I know, another fascinating blog post title.
My creativity amazes even me sometimes.
Today we attended our first of 2 "Feeding and care of multiples" class at the hospital. It was really interesting and informative. There were 3 other couples expecting twins about the same time as us, and 2 other couples expecting triplets...wow, triplets.
We learned all about feeding two babies at a time, bathing them, the difference between co-sleeping the twins vs separate beds, etc.
And we practiced swaddling them. I must say, David is a MASTER at this. The guy had never swaddled a baby before in his life, but he swaddled our twin practice dolls like a pro. I was so impressed!
A mom who had 6 week old twins brought them in to be our live "examples". The instructor showed us all kinds of "twin management" tips. At one point she had BOTH babies in one sling and was showing us something else...I honestly was fascinated by it! I could not believe how much she was able to do while still having TWO babies attached to her, yet her hands free. And the babies seemed to love being so close together and "held" so close also.
Good stuff. We have the second class tomorrow evening where we will go over much more, and supposedly I will learn about this "double football hold" I keep reading about. =)
One question for you parents out there...today we went over sleeping and preventing SIDS. The instructor talked to us about a TON of things we can do to reduce the risk of SIDS, and one of those was to not have anything really in the babies' cribs, including bumper pads. I had heard this before, but I thought it was mainly only for the really fluffy types, and that the stiff, thinner types were ok (assuming of course that the ties and bows that hold the bumper pads on were on the outside of the crib only). But she said that the American Academy of Pediatrics were recommending none at all. My question is, how many of you used bumpers in your cribs? Had you heard this advice and decided to use them anyways? I guess I had always thought bumpers were really handy because they prevented the babies from getting their limbs stuck in between the crib rails, and also from constantly dropping their paci's out of the crib too. So...tell me your thoughts please!!
In other exciting news....DAVID FELT LUKE MOVE TODAY!!!! It was SO cool!!!! I have been feeling the babies here and there for some time now, but nothing has been strong or frequent enough yet for him to be able to feel it. But this morning we were eating breakfast and Luke was kicking or punching or tumbling or something, and he seemed to have a rhythm to it. So I whispered to David "give me your hand..." and I gently put it on my belly right where he was moving. Within seconds, POW! It was SOOOOO great.
I had to whisper my request for David's hand because it seems like any time one of the babies is moving a lot I get excited and practically yell "David! The babies are moving!!! Give me your hand!!!!", and they always seem to stop. It's like they know.
This whole pregnancy thing is just so cool. I am loving every minute of it. Even when I can't get comfortable at night and am up from 4am to 6am (like last night), it really doesn't bother me. I am just so happy to be pregnant, and I want to try and enjoy every moment of it...and really take in the special ones, like the first time daddy feels a baby move =)
And speaking of cool things, check out what my sweet friend Anna (http://steinerfam5.blogspot.com/ ) made for me:
It's a beautiful necklace with our babies' initial charms!!
It is SUCH a cool gift and I wore it proudly today =)(ok, when you look at the above picture, you are gonna have to do like I do and pretend you don't see that massive stack of clean, dry dishes just waiting to be put away on the counter there...)
I actually met Anna forever ago in like 1912. Ok, maybe it wasn't THAT long ago, but it was at least 15 years ago! We met at summer camp when we were kids, and it's so neat to "find" her again!
Thank you so much Anna for the thoughtful gift!
On that note, I better get downstairs, because David just yelled that Greg Oden injured his knee and it doesn't look good....our Blazers are dropping like flies!!!
10 comments:
I tried putting Ellie in her crib without her bumper, but she was just too darn mobile and would get stuck in the crib rails and even bang her head on them. I figured that since she could move herself enough to get from the center of the crib to the side, she could handle not getting her face stuck in the bumper. That was me though, and I know some people who don't put anything in their cribs.
Because of her reflux and crazy moving skills, she did sleep in a glider seat that we have for her first few weeks home. (We tried the crib first but she was all over the place and didn't stay with her head elevated.) But she's been in her crib for a few months now, and we haven't had trouble with the bumper.
I'm sure you already know about these, but we loved and Ellie loved her Halo brand Sleep Sacks for sleeping in. The smaller sizes come with a swaddling feature, and it felt a lot safer than swaddling for sleeping in her room alone in a blanket. I did swaddle her in blankets lots for cuddle time though.
That is SO cool that he felt him move!! On the bumper pad thing....I took it out after the first few nights because I was worried, but then I put it back when he started moving in his sleep so that he didn't bump his head on the crib. He was probably 3 months old?? I've broken all of the "rules" though because Kaden is a tummy sleeper. He refused to sleep on his back, so I just prayed a lot and bought a monitor that had a sensor pad and would alarm if he stopped breathing. It helped me sleep at night! Oh and that's so great that you can use a sling with twins because they are the greatest invention!
We used the bumper pads. The ones I have on Brody's bed aren't to fluffy. I know they make some that you can buy at Babies R Us or Target that are mesh so the baby can breath through them. They aren't cute, but are very safe. You could use those until the twins were able to move and then put the "cute" ones in the beds.
I was so nervous about SIDS as well. My sweet cousin lost her 4 month old from SIDS a few years ago. It had nothing to do with bumpers, blankets, etc. It was strictly that she just stopped breathing. I think whatever you chose to do will be just fine. You will be checking on them pretty often anyway.
We had an Angel Care Baby Monitor (still do, but we don't use the sensor anymore, our girl is 20 months) that senses the baby's movement and breathing. So we used bumpers until she was a bit over one. We took them out when she started standing up in her crib a lot and standing on the bumpers (though they were squish-able so it's not like she could use it to help her get out of the crib). We took them out once and then put them back in for a bit because I got SO frustrated with her losing her pacifier. When the bumpers were in we would put a few around the crib and if she woke up crying she'd usually find one (once she was old enough of course). When she started waking up and sticking her legs through the rails OVER the bumper we took them out. :) I always figured once she really moved enough to get her head into the bumper she had the skill to pick her head up too, so she could turn it. And the sensor on our monitor helped me a LOT too.
Hi Kendra!
Glad your class went well. You guys are going to be such great parents :)
We used bumper pads I remember (Jeven's 11 1/2 now though!)but she slept on her tummy as an infant and did just fine in her crib.
I'm just so excited for you guys!!!
Love,
Jen
So cool! We need some pics!
We used bumper pads with B. As you know, he was in Children's until he was 5 weeks, but they weren't concerned about bumpers or him tummy sleeping. In fact, because he had reflux, they actually recommended tummy sleeping him.
Also, they make this pad that baby can sleep on and it is a monitor - if they stop breathing an alarm will sound. Just thought I'd throw that out there!
I am loving reading all your posts--you are SO happy, and I can relate so much! So glad D got to feel movement--there's nothing like it. I am amazed that you can differentiate which baby is which when they move!
What a cute necklace! That is so sweet! I think the same thing happens to me...whenever I feel Connor move I yell for Terence and then everything stops! Maybe I need to whisper too :)
I cannot imagine how exciting that must have been for your husband to feel the baby kick!! Very special.
Good luck at the child classes!!
I am so glad you enjoy the necklace! :) It was so easy to make and fun!
Also, how fun that you get to feel and can tell which baby is moving, that amazes me! I LOVED feeling my kiddos moving around!
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