Guest Post: "Mama and the Dudes"

Hey! It's that time of week again when you get to read about other Mamas who already have twins. Today's post is by Mandey from Mama and the Dudes, which is one of my favorite blogs to stalk through, especially since her twin boys were born at the beginning of March. I do things like look at the size of her boys at Christmas time and remind myself that's how big MY boys will be next Christmas.
She is awesome, and if you're craving some humor or the cutest baby pictures in the world, head over to her blog.
(And remember to leave her lots of nice comments here!)

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As a mama to twin boys, I have many people asking me questions about how life works with two babies at a time. I thought I’d take a little time to discuss 5 of the questions I’m asked most about being Mama to Julian and Isaiah.

1. You had twins? Man, you must have been huge! Yes, my belly measured full term around 25 weeks. I carried my babies to 36 weeks (which is average for twins). The misery most women feel only in the final days and weeks of their pregnancy was reserved for a good 4 months of mine. I couldn’t laugh, stand, sit, pee, or pretty much ANYTHING without getting a contraction for months. I woke every hour on the hour for 2 months to pee at night. Even in my husband’s giant shirts I could feel the cool breeze hit my tummy. I. Was. A. Monster Truck.

2. What do you do when your baby cries? You pick them up, cuddle, love, soothe. What do you do when two babies cry and you’re all alone? You learn to hold two babies at once. After a couple months I could feed, burp and rock to sleep both babies at once. I could carry them both at the same time (using a carrier for help). I could feed one in my arms and rock the other with my foot in the bouncy chair.

3. When you’re trying to get your babies to fall asleep and they are sleeping in the same bed or next to each other, what happens when one cries? Does he wake the other? Most of the time, it’s no big deal. If one is really sleeping and really tired, he’ll stay zonked. Even if the other is screaming bloody murder next to him. Seriously, babies can sleep through fire alarms (and they have). But some nights they feed off each other and the crying lasts forever. It’s not all a walk in the park.

4. It must be a lot of work to get out of the house with two babies, how do you do it? Practice, practice, practice. I started taking them on short walks when they were cleared to leave the house. Each time I went out, I got further and further away from home and felt more comfortable each time. At first you do everything you can think of to hush them if they get upset and get all embarrassed and in a fluster because they’re both crying and making noise. But now I don’t really care. If you don’t like that my kids are crying (which has RARELY happened, they LOVE outdoors) then don’t stand by me!

5. How do you do it? How do you have time to raise twin boys, keep your house clean, blog, shower, eat, ...breathe all in one day? You know what, you just figure it out. Honestly I’m a pretty laid back mama. We don’t have set schedules. We don’t eat and sleep at the exact same time every day. I don’t live by the clock. Yes, we have routines that just kind of set themselves up but I’ve learned everything just from trial and error. I don’t know anything else. I just find time and get stuff done! The most important things though are the boys. So if someone isn’t feeling good, or needs a little extra mama time, the dishes can wait.

 Being a mother of twins is the BEST. Obviously there is a lot more to consider with two babies and it’s more work than just one but oh man is it rewarding. My days are long, my nights are still filled with wake ups, I’m going in many different directions most of the time, I’m covered in some kind of baby bodily fluid most days, and yes my hands are definitely full. But so is my heart. My heart is so full of love pure joy at the sight of my baby boys playing with each other, with their best friend. Watching them interact and follow each other around all day is nothing short of amazing and if I had the choice, I’d have twins all over again.