For those who had twins AFTER having atleast 1 DC...

Please give me the good, the bad and the ugly. DH and I are only 8 weeks along with so far but things are looking good. We are trying to prepare as to what we might need in an effort to buy things over time, rather than panic at the end...

For those of you that have been I this situation...

What do we ABSOLUTELY need 2 of?

Any recommendations on how to prepare DS (3.5) for two new additions?

Any old wives tales for gender prediction that actually came true?

Thanks Ladies!!

Message edited 4/9/2014 9:16:54 AM.

For those who had twins AFTER having atleast 1 DC...

Congrats!! First I will say, having my single and twins almost 5 years later is the best!! My 3 kids have an amazing relationship together.

Hmmm. My twins will be 4 in June so its hard for me to remember the early days but lots and lots of bottles, two bouncy chairs. We used one swing. We had one exersaucer and one jumparoo. two high chairs obviously. They shared a crib until 5 months. I have two boys so they still share clothes. Oh...two boppies. You will figure out how to feed the two and what work best for you. It was tricky. As far as how to prepare your son. We did get a book. I cant remember the name of it but it was written by a mom who was having twins boys and had a daughter so it was perfect to help prepare our daughter. Also, we bought her twin boy dolls and a double toy stroller. She was and is a very mature little girl. She just got it and has taken on a very motherly role with her brothers. She is amazing with them. I don't really know how else to prepare. His world will change but I am sure it will all be fine. I think just the fact that he will be a little older I guess 4 when they are born will make things easier. You can reason and talk to him about the changes coming and he'll have such an important role as big brother, especially since there will be two. So much he can do to help. Of course, everyone can and will shower him with attention. Get him a shirt that says "im a big brother of twins" That makes him really special. More special than just a big brother shirt. My DD loved hers. It still hangs in her closet, much too small now. Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy. Its a long road but so worth it.

Re: For those who had twins AFTER having atleast 1 DC...

This is so helpful - would love more responses! IrshGrl - I'm in same boat - DS will be 4.5 when twins arrive!

Re: For those who had twins AFTER having atleast 1 DC...

Would love to hear others' thoughts on this too. My twin boys arrived Tuesday and I already have a 4.5 yo DD and a 2.5 yo DS. It is going to be crazy town! Lol

Re: For those who had twins AFTER having atleast 1 DC...

My son was only 2 years, 3 months when our twins were born. We talked about the babies constantly. I worked really hard to make sure that he never felt left out or lonely, including special mommy & son dates even after the babies were born. My relationship with him did not change at all after the babies.. in fact, it's probably stronger than ever! And now that the twins are 2, they are all best buddies and it's really incredible to watch.

We are/were highly on a budget so we didn't do 2 of everything.

2 infant car seats
2 rock n plays
1 exersaucer
1 swing
1 bouncy seat
2 cribs
1 gym mat
2 boppy pillows

For other info...

I had an amazing singleton pregnancy and then every problem in the book for my twin pregnancy. Many people don't have those issues so I pray that all of you ladies won't!

If everything had gone as planned, babies would have had scheduled repeat c-section at 38 weeks.

I delivered at 34w4d and had a very complicated pregnancy including short cervix, cerclage and strict bed rest from 22w. babies had low fluid levels and possible IUGR, so I was scheduled for a c/s at 34w6d, but babies came 2 days early anyway.

Baby A - 5 lbs, 2 ounces. Spent 3 weeks, 4 days in NICU.
Baby B - 5 lbs, 7 ounces. Spent 16 days in NICU

I highly recommend this book! http://www.drbarbaraluke.com/books/Expecting.aspx I tried to follow the weight gain guidelines there. I ended up with GD though. I gained 47 lbs with my singleton and 42 with the twins.


I hated the double snap n' go. We tried a few things but ultimately ended up with the Britax B-Agile double and in the beginning used 1 snap-in car seat and wore 1 baby while my older was in the other seat of the stroller.

For those who had twins AFTER having atleast 1 DC...

I just wanted to add, good luck! Staying within the healthy eating/weight guidelines helped me be successful and comfortable during and after pregnancy.
I also hated the snap and go, loved the Joovy Roo instead! I got space saver high chairs and swing frames for the car seats/infant carriers, and the 2 infant bouncers were awesome too.
I was adamant about having them both on the same exact schedule, even if I had to wake one up. This may not work if yours are 2 different sizes, but eventually, it will work out for you down the road.

Re: For those who had twins AFTER having atleast 1 DC...

I had my twins boys(now 9 months) right before DS 1's 3rd birthday. They stayed in until 37 weeks 5 days. I was very lucky they were born healthy. I had help in the beginning. DH was able to take off two weeks, my mom another two and then my MIL came, from out of state, for a month. It was crazy in the beginning. I EBF so there were certain things only I could do. I enrolled DS in camp so he was busy 4 hours 3 days a week. Once all the "help" was gone DS went to school 3 days a week for 5 hours. Honestly it is hard but I will say it helps to get out, as crazy as it is. This winter was brutal!!!
I've learned to do everything alone b/c I just have to. We go to the parks, visit friends, go shopping (I get a lot of "wow, how do you do this" comments. I even went to the Queens Zoo alone. You learn to juggle....we've all had to just figure it out.

I got two of the following products:
crib
car seats
bouncy seats
rock and plays
changing areas (up and down stairs)
high chairs (space saver)


What I will need in the future
multiple refrigerators/freezers for my three boys!

Message edited 4/23/2014 9:57:58 PM.

Re: For those who had twins AFTER having atleast 1 DC...

Our DD was 4.5 when were born. The transition was much smoother than I expected (MOST of the time!) We did a sbling class at the hospital with her, did lots of things to make sure she felt special. Made sure we did one-on-one things after they arrived (even just a quick trip to Target.) I will admit that it was not always easy. My heart broke when at such a trip to Target she quietly told me that she wished the twins were not here. When she saw my face after that she tried to backtrack. We talked through it & all was ok. And the WORST thing I did was to wake her before we went to have them. (6 am before the scheduled c-section) Totally unexpected, but she was very upset. I was hysterical the whole ride there. And another piece of advice someone gave me was that when she came to see me for the first time, try to not be holding a baby so my arms were wide open for her. It worked out that
was in the nursery & was sleeping in the bassinet.

I had an uneventful pregnancy both times. Had the twins at 38w4d, scheduled c-section. weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz, was 8 lbs 2 oz. Crazy!!!

Baby stuff:
our 2 rock & plays were amazing. Best thing for our twins. They slept in them in our room for quite awhile. In the beginning I brought them up & down everyday. 2 bouncies were essential for feeding bottles (tried BFing, did with DD for 6 months, couldn't do it more that 3 weeks with the twins). We had 4 bouncies to have 2 on each floor. they liked their swings so we had 2 of those. 2 high chairs. Double snap & go stroller was awesome, used it for quite awhile.

hope that helps, it's all I can think of now. just turned 3 last week. It's been crazy!! Enjoy the chaos. Oh, and the BEST thing I did was to join a twin moms club. Those moms are amazing and truly understand. I live OOS, but hopefully there is one near you.