First I must start out by saying thank you all so very much for your comments and suggestions during our giveaway!! I was so blown away and I simply cannot thank each and everyone of you enough!! And we do have another giveaway in the works!!!
One of the most popular topic suggestions was bringing home baby and the first few weeks at home!
There are differences and similarities to brining home a singleton vs. twins.
Because this post got very long discussing both Kendal and Madison as well as the twins I am splitting it into to parts!
First, let me say when my singletons {Kendal and Madison} were born I was in my 20's {with Kendal I was 25 and Madison I was 27} with the twins I was 34!! So quite a difference - I do think age and experience has a lot to do with what its like to bring your baby home and what the first few weeks are like.
Second, as I've said before what I have to say is simply my opinion and what I have found to work for me.
So brining home Kendal and Madison:
With Kendal being our first everything was scary I think we pretty much questioned ourselves A LOT and by A LOT I mean all the time all day every day. We were lucky to have my mom and sister stay with us for the first week home {Quick side note.. I had a schedule c-section.. all went normal and we were discharged on day 4}. I struggled with breast feeding- I wanted to nurse so bad- however I was in severe pain every single time she nursed, I just thought it was supposed to feel that way so I kept doing it I was also pumping {my supply has never been great}.
Sleeping was ok, I don't think we really had any issues, she would wake and we would feed her. I know I pretty much slept with my glasses on for the first few weeks because I was so afraid something would happen. We bottle fed {pumped milk and formula} at night and I would pump once during the night. During the day was probably my most difficult time- after my mom and sister left and hubby went back to work I felt so lost. I remember knowing I couldn't breast feed any longer because I was in so much pain. I felt like I failed Kendal and I am sure I became depressed. What worked best for me was to have a routine - as soon as we put a routine in place I began to feel better. Our routine was pretty simply, it was really just the normal stuff we did before she was born. Cooking, going for walks, ect. The first few weeks were difficult but I truly believe it was because we were NEW parents and we tried to do everything "by the book" for fear of making a mistake!
Forgive me for the "Photos of Photos" I had to take pictures of the photos in the girls scrapbooks all our digital files are packed away!!
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| Kendal and Daddy |
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| Kendal moments after she was born |
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| Kendal and my Mom |
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| Kendal and my Sister |
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| Kendal at one month |
Bringing home Madison... this was a pretty different experience from Kendal. For starters Madison did a great job nursing and I wasn't in any pain!! Madison was also a scheduled c-section, but she decided to come a day early! Everything went well, we again had family in town to help with Kendal who was 18 months at the time. We left the hospital on day 4. We had family around to help out for about the first two weeks. This time was different though, first Madison nursed very well so I didn't do a lot of pumping. We did the same thing for night feeds that we did for Kendal. We mostly bottle fed at night because this way hubby could help and I could also get some sleep. The biggest difference between Kendal and Madison at night was that I didn't freak out if she didn't wake every 3 hours to eat. In fact I didn't wake her if she didn't wake on her own... that's right I did not wake her if she didn't wake herself. I of course would wake up, If she was sleeping I simply checked on her and went back to sleep myself. She would almost always wake at the 4 or 4.5 hour mark to eat. She did just fine by us not waking her in fact we all did much better letting her tell us when she was hungry. Kendal was sleeping very well at this time so we didn't have to worry about a toddler and a newborn waking throughout the night. I again felt slightly depressed when family went home and hubby went back to work so I did the same thing I did before.. created a new routine for the three of us during the day and it worked. I nursed Maddy for 3 months and I felt comfortable stopping when I did (I went back to work).
Bringing home an new baby with a toddler already at home brings on its own set of challenges. I was very fortunate to have a very calm and easy going baby. The most important part for me was to keep Kendal entertained while I had to tend to the baby. She watched baby Einstein, Sesame Street, and Disney movies {Yes, I let my 18 month old watch TV}. When Maddy was sleeping I made sure to have Kendal sleep as well. It took a few days but I was able to get them on the same schedule. That was a life saver! Maddy dictated the way our day would go so I tried to keep things simple and flexible for Kendal. By about 4 weeks Maddy's nap schedule was "regular" so it became easy to put them down at the same time. I used this time to nap myself.. hey mama needs sleep too!! I also tried to keep Kendal involved in all things baby.. feeding, changing diapers, play time, ect. this was very helpful as well!
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| Madison on her Birth day |
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| Kendal holding her little sister for the first time |
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| Madison home from the hospital |
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| Madison a little over one month |
For 7 years we had two wonderful amazing daughters- we tried several times for baby number 3 after two lost pregnancies we decided our family was complete. Hubby was later deployed and was gone off and on for the next 3 years. In late 2011 when hubby finished up his deployment we began discussing baby number 3 again. We discussed for a while and decided we were read to try again- I became pregnant pretty much right away, unfortunately I lost that pregnancy as well. The very next month the twins were conceived!!
Part 2 bringing home the twins - tomorrow.
~~ Kristy
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