. i also recommend the Emma's Diary phone app for good discounts on things like furniture and car seats etc

congrats again and good luck with your pregnancy and new babies!