Hi;
I am a mom of new twin boys. They were born 7 weeks ago, at 31 weeks
gestational. They spent about 5 weeks in hospital, but they are healthy.
However, as a first-time-ever mom there is a lot of stuff I don't know,
and
add to that the fact that I have twins and they are preemies and I
*really*
feel at a loss. So, I'm hoping I can get some help from others who have
BTDT :-)
Preliminary questions:
1. For the most part, right now at least, the boys are taking turns
wanting
to be fed and held: but at least once during the day I run into an hour
or
two where neither is willing to be put down. I am trying to find some
sort
of carrier that will allow me to carry/hold both of them and still have at
least one hand free. I have a couple of Snuglis that I've been given but
they are only for singletons and, once I'm wearing one of them, I can't
snuggle the other. What have you found useful?
2. They are being fed mainly breastmilk, with occassional formula
supplements, but because they're preemie, neither has figure out
breastfeeding yet (we're working on it) so I express and feed them with
bottles. While they were in the hospital, bottles were kept *completely*
individual--one per kidlet per feeding. Since getting home, we've
occassionally messed up and shared bottles between them. Some people I've
mentioned this too think this is a BAAAAD idea--but aren't they going to
spend their entire lives sharing germs? How im****tant is it to keep
bottles/soothers/etc. seperate?
3. I found a couple of books about raising twins that seem to be good,
but
I've had a lot of trouble finding info/resources about raising preemies.
Specifically, I am wondering how to accurately gauge their developmental
patterns. We've been told that, cognitavely speaking, we should judge
their
development according to their Expected Due Date as opposed to their
actual
age. But what about their physical development? For example: a new born
is supposed to be able to visually focus about 10" from their nose--is a
preemie's vision as well developed or not? My hubby thinks the boys are
tracking with their eyes already, I'm not so sure--how worried shold I be?
I'm sure I have oodles of more questions, but a baby is crying and I gotta
go :-) Thanks in advancefor any advice you wish to give.
Marie
--
Marie
Meet Macula at http://members.rogers.com/mmcw/
|
