If you’re a soon-to-be parent to twins, you may be feeling a pretty wide range of emotions….from excitement and happiness to apprehension and anxiety. For me, most of the anxiety came from the worry about how to prepare. How would we make it all work? How would I get everything I needed? I took reassurance in the fact that my, now 83 year old, grandmother is a twin. Thinking about it, if my great grandmother could do this back in the 1930’s, I certainly can make this work. With my twins due next week, I feel at peace in what I’ve done to prepare and I’m looking forward to them arriving. While there may be things I realize I overlooked after the babies are born, I wanted to share how I prepared and got myself from the ‘worry ‘ to ‘ready!’
Know your Timeline This is my second pregnancy – and my 2 year old son was born via c-section. So, from the beginning, I was a scheduled c-section for 38 weeks. Generally, twins like to show up early – the average being 36 weeks. Get a head start on some of the things you may want to do. If this is your first pregnancy, get in your registry and birthing classes earlier than what may be typically recommended. Having a good timeline to get things done will help ease some anxiety and help you get prepared without feeling rushed.
- 12 “onesies” undershirts; In the newborn size, I did the side-snap, kimono style since it’s better on the umbilical cord area. For the 3 mo. size, I did a regular over the head onesie.
- 10 one-piece sleepers with ‘feet’ – great for around the house.
- 10 – 12 socks
- 6 hats – 2 of which are sun hats for outdoors.
- 12 diaper “burp” cloths – these are great for everything!
- 10 regular bibs
- 4 hooded bath towels
- 2 bassinett sheets or 2-3 crib sheets (per crib)
- 2 crib pads (per crib)
- 2 covers for changing pad
- 4-6 waterproof pads – great for under sheets, under the baby in the swing or bouncer
- baby care accessories – brush/comb set (one); 2 nasal aspirators, one nail clipper
- 6-7 Swaddling blankets or if you are not planning to swaddle, receiving blankets
Nest, nest, nest! Most new moms do not have any trouble nesting and preparing the home for baby. Just make sure it includes having everything ready to go. Put together all baby stuff ahead of time. I remember with my son, my husband thought the bassinet would be a simple assembly so he wanted to wait until we came home from the hospital. Big mistake. It took him and my mother over an hour while I sat exhausted with our newborn. In our last week, we set up everything, had all clothes away, even diapers/wipes in place so that the minute we walk in the door from the hospital, there’s nothing we need to ‘find’ or go out and get.
Here we go….should be quite the ride. 🙂
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I just found out I’m having identical twins and I’m glad I found your site! This is my first pregnancy and my husband and I are total newbies to parenthood. Great info 🙂
Congratulations, Betsy! I’m glad the post could be helpful to you. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. 🙂