Baby Gear: Simple and Affordable

Sometimes I think we forget that our culture is not the only one in the world. I've been blessed enough to be fairly well traveled but I get a reminder of this in the evenings when E & I sit down to watch the documentary Babies while we wait for Nate to come home from work.

The documentary follows 4 babies for the first year of their lives in Africa, Mongolia, Japan, & the USA. It's a good watch for those of us who worry about small silly things. (It's currently on Netflix Instant.)

Anyway my point is we live in a very materialistic culture. There are probably a million lists on the internet telling you all the things you need for your baby. Most of these things you really do not need. My baby must have list is simple. So simple that it may shock some of you.
Having babies doesn't mean having to break the bank or that your house must look like a daycare center.

Baby Equipment I would skip

   Two Cribs

Yep, I went there. We practice safe co-sleeping   (which you may want one crib or a co-sleeper for if you are having twins) and then we go to a Montessori floor bed when our babies are ready. You can do either or both. I highly recommend at least reading the article on Montessori floor beds...everyone I know that has done a floor bed has been amazed at all the benefits. You will be thanking me when your babies are toddlers and you do not have so much trouble getting them to stay in their beds.

Read more about twin specific co-sleeping at Confessions of a High Heel Wearing Hippie Mommy

&

more about Montessori floor beds for twins at Montessori On the Double

 Changing table

I find that it's much easier, and saves time, space, and money not to have a changing table. It's makes a lot more sense in my opinion to use a changing pad (or even a towel) on the floor. There is another $70-$200 for your spa/ housekeeper/ kid's college fund.

Two Swings and Two Bouncers

Save yourself some space ,money, and clutter. You do not need two of each for twins. It makes a lot more sense to do rotations. I didn't really use either of these things with my singleton daughter but it's hard to hold two babies as much as they need. As much as they need with twins is more than as much as they need with a singleton because they will not always sleep at the same time or for the same lengths of time. They are two separate people that have two separate sets of needs you know.

Bumbo Seats or BeBe Pods

 The only reason that these seats are helpful is if you need to start feeding your baby solids before they can sit up on their own. That is not usually recommended but it is something that we ended up doing with our twins. We chose to do this because they are petite (our singleton was too) and our pediatrician was slightly concerned about their weight. Otherwise you really don't need these and they are not recommended for extended periods of time.

Jumpers and Exersaucers

 There has been concern over both types of these toys with the negative developmental impact they can cause (neurologically and physically) . It is not recommended to use this kind of toy more than 10-15 minutes a day. So for my family we just skip these. They tend to take up a lot of space anyway.

You can read articles here and here for more info on this.

Baby Equipment I Can't Do Without

Miracle blanket

 We have used miracle blankets to swaddle all three of our children and loved them. I love them too because they helped our babies feel secure and sleep. Our miracle blanket helped with our singleton a lot and other singleton parents that I have recommended it to help their babies sleep longer at night. When D & F came home from the hospital I would wrap them during E's naptime and at night. They learned that when they were wrapped it was time to sleep. This is how I got everyone on the same schedule. Eventually I moved to just wrapped at night and then weaned them off it their blankets. It is an expensive blanket but I have not found any others that work remotely as well. The last ones I bought were at a consignment sale for $4 though so look around and get a good price. They are only used for a few months so you should be able to buy a few used quite easily.

.An Ergo Baby Carrier

If you spend any time with me at all you will hear me tell you how much I love my Ergo. I honestly could not imagine parenting twins without it. When the boys were smaller I would wear them in the front carry to put them to sleep while I accomplished household tasks. I even nursed F in the Ergo while I made my daughter's birthday cake last year. It wouldn't have gotten done if that hadn't been an option. It's great for when one or both of my twins are fussy and they both need me. The Ergo is also great for outings. If I ever leave it at home I regret it. It's incredibly more comfortable than any baby bjorn style carrier out (also known as crotch danglers in the baby wearing world) there and better for your baby (see the links in my teething post for more on that). And I can even carry my three year old in it still. It will last you forever! Ergo baby carriers are also pricey but look for them on craigslist, ebay, and consignment sales. If you have to buy new know this...they are worth every penny.

Not only is baby wearing an essential tool in twin parenting but there are many benefits.

A Nursing Pillow

I bought the My Breast Friend pillow that is made for twins because it was supposedly the best. I HATED IT! It was was like wearing a huge inner-tube and I had a hard time getting the babies close enough to me and positioned correctly in general. I also could not get into a comfortable position for me while wearing it. I really ended up using the Boppy I had much more and thought it was better. But in the begining a nursing pillow was a life saver and the MBF pillow was better than nothing.

Baby Equipment to Consider

 Stroller

A stroller is a great thing if you like to walk or jog a lot. Otherwise I recommend skipping the stroller and investing in a great baby carrier. I think I mentioned one above. 

We do love to take walks. I have a Joovy "Big Caboose stand on triple stroller."

I love that E can choose to sit or stand. It's a little difficult to steer at times but it's pretty perfect for our family situation.

Baby food grinder

This was something that I would have considered an essential before I learned about baby led weaning. It really makes feeding your baby home made purees super simple. If baby led weaning style of eating is not your thing then consider one of these.

Breast Pump

While I didn't use my pump hardly at all for my singleton I used the heck out of it for my twins especially when they were in the NICU.  It's a pricey piece of equipment if you aren't going to use it so you may want to pick out the one you want, set the money for it aside, and have someone else pick it up for you if you really need it.

Nursing cover

 I feel more comfortable nursing in public with a cover. For me it's an essential. Some people prefer not to have one. Do what makes you feel most comfortable and don't worry about anyone else.

Cloth Diapers

There are plenty of reasons to cloth diaper. Personally I am a part-time cloth diaperer because I don't like to add too much extra pressure. It's not that way for some moms but laundry is not my favorite thing and so it can be for me. If you want to get started cloth diapering (or read how I got all of our diapers for free) you can read this post on my old blog.

Cloth diapering is not out of the question for multiples at all. You can read twin and triplet specific cloth diapering posts at

Confessions of a High Heel Wearing Hippie Mommy

&

What The Blog?

Baby gear can be helpful but I challenge you to think about how much of it is really necessary. People all around the world make do with much less than we do. What your baby needs most is you.

This week I'm linking up to For MOMs by MOMs: Baby Gear
so stop by and see what other Moms of Multiples suggest when it comes to baby gear.

Birthing Twins Naturally

 If you haven't read it yet, you can read all about my twin pregnancy here.

(I should have known I was about to go into labor. My face was so swollen. Actually I kind of hate this photo. I look so miserable in it. ha!)

I was closing in on end the thirty-fourth week of my pregnancy. I decided I needed a few new nursing bra's before the babies came so we went to the mall. Motherhood Maternity was right inside the entrance but apparently even that was too far. I came home so sore and tired. Being pregnant with twins is intense y'all.

I tried to take a bath. Tried being the key word since my knees and feet were pretty much the only thing that fit into the tub. I remember wishing so badly that we could go down the street to my inlaws hot tub. I was just so sore. I had already lost a little mucus at 31 weeks and that night I lost some more.

I knew the boys would be coming soon but I had hoped on waiting it out a week and a bit longer. At 36 weeks my midwives could deliver them. That evening my husband and I went through the boys things and talked about what we would want to bring along with us to the birthing center.

The next morning I woke up with mild period like cramps. I recognized this feeling from E's birth as the very early labor, but since I did not want to start labor yet we jumped in the car and raced straight to the birthing center to stop it. The birthing center was fourty-five minutes away (which was nothing compared to the two hours I drove for E's birth). We arrived and I was checked and found to be at 5cm. I was shocked. I was about 5cm during E's birth when I bit my husband (something I am sure to never live down). This was much more mild. We did everything we could to stop labor. They had some herbal drops that they were giving me and they even called their homeopathic doctor who had them give me something...it may have been pulsatilla but I was so out of it I didn't notice.

Nothing stopped labor. The boys were coming. My midwives (Molly & Emily) called their back up OBGYN who agreed to meet us at the hospital. I briefly considered jumping into the birthing tub and not consenting to be moved but there was no way for us to know if the boys lungs had fully developed yet. We got into the car to drive the two hours to the hospital where the OB would deliver my twins (with baby A breech) naturally.  Molly rode with us and Emily followed in her car.

Click here for info on breech being just another variation of normal.

I felt a lot of pressure on the drive and communicated what I was feeling as we drove. Molly asked me if I needed her to find a closer hospital but I knew that meant automatic C-section. I told her no that I was going to Dr. Cummings and for my husband to keep driving. I was not that concerned about birthing in the car. I had an excellent midwife and my husband who was EMT certified with me. At one point in time I was so miserable because I had to pee so badly. There was no way I could have stopped and made it in the bathroom so my midwife pulled out a disposable pad to put under me and I peed in the car on that. (I almost didn't admit that, but it is part of my story)

We arrived at the hospital around 2pm. A nurse picked me up at the curb and wheeled me away from my husband and my midwife towards the room. I kept asking her to wait but as you will soon find out she was not a very patient or considerate nurse. This part was all so surreal. This was not where I wanted to be, or felt was safest, or most conducive to a normal, natural birth.

I remember going to the bathroom again and being given a hospital gown to wear. Then I was put in the bed where they strapped a monitor to me. I was also administered an IV. They told me over and over again to lay on my back and I ignored them every time. Not only is it the most uncomfortable position to be in but it is also the worst position you can be in for labor. Meanwhile my impatient nurse, named America, asked me a million questions. She did not care that I was experiencing intense contractions or rushes. She would not wait for me to finish and she would not allow my husband to answer for me. I was so thankful to have my awesome midwives with me. They acted as doulas and helped me manage the rushes by kneading my lower back and gripping my foot. They took great care of me.  I also remembered something that my doula at E's birth had said. During a particularly intense rush she told me "to just follow it all the way through". It was so helpful at the time so I just kept saying it to myself. ( see what a good investment a doula is? they not only help you through the birth that you hire them for but also through the ones after that.)

At some point in time a nurse came in and insisted that I have an x-ray done so they could tell exactly where the babies were. I thought this was absolutely ridiculous and a terrible thing to do to my babies but I really was given an ultimatum. Do this or they would not deliver them. I hate hospitals. I really do. They did the x-ray. Twice actually because the stupid techs screwed it up the first time. The boys were exactly where my midwives told them they were which they found out by palpating.

Finally Dr. Cummings came in. They said it was time and got ready to transport me to the OR since that is where they deliver twins. The nurses would allow me nothing to drink so everytime they left I had Nate hand me my big cup of water. This was yet another stupid hospital policy that I was not about to fall victim to. But I knew that I couldn't sneak anything while in the OR. So I asked Dr. Cummings for something and he told America to get me some ice chips. This was very satisfying because she had just told me that I could have nothing.

America told me in the OR I would have to lay flat on my back. Dr. Cummings is awesome though. I asked if I could lay on my side until my water broke and he allowed me to do that. There are a lot of benefits to keeping your bag of water intact until just before the baby is born and all that vitamin C I took really payed off by making that possible.

At 3:02 (just an hour after we had arrived at the hospital) F, my baby A, was born. He was born frank breech. He came into this world balls first. He had a little trouble breathing at first and was given a bit of oxygen. He never needed assistance breathing but because he gave them a little scare with the breathing they took him straight to the NICU. I didn't even get to see him. I could hear him crying and I was worried about him ,but I didn't have much chance to think about that.

When F was born, D moved down the birth canal. In doing this he had a bit of cord prolapse. His heart rate was still fine (although one nurse picked up my heart rate and flipped until the other nurse showed her the mistake). This was a bit tricky. A lot of OB's probably would have sectioned me right then and there, but not Dr. Cummings. He explained to me that he would break D's bag of waters, reach in and manually move the cord out of the way, and then I would have to push D out as quickly as possible. This was far from pleasant but made a lot of sense to me. I stayed very calm and trusted God, Dr. Cummings, and my body. I know that this was painful but I don't really remember that. I remember feeling a lot of pressure on my bladder and I told him that. He assured me that was normal.

Actually the most horrible part of it all was the nurses who gathered around and screamed at me to push. They were telling me that I was doing it wrong and they were encouraging me to purple push (or to hold my breath while pushing which is not good and can result in broken blood vessels in the mother and tearing of the perinum). Thank God I knew better. I wish that I could have gotten out of my head and screamed at them to shut the hell up. I wanted to so badly but I was too busy working hard to get this baby out. Dr. Cummings knew this was wrong I imagine because he instructed Emily (who had been at my feet) to get closer to my head so I could hear her instructions to me. I remember squeezing Nate's hand and the poor anesthesiologists hand.

At 3:12, nine minutes after F, D was born. Both boys weighed 5lbs 5 oz. They took him and did all of the things they do when babies are born, swaddled him up tight, and let my husband hold him, before they took him to the NICU also. He was taken to the NICU because he had low blood sugar. This is extra annoying because letting baby lay skin to skin on their mother's chest helps regulate blood sugar after birth. Also allowing him to nurse would have been ideal. But they whisked him away and left me to deliver the placentas.

At this point in time the anesthesiologist looked at me and said, "I'm hooking up the pitocin now.".  I was shocked. I just birthed 2 babies naturally without anything. I didn't need pitocin to birth the placentas or to stop any bleeding. I said "no thank you.". I don't know why I was so polite. I'll blame my southern roots. She looked shocked that I had rejected the drugs though. Dr. Cummings okayed my decision and everything was fine.

I remember feeling freezing as I was wheeled out of the OR. I was thankful for the heated blankets. Upon returning to the delivery room I asked America if I could go to the bathroom. I needed to pee so badly.But she told me no, that I didn't actually need to pee. It felt so weird to be without the babies I had just birthed. I asked to go to them but they wouldn't let me.

I was finally taken to my room in the maternity ward and finally allowed to get up to pee when the nurse there couldn't even feel my uterus because my bladder was so full. Around 5:30 I was finally allowed to go to the NICU to see my boys. I was not allowed to hold them as they didn't want to stress them. Which is the biggest bunch of bullshit ,but I digress. They were told that they needed to stay because their blood sugar was low. However they would not let them nurse as they did not know if they would be able to suck, swallow, breathe. Of course how can you know if you don't let them try? They were given a gavage tube and donor breastmilk.

I had a terrible time with the NICU.  I will write about that later because it really is it's own story.

So I fought for my boys to have a natural birth and they did. I was very disappointed by the way everyone treated us in the hospital except for the OBGYN himself. I also knew what birth could should be and I know what hospitals do wrong so that in itself has given me a different outlook on a lot of things. (If you are interested...which really you should be if you plan on birthing in the US...I recommend watching "The Business of Being Born" and reading "Pushed " by Jennifer Block )

You can watch the trailer for TBoBB here and you can watch the whole thing on Netflix Instant watch.

This week I am linking up with  For MOMs by MOMs: Pregnancy With Twins. So be sure to head over there to read more twin pregnancy and birth stories.

Introductions

Six years ago, this month, I married my best friend and this whole adventure began.

In 2008 we were blessed with our beautiful and spunky daughter E. I had an easy pregnancy and perfect first birthing experience. E's birth was a natural water birth with an awesome midwife. Everything was just great and I was really spoiled (as it should be).

In 2010 we got pregnant again. This pregnancy was different. I was a lot more tired. But everything was going well. I had my first ultrasound at twenty weeks and that's when we found out that we were expecting twins.

F and D were born at thirty-four (almost thirty-five) weeks gestation. F was born first, frank breech. D was born nine minutes later after my very skilled OB adjusted his cord prolapse.

I am so very blessed to be able to stay home with my beautiful little family. It's not an easy job but it is so rewarding and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. I am passionate about raising my children. I know that I will never do anything else nearly as important as that.

My faith is very important to me. I've been all over the world doing mission work and spent some of that time with Youth With A Mission. I'm passionate about natural birth and breastfeeding. I am a pesco-vegetarian (and raising my family that way). I enjoy being creative. I like painting, collage, photography, fire-dancing, baking and making latte art. I also enjoy a good book, a good cuppa, a hot bath, and sitting in front of a fireplace.

I'm linking up to For MOMs by MOMs : Let Us Introduce Ourselves

so come on over and meet some more Moms Of Multiples!

dealing with diaper rash

I remember the first time E had a diaper rash. She was 3 months old and we were out of town visiting relatives. Of course the diaper cream was left at home, forgotten, so we had to make an emergency trip to the store. I've learned a good bit since then and thought I would share it here.

There are a few different types of diaper rashes. I have experience with three of those so I am going to stick with what I know. I am not a medical professional...this what has worked for us. I trust you will use your own best judgement.

Good Old Fashioned Diaper Rash (a.k.a. Chafing Dermatitis)
the Desatin website shows photos of various degrees of diaper rash here

This is the most common form of diaper rash. It's caused mostly by the friction of the diaper rubbing against the skin and of course the moisture doesn't help. 

There are plenty of diaper creams to choose from. I have had the most success from Burt's Bees Diaper Ointment. I love this stuff. It works great for all three of my children and I feel pretty comfortable with the ingredient list. The only negative (for some) is that it has a strong rosemary smell. I am pretty sensitive to fragrances but have no problem with this as it is not a chemical smell. Burt's Bees does make a fragrance free version but I have not used it so I can not comment on the effectiveness.

I should note that you are not supposed to use diaper creams with cloth diapers as it can damage your diapers. In the past I have used disposables during rashy periods so I don't have to worry about my diapers. Disposables also tend to wick the moisture away better which can help. However keep in mind that using cloth diapers lessens your chances for chaffing dermatitis in the first place (as long as you change them regularly). 

I have been told that you can use coconut oil as diaper cream with cloth diapers but I have not had success with it. If anything it prolonged the rash because I did not treat it with diaper cream sooner.

Another treatment that I always use is oatmeal baths. Simply put some oatmeal in a sock, tie a knot in it, and throw it in the warm tub to steep.During those baths I skip the soap and just let the baby play.

Other things that help are:

 skipping baby wipes and just using a soft cloth and some warm water

allowing baby diaper free time to air out the rash

more frequent diaper changes

Chafing dermatitis usually clears up in a 3-4 days with home treatment. Be sure to contact your pediatrician if it is severe, doesn't change with treatment, or gets worse. Puss,discharge, bleeding, blisters, boils, bright red patches with scalloped edges, and fever also warrant a call to your ped. As always when dealing with your little one's health it's better to be safe than sorry.

Yeast Rash / Infection (a.k.a. Candidal Dermatitis)
there are some photos here of what a yeast rash can look like. these examples are pretty extreme so just know that before you click.

Yeast infections are pretty stubborn rashes in my experience. They can happen just as frequently to boys as to girls. Antibiotics are notorious for causing yeast issues but there are many causes. 

First of all whenever one of my children is taking an antibiotic I always give them a probiotic also. A high quality probiotic is also a really good idea if yeast is an issue.

Now that I have experience with this kind of rash and can identify it quite easily I usually treat it without the use of antifungal cream. If you go to the doctor that is what they will likely prescribe. Dr. Sears recommends Clotimazole which is over the counter. If the rash is more than just a few spots you may just want to start here.

When treating my children's yeast rashes I apply plain yogurt (it must contain active bacteria and no sugar. all of that will be listed on the label) or coconut oil (I do like coconut oil for yeast rashes. Here is why.) topically to the rash for as many diaper changes as possible. I have even heard about adding a couple of drops of tea tree oil to the coconut oil for treating yeast. I plan on trying that next time.

I also use a bath for treating yeast rashes. I put 1 cup of apple cider vinegar ( I have also used white vinegar in a pinch) in a full bath tub and let baby soak. Soap is not good for yeast and can actually make it worse.

Usually those two steps are enough to get rid of a yeast rash on my children if I am patient and diligent.

If you have cloth diapers now would be a good time to boil or strip them as to keep from re-infecting.

Rash from an allergy (or Atopic Dermatitis)

My daughter had rash that I just could not get rid of and we ended up at her pediatrician. The ped looked at it, said it was okay and to come back if it didn't go away in a week and we would test for allergies. In the time between visits I did my research and tried my best to figure out what would be causing this rash. The only thing that had changed in her diet really was that she was eating massive amounts of clementines. So I looked up allergy to citrus and found that while this was not one of the most common allergies it did happen. And I read about quite a few kids who would get rashes from it.

So of course apon returning to our ped I told her that I though it was the clementines. And do you know what she did? She basically told me I was crazy. Not in so many words of course but she thought that would be very rare and she highly doubted that was the case. E's allergy test came back all negative. Our (ahem) lovely ped prescribed three different types of steroids to give her. (One oral and two topical...ridiculous) We ended up using a little of one of the topical steroids and stopped buying clementines. The rash went away and I forgot about it. That is until clementine season came back around, she ate lots, and her rash came back.

I can't tell you what could cause atopic dermatitis for your child. But I can tell you to trust your gut. As a parent you will know your child better than any pediatrician ever will. And never stay with a medical provider who does not respect you as a parent.

teething: what works for us

We love Hyland's Teething Tablets in our house! They really help ease the discomfort and crankiness. We used them for Em and we are going through them like crazy for the boys. I do not recommend using their teething gel as it contains parabens.

Rescue Remedy is an awesome trick that my midwife taught me. You can get the regular one or the sleep one (preferably with the spray top). Normally you would spray some of this in your mouth to calm yourself down but for a small child or infant you can spray some on their feet or wrists. You can also use it while you are pregnant if you are having trouble sleeping at night. This stuff is great for any kind of fussiness not just teething.

Baltic amber teething necklaces may be one of the more "far out" things on this list. Personally I was a little skeptical until I read Emma's review where she tried it out herself. I have actually been surprised at how well they have worked for us.
The way baltic amber works is that when it is warmed against the skin it releases oils containing succinic acid. Those oils are absorbed into the skin and work to relieve inflammation
While the dark amber is very beautiful the lighter colored amber is known to work better.  Ours is actually lighter but the way the photo above is edited it looks darker.

There are plenty of reputable amber teething necklace dealers. However if you are like me and need multiple this can get kind of pricey. We ordered ours for $3 a piece off of ebay. Beware that there are lots of people selling plastic imitations on there so if you risk it be sure to test your amber to make sure that it's real.

Babywearing is a great option for teething (or when your baby is extra fussy for any reason). I would not be surviving my twins as well without my Ergo. Ergo is not the only option however I would strongly advise against using something like a Baby Bjorn style carrier. Here are two great articles and reasons why to avoid that style. You should know this stuff anyway...

Hip Health in baby carriers, car seats, swings, walkers, and other equipment

and 

Nine Reasons Not to Carry Your Baby Facing Out

and

here is my favorite ergo baby carrier review


Unfortunately some days none of this may fully cut it. You will have to resort to the drugs. I know on occasion we do. Sometimes teething sucks so much that even the drugs don't fully cut it.
I never recommend baby orajel or anything containing benzocaine. It's rare but it can cause SIDS like symptoms according to the FDA.

Whatever your drug of choice I always recommend buying dye free. Dye is just one more thing that you don't want to be putting into your kids. Especially when you are given a choice.


And of course there are always things like sophie the giraffe, raz-berry teethers, frozen carrots, frozen breastmilk popscicles, frozen waffles (supposedly great for catching drool), & frozen bagels.
And when they are quite a bit older frozen peas are an excellent snack while teething too.
 
And last but not least....
I highly recommend checking out the wonder weeks. If teething is really bad it's possible that your baby is teething through a developmental leap (an already fussy, sleepless time) or it's even possible to mistake a developmental leap for teething. On the website you can even sign up for an email reminder right before your baby goes through the leap so you can prepare yourself.

Update: Check out my post "Developmental Leaps & Sleep Regressions"

I'm linking up with "The Mommy Club: Share Your Resources and Solutions"

My Twin Pregnancy

December 20, 2010

I was 20 weeks into my second pregnancy.

This pregnancy had been quite different from my first. Before I had gotten pregnant this time around E & I had been walking four miles everyday. So when I found out that I was expecting I didn't stop. But then I just couldn't do it anymore. Our last walk was maybe a mile and I was so light headed I called Crunchy Dad (or CD from now on) to meet us at the end of the driveway. Another weird thing about this pregnancy was that my hair didn't stop shedding. That was a little scary to me because I knew it was going to fall out again after the baby came. I was lucky to hardly have any nausea or morning sickness. But the hardest part of this pregnancy so far had been finding a good midwife.

At this point in time CD had not found a good job around here. So I was on Medicaid. Fortunately there were quite a few midwives around here that take medicaid so I went on a tour of DFW birthing centers. And did not find a single midwife that I really liked. Some were worse than others but I ended up going with the closest one.

She was a really interesting midwife. She was a CNM and her birthing center looked like Cracker Barrel threw up. Seriously one of the birthing rooms was teddy bear themed...and had a shelf full of stuffed bears. But the worst of it was that she had a student. And her student did everything while she sat at a table in another room and did paperwork.

So back to December 20, 2010

I'm laying on the bed in the birthing center, the ultrasound equipment hooked up, and we see this...

And before the tech says anything we both know. He says, "I hope that you are in a good mood." And in a matter of moments everything has changed. There are two healthy boys, both measuring a little small, but that's normal for twins we are told. Then we are whisked into the midwife's office...where she, the nurse, and her student try to ease the shock while also dropping me as a client. They don't know another midwife who will take me outside of hospital and in the hospital I would be required to deliver in the Operating Room. I made a comment about going to Ina Mae Gaskin's farm to birth and they look at me like I grew a third head. 

It was such a hard day. I cried a lot. I even called my wonderful midwife in Tennessee that helped me deliver Em. She told me a story about a birth she attended with Ina Mae that was so encouraging. I owe a lot to this woman. Because of her my daughter's birth was magical. Through that positive experience she taught me that I could do this.(I owe that to my sweet doula too.) After talking to her I felt better. I was still pretty scared and depressed but I was more empowered.

I ended up finding a really amazing midwife that was even closer to me than the first. Medicaid would not pay for her but it was worth it to me to have such good, respectful care. I am so glad that I did. She immediately directed me towards a high protein diet (120 grams a day), celtic sea salt, and vitamin c.

I saw almost immediate results in upping my protein. My first ultrasound showed my twins being small for their age (with baby B being smaller than baby A), which I was told was normal. Subsequent visits showed them being the same size and right on target. It was great to see my hard work paying off.

 Diet is something often very overlooked by providers during pregnancy but is imperative if you want to have a natural twin birth. If you are pregnant with twins and are looking for that kind of information check out Amanda's post on it. This is the best source of that kind of info that I've seen on the internet.

Another reason I am so thankful for my midwife is because I developed PUPPS. It's a terrible, itchy, make your life miserable kind of rash. The worst part of it is that most OB's do not know how to treat it. If you don't believe me just google it. They say you are stuck with it for the remainder of your pregnancy. That's simply not true. What is true is that drugs will not help. My midwife knew what to do. So within a week of following her advice the PUPPS were gone. (that's another blog post I need to write)

One of my babies was breech and that was another issue that I dealt with. Sadly many OB's are not even taught how to deliver breech naturally anymore, but many  that do consider breech "another variation of normal".  I urge you to do your own research. No holds your or your babies best interest as highly as you do.

Here is a great article about why C-sections are not always the best option for a breech birth.


If your baby is breech I personally recommend seeking out a provider who is experienced and supportive of breech birth. It is always good to have a back up because it is worth changing providers to avoid unnecessary risks, in my opinion. Then try moving your baby. The best resource I have found on this is www.spinningbabies.com
We did try moving my breech baby with the webster technique, pulsatilla, and moxibustion. 
He did turn, but he turned back. In the end he was changing position almost daily. 

Last but not least if you are pregnant (especially with twins) I highly recommend chiropractic care. Your pelvis and joints can so easily get out of alignment while pregnant and even more so while carrying two babies. Also carrying twins was a lot more uncomfortable than carrying a singleton and my chiropractor helped a lot. Here is some more info on that.

I made it to thirty-four (almost thirty-five weeks). You can read about my natural twin birth here.