So, I in no way plan on being the spokesperson for people with twins, as my experience has only gotten me through this first 6 days. However, the experience I have gained in this almost-first week has been enough to know that this is way more intense than I thought it was going to be!
Here's what I've learned about being a mommy to twins:
1. If you're going to nurse, know that it takes CRAZY commitment! I am literally an on-call teat 24 hours a day! hahaha! Actually, it works like this: Feed Marielle, hand off to Rick for burping, changing, and swaddling, feed Genevieve, hand off to Rick for burping, changing and swaddling, give your poor ta-tas a rest for an hour or so, REPEAT! It's really just the repeat part that starts to become demanding... :)
2. Expect to always be doing something with one of the twins, even at night. It's Murphy's Law right? If Marielle is crying and I sing to her and rock her and eventually get her calm, as soon as I do, you already know what's going to happen. Genevieve decides that she needs singing to and rocking. It is constant care! Take today for example...
Rick took GG out for some special big sister time. I stayed with the twins. Of course, they start bouncing me back and forth between them like a ping pong ball. I think they knew exactly what they were doing and liked trying to get momma frazzled. After about an hour of this, they were both in their boppies, pacifiers in, swaddled correctly, and I actually said out loud, "screaming twin babies 0, Momma 1!" I wanted them to know who won the round!! But then...as luck would have it...Genevieve spit out that pacifier, sunk down low in her swaddle and started to cry. The ping pong match continued. Guess I need to reverse that score...
3. A sense of humor is so important! Rick and I established on our first night home that we are on the same team. We don't have time to be at each other or to miscommunicate. We need to save all of our energy to work together and to get things done on the twins front! With all that, comes laughing and finding humor in difficult situations. In the video I posted, we could not figure out what was wrong with ___________. I have a blank because I refer to our precious daughter as Marielle and Genevieve in the video. I didn't even know who Rick was holding!! It was really a situation where you could just cry out of frustration. Instead of crying, I decided to record Rick running around the room as only a father of a crying baby would. For any of you who have dealt with an inconsolable child, you know you'll do just about anything to soothe! The best part is at the end when Rick starts singing an old 90's hit Back to Life. After I stopped recording he kept singing and dancing. If it didn't hurt so much to laugh, I would have been cracking up!! These little moments are what help us keep this trying time enjoyable and fun. I don't want the joy of these first days and weeks to be ruined with frustration. So...I've got to keep my sense of humor!
Well, I think that's it for now! I've learned so much more, but I'll save such insight for another post! hehe :) I'm on pacifier duty right now, which means someone stays up and puts the pacifiers back in when Marielle and Genevieve decide we've been resting too long! Why did we ever give them those things?!?!
Guess I better get to the purpose of every post...
I see God in a father holding his daughter like a football and running laps around the bedroom trying to keep her calm.
Love,
Mary
Here's what I've learned about being a mommy to twins:
1. If you're going to nurse, know that it takes CRAZY commitment! I am literally an on-call teat 24 hours a day! hahaha! Actually, it works like this: Feed Marielle, hand off to Rick for burping, changing, and swaddling, feed Genevieve, hand off to Rick for burping, changing and swaddling, give your poor ta-tas a rest for an hour or so, REPEAT! It's really just the repeat part that starts to become demanding... :)
2. Expect to always be doing something with one of the twins, even at night. It's Murphy's Law right? If Marielle is crying and I sing to her and rock her and eventually get her calm, as soon as I do, you already know what's going to happen. Genevieve decides that she needs singing to and rocking. It is constant care! Take today for example...
Rick took GG out for some special big sister time. I stayed with the twins. Of course, they start bouncing me back and forth between them like a ping pong ball. I think they knew exactly what they were doing and liked trying to get momma frazzled. After about an hour of this, they were both in their boppies, pacifiers in, swaddled correctly, and I actually said out loud, "screaming twin babies 0, Momma 1!" I wanted them to know who won the round!! But then...as luck would have it...Genevieve spit out that pacifier, sunk down low in her swaddle and started to cry. The ping pong match continued. Guess I need to reverse that score...
3. A sense of humor is so important! Rick and I established on our first night home that we are on the same team. We don't have time to be at each other or to miscommunicate. We need to save all of our energy to work together and to get things done on the twins front! With all that, comes laughing and finding humor in difficult situations. In the video I posted, we could not figure out what was wrong with ___________. I have a blank because I refer to our precious daughter as Marielle and Genevieve in the video. I didn't even know who Rick was holding!! It was really a situation where you could just cry out of frustration. Instead of crying, I decided to record Rick running around the room as only a father of a crying baby would. For any of you who have dealt with an inconsolable child, you know you'll do just about anything to soothe! The best part is at the end when Rick starts singing an old 90's hit Back to Life. After I stopped recording he kept singing and dancing. If it didn't hurt so much to laugh, I would have been cracking up!! These little moments are what help us keep this trying time enjoyable and fun. I don't want the joy of these first days and weeks to be ruined with frustration. So...I've got to keep my sense of humor!
Well, I think that's it for now! I've learned so much more, but I'll save such insight for another post! hehe :) I'm on pacifier duty right now, which means someone stays up and puts the pacifiers back in when Marielle and Genevieve decide we've been resting too long! Why did we ever give them those things?!?!
Guess I better get to the purpose of every post...
I see God in a father holding his daughter like a football and running laps around the bedroom trying to keep her calm.
Love,
Mary
I love it!
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