Feeding Twins, Feeding Ourselves, & Working Full-Time
Working from home
Once Matt got home, I started work again. I'm really thankful for our employer. He was extraordinarily gracious to us, accepting our last-minute notice that I needed some time off. Later, he would also increase my hours/pay as our other part-time opportunities ended.
Priorities
Anyone who has tried to work from home with kids can imagine what those first couple months looked like. Cooking and cleaning took a back burner to feeding and changing babies. And when I wasn't doing either of those, I was focused on meeting my work deadlines. Well, until I was distracted by a cute baby. Here, you can see work on the table while my husband and I "ooh" and "aah" over cute baby faces.
Feeding ourselves
We ate one main meal per day and that was either cheap local food, a meal that someone brought us (one friend actually ordered us home-cooked dinners for a week!), or quick dishes I could pull together.
Even though babies, especially preemies, sleep a lot, they instinctively seem to know when it's time for mom and dad to eat :) It felt like we ate every meal with a baby in our arms. One time a friend came over and let us take our dinner downstairs while she watched the twins.
Dinner, hands-free!
Making plans
I like plans, so I tried to keep the babies on a regular sleeping/eating schedule. Most of the time, I found that the schedule changed weekly based on their needs and even when one kept to the timeline, the other wouldn't. Still, having that goal gave us something to work towards.
Colic ... "Witching" hours ... sickness ...
Those three phrases are enough to make any parent cringe.
With preemie babies, it seemed like "colic" or gassy tummies lasted a lot longer than usual. It wasn't until they were eight months old, or six months corrected age, that we finally noticed a difference. The "witching hours" (right around dusk when babies, in general, seem to get cranky) were tough. It was near the end of the day when we were tired and hungry and just before they were supposed to fall asleep.
Feeding the twins
We tried lots of solutions for colic and surviving the witching hours. And we looked for better, easier ways to feed the girls. Having the right "gear" was the most helpful way to handle all of it, I think.
Two of the big-ticket items that we bought were pre-loved vibrating rockers and strollers. As the girls started to move around more, it became harder to double-feed on my lap. I could feed them in the stroller and then walk them around our house to lull them to sleep.
Or I could double-feed in the rockers, and the vibrators usually soothed them.
When they were fussy, I preferred to hold them. But eventually they'd get frustrated with each other.
We also experimented with ways to be more efficient. We attempted pre-making formula for the day to just warm up at feeding time. We tried pre-scooped formula containers. But at the end of the day, there was no getting around the fact that 8 hours of our day was taken up with feeding the babies.
Next up ... month 2
Feeding the babies and feeding ourselves pretty well summarizes our first month :) In the second month, we take the babies out for the first time!
Going back:
- Surprise, we have twins! The story behind why I fell off the face of Planet Steemit...
- Babies Can Be Victims Of Human Trafficking Too
- Bringing Home The Twins
- They don't come with a manual | Taking care of twins
- Two love stories and understanding the twins' loss
See you every Sunday 7pm EST and Wednesday 7pm EST!
P.S. Thanks to healthy-home, homescoolkids, opti-mrs, and carlgnash for the upvotes and all the encouragement! You're challenging me to be better and persevere through the slow times :)
Hey! (I just saw your comment)Yeah I am a twin, we are identical. Are your twins identical?
I really don't know what kind of advice to give you, I'm sure my mother would have something to say though.. lol! My mom says that before we could speak we used to have a language that we would talk to each other that no one else could understand. She said it sounded like we were having full on conversations with each other but it was gibberish. (Which is weird)
We were pretty dependent on each other, socially, so when we went to kindergarten they decided to separate us into different classrooms.
Apparently we both went to full on rages after being separated (I assaulted my teacher I think lol) but in the end its for the best because if we weren't separated we would have just kept in our own little "twin world" and wouldn't have been able to form relationships or identities outside each other. So, when they get to school age, I would recommend separate classrooms even though it will be very difficult to watch.
We are still close now, she just bought a house about 7 blocks away from mine. :) If you have any specific questions let me know! Cant wait to see updates! Good luck :D
My twins talk to each other too! I've got a couple videos of it ... it's so cute! That's good to know about needing to become your own people :) I'm interested to see how they keep growing into their personalities. You can already see that they have their own. I'm planning on homeschooling, so I'll have to be a good teacher and make sure to teach to their differences. Do you have different learning styles?
The doctor thinks they're identical. But she isn't 100% because she wasn't the one who delivered them. Their discharge papers were 2 months after-the-fact and incomplete, so they didn't really say. However, they have the same birthmarks, folded ear, etc.
I really hope my twins stay close as they get older too! Would you say you're more dominant as the older one? The eldest (by 45 minutes) is physically very strong and I'm guessing she'll be the bossy one too ;) (I'm an oldest too by the way ... someone's gotta take charge!)
I think we have the same learning style, we both fall into the visual category.
Yeah, my sister and I are very close (but that doesnt mean we dont fight and get into arguments....lol) We were actually hoping she was going to find a house closer than she did buy but there was nothing closer. (We would have even moved literally next door to each other ideally! lol)
I am about an hour older, but I don't think of myself as the dominate one now (I might have been when we were younger.) I do tell her though that she should listen to me because I know a lot more, since I'm older, lol!
A lot of people ask me "what its like to have a twin" And I honestly dont know how to answer that because I don't know what its like not to have one, I usually say "Whats its like not to have a twin?" haha.
I think though having a twin means you have someone that can pretty much read your emotions/thoughts unlike anyone else, we can communicate by just looking at each other, and you feel the other ones emotions. I remember being in school and not wanting her there when I had to get up in front of the class and speak because I was so nervous, and she felt the same. Its because we both felt each others anxiety. If I embarrassed myself, she would feel it too. Its hard to explain!
I love this! I've wondered if they can read each other's thoughts/emotions... sometimes the way they look at each other ... I'll have to figure out how to describe it :)
Is your sister married too? I haven't read her articles yet. I wonder if the two of you will have twins?!
They definitely can or will be able to read each other!
My sister is engaged, I dont know what the future holds, I cant imagine taking care of twins, Im sure we drove my mother insane... you deserve a medal :)
Oh, I just noticed the schedule at the bottom... is that new? I didn't see it before!
Wow!
So... I am wondering how much cholic has to do with formula feeding. I have two friends that formula fed and both their babies went through dreadful boughts of cholic. ANd two friends and ourselves that nursed for 6 months or more and only ever went through mild and short cholic.
Like maybe some of the needed gut bacteria or something are developed more quickly in nursed babies. And slowly in bottle fed. And without the healthy gut fauna.... cholic.
Obviously that wasn't a choice for you. But hearing that the struggle with cholic was long is the same as my friends....
Oooh... and Life2 is that a graphic you made? That is great! I like it!
Thanks for the mention! Looking forward to Wednesday now!
<3
Yes, the schedule is new!! And so is the graphic! I was actually thinking about explaining why I decided to implement both in my next post :)
I totally agree about colic and formula feeding going hand-in-hand. They don't have breastmilk banks here (like in the US) so our doctor recommended that unless we knew the mother personally, we shouldn't use just anyone's ... (though many here do that).
Like you're saying, it's probably related to the gut bacteria since the colic improved as we introduced probiotic powder to their formula. (I also made water kefir and gave it to them but it was hard to keep up with.)
Sounds like we just solved one of parenting's hardest problems during baby's first months! :D We need to publish a book or something ;)
Well I think the schedule and graphic are both great!
As for the parenting book....... with e-books and all these days, That may not be such a far fetched thing to consider! :-)
Wow! Twins! What beautiful babies! You're an amazing mama! It must be hard sometimes with taking care of 2 babies at the same time, but i'm sure its so worth it!
Thanks so much for the encouraging words! Twins are double the work but double the fun too. They are in a really fun age now but I've told myself I have to catch up my blog before I start posting the recent things :)
Oh, havent had to go through that.
Sounds like you made it!
:D
By the way, which style of links do you prefer? I listed them at the bottom here, but if you look at my last post, I just did a quick index in the intro paragraph. I know you mentioned that I should be sure to include them, so just wondering which style you think works best :)
Actually, what Opti Mrs suggested will look pretty good I think. Give it a try and I'll give my opinion!
XD
Okay, I tried it out on the latest post, so let me know what you think! :D
Oh it looks great! Nice going!
Clear and easy to read and "use".
gj
I know this question was to justincase, but my opinion is:
At the very top say something like:
The beginning of this story Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
with the links in each word "Part x"
AND do it exactly as you have it here at the bottom with the Full titles typed out and links embedded.
So... not one or the other, but both.
<3
That's great! Thank you so much for your feedback! I want to cater to my readers, so I really appreciate it! <3 You're helping me become a better blogger! P.S. I checked your blog ... it looks like it's been awhile. But I liked the poem you posted. Anymore of those?