Tips and Tricks for Managing Multiples.

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Tips on Pregnancy with Multiples

• Tip: swimming is a great way to get the weight off of your back. It can help reduce swelling and feels great.
• Tip: According to your doctor’s advice, you will need to eat a lot of very healthy food for your growing babies. But your stomach and colon will be squashed – so it’s easier if you eat a lot of small snacks or meals all day long. Drink LOTS of water to help your bowels.
  
• Tip: always have a bottle of water and drink, drink, drink. You need water to build amneotic fluid and blood and more. In addition, drinking a lot of water is very healthy.
• Tip: if you are working, bring lots of snacks in small baggies to munch on all day. Baby carrots are a nice snack (but be careful if you have gestational diabetes, too much is not a good thing.)
• Tip: if you are on bed rest, have a helper bring you a tray of snacks (proteins, veggies, your vitamins, fruit, lots of grains) that can sit next to you all day until someone comes home again. That can really help you get the food in. Consider putting a small cooler next to you with perishables (cheese, meats, boiled eggs). Lots of iron and protein can help build big babies (a good thing, especially if they might be preemies).

Preparing for your Multiples’ Arrivals

• Tip: get ready early! 50% of twins are born prematurely, so anytime after the first trimester, start buying those cribs, etc. Make sure you check out CVMOM’s website and newsletter for any items that might be for sale! You can get some really good deals!
• Tip: you can register for baby gifts (and help others know what you really need) at Babys R’ Us in Simi Valley, Oxnard or Calabasas. They also have a pretty good website if you need to do it from home. Target, Burlington Coat Factor and Kohls also have nice baby departments where you can register as well. (Of note, if you buy larger items at Burlington Coat Factory (i.e., cribs, high chairs, etc) you get 10% off the 2nd item – just mention you are buying for twins! Unfortunately this doesn’t work for clothing items.  They also offer a twins discount at Babies R Us if you are buying 2 of one item priced over $50.  Just as them for the discount at checkout.)
• Tip: Registering for your baby gifts is overwhelming at first. Babies R’ Us (or any other store) is HUGE! Consider going just to look the first time (a good adventure in your first trimester, when you are still pretty mobile and dreaming.) Jot down ideas and products you like. Come back and register later (or on line). Its not really a “one time thing”.
• Tip: you don’t really need TWO of EVERYTHING. For example – you only need one diaper changing table. You may only need one crib for a while (3 or 4 months), you only need one nursing pillow, you MAY only need one swing, one bouncy chair, etc. If you get two of things for shower gifts, consider only setting up one and then if you don’t need the other one, you can always return it and buy more diapers…ha ha.
• Tip: When looking for cribs, you might consider looking at the 3-in-1 cribs – they start as cribs, then daybeds then usually full size beds. This is a great save in the long run as you won’t have to keep buying new beds as they outgrow their bed at the time.
  
• Tip: stock up on diapers (and formula if you bottle feed) when they go on sale. Babies R’ Us has sales regularly. A good way to spread out your expenses before the babies arrive. (You might want to wait on the formula just in case – you never know what your baby will like – not all formulas are the same). What you might want to do is instead of buying an item at the time, buy a gift card so you can have the gift card later on to use when needed!
• Tip: You don’t need some things right away (e.g. — highchairs, you don’t need them until they are at least 6 months old and sometimes not until about 9 months). Don’t clutter up your house with stuff you don’t need. Many, many things are only used for a few short months and then become unnecessary.
• Tip: Another trick with high chairs, look at chairs that can go on your kitchen chairs – there are many out there that you attach to your chair, they can be used from infant up to toddler stage (including the booster seat stage). This way you won’t have to clutter the house with extra high chairs.
• Tip: You can buy loads of things second hand. Great places to buy: the CVMOM Garage Sale (held each fall and spring); CVMOM Classified Ads (you can place “wanted” ads as well as reading what is available); consignment stores that specialize in baby items (e.g. – Children’s Orchard on Thousand Oaks Blvd. and also in Simi Valley)  You can save a lot of money this way.

Bed Rest and Hospital Stays

• Tip: Consider buying a “La-Z-Boy” type recliner (in faux leather or real leather if you can!). Its a great place to be on “bed rest” and makes an excellent place to nurse or bottle feed later on. You may find yourself on many, many nights sleeping semi-reclined in this chair. It keeps your feet up, lets your rock your babies, and is very easy to clean. You can hold sick babies on your lap through the night and they can breath easier (with colds, etc.) and you can sleep (somewhat) that way too.
• Tip: pack your bag early. Mothers of multiples often have to go to the hospital during their pregnancies and end up staying their for a few nights. (Ugh). It can make it easier on your husband if you have your bag already packed and all he has to do is go home and get it. Keep a list on top of your “prepacked” bag of other stuff you may need (e.g. – video camera, camera, makeup kit) so he would remember those items too.

NICU

• Tip: when choosing what hospital to have your children at, consider that they MAY have to stay in the NICU for a few days. Will you be able to easily drive back and forth (with a C-section)? Will someone be able to drive you? What if one stays at the NICU and the other comes home earlier? This issue becomes critical in those first few days (and sometimes weeks) after birth.
• Tip: TRY and get a tour of a NICU before your babies are born. It will make it less scary and you will feel a little more at ease and comfortable after having a tour of the hospital and NICU. Many hospitals don’t want to let your tour (for the sake of the children in there). But if you press hard or have a good pediatrician who can help you, you can at least go in for a few minutes and see what all those machines look like and sound like. It will also convince you to listen to your doctor about resting and taking it easy while you are pregnant.