Category: Babies and Toddlers

NICU and SCN Acronyms can be very confusing. Especially when these terms relate to your tiny babies. This list may help you navigate those early days

Please note: This glossary is not a substitute for advice from a health professional.  Terms may vary from hospital to hospital.  Please consult your health care professional for full details.

You can find our Multiple Birth Glossary HERE.

A

• Adjusted age – Adjusted age (or corrected age), is your premature baby’s chronological age minus the number of weeks or months he was born early. For example, a one-year-old who was born three months early would have a corrected age of nine months.
• AGA – appropriate for gestational age.
• Apgar Score – The Apgar score is a system used by doctors and midwives to assess your newborn baby’s health at birth. It helps medical staff decide if your baby needs medical or emergency care.
• Apnea monitors –  Detects the cessation of breathing (apnoea) in infants
• Apnoea – A short period of time when the baby does not take a breath.
• Aspirate – To inhale fluids, such as milk, into the windpipe or lungs. Also refers to the removal of fluid by suction (e.g. checking how much milk remains in the stomach)

Author: Jenni Swain

The FIFO/DIDO (Fly in Fly Out/ Drive In Drive Out) life is an interesting one and not everyone understands it, most people tell us they would never cope and how do we manage etc, especially me being the one at home with 3 young kids, but this is our normal. The funny thing this year, is that hubby has taken on a Manager’s role, now time away is a lot less and we are actually finding it hard to adjust to this change!

Our situation may also be a little different, but like a lot of FIFO/DIDO families my husband is in the mining industry. He is an exploration geologist though so he does not have a set roster, the time away varies greatly and we are not always given much notice. When we found out I was pregnant with the twins he was made redundant and started his own business contracting so things became even more unpredictable for a while. 

Author: Amber Swayn

To understand my financial outlook, I’ll first disclose three facts:

1. I am a payer-offerer, not a saver
2. I have an ultimate financial goal of being debt free ASAP
3. I’m preparing for my husband and I to be self-funded retirees

To achieve our ultimate financial goals of becoming debt free and self-funded retirees, I had to get control of our family finances. We weren’t in a bad financial position at all but knowing our exact financial situation has saved a lot of stress and ensured that we can make decisions that work for our family.

Here are my top tips for keeping your finances in check:

Budgeting tips when you have twins, triplets or and more

Author: Jacqueline Waters

My husband is qualified as a Mining Engineer, meaning we’re a career FIFO family and we will be doing this for many years to come.  He works a 9/5/5/2/4/3 roster… which, yes, is very hard to keep track of.  We’re lucky he’s home 3 weekends out of 4, but short rosters also mean short R&R, which can be hard to catch our breath. 

Finding out we were expecting twins

Our older son had just turned 2 when we found out we were having twins. I spent many sleepless nights wondering how on earth I’d cope.  We have no family in Australia and I seriously doubted my ability to manage twins and FIFO life.  As it turned out, that anxiety and stress was wasted energy.  It is hard, but I cope fine – most days!

Author: Tiffany Visser

If you are anything like me, when I was younger and I thought about having kids the picture was beautiful – I would stay at home with my babies making cookies and playing with playdough while my husband went off to work. He would then come home to a perfectly cooked meal and be able to spend his time cuddling our new buddle of joy and enjoying a cold beer. I know right even the movie makers couldn’t paint a more perfect situation.

Cue surprise twin pregnancy!

As many of you know receiving the news that you have more than 1 growing in there is the type of news that can change the entire course of your life in a matter of seconds. Those changes include but are not limited to:

• A new found appreciation for the meaning of tiredness
• Possible fear/anxiety around a possible high risk pregnancy/birth
• The realization that it is possible to love something unconditionally without actually physically touching it
• A new found love for your partner (depending on the day, multi pregnancy hormones are HECTIC)
• A new car/mode of transport
• A change in direction for your career

Author: Katie Bowman

My partner Tim is in the defence force – RAAF.  I recently did 4 months without him as he was away on training.

A lot of people asked me how things went with a 3yo and twin 14mo’s – so allow me to share some of the crappiest months of my life.

Saying goodbye

As Tim got in his car and started his drive to Victoria, I waved him off as I held Violet who had a 39 degree temperature. Sienna cried as he drove away, so then I put my sunnies on and cried as he drove away, while telling her it was fine and aiming for a distraction of going for a walk to see the cows.

Many new parents of twins or multiple babies find it difficult to bond with them in the beginning. This could be due to time spent in intensive care after a difficult birth or just having less time to focus on each individual baby. But there is a lot you can do to help.

Bonding with Twins or Multiple Babies

Worrying that you won’t bond with your newborn is a very normal concern for expectant and new mums to have. There is a myth that we fall in love with our babies the instant we see them, but this doesn’t always happen straight away. And what if you have twins or multiple babies – is it any harder to bond with them?

Bonding instantly with your baby doesn’t always happen

We are led to believe that bonding instantly with our babies is the norm, when in reality it doesn’t happen anywhere near as often as you think.

Let’s face it; if you have multiples, you are outnumbered from the start.  So you are going to need an extra “pair of hands” every once in a while.  I personally consider rockers, swings or bouncers for twins and more an essential piece of equipment.  They are your spare pair of hands.

Find out our other tips in our blog on how to survive the first year HERE.

Types of Rockers, Swings and Bouncers

We had five rockers/swings in total. Two ‘normal’ rockers which were the same, two vibrating rockers (both different brands, one of which has lights and music and one that doesn’t) and a swing. 

Author: Melissa Lourey 

This is part two of Melissa’s story. You can read all about her twins birth HERE.

While pregnant with twins, I would try and imagine what life would be like once they were born. I imagined having them with me in the hospital room, cuddling, feeding and sleeping just as I had two years before when I gave birth to my daughter Amelie. I bought nice new pyjamas thinking I would be lying around the house breastfeeding in those early weeks at home and using any spare energy I had to play with Amelie. The reality of having twins hasn’t quite matched the idealistic scenarios I had imagined and feeding them has been an interesting, and somewhat chaotic journey.