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  1. #1
    mommyoftwo is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Default Panicked and overwhelmed

    I used to be on here constantly but my youngest is 7 so haven't been on here regularly for a long time. After years of trying to get pregnant again we are pregnant with twins. It has been a very difficult pregnancy filled with many complications. I've been so scared about losing one or both babies that I put off doing any research or buying things. I'm now 21.5 weeks pregnant and we are hoping that I make it to 34 weeks. I'm the kind of person that likes to do extensive research on everything before deciding what I want. Yesterday I realized that I really don't have all that much time left and I'm on bed rest and will be for the rest of my pregnancy so I can't go try anything out in person. Plus I have to travel an hour away to get to a large enough city that has stores with baby gear. We live in a small town of 4,000. I know the furniture needs to be ordered asap. To top it all off I'm sleeping terribly (about 3-4 hours in 24) so my ability to concentrate and think rationally is severely compromised most days. It's been so long since I had a baby and I certainly have not had the experience of multiples before so I'm really feeling overwhelmed. I'm sure I will have some specific questions once I start doing some research but I would really appreciate suggestions on what to get. Here are the things that we do have.

    One crib (need to order a matching one)
    One Ocean aquarium swing
    One Rainforest jumperoo
    one graco snug ride that expires in Dec 2013
    One dresser with changing pad
    a good selection of baby carriers (I saved them all from my girls)
    Some burp clothes, blankets, and bibs
    A handful of preemie and newborn onesies, sleepers and outfits.
    baby bedding
    diaper pail and wetbag for cloth diapers
    2 boppies
    purely yours breast pump but I expect to rent a hospital grade pump at least while they are in the NICU

    I'm pretty sure that's it and it's a pretty pathetic list. We didn't have much worth saving from the girls. We can afford to get whatever we need but I want to get the most for my money and I hate overpaying for things or buying things that we don't need. Oh, one more thing. I expect these babies to be quite small and not grow quickly. My two girls who were full term (one was a week late!) were 6 pounders and grew very slowly. My youngest wore preemie clothes for almost 4 months. They are both still quite petite for their age.
    Last edited by mommyoftwo; 09-17-2012 at 09:38 PM.
    Jessica

    Mommy to:

    Amelia (11/21/03
    Linnea (9/1/05)
    Annaliese (12/21/12)
    Kirsten (12/21/12)

  2. #2
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    Default

    congratulations on your double blessing!!!

    and big hugs for a rough pregnancy.

    i can make some recommendations of things but more than anything, i would say it's all just stuff and not worth getting stressed out about.

    my girls slept in their swings at first - not saying that was a great idea - but it was what we did to get by. so we definitely needed 2 swings.

    they also used the boppies a lot for feeding and other stuff so we needed 2 boppies.

    i didn't have sophie the giraffe but in retrospect, i would have bought 2 of them.

    one of my twins could use a podee (the other was born with cleft lip and palate) and the podee was a huge lifesaver - http://www.podee.com/

    these were also a lifesaver - http://www.bottlesnugglers.com/

    are you sensing a NEED AN EXTRA HAND theme!!

    for bath time - i bathed the girls in this - http://www.amazon.com/The-First-Year.../dp/B000067EH7 - in the kitchen sink for a long time - it was much easier to manage than dealing with the two of them in a tub.

    this is my pinterest board with some other things i really liked (not just for newborns though) - http://pinterest.com/hko/kid-products-that-i-love/

    i got a nice stroller (baby jogger city classic double) when the kids were probably about 9 months old and it was a fantastic purchase - really really improved my mobility and ability to go shopping at target solo.

    loved the miracle blankets as well.

    hope this is helpful!!

  3. #3
    mommyoftwo is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Thanks for responding! I recognize your user name from before when I was on here all the time. It's nice to "see" a familiar name.

    Both our girls slept in a swing at some point. Linnea slept in a swing until around 18 months I think because she had such horrible acid reflux. She stayed super tiny so size was not an issue. I'm thinking we will need several since we live in a large two story home and I don't want to be lugging things up and down or having to go upstairs any time they need to be set down.

    We also used miracle blankets for her and they were a HUGE lifesaver. Don't know how we ever survived before we got them. I'll definitely check out the other things you suggested. Even though I'm planning on exclusively breastfeeding if possible (I have great milk supply and we always joked that I had enough for twins. Guess we'll find out now. ) I'm expecting we will need to use bottles in the NICU and sometimes at home so my husband or daughters can give me a hand. Are there any bottles that are better for preemies?

    I'm still trying to figure out the whole car seat/stroller thing. The keyfit seems to be suggested most often for preemies but I've also read that it's not compatible with a lot of strollers. That's going to take some thought and research I'm sure.
    Jessica

    Mommy to:

    Amelia (11/21/03
    Linnea (9/1/05)
    Annaliese (12/21/12)
    Kirsten (12/21/12)

  4. #4
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    No advice on the twins, but saw your username and had to pop in to say Congratulations!! I remember you from the CD boards back when my DD1 was a baby. Praying that the rest of your pregnancy is uneventful and peaceful.
    Allison

    DD1 11/05
    DS 04/08
    DD2 11/11

  5. #5
    mommyoftwo is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    It's so fun to reconnect with people I know! Yay and thanks for the congratulations. I wasn't sure if anyone would actually recognize me so this is a pleasant surprise.
    Jessica

    Mommy to:

    Amelia (11/21/03
    Linnea (9/1/05)
    Annaliese (12/21/12)
    Kirsten (12/21/12)

  6. #6
    Tondi G is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Awww CONGRATS Jessica and welcome back to the board!

    I would probably buy another cradle swing

    you might consider getting a couple of these ... people these days seem to really love them (especially for reflux babies).

    http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-N...ce+rock+n+play

    You will need at least one new infant car seat ... and I know a lot of twin parents say that the double snap n go stroller was one of the most helpful items for twins in the very beginning.

    Aden and Anais muslin blankets are well liked ... great for swaddling cause they are thin and stretchy but super soft.

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...products%2C210

  7. #7
    jam224 is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by mommyoftwo View Post
    I'm still trying to figure out the whole car seat/stroller thing. The keyfit seems to be suggested most often for preemies but I've also read that it's not compatible with a lot of strollers. That's going to take some thought and research I'm sure.
    I'm not sure which SnugRide you have now, but it looks like the SnugRide 30 is good for babies 4 pounds up to 30 pounds: http://www.amazon.com/Graco-SnugRide...dp/B005DQ569Q/. I was also going to suggest a double Snap n Go: http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Trend-Dou...dp/B000LEI82W/

    I don't know if you're a gadget-type person, but it might be helpful to have an Itzbeen for each girl, to help you keep track of their feedings: http://www.amazon.com/Itzbeen-Baby-C...dp/B000MEB3GE/. And I don't know if you're interested in getting a white noise machine, but we really liked the Sleep Sheep: http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Travel-M...dp/B000J6CDY6/.

    Personally, I loved the Bjorn Babysitter and Leachco Podster as extra sets of hands. (I didn't want to take a chance on a swing, when I've heard not all babies like them.)

    And kind of random, but I did like this bottle brush with stand from Oxo: http://www.amazon.com/Bottle-Brush-N...dp/B0038JDVCE/. Along the same lines, I really liked the Medela microwave bags for sanitizing bottles and pump parts: http://www.amazon.com/Medela-Quick-C...dp/B000096QQ5/

    Hope that helps! Congrats!!
    Jennifer
    SAHM to DD1 (11yo) and DD2 (5yo)

  8. #8
    twowhat? is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Honestly you sound like you're in very good shape, except that you need car seats for sure. When I was pregnant, I put off the car seat purchase until I was almost 30 weeks, so I totally get that feeling of not wanting to "commit" with baby purchases.

    You will probably want some more burp clothes, and another wet bag if you plan to cloth diaper (and of course cloth diapers/wipes - I did prefolds and covers with my twins and it was easy and prefolds are SO easy to wash).

    Even if you plan to cloth diaper, I'd get 2 weeks worth of disposables to start you off. That really helped me (though I realize I'm coming from the perspective that my twins were my first so I knew NOTHING! Since you have older kids, you will probably adjust more easily).

    You will probably want more basic clothing (will you have a baby shower? If so then I'd say just buy a few basic onesies in preemie/smaller sizes)

    I'd get a basic set of bottles even if you plan to breastfeed. Get breastmilk storage bags. And cloth or disposable breast pads for leakage. Nursing tank optional but I really found the Bravado ones to be great to have because they're nice enough to wear out. I still wear mine to sleep in LANOLIN!!!! You will need lanolin if you breastfeed, and even if you don't you can always use the lanolin on diaper rashes or chapped lips.

    Have a supply of diaper rash cream and clotrimazole (for yeast diaper rashes) on hand. Aveeno diaper rash cream worked great for us and I appreciated that there was no scent.

    Mild baby shampoo for when you start baths (we use ours in a foam pump because it makes it so much easier to rinse clean)

    Lotion. Esp since it'll be winter! You can use whatever works on babies' skin. we use Cerave since ours had eczema. We still use it after every bath.

    Swaddles (either the Aden & Anais blankets if you're willing to swaddle "manually" - we had these and adore them), or get a swaddle system.

    Somethiing for tummy time. It doesn't have to be a playmat, can just be a good thick blanket to throw on the floor.

    Something for reflux. Even if they don't have bad reflux - don't all babies by definition have reflux? - a wedge or nap nanny to set them in after feeding goes a long way to preventing lots of spit-up.

    I wouldn't even worry about things like high chair at this point - you've got a few months to work out what you like and then get them.

    Having 2 bouncers was essential for us but this is totally dependent on the babies. You can get away with just one for now, esp since you already have a swing.

    Do you have a 2-story house? If so, a safe place to put baby (for triage purposes) both downstairs and upstairs would be super helpful (for example, if cribs are upstairs, keep a pack n play or something similar downstairs)

    Good luck
    Last edited by twowhat?; 09-18-2012 at 10:14 AM.

  9. #9
    mommyoftwo is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    For being on bed rest I had a really crazy day and very little time to look at the computer. Thank you for all of the helpful suggestions and keep them coming. I'm going to look through everything and post a response tomorrow when I can think straight. I'm exhausted tonight. Again, I don't know how I get so tired when all I do is sit here although to be fair I did have two doctor's appts today so I was out of the house. Still I'm constantly amazed that just sitting here growing two babies can be so darn exhausting.
    Jessica

    Mommy to:

    Amelia (11/21/03
    Linnea (9/1/05)
    Annaliese (12/21/12)
    Kirsten (12/21/12)

  10. #10
    sariana is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    I was on bed rest for about 2 1/2 months with DD (a singelton!), and I slept A LOT. It is amazing how tired we get just "sitting around."

    Congratulations to you! I don't really have any advice except: Don't assume these babies will be anything like your first two. They might, and then again they might not. They might grow like weeds. My DS was born at 32 weeks but started out a relatively large 4 1/2 lbs. He grew really fast and hardly wore preemie clothes at all. My DD was a 36-weeker and weighed almost 6 lbs at birth. She grew more slowly at first, but overall she is just "built bigger" than DS. He is now 8 and weighs only about 52 lbs. She is 4 1/2 and weighs nearly 40 lbs. So they are 3 1/2 years but only 15 lbs apart! That doesn't seem so strange seeing it in writing, but trust me, they are totally different. You can tell by looking at them.

    Do you have and port-a-cribs? If so, don't worry about furniture right now. My DS slept in his Pack'n'Play for nearly 4 months. He showed up 8 weeks early, and his room just was not ready. It was still an office when he was born! DD slept in that PnP for a couple of months, too. My SIL had her twins in bassinets for the first couple of months (one was a gift and the other was borrowed--the bassinets, not the babies). I think they spent a bit of time together in one full-size crib, too, but I'm not sure about that.

    As a PP said, it's all just stuff. You will need the car seats, but almost everything else can wait if necessary. And if you anticipate a stay in the NICU, you will have even more time to get "stuff" before the babies come home.

    Good luck!
    DS '04 "Boogaboo"
    DD '08 "Lilybear"

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