Time flies. The twins are 5 months old. Like many mummies out there, I am struggling with many sleepless nights and endless carrying that shorten my temper. As the babies grow, some of the challenges dissipated while other nuisances remain. New ones may even magically appear without me knowing.
This post is to remind myself and many mummies out there that things will get better with time. In fact, as time passes, we may even miss the days and the challenges we faced when our little ones were still tiny!
Feeding and Burping
For the first 12 weeks of their lives, they each took 30 mins to latch or bottle feed, and another 30 mins to burp. If I was handling both the babies all by myself, I would have taken 2 hours in total. By the time I finished feeding and burping both babies, the twin who was earlier fed would be hungry again. Luckily I hired a confinement lady to help me, and subsequently, my maid stepped up. Any attempt to skip burping the babies would typically result in reflux and vomit.
We each had a 1-hour break in between. For my helper, it meant a lot of housework was left undone, and for me, it was ignoring the messy state of the house and spending less time with the older kids.
They gradually drank faster and in larger quantities. A few months in and we are feeding them 3-hourly. No burping required anymore!
Poop
They pooped every few hours.
Bath
It was a mental challenge. They were so small and fragile that and we feared breaking them, or dropping them into the water and hurt them. But in reality, they were so light-weighted at 2kg plus each, we could hold them in one arm easily. Some balancing skill required here though.
Curious about the cap over her ear. See my earlier post We corrected our daughter’s folded ear.
Carry
They were light at 2kg to 5kg each. But they were fragile. When 2 babies cried at the same time and my helper was not available, I could only lift one at a time and had to leave the other one crying. Now that they are learning to sit up, I can carry both off their cot to soothe them at the same time. Though they have a combined weight of more than 10 kg, carrying both together save my eardrums from bursting.
Sleep
They woke up every 2 hours, and at different times…. Thus I woke up every 1 to 2 hour… No, I did not rely on my helper to care for the babies at night as I find handling 4 kids and taking charge of the household chores and cooking in the day are already very tiring for her. I don’t want her to quit in the middle of her contract. My hubby, if in town, would step in to help if I slept through their cries. Yes, I am immune to their cries at times.
Nowadays they drink their milk in larger quantity and by I try to time their feeds back to back. Seems that they sleep longer and perhaps I can sleep a little more. While I am finalising the post, my dear little No.4 just decided to keep herself awake after a good feed at 12 midnight.
Going out
This is the fun part! We go out more often now. When the babies were younger than 4 months old, they were really soft. I brought them to the wet market to shop for grocery using either a sling carrier or a carrier. It was rather awkward and inconvenient. Using a sling carrier meant that I had only 1 hand to shop, as the other arm was used to hold the baby. The other carrier is a Ergo360 baby carrier and allows me to be hands-free. But because the babies were tiny, I had to use a baby carrier insert, which is hot and stuffy for our tropical weather. Imagine 34-degree Celsius at times. I also did not quite like the fact that baby was in an upright position. I am not sure if that was ideal for their backbone. Now that they have grown stronger and learning to sit, I simply put them in my Ergobaby carrier and go!
See Guide on how to wear the Ergo 360 Baby Carrier.
Also see my post on Why We Babywear and Thank Goodness I Met A Babywearing Educator
How about the prams? Yes, I have 2, a monster pram and a bugaboo which cannot fit into the narrow shopping lanes in the wet market. Nonetheless, I do rely on the prams heavily for long distance commuting. The monster pram is a good companion for running while bugaboo is lighter and glides along the shopping centre floors smoothly.
Help from the elder ones
They are learning! Yes, I am so grateful to them. With both babies grow stronger, my children are able to lift them up to play with them. In a few months’ time, the babies will be crawling after them!
Related post:
How I keep my sanity with 4 kids at home – post confinement
My First Month with 4 kids at home
My mum said this is now the sweet spot as the twins are not able to crawl yet. As soon as they become mobile, they will start moving around and in different directions! Well, let’s see how it goes then! In the meantime, I should just enjoy the process and cherish the moments!
Ok, I give up. My little one is staring at me right now and giggling away. I am going to publish this post as it is…
For the curious
The toy hanging on the pram is a Lamaze Fairy Doll (similar).
I am using an Ergobaby Carrier.
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I fell in love with your beautiful children, but especially with the twin who always looks so calm like they already have a handle on the world. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
As a mother of 4 adult daughters, I second your mother’s advice, enjoy the experience and cherish every moment. The time goes quickly and now days while I am happy to see my children grown and successful I miss the time I had with them.
Your babies are so cute! I wish them a happy and healthy life going ahead. 🙂
Thank you!