Becoming a parent changes everything. I don’t know about the rest of you, but over here it feels like there is a lot of trial and error going on. Your first child sets the learning curve. You make mistakes, you get things right, and by the time you have your second child you are more seasoned. Less trial and error since you already know the ropes. By the time you have your third (if you are that insane) you have it down to a science.
You do not have this advantage when you have more than one child at once. Most mistakes made are made to both. Luckily most things that I get right are right to both as well.

Looking back there are few things I would have done differently. I wish I had known about baby wearing much sooner. I didn’t start wearing Heaten until 9 months (Shenzie didn’t like to be worn so it worked out well that Heaten loved it). I had the Snugli and Bjorn carriers and hated them. I didn’t know about wraps and slings so I like I missed out on a huge opportunity for more bonding. Having twins brought a lot of guilt over never being enough. Never giving enough. Never holding enough. I think baby wearing would have helped some of the guilt I felt. I currently have the Ergo carrier, and while I haven’t used it in awhile it definitely was worth the $$ and got used every day for months and months.


July 2007

I would also have separated the babies into their own rooms much sooner. I had these thoughts of all this twin bonding, laughing at each other and talking to each other at night and in the mornings. And maybe when they are older we will have all of those things, but for now I love the separation. My stress and anxiety level went down considerably when they moved into their own rooms. I did lose an office, but I love having my bedroom back from Shenzie napping in it. They both sleep so much better when separate which means that Mama sleeps better. =)


June 2007

Lastly, I would have forced the binky on Heaten. We took Shenzie’s away at 4 months by necessity. Heaten still took his, but it was more me giving it to him than him really wanting it. At 6 months I stopped forcing it and was so glad that we didn’t have to worry about taking it away later. Enter his lovey ‘Doggie’. After this weekend and the drama we are in the midst of with Doggie I wish he still had binky to give him comfort. I’ve been up since 2:30a.m. and am too tired to tell the sad story of the death of Doggie, so stay tuned and watch the drama unfold. =) or =( Depending on how much humor I can fake right now.