What Not To Say...Part 2

People LOVED my "What Not to Say to a Parent of Preemie Multiples" post a few months ago so I decided to do an updated one. Amazingly the comments have changed now that the girls are a little older, have their own opinions and now a lack of patience! Let's just say, going into public is a full contact sport!

If you see a tired momma of twins (or more then 2 kids that are very young) please DO NOT

1. Give me advice! - unless I ask for it please do not give me unwanted advice, it is just rude. If you do not have any children and you stop me to give me advice I might bite you...maybe there should be a warning on my shirt like the puppies at the SPCA? "Bites when provoked!"

2. Touch my baby - this goes for year around but now in winter more then ever I do not want you to touch my baby! Thanks for giving my child the gift of a cold!

3. Say "You got your hands full" - thank you master of the obvious, if you are not going to help by opening a door or carrying a bag then keep your mouth shut, I am just trying to buy some food.

4. Say "Double Trouble" - They don't need any ideas, let's tell them they are sweet and maybe it will rub off!

5. Ask "Are they twins?" - Okay, I have two babies that are the same size that look just like the other one...YES, they are twins! My friend told me she became so tired of people asking that stupid question that she started saying "No, different fathers". SO funny! 

I LOVE it when you say...

1. "They are SO pretty!" - thanks, I grew them myself :)

2. "Let me get that door for you." - love this because doors have become the enemy with no free hands and/or a double stroller.

3. "What a great smile!" - that is one of my favorite things too.

4. "I had a hard time with one, you are amazing!" - thanks, I needed that ego boost!

5. "They look so healthy and happy for twins!" - it was a lot of work to get them there thanks for noticing!

So if you happen to see me out with my amazing girls please keep these in mind. For the most part I am not offended if what you say and do comes from a place of love. If however, you come from a place of judgement you better bring your boxing gloves!

3 Months of Milky Miracles!

Our wonderful milk sharing story. 

 So it has been three months since we discovered the twin's formula intolerance and began the milk sharing journey. It is nerve raking to worry constantly that we will run out but each time they finish the last drop of milk a new donation comes home. I wanted to repost some of our story to encourage mommas everywhere to donate your extra supply, the life you save could be MY child's!


Three month flashback - a mother's nightmare, two amazing babies are screaming in pain everyday. No matter what I tried the colic reigned supreme in our household. We did the gripe water, probiotics, ruteri and formula changes...and all for nothing. Finally a doctor's appointment confirmed what I have been thinking for a while, the girls have a formula intolerance. Who knows what is causing it but if you have ever looked at the ingredients to baby formula you will see several common allergy triggers like sunflower oil, soy, and coconut. 

Our doctor said that switching to breast milk is a medical necessity since the girls are not absorbing enough nutrients. This was a problem because no matter what I tried I could not lactate. So if they cannot have my milk then I had to give them milk from someone else. He wrote us a perspiration for the local milk bank explaining the medical need and urgency in his notes and sent me home with two very upset little girls.


Then the journey began. I called the bank and even with a prescription the milk costs $3 an ounce. I panicked and quickly did the math, $3 an ounce times 30 ounces a day times two babies = $180 A DAY! So that's $5,400 a month plus the cost of overnight shipping. Needless to say this was not an option, I do not know of any parents who could afford that cost! To add to the frustration the milk bank is not covered by insurance.

Our very first full freezer, I cried tears of joy!

The momma bear in me became a fierce protector of my children and began to take over the Internet. I discovered a whole subculture called Milksharing. Wonderful mommas with an oversupply post that they can help a baby in need with a donation or mommas like myself post that they have a need. This began one of the most amazing experiences of my life outside of marriage and the arrival of my babies. Mother after mother came forward offering to help my girls, they told their friends which led to more mothers and with in a week I had a full freezer of milk and two happy babies. 


  This experience has created lasting friendships with lovely women I may never had met. I am so incredibly thankful to everyone who helped us. It was more then just giving us milk, it was giving us life. It is my hope that sending this blog post out into the vast space of the Internet will inspire more mommas to donate their oversupply and bring hope to other families like ours who are struggling with feeding.


Human Milk for Human Babies - http://www.facebook.com/HM4HBCA
Eats on Feets - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eats-On-Feets-Northern-California/184156834960174

Ultimate Diapering

Okay so I know I have been MIA lately but I am a momma to twins so that happens sometimes! I wanted to write a quick post sharing what I have learned about cloth diapering and how to do it with multiples. If you look at my last few posts I talk about having ammonia issues with our diapers. That battle lasted a while! After I wrote that post I tried using Grovia diapers for a while but then I met some wonderful crunchy mommas and ended up falling down a diaper rabbit hole!

 Grovia's Were Not the Answer

The Grovia diapers worked well for long car rides and over night but I began to notice that if I used them all the time my girls would develop a rash. Preemie babies tend to be sensitive to just about everything (for example, I can't use wet wipes either!) so I thought maybe it was the baby diaper laundry detergent. Then I did some research about Grovias and found that they are full of PUL. For those of you who are new to the idea of cloth diapering PUL is a plastic lining used to make cloth diapers water proof. The obvious benefit is very few leaks, the down side is the diaper does not breath at all which is one of the main reasons why we cloth diaper. Just as I was discovering this fact and wondering what to do next I met some lovely mommas who take cloth diapering to the level of an art form.

Down the Rabbit Hole...

Goodmama Diaper

This new type of cloth diapering involves fitted ALL cloth diapers which have no water proofing at all. Then you add a diaper cover or wool of some sort to wick away moisture. They showed me a diaper called a Goodmama and I was hooked! The diapers are so gosh darn cute and I noticed that my girls rashes went away with in a day. The options are endless with adorable designs, soft fabrics and stylish wool covers. You might be wondering about leaks so here's the skinny...

 Leaks

they do get compression leaks but not dripping all over the place leaks. Every once in a while I will pick baby up and notice that her wool longies seem a little damp and I just take that as a cue to change her diaper. I have noticed that I am much more comfortable with the idea of pee then I have ever been in my life! At this point I would rather know right away that baby needs a changing if it means I can avoid a nasty rash later. 

Covers, Woolies and Longies...Oh My!!!

Cloth Diaper Club - Etsy

There are two fibers that work really well with cloth fitted diapers, my favorite is wool but if you or baby is allergic you can use fleece. I wish my knitting skills were awesome enough to pull off knitting my own longies, skirties and covers but alas they are not. Instead I buy them from SAHMs on Etsy or I get them second hand on diaperswappers.com. We use almost all wool here because they are SO cute and feel great this time of year. You can also buy fitted diapers made of wool if you want to skip the extra step of adding a cover. Honestly, I also let the girls go coverless and put baby legs on them to keep them warm. Those diapers are way too cute and demand to be seen!

A Side Benefit

One of the reasons we jumped on the cloth diaper wagon was the potty training aspect. The idea is baby hates to be wet and cloth diapers let her feel the wet so she will potty train faster then a baby who can't feel the wetness because it is absorbed with a synthetic gel.

Gooseberry Knits - Etsy

Wrap it Up

I have SO much more to share but the babies are over letting me type right now so I have to run. Feel free to ask any questions and I will add more later!