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Thanks for asking Elisabeth, Yesterday I was discharged to an OB they recommended. I'm not to thrilled that she is 45 min. away from my house. I'm considering looking around on my own but undecided.
The u/s was fantastic! Babies are doing well. I was thinking of them as my little aliens but the nurses said gummy bears and I prefer that term much better! They really do look like gummy bears! They have arm and leg nubs!Heartbeats were 170 and 182. She said anything between 120-200 was good.They are growing! They are about an inch long.Very exciting stuff! ;D ;Dcassandra

P.S. My due date is Dec. 15!

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That is wonderful. I love that you are now calling them gummy bears. That is cute. Good luck finding a closer OB/GYN. 45 minutes is a long drive, especially when you will probably have a higher amount of doctor's visits.

I am trilled for you and your twins. Have you started shopping yet?

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I am still waiting. I read a story in chicken soup for the expecting mothers soul and one woman miscarried twins at 11 weeks so that is my new goal to pass that stage. Although, my mother in law keeps bringing by new clothes! I'm going to ask her for diapers now! ;D
My sister in law has her old furniture in storage for me so we will only need one more crib eventually. I don't think I'll need 2 changing tables, I only have 2 hands!
I really can't wait to start shopping and designing the babies room. Something to keep me occupied besides eating! ;)
You must be so excited yourself! Are 3 babies going to stay in one crib at first? I'm looking into a mothers league for multiples in my area. So far no luck but we never give up easily do we?!!! ;D
I think we should also plan ahead for bedrest, yours will probably be early.Take care of yourself...cassandra

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I think the three will stay in one crib at first. I have read that they do better all together.

On the night after we found out how many, I went into panic at 1:00 a.m. in the morning. I was really concerned about finances and raising three babies with hardly any family around. I got on the internet and found a support group for multiples in my city. I figure they will have tons of advice on cost savings and child care.

Now, me and dh are very excited and less stressed out! I still feel a little pressure to get everything taken care of before bedrest kicks in. (nursery, house organized and baby clothes) Has your doctor informed you of your due date? Did they adjust it back for twins?

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Elizabeth and Cassandra,

I just thought I would give you some info, since I am a mom of twins. If you can find a mulitiples club in your area, join it. Ours is a little "cliquey", but I mainly joined w/ another friend who had twins, so I that I could shop at the twin sale twice a year as well as get info for certain things. Our twins were born at exactly 32 wks. and spent 31 days in the NICU and came home on apnea monitors. They were in the low 4 lb. range when they came home. Preemies definitely have their challenges. I was on bedrest for 4 days before they came. I developed pre-eclampsia and my water broke, so there was no stopping them coming. I had some signs that I ignored, which in hindsight could have prevented them from coming early.

We have b/g twins that sleep in the same room. We never had them cosleep together b/c of space and I was afraid of sids. (What don't I worry about!!)

I am not sure if you have to wait until your mulitples are born to take advantage of certain companies that give you discounts as a mom of multiples. I had to send in copies of their birth certificates to get coupons and what not.

Beechnut and gerber send out extra coupons w/ each stage of growth, enough coupons to cover 2 or more. Enfamil will send you a free case of formula w/ proof from Dr.s office that you have twins or more. (Nice Savings), but they stink on sending out coupons. Similac is much better at sending out coupons. Huggies and pampers will send you one time $3.00 off coupons for diapers. The First Years will send you teething rings and rattles, and rattle booties for each baby. Johnson and Johnson will also send you out coupons for free Products. Osh'Kosh and stride rite will give you 10% off for multiples as well w/ proof. I have phone numbers to a lot of these companies if you would like them for future reference.

I hope this info helps. Good luck w/ your pregnancies, I am sure you will have nothing to worry about :)

Meg

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Meg, thank you so much for the info! I was thinking I will probably be asking you a ton of questions if you don't mind. :)
I so far have only found one mothers group. But it is 4 towns over! I'm still looking. Did your group consist of twins only? cassandra

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Cassandra,

The MOMs - Mothers of Multiples club that I belong to, consists of women who are mothers of multiples - twins, triplets, quads, etc. There are a few women who are mothers to triplets, but I am not sure if there are quad moms. I live about 40 minutes outside of Philadelphia in a suburb. In each county there is a MOMs club. There are a ton of people in this area who have twins or more b/c of infertility treatments I am guessing.

I did meet a couple of women through it though the club that I became friendly with. We do get together on occasion. I initially met a girl through my work who was having twins, and we started talking about things and found out that we had both done infertility etc., so that was nice common ground. We go to the meetings together which is nice. The other girl that I met through the twins club has twin girls and goes to the same fertility Dr. as I do and is expecting twins again !!!! I like talking to her since her twin girls were premature like our children.

I would have to say one of the biggest challenges of having twins was the prematurity and sickness. When one child gets sick the other quickly follows. They weren't sick for the first 8 mo. of life and after that it seemed like it was every couple of weeks. I can't tell you how happy I am that it is spring !!!!! I pretty much take care of the kids myself and obviously my DH helps when he is not working and on weekends. It is not bad at all. I don't know any different. I actually love having twins :) Sometimes I wonder though what it would have been like w/ triplets... but God obviously had a different plan in mind for us, as He always seems too :-\

I hope you are doing well and enjoying every blessed minute of your p/g, b/c it flies by after the 1st trimester:)

Meg

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Meg - Thank you so much for the information. I will be sure to contact all "baby" companies in hopes of discounts. I also enjoyed you sharing the "joys" of motherhood. So many people keep saying "better you than me" and "good luck with that" when we tell them we are having triplets. It just gets annoying. We know it will be hard, but to have all of these babies at once is an amazing blessing.

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Well, yesterday was a productive day. I got a new OB who is just 3 miles away from my house! My girlfriend is an assistant there.
I found a local chapter of NMOTC 2 towns over. She told me there are 2 women in my town and 1 the next town over who belong. I asked if I should wait to attend until I'm farther along but she said there aren't any meetings in the summer, so, to come to the next meeting which is June 6. The next meeting after that is in Sept. She also warned me there will be tables of women grouped together (Clicks) but that doesn't scare me. She seemed very nice. She said also(Meg) twins come a month early. She said she worked right up to delivery like you too meg.
Speaking of...Meg, did you return to work?Also, if you were working full time, did you cut your hours before delivery? Right now I work 46 hours a week.
Another...did you breastfeed?
I'm am loaded with questions and I don't want to bombard you with all of them. Any advice? Thank you for your reply. cassandra

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Cassandra,

Due to infertility problems and m/c issues I stopped working as a teacher and began working as a children's librarian for about 32 hours a week. The almost full time hours worked out well while I did fertility.

We found out we were having triplets at about 5 1/2 weeks due to spotting. We were shocked to say the least, but were told we had a greater chance of losing one of the babies due to my m/c issue. I spotted at 8 wks. again, and then around 11 1/2 weeks, which was when I lost the triplet. I spotted until almost 16 weeks b/c of losing the baby. I was so scared at the 16 wk. appt. we were not going to hear h/b, as I did not have an u/s. At 19 wks. started w/ brackston hicks contractions and then lowered my working hours from 32 to 20 -25. Towards my 29th -30th wk. I began having strange things happen, swelling in my calves and thighs and lots of back pain and cramping. We had to leave the birthing class early b/c of the intense cramping and back pain. I should have stayed and went to the ER, but I just wanted to be home. I went home and laid down and the pain subsided. I also had diarhea (sorry if TMI). I told the nurse at the high risk practice I was seeing as well as the Dr. and they kind of ignored the symptoms and well I had the babies about a week and a half later. So technically I worked up to the week I had the babies. Moral of the story - DON'T ignore anything b/c it could mean the difference in having a longer p/g vs. a shorter one.

I presently do not work and stay home and care for our twins. The absolute best and at times hardest job I have ever had :) I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world either :) I did breastfeed to the best of my ability. I had a great milk supply which came in fine despite the babies coming early. I mostly pumped b/c of them being premature. I probably breastfed each of them at the beginning (when they were home) about twice a day. They received breastmilk supplemented w/ 22 calorie formula to put weight on them. I pumped and nursed for about 5 1/2 for our son and about 3 1/2 months w/ our daughter. Our daughter had milk issues so either I had to cut our dairy from my diet or give her soy forumula. I decided to give her soy. Cutting out dairy was too hard a task. I hope that helps you somewhat. If you would like feel free to email me at Porter_Michael@msn.com. I would be glad to answer any questions you have as well as comfort any fears you may have as well :) I don't want to bore people w/ my stories of twins :)

Please take care and know that you are in my thoughts and prayers :)

Meg

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I looked back at this thread to see who the posters were on it. They are ElizabethS (triplets) and Cassandra (twins) and now me (twins), so please don't think your twin stories are boring anyone! I don't know anybody besides you ladies who have ever gone through this. I will take all the stories you can dish out! Thanks for your wisdom!

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Cassandra - my, my - I gues you really did have a productive day! You must feel so great.

Meg, Thanks for all the information. I really can't thank you enough. I read your thread a couple of times to take it all in. You are so kind to share your knowledge and experience.

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Cassandra, Elizabeth, and Darby,

I am glad that I can be of help to all of you. I understand your feelings of nervousness and extreme excitement as well. Even Elizabeth, I can even relate to you, since I was p/g w/ triplets up to almost 12 wks.

I am happy to answer any of the questions you all may have:) Please take care and know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. BTW, our twins are now 17 months old. So very hard to believe - it seems like yesterday that they were tiny little muffins :)

Meg

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Meg, thank you so much! Your help is very much appreciated! :) You certainly couldn't bore me with your experiences. I truly do need and want your imput! So, you breastfed..that's terrific! I am hoping too also. I have to have dh show me how to email...I have tried but once I put in a wrong address for myself and now it won't let me send anything. ???
So, there is plenty of milk for two then. Did you ever run out?How often would you breastfeed a day?What thing would you say you got the most mileage out of like swing, rocker, bouncers...ect. What will I definately need 2 of?When did you start getting the room ready? When should I have the second crib? Right away? I know you had 2 cribs right away. Did you have bassinettes?I apologize for the million questions :) one last one...what did you get out of the meetings and do you still attend...There..that does it for today! ;D
I understand if you don't feel like answering all of these.. there is just no info I can get from books better than someone who has done it! Much thanks cassandra

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Cassandra,

As far as breastfeeding goes, no I never ran out. When the babies were in the NICU, I pumped every 4-6 hours to ensure that my milk supply stayed good. I continued to pump or feed every 4-6 hours when they came home as well. If you are planning on breastfeeding, I would recommend renting a hospital grade pump. I could empty both breasts in about 15 minutes. I don't think I could have breastfed exclusively anyway. It would have been too difficult. DH and I each fed one when he was home and also during the night time feeds.

I didn't register for 2 of everything b/c, first off our house is not that big and second off I was afraid that people would not buy 2 of everything for us. We had 2 highchairs, 2 swings (one new, one used; bought used one at twins sale b/c both loved the swing), 2 bouncy seats(both new and couldn't live w/o), 2 exersaucers (one new, one borrowed), one pack and play (inlaws bought one and cart it around for us, and we bought a used one for my parent's house) If we are going somewhere where family will not be,we just borrow his parents pack and play. I registered for the most inexpensive one also. I had a play pen (definitely got our use out of that from ages 5 to 14 months, then they started getting hurt and beating each other up:) We had a new cradle and a cradle that my siblings and I slept in. The twins stayed in our room for the first couple of months.

We ordered funiture in advance. I can't remember when, I think we ordered it when I was like 6 months p/g. I was not a typical person when it came to doing a baby's room, picking out clothes, furniture, having baby showers, etc. After having two m/c and losing the triplet, I was very, very paranoid about losing the babies. I would not allow my mother to knit anything until I was about 6 months p/g or buy anything either. I didn't buy anyting until about that time either. I waited to do things until I knew that the baby could survive on its own, or at least have a good chance of survival. The furniture wasn't delivered until after the babies were born!!! We painted the room a few days before they came home as well !!!! One of my baby showers was held two weeks before I had the twins, and the other shower was just 5 days before they were born. I had given everyone strict orders to wait until both babies were viable. I know I sound like a lunatic, but after you have m/c a few times, you learn to be extremely cautious. I am just 6 wks. p/g now, and have a feeling that this p/g is going to end in m/c as well. At my u/s today, the baby measured 6 wks. and had a heart rate of 117 bpm, but I don't have a corpus luteum cyst that should be supplying progesterone. I am using Crinone progesterone gel, but I am not sure how good it is working. I compared my u/s and info to the last p/g w/ the twins and all of the numbers were much better last time than what I am measuring today. My 1st m/c had much of the same #'s that I am having this time around. It is all very frustrating and disheartening :'( So as you can see, you shouldn't necessarily use me as a guide as to when to do things, as I am a bit extreme when it comes to these kinds of things.

As far as the twins meetings go, I go b/c I attend w/ a friend who also has twins that are 2 months older than ours. The meetings are kind of boring, and they are always talking about fundraising ::) I really join so that I can go to the fall and spring twin sale. Members can sell items if they want and as a member you can shop earlier than the public. I have gotten some very nice things at the sale and some of the items can be very inexpensive. If we are fortunate to have another baby be born, I would more than likely buy a used highchair and other things at the sale rather than buy new. However, I would still buy a new crib and car seat. I have met some nice people through the club as well, so overall I do think it is worth it to joinat least for the first couple of years of your children's lives.

Hope this helps you :) I know how overwhelmed you must be :) Just take a deep breath and even if you think you won't ever be prepared for them to come, as long as you have tons of love and diapers and food that is all you will need - the rest of the "stuff" will come in due time.

Take Care and keeping you in my thoughts and prayers:)
Meg

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Meg, thank you so much for responding. I'm sorry your'e not feeling to good on your pregnancy. Would a pregesterone suppository work better? I had to take 3 a day until I was 9 weeks.
Your insight is invaluable. I can't thank you enough for responding to all of my questions! I will rent a pump from the hospital. The twins sale you spoke of... is it a store in your area?
Well, this is my tenth week and so far so good. I probably will start the room in July.The babies are due in December, so I reasonably suspect around Thanksgiving.I'm on my feet all day long and am hoping to cut my hours in Sept. I have been at my job for 16 years and am looking forward to leaving it. my problem though, is I carry our health insurance. Something I worry about daily. You need to work 30 hours a week to maintain it. Unless a miracle happens and I win the lottery, I guess I'll be back to work. Believe me I will explore every option before that happens! Take care of yourself Meg...cassandra

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Hi everyone! I'm celebrating today because I have hit the 11 week mark. Something I have been worrying about for awhile. 2 more and I'll be in my 4th month! A miracle. I hope everyone is doing well and pray more to join us in the coming months. cassandra

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