My favorite pictures of Baby Bean all include George, the stray cat who adopted us. He was awesome. I tried to keep him outside, but Baby Bean did what she wanted.
Taking care of twins is not what I imagined. I read lots of other moms of multiples blogs, but all of those Moms were either first time moms, or they had a toddler and then twins.
I have 7 other children, so I knew my experience would be different from theirs, but I wasn’t sure HOW it would be different.
These little sweetie pies are just the best. They sure are fun to hold and admire, but I haven’t had as much time as I usually get for doing so.
First off, they still aren’t very good at nursing, so I’m still making lots of bottles. That means I don’t hold the twins as much as I would usually get to hold a new baby. I miss that. I’m attempting to remedy it.
Zeke is still clearly hungry. Mm mm. Bacon.
Secondly, I’m not nearly as exhausted as they all said I would be. The twins often sleep for at least one 4 hour chunk of time at night. In fact, all they do is sleep and eat. Possibly this is because they are preemies. Possibly they will start waking up more and I will have less “not feeding the twins” time.
That’s probably likely. Already my time falls into only 2 categories: feeding time, and not feeding time. So far those times seem about equal. But like I said, the twins sleep a lot for now.
My older kids are super helpful. They have house chores to keep things running (like unload the dishwasher, fold laundry, set the table). They are capable of putting casseroles in the oven (I had 30 made and frozen before the twins were born, plus kind friends and family have been bringing more). They can chop veggies for salad. They love to hold the twins and feed them bottles. Thanks to those big kids, the house is pretty clean and the laundry is not behind. I didn’t expect it to run so smoothly.
Even Banana Cream Pie, who is only 3, can hold a bottle for a baby to drink.
Fourth, I didn’t imagine the large impact that even small health troubles would have. My twins only had trouble with blood sugar levels, keeping warm, and jaundice. It’s not like they had to be in the NICU. But it was stuff I had never had to deal with or worry about before.
I didn’t realize how demoralizing having to stay extra days in the hospital would be.
I didn’t realize how time consuming extra tests would be. Skeeter had high bilirubin levels and had to be on a bili-light for this whole week. I had to take him to the hospital lab every day to have his blood checked to see if the bilirubin level had gone down.
The first day wasn’t so bad because my big kids were home to help.
The second day was their first day of school.
By the time I had loaded Banana Cream Pie and Baby Bean and Zeke and Skeeter into the van, I was so overwhelmed I was crying. And then I realized that I was still wearing my pajamas.
Obviously hormones had something to do with the crying, but leaving the house with a new baby is always hard. I generally do not even attempt it until my new baby is 4-6 weeks old. ( I try to avoid unnecessary exposure to germs).
Attempt to leave the house before the baby is a week old, multiply by 2, and add a toddler and a preschooler. Well, that was a lot to handle. It took me over an hour just to get us all dressed and buckled into the car. Then there was the hour at the hospital. (Lucky for me I have a friend who lives right next to the hospital, and she kindly kept Banana Cream and Bean during that hour.) Then I had to repeat The whole process 5 more times over the week until Skeeter’s test finally showed his levels had gone down significantly.
(P.S. If they ever send you and your baby home with a Bili-blanket and tell you it doesn’t matter whether you put the light on the baby’s stomach or on their back, this is FALSE. Start with it on their stomach. If the jaundice doesn’t improve, alternate stomach then back. But don’t just put it on the baby’s back because that is easiest and think you are good. I’m pretty sure we could have shortened our ordeal by 2-3 days if I had started out with the light on his stomach.)
What I figured would be difficult, but didn’t realize how difficult, is taking care of the twins plus my 20 month old, Baby Bean. I guess she is now Toddler Bean.
Never have I had such a naughty, busy getting into things, toddler to keep track of in addition to a new baby(s).
Always before, my toddler was pretty happy to sit by me on the couch while I took care of the new baby.
HOUSE ELF MAGIC
My sister has 6 boys born in the last 8 years. Each of her boys is very smart, and that means each boy has been very busy being naughty and getting into things and creating big messes. I don’t know how my sister manages the stress of trying to keep up with her toddler(s) when she has a new baby.
I guess she just does what she has to do.
All of the experienced mothers (including my own mother) whom I have asked for advice, sort of shrug and say, “I don’t really remember how I did it when I had all those preschoolers at home.”
It’s the magic of moms, I think.
Remember when Harry Potter asks Kreacher how he escaped from the zombie filled sea cave, and Kreacher can’t explain?
He just did it because he had to.
I think moms are like that. Moms often cannot explain how they do what they do. But they do it because it must be done, and they love their families enough that they find a way.
THE DESTRUCTION THAT IS BEAN
Without fail, Zeke and Skeeter will both be crying–needing new diapers (and new dry clothes) and to be fed. I will be in the process of attending to them, when I will hear the sound of a kitchen stool being dragged across the tile floor downstairs. It is like the herald of doom. It is BEAN.
Bean already tried tasting the cayenne pepper and ground white pepper from the spice cupboard. Sadly, I don’t think she learned anything from the experience. (Well she didn’t learn what I wish she had–not to get into the cupboard.)
She never tried this before the twins were born.
The DH reinstalled the baby gate at the top of the stairs for me, so I can at least trap her on the same level of the house that I am on.
I can’t really quantify what it is I do all day to take care of Banana Cream Pie and Bean, but they need nearly all of the “not feeding twins” time. So I spend the day feeling just a little bit behind what needs to have been done.
Sometimes I get to have a nap. Sometimes I fall asleep without really meaning to. Bean uses this time to her great advantage.
THE RESIDENT LIEUTENANT
The resident lieutenant will soon be promoted to the resident captain. He needs a new command level to keep control over the brigade of kiddie pies. Also, he needs the new pay grade because these little guys use up alarming amounts of diapers.
She started life deliciously chubby and has remained so. In the last 6 months, she has grown 3 inches and gained 3 pounds. (In Comparison, Banana Cream Pie took all of the last year to gain 2 inches and 2 pounds.)
She is pretty happy if she has a bottle of milk in her hand at all times.
When she walks, she plants her whole foot on the ground at once in almost a stomp. She knows where she is going. She knows what she wants.
Baby Bean only has a few words and most of them are of the kind that require an exclamation point following:
Ta da!
Uh Uh! (Said as in “no” but she uses it for “yes” and “no”)
Hey! (Give me back that toy)
Mom! (Come get me out of my crib)
Thank you!
Grandpa!
For anything else, she just points and yells until we figure out what it is.
Most of the time she plays quietly and I am lulled into complacency. Suddenly, she will enter the room with toothpaste smeared all over her body (or marker, or peanut butter) and I will realize that Hurricane Beana struck again.
So things have already started to change around here because we’re expecting twins.
#1- I’m not babysitting anymore. I was too tired and too pregnant to chase those high energy, high maintenance extra kids around. When I first found out I was pregnant in February, I told the mom that I would have to take a month or so off from daycare. Then I found out in March that the the baby was actually twins, and I realized I couldn’t keep babysitting after they were born, so I told her she would have to find someone new by the end of June. Then I had that week of terrible tension headaches. Also, I realized I wouldn’t be able to lift her heavy 2-year old much longer. Also, Baby Bean suddenly decided that the 2 year old was a threat to her territory, and she would just jump on him and bite him/pull his hair several times a day. It was getting hard for me to move fast enough to keep him safe from her. I told the mom she had to find someone else as soon as possible. I had to watch her kids for 2 more weeks.
I went from this:
to THIS:
I gave her the phone number of an acquaintance friend who was interested in babysitting. I was a little worried that this friend would hate me forever, but I was desperate to get out of a situation that I couldn’t handle any more. I ran into this friend at a mom’s night out on Tuesday this week and timidly asked her how it was going.
“Oh, I only watched them for one day and I told the mom I couldn’t do it,” she said. Then she turned to the other moms at the table and proceeded to tell them all how terrible these kids were. They WERE really difficult to care for. I babysat them for them for 6 months, half of which I was pregnant and sick and tired, but it wasn’t until the headaches that I had to cry “UNCLE!” Apparently, their grandmother (who is a relatively young grandma) is watching them now, because the mom can’t find anyone else who is willing to put up with her kids. Lucky for her, the 2 oldest will be in all-day school beginning August 12th. The 2 year old is a piece of cake, as long as you keep anything breakable away from him (and also keep Baby Bean away from him.) So grandma has hope on her horizon.
#2- Switched Baby Bean to cloth diapers. This will be less diapers I have to buy when the twins are born. I don’t like putting newborns in cloth diapers. They go through, like, 10 diapers a day (x2). Thats a lot of laundry. Also their legs are too scrawny for cloth diapers to seal around to keep in the explosive projectile poo. However, Baby Bean has enormous fatso legs and only goes through about 6 diapers a day. The DH rigged me a clothes line on the balcony.
Aren’t diapers on the line so cute? I love not having trash cans full of stinky disposable diaper trash. I love not buying diapers. (Actually I am stockpiling diapers for the twins now, since I’m not having to buy them for Baby Bean and Banana Cream Pie. I don’t expect the stockpile will last long, but it should help.) Also I’m hoping that cloth diapers encourage Baby Bean to potty train much earlier than Banana Cream Pie. My other babies that wore cloth diapers potty trained before they were 2 1/2. My babies who wore disposable diapers didn’t potty train until after their 3rd (or 4th) birthdays. It would be super cool if Baby Bean was totally out of diapers by Christmas.
#3 – Banana Cream Pie is pretty nearly potty trained. As soon as I was done babysitting, the potty training began. We’ve been working on it for 2 1/2 weeks, and she is more trustworthy every day. I’m not totally confident that she won’t have accidents when we are away from home, but at home, she is pretty good. By August she should be an expert toilet user.
#4 – I’m slowly fighting my hoarder tendencies and trying to get rid of things we don’t use. It’s difficult for me, because I can always think of possible scenarios when we might use those things. However, one thing I’ve learned in the last few years is, you can’t clean clutter. All you can do is move it around. Reducing the “stuff” in the house will make the house easier to keep clean and make room for the twins and all their stuff (diaper stockpile). When we designed our house plan, we were planning on having 6 kiddie pies. Now we will have 9 (+1– I’ll have to tell you all about him later) and so using our space efficiently is important. Luckily, the bedrooms are big enough to hold 2 sets of bunk beds each, and the closets are roomy. I have planned out organizing systems to put in the closets (instead of just the couple rods we have installed now) to maximize the space for clothing storage. If my dreams come true, those closets and maybe even some built-in bookshelves will happen before D-Day.
#5 This is just a little thing, but I feel like a genius for figuring it out: I’m going to use a backpack for a diaper bag this time around. (Because my 2 hands will be full of 2 babies.) Actually, for the last 4 years, I haven’t really used a diaper bag. I just threw a few extra diapers and wipes in my purse. I’m not one of those moms who feels like she needs 50 things to be prepared. However, new babies do require a few extra supplies (like clothing changes and burp rags) and I’ll have to pack all that x2, plus Baby Bean is still in diapers. So I for sure need a dedicated diaper bag, and it for sure needs to be as hands-free and easy to organize as possible. I know I won’t actually use the organizing pockets as well as I could, but I plan on having a zipper pouch for each baby–or at least each size diaper. That way I can say, “Cherry Pie, get the yellow pouch and change Twin A.” Then the pouch can get tossed back in the backpack and yet it stays organized.
Yep, I feel like a genius for figuring that out.
I’m sure more changes are coming down the line, and I’ll roll with them as they come. Life’s exciting and, yes I am busy. But busy is ok.
#6. Oh yes, I got my hair cut even shorter. Easier is better, right? I think I like it.
Baby Bean is One. Okay, she is actually 14 months old. I just finally have access to posting so I’m playing catchup.
Her favorite foods are applesauce and cheese crackers. She also loves raisins, but I try to limit those because they go right through her.
Holding the kitty makes her so happy.
She started walking at 10 months, making her my earliest walker.
she’s so fluffy, I’m gonna die!! Seriously, If a person could die of cuteness overload, I would have died this day.
She knocked out 3 of her baby teeth falling down the stairs. She cried a little. I found one tooth floating in her mouth and two on the stairs. Three beautiful, perfect teeth. The two teeth you see peeking out on the bottom in this picture? They are gone, plus the one that had come in next to them.
I called the dentist. He explained there was no way to put them back. That she just wouldn’t have teeth until her permanent teeth grow in at age 6. He told me it would be okay, that each of his 5 children had lost at least one baby tooth violently. I felt a little better. I cried myself to sleep that night. My poor toothless baby.
Baby Bean loves to empty drawers and boxes. She loves to spread messes over the floor. She loves to turn off the TV right at the climax of the movie. She’s a stinker. But she’s so cute, it’s hard to be upset about it.
She is 30 inches long and weighs 21 pounds. Most of my other babies were not that big even at a year old.
She has grown so fast, it’s like watching someone’s life on fast forward, it kind of takes my breath away. Pardon me the Twilight reference, but it’s like I have a vampire-human hybrid baby. She is crawling and pulling up to stand. When she crawls, she stomps her hands and knees down like “HERE COMES THE BABY!” When she starts walking, I’m pretty sure the house will shake. This week she climbed up our stairs all the way to the top.
She says “mama” when she is crying and wants out of her crib, and when she sees a dog, she says “gog!” She is my first baby to say mama before dada.
I feel like she is a super good baby because when I hold her she doesn’t cry. (I had a little brother who cried all the time no matter what, so I know it can be worse.) My sister says I should have a higher standard and that good babies are happy to lie in their swing or play on the floor for hours while mom gets housework done.
…yeah, I’ve never had a baby who would do that. Baby Bean does play happily if she has just been fed and I stay in relatively one spot. If I try to walk away, she starts crawling after me and howling.
She puts everything she can grab in her mouth. She finds every bit of candy wrapper/trash/dead bug and eats it as fast as possible. We haven’t had candy in the house since Easters, but she finds foil wrappers almost daily it seems.
Getting her to sleep through the night has been kind of hard. She did very well for awhile and then suddenly had to be touching my skin to stay asleep. Finally, I thought I had it figured out. I was so tired and desperate for sleep that I left her in her crib to cry and before 5 minutes passed, she was asleep and slept through the night. 3 days in a row, she slept through the night. Victory! I thought. I told my friend that I had figured it out. Then she got her immunizations. (Which I totally believe everyone should get.) But she was miserable for 2-3 days, and she needed me. Back to sleeping with me she was.
I tried the letting her cry thing again, but 5 minutes is the maximum amount of time I can stand to hear her cry without getting her, and either she’s figured that out, or she just still needs me.
I have figured out some things though:
#1 if she falls asleep nursing, 9 times out of 10 she will wake up as soon as I put her down in her crib. So I feed her, but try to make sure she doesn’t fall asleep until after she is done eating.
#2 if she is still wide awake at 10:30 and I’m desperate (I have to get up at 4:45 a.m.), I can put her in her crib. She will cry until I come get her again, but 5 minutes of crying wears her out enough that she will go to sleep by 11. Is that terrible of me? I’d be delirious with happiness if I could get her to sleep by 9 p.m. but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen any time soon. 11 p.m. is my max
#3 Sometimes she will sleep through the night after all that, and sometimes I wake up in the morning and wonder how she ended up in bed with me, but that 1-2 hours of sleep that happen before midnight make all the difference for me.
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I sure love her a lot. I try to restrain myself from covering her fat cheeks with kisses and blowing raspberries on her neck when I’m in public places. But lots of times I forget.
Marvelous Pigs in Satin 