2 for the Price of 1- Survival

I've been meaning to write another twins post for awhile on some of the basic day-to-day stuff.  These are the questions that I would lie awake thinking about the entire first trimester until I have a good long chat with my cousins who both have twins.  Anytime you want to feel good about having twins talk to someone who's done it. They are by far the most encouraging and helpful- everyone else says things like, "I wouldn't be able to handle it." or "You have your hands full." 

• Feeding- ALL the time- using an EZ2 nurse pillow I got off craigslist with two pillows behind my back- each baby would lay on each side and nurse football style.  They would often hold hands under the pillow.  A pillow or stool under your feet really helps too.  You have to eat and drink a TON if you want to have enough milk!  I was constantly thirsty.  I seriously considered using a camel back so I could drink hands free while I nursed.  I would chug a whole glass of water before and after every feeding.  I brought my water bottle everywhere.  You have to make time to eat no matter what.  They say to sleep when they sleep- well with twins before you sleep, you MUST eat.  
• Nursing-Both of my cousins said it took them awhile (a few weeks to 2 months) to nurse both babies at the same time.  Until then their husbands would get up to help and feed one a bottle or burp the other baby to help.  I nursed them separately at the hospital and they made me supplement with formula but I was able to nurse them a couple of times together with help from the nurse or my husband to get them positioned (nursing modestly with twins at the beginning is impossible).  I did eventually get it worked out where I could nurse them with the nursing cover when my sister or someone was over.  For the first week home I would nurse one and my  mom or husband would bottle feed the other and then we'd switch.  After the first week I fed them both together every time.  I would set both babies on the couch in the corner so they couldn't roll off put on the nursing pillow and get situated then put one baby on the pillow then the other- making sure to balance the pillow so the other baby didn't roll off and then latch them one at a time.  They learned how to latch themselves very quickly.  FEED THEM AT THE SAME TIME.  It is the only thing that will make life a little easier.  I did have them on a pretty tight 3 hour schedule- Baby Wise.  They would eat, play and then sleep.  Sometimes they would nurse to sleep but rarely except the last feeding before bed.  
•  I was bound and determined to nurse
• all the health benefits
• I loved doing it with my older daughter
• you can feed them at the same time
• the closeness
• cheaper (not a huge consideration but I also had never purchased any formula before)
• less prep, washing/warming bottles
• Bottles- FEED THEM AT THE SAME TIME!  Matt would feed them a bottle of pumped breast milk at 10 or 11pm so I could get a longer stretch of sleep.  He would usually use the huge EZ2 nurse pillow.  When I did bottles I would usually set each baby on the floor propped up with a bobby pillow (or bouncer, car seats....) and sit in front of them and hold the bottles.  We always tried to keep them doing bottles.  There were a few months where they weren't the biggest fans- especially Abby, but I never gave up.  At 8 months they started taking a bottle of formula every night before bed and at church.  It just gave me peace of mind to give them a little formula at that point.  Abby always preferred nursing but Olly really loved bottles but whatever method we were doing they both did the same at that feeding.  So if we were nursing they both nursed and if we were doing bottles they both did bottles.  I've heard some families of twins will mix up all the formula for the day in a pitcher to save time and keep it in the fridge.  I did try to keep their bottles straight by putting a rubber band on one bottle if they were the same color just so I could keep track of how much they ate.
• Solids- FEED THEM AT THE SAME TIME!  Are you seeing a trend?  Put them both in their high chairs grab one container of baby food and one spoon and alternate bites for each kid.  You'll drive yourself crazy trying to keep track of two containers and two spoons when you're feeding them.  If one of them was sick I would try to do separate spoons sometimes but honestly I don't think it helped since they were together the rest of the day anyway.  The plus side is that when they're slow you don't have to wait between bites- you can just move to the other kid.  The down side is if they're fast they get mad waiting.  My cousin with twin boys said they would throw a fit if you didn't alternate every bite.  My cousin with girl twins said they could have cared less whose turn it was.  I found Olly was impatient for his bite and Abby was fine waiting! 
• Sleeping They learned to go to sleep without nursing which was nice.  If they woke up at night I would wake up the other baby (they usually woke each other up when they were hungry anyway)- haul them both down the hall (some people will nurse sitting up on their bed but I never really did) feed them, burp them and change them if they needed it and then they would go right back to sleep after I swaddled them.  When they started to sleep longer stretches I wouldn't wake up the other baby but at the beginning if I tried to leave one asleep I would be awake all night- after you feed one baby the other one would wake up and need fed.  At the same time is really the way to go most of the time.
• Bathtime- 
• Infant tub- I would bathe one baby at a time in the kitchen sink with an infant tub.  Matt would bathe Charlotte or he would dress while I bathed the second twin.  The other baby would hang out in the swing, bouncer, rug while they waited.
• Big tub- When they could sit up pretty well I would bathe them the same time as Charlotte- one at a time at first.  I would have Charlotte and one baby in- then I would get that baby out and hand them off to Matt or quickly dress them and let them play on the bathroom rug with some toys.  Then I would put the second baby in and wash them and get Charlotte and the other baby out.  When they both got to be really sturdy I did all 3 at the same time (and still do) and the real fun began.

• Getting out of the house- plan ahead.  If I didn't get some things ready (like a shower) the night before it often wouldn't happen or I'd be really late which I hate.  I would have my diaper bag packed with diapers, wipes, snacks, etc.- even put it in the car- the number of trips back and forth to the car is ridiculous.  I would try to get out at every 2-3 days after they were a couple months old.  Park day was the easiest- they would often just sleep in their car seats while Charlotte played and I got to actually talk with other moms from church.  It helped to have other moms there in case someone needed held while I was helping another kid.  Plus it was outdoors and low pressure if we needed to go home early or if they were crying.
• Getting a shower-  lower your standard of personal hygiene.  I wish I was kidding.  Every other day turned into the standard for a while. When I would put them down for their first morning nap I would often have Charlotte come in the bathroom with me and play with some toys or I'd have her take a shower with me to save time bathing her later.  That kept her from going in and waking them up until she was old enough to understand why that would be a bad thing.  I also did a lot more showers at night when Matt was home.  The twins would cry because they were tired and ready for their last feeding but it let me get out of the house faster in the morning.  I could never seem to stay awake enough to do it after the last feeding.
• Getting a date- you don't.  If there are people who you would trust to watch your kids and they offer to help, ask for date night/afternoons etc.  This is probably the biggest gift you can give a couple of twins (or lots of small kids really).  We were not willing to leave 2 small babies and a stranger-danger toddler with a teenager- I don't know if I could have handled it as a teenager and I was an awesome babysitter.  Which left family member that you hate to impose on too much.  If some of our sisters (especially Marti) hadn't watched them occassionally we might have forgotten what having a conversation with each other was like.  Sometimes while I would do the last feeding when Charlotte was asleep, we would watch a show or read books out loud- they're a lot quieter when they're eating!
• Going shopping- this is another one you can ask for help from others.  
• Grocery shopping-I did not take the twins to the grocery store until they were 14 months old.  I'm not kidding.  I could have figured it out but Matt was willing to do it- he couldn't lactate- I am better at getting up at night- but he could do the grocery shopping, so he did.  Did he buy exactly the same stuff I did, no.  Was the grocery bill higher, yes.  Did it take a huge chore off my plate every week, yes.  Sometimes this would be my alone time and I would go on the weekend or at night about once or month or less.  Even now Matt will go to the store for me once or twice a month when I just can't work up the nerve to take 2-3 kids with me.  I was more willing to call my sister or visiting teacher and say, could you get ___________ next time you go because I knew they didn't mind and it saved so much effort.  Some people put all their kids in one cart and pull another cart (or even bring bungee cords) behind them.  I was never that desperate thanks to Matt.
• I did take them to Costco when they were younger.  Charlotte and one baby could be in the front and the other one would be in the basket or a baby carrier strapped to me.  If gave us somewhere to go and limited how much I could buy!  Thank heaven for huge carts.  I would grab one in the parking lot and haul it over to my car so I didn't have to carry the car seats and try to hold Charlotte's hand across the parking lot- I would choose my parking spot based on where the carts were at!
• Now I try to get the car carts with the double front seats and the car on the front so all my kids can be somewhat contained.
• Wal-mart/Target/Malls/other smaller stores- bring your long stroller- the double wide one fits through no doors or aisles.  Matt thought it was so weird that I would go shopping with my stroller, like I was shoplifting if I put stuff in my stroller.   But it had a big basket underneath and it meant I could put them all in and keep them contained and get across the parking lot easily.  I was amazed how much I could get on my stroller.  No one ever said anything to me about shopping with my stroller.