Life with Twins, Part III

Sometimes I still look around and find it hard to believe I have three children.  Wow!  These days I feel incredibly lucky to have three beautiful, healthy, happy kids.  How did I get so fortunate?

So we've been parents to twins for almost five months now and of course time has really flown by.  The girls are on 100% formula now (or as Colin says, formlia).  They had their first taste of formula last month and we mixed it with breast milk until my pumped milk and freezer stash ran out last Saturday.  We are using Sam's Club brand formula and the girls have taken to it just fine.  We go through a huge can of it in about six days so we are realizing major cost savings by going with a generic.  Our pediatrician gave us the green light to go with a generic brand saying that all formulas have to adhere to the same standards set by the FDA.  I am still marveling over my lack of attachment to the breast pump and my increase in free time!  It is fabulous.  My chest is back to its pre-pregnancy size since I stopped pumping although I wish I could say the same for my stomach.  I'm not so sure it will ever fully recover from the abuse that it took!

It sounds obvious but with twins you do everything times two.  Of course, right?  But no, really.  You give one baby a bath and then you drain the bath water and fill the tub again and give the next baby a bath.  You cut 10 tiny fingernails and then you cut 10 more.  You change one diaper and then you change another diaper.  You get one baby dressed and then you dress another baby.  You secure one girl into her car seat and then you secure the other girl into her car seat too.  You lift one baby onto your shoulder for a burp and then you burp her sister.  I guess my point is that it sounds pretty exhausting but it's amazing how much that becomes your normal.  To do those things only once would seem weird! Most of these tasks have to be done in succession although there is one task that can be done at the same time.

Feeding "the Sissies" as we call them

Sometimes if I'm rocking one baby girl at night, marveling over her sweetness while I hold her close, I glance over and see another baby girl, equally as sweet sound asleep and looking so peaceful and innocent.  It is hard not to explode with love sometimes!  On the other hand, sometimes I glance over and see that she is waking up and starting to cry, jeopardizing the state of her almost-asleep sister on my shoulder.  That situation isn't quite so pleasant.  (We've had some sleep issues lately because both of the girls have had colds that their big brother has brought home from preschool).

It's a race for them to roll over right now.  Julia rolled over in her crib once but she was swaddled so I'm not sure if that counts.  Keith says that way is probably even harder so it should count.  I'm not sure!  They are also starting to grasp objects a little bit and get them to their mouths.  Their heads are still a wee bit wobbly so we still have them facing us in the Bjorns and we haven't used the Bumbo seats too much yet.

We still get a lot of attention with them but not overwhelmingly so.  I think Keith gets lots of respect from the Moms at preschool drop-off when he has Julia strapped in the Bjorn, Colin by the hand, and Caroline in her infant carrier in the other hand.  Super Dad!  Life is fun with twins.