Call me crazy, but I underestimated this whole twin thing. I am so blessed and very grateful for the opportunity to have two children at once. God definitely provided me with the desires of my heart, and he did it quite efficiently! However, everyday things are much more complicated now for this M.O.M. (Mom of Multiples).
For example, while pregnant I would see moms shopping with their infant. They would put them in the front of the shopping cart in their carrier and fill up the cart with their groceries. How sweet, I thought, to bring your baby with you. Then I realized once my babies were born that grocery shopping would not be an option for me unless I had a babysitter or some serious help! I mean where do you put 2 infant carriers in the grocery cart?!?!
I also cannot do the everyday quick errands like running into the post office or easy things like that with both babies. This would require the stroller, which is an event taking the "baby expedition" out!
But today I learned a trick! If I leave one baby with Nana and take the other with me, I can do all the fun things that most moms of single babies can do. I effortlessly took Knox grocery shopping with me, carried him into the post office, and even stopped at a local cafe to grab lunch. Yes it took a little bit more time, but it was a piece of cake compared to juggling two of them! Any of my friends who have had singletons and want to tell me how hard it was/is can now find someone else to tell it to because I am convinced more than ever now that having one baby is easy breezy!!! I am also convinced that people who have more than twins have been hand selected by God for an extremely special job. One that I don't know I could handle. Thank goodness He only gives us what we can handle :)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Baby scheduling....am I creating type "A" children?
I have to laugh at myself because I am an extreme type A personality. Not only do I need order in my life, but I function best when running off of a schedule. I mean, really who wouldn't? The running joke in my house is "Are you going to create a spreadsheet for that"? Yes, my husband thinks I am a little spreadsheet crazy, but I couldn't survive without knowing who, what, when, and where...most importantly, how much! Sooooo, when we found out we were pregnant with TWINS you can guess what I immediately started doing. Yep, finding a schedule and a routine that I could put the babies on. I even have spreadsheets to capture what time they ate, how much they ate, how many hours they slept, how many wet diapers and how many dirty diapers they had in one day. Yes I am that kind of Type A!!!!
Not everyone in my family or even many of my friends agree with our way of scheduling our children. In fact many have said that we are too strict and have too many rules. However, I would love to have the time to survey moms of multiples to see if any of them go without a scheduled routine. I know I would not be able to survive!
For the past 7 weeks we have been following the methods of Baby Wise which teaches a stable 3 hour routine. Wake, feed, sleep...repeat, every 3 hours. At first I thought that it would never work. The book boasts of babies being able to sleep 12 hours through the night at just 9-12 weeks of age! I knew that was the goal but the past 7 weeks have been so challenging that at times I wanted to throw the book out the window and go with my own method. But then I realized that I didn't have a method because I don't know what the heck I am doing!!!
With 2 babies it seems impossible to get them to sleep at the same time and to sleep through a whole nap cycle, let alone through the night. But at 6 weeks I finally saw the fruit of our hard labor. The twins finally slept 7 whole hours through the night. It was amazing and I thought surely it was just that night...it wouldn't happen again, we couldn't be that lucky! But we are that lucky!!!! Our babies are now sleeping 6-7 hours through the night, EVERY night! I credit all our success to the Baby Wise methodology and every time a family member or friend sticks their nose up at our schedule, I just laugh to myself and think....they are just like their mommy....they need a schedule for everything including sleep! Seeing my sweet sleeping children puts a smile on my face.
Yes I am creating type A children and I am proud of it. I want them to be well developed, independent and happy children. I am teaching them that mommy and daddy are the rule makers and when we lie them down for a nap, they take a nap...no fights about it. I am teaching them that they don't need me to fall asleep...they can do it on their own and they can trust that I will be right there when they wake up. I am using my God given talents and Type A personality and I am proud of it!
Not everyone in my family or even many of my friends agree with our way of scheduling our children. In fact many have said that we are too strict and have too many rules. However, I would love to have the time to survey moms of multiples to see if any of them go without a scheduled routine. I know I would not be able to survive!
For the past 7 weeks we have been following the methods of Baby Wise which teaches a stable 3 hour routine. Wake, feed, sleep...repeat, every 3 hours. At first I thought that it would never work. The book boasts of babies being able to sleep 12 hours through the night at just 9-12 weeks of age! I knew that was the goal but the past 7 weeks have been so challenging that at times I wanted to throw the book out the window and go with my own method. But then I realized that I didn't have a method because I don't know what the heck I am doing!!!
With 2 babies it seems impossible to get them to sleep at the same time and to sleep through a whole nap cycle, let alone through the night. But at 6 weeks I finally saw the fruit of our hard labor. The twins finally slept 7 whole hours through the night. It was amazing and I thought surely it was just that night...it wouldn't happen again, we couldn't be that lucky! But we are that lucky!!!! Our babies are now sleeping 6-7 hours through the night, EVERY night! I credit all our success to the Baby Wise methodology and every time a family member or friend sticks their nose up at our schedule, I just laugh to myself and think....they are just like their mommy....they need a schedule for everything including sleep! Seeing my sweet sleeping children puts a smile on my face.
Yes I am creating type A children and I am proud of it. I want them to be well developed, independent and happy children. I am teaching them that mommy and daddy are the rule makers and when we lie them down for a nap, they take a nap...no fights about it. I am teaching them that they don't need me to fall asleep...they can do it on their own and they can trust that I will be right there when they wake up. I am using my God given talents and Type A personality and I am proud of it!
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