In the quiet night, she feels the strain,
Twin lives within, a beautiful gain,
But oh, the toll it takes on her frame,
A mother’s journey, both joy and pain.
Her body stretches, her belly wide,
A growing world where two reside,
Each movement now, a heavy sigh,
As weeks crawl by, the end seems nigh.
Author: Belinda Smith
Without a doubt one of the hardest times as a parent is the newborn phase. Trying to work out what this little bundle of joy needs whilst also functioning as a fully fledged member of society – all on no sleep- is tricky to say the least. As brand new parents, fresh off the NICU stay, this is where we found ourselves in late 2015. However, we were not dealing with one screaming infant but three! Triplets are not for the faint of heart and we were on a huge learning curve. I do not remember much from this period. However, the nights with triplets, and in particular how I felt, are very real and fresh in my mind.
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You have survived the terrible twos and the threenager stages. Woohoo! And now you have a couple of four-year-olds running around wanting to be kept busy and entertained at all times. They are at an age where their energy levels are high, they are becoming more adventurous and pushing boundaries left, right and centre.
This is an age where outdoor activities are great for them. It gets them outside, running off that energy and provides a lot of great learning experiences. So what are some activities for outdoor activities for for year old twins and triplets?
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Getting your kids outside and enjoying the environment is always a good thing. It gets them out in the sun, exploring new things and keeps your house clean for just a little bit longer. Outdoor activities for 2 year old twins or triplets is just perfect – they are walking, beginning to talk and are beginning to become VERY independent!
So what are some good outdoor activities to do with your 2 year old twins or triplets?
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Author: Sophie Beck
Our twins are 21 months old, which is a stupid way to describe their age, but it feels too soon to say ‘almost two’, and I’ve been saying ’18 months’ for about six months already! By-and-large the girls are amazing and we consider ourselves very lucky to have wonderful, healthy and happy kids. They’re at an age where they understand what we’re saying and try to communicate back; they dance, they giggle, they play and engage with those around them; and they are pretty damn cute… during the day at least!
One of our delightful little bundles, Addison, has barely slept a full night in her entire, precious little life. Her sister, Isabella, has been much better- after a rocky start where I thought Izzi was going to be the troubled sleeper, we had a turnaround and Izzi has been pretty good.
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Author: Marni Cochrane
My husband and I had been trying for a baby for 7 years before we finally started our first round of IVF. I had never wanted to do IVF due to how invasive it is but it was our only chance to complete our family. I am so glad I did it- despite it being a really hard time, everything turned out better than we had ever hoped. We ended up with 3 embryos from 5 eggs and had one transferred.
10 days later we got the call to say we were pregnant and we were just over the moon. We couldn’t believe that we were pregnant on the first round! We had two scans in the obstetrician’s office which confirmed a baby and a heartbeat and all our blood tests came back normal. The both of us just couldn’t believe our luck after so long together and so long trying.
Deciding to have a baby is a beautiful and amazing decision. It is one that comes with lots of ups and downs and will be remembered as your biggest achievement in life. Sometimes the joy of finding out you are pregnant is doubled (or tripled).
Finding out you are expecting twins or triplets can bring with it lots of different emotions. It can take some time to process and to get excited about. It can be daunting at first, but there are many advantages of having twins or triplets.
Lots of people (including strangers!) will only focus on the negatives of having multiples. For example, you will never sleep again, you wont be able to breast feed, you will have to have a c-section, better you than me etc. We have come up with some advantages of having twins and triplets.
Please note: Some of these are a light hearted look at multiple birth pregnancy and birth, and are no way intended to offend.
Are you possibly facing a stay in the NICU or SCN with your twins or triplets?
Twins and triplets have an increased chance of needing a stay in acute care. This can be due to early delivery, no birth weight or complications during delivery. The time that you will spend in special care depends on the needs of your little ones. It can be a difficult time for everyone involved, but your babies are in the best place they can be. If you are looking at an extended stay in the NICU or SCN you might want to be prepared.
Check out our list of things to take to the NICU or SCN for twins or triplets.
Over half of multiple birth deliveries result in needing a c-section for twins and almost all triplet births. This can be for a number of different reasons including sizing, early delivery, personal choice and emergency c-sections when there are issues that arise.
Having a c-section can be daunting for mums to be and the thought of it can be worrisome. However, delivering your babies and looking out for both the health of mum and bubs is paramount. It may be the safest way to deliver your babies. When it comes to having a c-section for twins or triplets, you will receive a lot of advice and recommendations from the doctors. They will talk you through the procedure, the preparation, and the healing time. But what about the things you didn’t expect during your c-section? The things no one mentioned? We asked our community at Parents of Multiples Australia what they didn’t expect during their c-section and how they felt. These are their personal responses.
Having a baby is an exciting time. Having two or more babies at the same time is truly spectacular!
Your life has now changed. There are different things that are now a priority. A new routine that you need to work out. And then work out again because it didn’t work the first time. There are things to learn, milestones to reach and lots of love to give. But there are also a few official things that you need to do after the birth of your babies. And I am not taking about the official Facebook post announcing their birth. While this official Facebook status seems to be OK for relationships, the various government departments won’t accept that! When you have a baby – or two or three- your word for it isn’t quite enough!
There is only one negative about having twins or triplets as far as I am concerned. And you are about to learn this rapidly when undertaking the the official things to do after having twins or higher order multiples. It is the duplicate paper work!! Filling out the same form time after time again, then (in your sleep deprived state!) having to go back and double check you have one filled out with each name etc.
To help you, here is a list of the official things to do after having twins or higher order multiples
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