Due anytime Summer 2012

[mhv]

Hi ladies.  I know it's kind of early for me, being only 7wks 5days along, to start this, but I wanted to start sharing this journey with others due around the same time as me.

I know many of us (me included) are afraid to put ourselves out there this early, afraid that something might go wrong, but I have known so many of you for you long, that I just couldn't wait any longer to start sharing experiences with you.  I have never been this far along in a pregnancy, and am so sure I am going to have tons of questions.

I am expecting twins, and am still in shock! :)  We have a due date of Aug 9th, but It will probably be more like July 26th, due to it being twins
I feel pretty good most of the time,  but if I don't eat every 2-3 hrs, the babies let me know it!

Just wondering how everyone else is feeling, and wondering if anyone else has questions we can help each other with....

Hugs!!!

[hayley85]

Thats a great routine. My babies don't have a strict routine as such. But I am giving them 2 solid meals a day. Yara goes through phases of not wanting to drink her milk and then now not wanting solids for some reason. Shes very difficult by nature and not as easy going as Yazan. I have to be very careful of how I speak with her and not try to force her to eat or drink because boy or boy does she understand?? shes very cleaver and will always have her way. So the past 2 days shes completely refused eating from a spoon so I have been hand feeding her like a bird LOL. Yazan eats well but has a very sweet tooth, loves fruits and custards more than vegetables. A lot of food goes to waste, If I cook them something or open a bought jar and if they don't like it, that just goes to waste. I try to give it to them the next day, but they will wont eat it. So its their way or the highway. Cheeky monkeys but I love them to bits. :)

Yara at the moment is ALMOST crawling, she shuffles all around the house and belly crawls while yazan rolls and rolls and rolls all around the house. They are too quick for me. Its amazing watching them grow each day.

we are planning on going overseas to Jordan in August and im dreading the flight journey. We will have to fly 11 hours straight to Dubai. I cant bare the thought of yara and yazan screaming for 11 hours. I already feel sorry for the people who will sit next to us. If anyone has any advice about traveling by plane and bottle feeding, that would be great.

Hope everyone is well and all babies are having and thriving :) xoxo

[juana105]

Thanks a lot!!! It's a lot of info. I will try oatmeal cereal with fruit because Jacob seems to hate the rice one.
I try to give him variety of baby food - stage one and two, but so far he only likes squash, tolerates apples, prunes, carrots, apricots, bananas and I think he's a little allergic to pears - will have to re-check it.

Yeah, Jacob fights with me really hard when I try to force him to do tummy time. He actually fights me when I try to force him to do anything.

He still doesn't like to be on his tummy. He prefers back and sides, especially left side. He's starting to sit without help more and more and seems to really enjoy it. He also tries to stand next to his toy train, but his legs are still shaky ;-)

I think he may skip crawling. I just remember one nurse's words that babies who don't crawl don't develop special wiring in their brain that helps them later on when they are more advanced. I know that I didn't crawl (my mom told me) and I developed normally, so maybe it's a lot of fuss about nothing...
Sending hugs to you and your boys!!!

[butterflybabies]

I can tell you my boys were eating 4-5oz every 4-5hrs for what seemed like forever. Then one day they started drinking 6oz every 5-6hrs (weird it's like every oz filled them for an hour) then for the past month they eat 6oz every 4hrs. We feed them single grain oatmeal. It's easier to digest then rice cereal. They get it in every bottle due to the reflux they had. They still have it but not as much. I'm trying to slowly cut down on the cereal in the bottle cause its really thick and they don't know how to drink normal liquid. I give them watered down juice in a sippy cup but have to pace them cause they will choke , they are not used to thin liquid. My big concern is when they go to regular milk it won't be thick they won't know how to drink it. But here is our schedule:

Wake up at 7am, have a 6oz bottle then back to bed till 9am.
9am- get dressed and go in the jumperoos
10am- bowl of oatmeal with fruit in it and sippy cup of juice. Then in the summer infant seats for playtime.
11am- 6oz bottle , then in the walker and walk around the house.
12p- play on the floor or the jumperoo. Then snack of the gerber puffs cereal snacks.
1p or 2p- nap
3p or 4p wake and have 6oz bottle
4-5p- in the walker
6p- stage 2 veggie or meat dinner. (They won't eat stage 3 they don't like the texture and just gag on it)
6p till 8 or 9p- play on the floor, then 6oz bottle then bed.

My boys won't eat table food. I try to give them a taste of whatever we eat and they will take a few bites then after that they will gag with anymore I give them. They are just not ready. I think Jacob will definetly let you know when he's ready for different kinds of food. We don't worry to much about the baby food, there are some days we don't even get to give them a veggie jar food for dinner and that's ok since formula is more important and them eating baby food or table food is practice for when they are done with formula. They do always get oatmeal with fruit in the morning. They actually get excited for it. My boys don't do strictly tummy time. I just let them play. They will roll all over the house. And I think by just letting them be they enjoy being on their tummies and when they get sick of it they roll and play with their feet then they will roll back to tummy and play then on their backs again and it's constant back and forth. Maybe just let him roll around and he will spend time on his tummy. I think at this age if you make him be strictly on his tummy he will fight you. Our babies are smart they purposely drive us crazy lol. I've become really laid back about their developement. Every baby developed at their own pace. Before I worried about so much but then realized after they've reached milestones I was so worried about that I really didn't need to worry. They will figure it out when they are ready. And don't worry about the crawling half of babies skip crawling. My boys don't crawl. They pull themselves around on their tummies and if something is out of reach they have figured out that if they roll around a little they will get closer to the toy lol so no need to actually get up and crawl lol

[juana105]

Wow! Your schedule is just perfect!
I think that either I am not well organized or Jacob really is a rare example of almost 8-month old wanting to drink his milk every 2.5 hours...
He's still not into baby food that much - he usually eats 1/2 of the 2 oz jar twice a day or 1/4 of 4 oz jar but I have to force him to finish his portions.
I was kind of hoping that he will start eating solids pretty well before we go to Poland in May... I already shipped lots of formula over there ( I am staying almost 3 months) but my parents grow fruits and veggies and I thought that Jacob would enjoy that organic and delicious food ( I certainly will :-))
Oh, I tried to feed Jacob rice cereal today but he hated it... I will try to mix it with fruit tomorrow.
Do your lil ones started liking tummy time? My Jacob still doesn't like it - I don't know why, because I try to really entertain him while he's on his belly.
Well, I have no other choice but watch him closely for 5 minutes 3 times a day and force him (he's really strong and stubborn) to turn back to his belly when he tries to roll over.
I start suspecting that he's just a lazy baby lol He likes to lie on his back or side a lot and to be carried around the house. He tries to stand up, though, when supported, so I guess (I know it's probably bad) he will skip the crawling stage.

What a great idea with swimming lessons! My Jacob loves water so he would enjoy it too, I think.
And the vacation - I think you will do great with both of them - they are getting used to it right now, so they should be pretty content and comfy during hiking. Just don't forget sunglasses and hats for your munchkins :-)

[mhv]

The twins are getting so big, and changing so much :). We have them enrolled in a swim class, they have been in it for 6 wks, and they LOVE it :).  They have 6 wks left.  It is 1 day a week.  They learn to kick, kick, kick, and splash, splash, splash, and chase their rubber duckies through the pool (us holding them of course, lol).  It wears them out!!!!  It is so fun to watch them grow :)

We are taking them on their first real vacation at the end of May.  We are going to go to Gatlinburg with my in laws for 3 days and 4 nights. . We have been starting to carry them in backpacks to get them used being in the, some can hike some.   I have also started taking them for an at least 1 hour walk a day in their stroller, to get them used to that also.

I plan on starting to give them their afternoon naps in their pack and plays so they get used to sleeping in them.  


Does anyone have ANY suggestions to help make our trip the easiest and most enjoyable??  I am sooo open to any suggestions :)

[mhv]

My babies both let me know when they are hungry for formula, and I feed them.  I don't think at this age we can "over feed" them, as they stop when they are full.  I don't think you should worry about that,  my babies are quite chunky too, but their babies...shouldn't they be? Lol.

I feed them oatmeal or rice cereal in the a.m. After they 6oz bottles, with fruit in it.  I feed them from a spoon. I then give them lunch of a couple crackers or cookies (baby food). And a stage 3 food jar or a stage 2 container of food, split between the 2 of them.  They then drink about 4 oz of formula.   Dinner is about the same, and then 6 oz before bed.  They don't always finish their bottles, they stop,when they are full.  I think Jacob will too.

They will start losing weight when they become more mobile.  They cannot help when they are hungry.   The twins used to nap about 3 hrs after waking, for 30 min, then a 2 hr nap in the afternoon then another 30 min nap in the evening, but in the past couple weeks those 2 30min naps have disappeared, and they are down to a 2-2 1/2 hr afternoon nap.