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Tag Archives: multiple births

Positive Parenting |

May 9, 2011

| by Kimberly O'Bannon ("The MultiMommy")

Part 6 Worrying What To Expect When Expecting Multiples: How Do You Organize Help To Care For Your Babies?

Another worry you can have about what to expect when expecting is organizing your help after the babies come home.

When I was pregnant with quadruplets I didn’t even think about if I would have help, much less how to organize it.

To be honest, I did not know what to expect when expecting my quadruplets.

Wish I had known the information I am sharing with you when I was still pregnant. I would have planned much better! No matter how much you read from the experts, the ones who know the most about what to expect when expecting are Moms of multiples.

As it turned out, I learned and received the information just when it was needed.

Systems are so important with multiples.  If people show up at odd times (like nap time) or on a whim it’s often not helpful.

Systems and schedules will help you to survive and your babies to thrive.

what to expect when expecting

How do you do this?

You do it by organizing your life and not just for feeding times.

So, how do you organize help to care for your babies?

1. Create a schedule to keep track of how much each baby drinks, and how many dirty diapers there are.

2.  Create a schedule for volunteers to help during feeding times.

3.  Create a schedule for hired help like nannies.

4.  Create a schedule for delivery of meals from volunteers.

Using a form to keep track of the babies eating/dirty diaper habits  is important to insure proper growth and health since most multiples are born premature.  This is helpful also when you take the babies into the doctor, you can accurately tell the doctor about each babies’ habits.   No guessing which baby did what.

After my babies were born, a friend from church offered to coordinate the volunteers’ schedule for me. I didn’t know what a blessing volunteers would be.

And I had no idea how much work was involved in organizing those volunteers to help me care for my newborns. By having a schedule, I knew exactly when help was coming and—more importantly—when it was not!

If you’re like most Moms of Multiples, you need the most help during feeding and bathing times.

You’ll also need to plan for the times when volunteers aren’t available—which may happen more often than you think!

My friend used a program called Calendar Creator for the volunteers for feedings. And I used spreadsheets for the other schedules.

By creating Sign up Schedules that can be filled in you can allow the volunteers to do some of the scheduling. With Google documents and email, this can be done easily if all volunteers have access to the internet.

Create or upload the document in Google documents. Then share the document with each person. They can fill in the times they are available.

If you have a friend or family member who can coordinate this for you—let her! It’s a great gift she can give you. After the babies come you’ll be busy enough without coordinating volunteer schedules in addition to your babies’ schedules.

The perfect time to create these spreadsheets is now!  When you’re pregnant, it can help to know what to expect when expecting.  And knowing what to expect about the babies plus what to expect in organizing schedules can ease your mind.

If you would like to receive a copy of the spreadsheets I used, plus get other organizing tips then Join Tips For Moms of Multiples membership site – It’s Free!

Click here to get the details!

To Your Abundant Life with Multiples,

Kimberly O’Bannon
Ambassador of Positive Parenting, www.howtoliveonpurpose.com
Founder, TipsForMomsOfMultiples.com
AKA MultiMommy

Originally posted here:
Part 6 Worrying What To Expect When Expecting Multiples: How Do You Organize Help To Care For Your Babies?

emotions, family, kimberly o’bannon, mind, multiple births, multiples, positive parenting, quadruplets | Comment
Positive Parenting |

April 14, 2011

| by Kimberly O'Bannon ("The MultiMommy")

Part 2 Worrying What To Expect When Expecting Multiples: How Do You Get Your Babies To Sleep Through The Night?

Today I would like to continue my series on What To Expect When Expecting Multiples.

Now, hold on to your hats . . . but newborn babies don’t sleep at night!

Really???

Yes…

Now I am just joking around, but really when there are 2, 3, 4 or more babies at home it is very crazy and difficult to feed them, bath them and get them to sleep through the night.

I know from experience!

After my quadruplets left the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) of the hospital at 3 weeks old I had to quickly figure out how to care for four babies at the same time.

At first, I tried to feed a baby on demand, or what worked out to be one baby every hour!

Insane!

No one was sleeping including the babies.

I learned the hard way that you don’t want to be feeding a baby every hour. There will be no time to get everything done that is needed when you just had a multiple birth.

Or for you to get any sleep.

Add into the equation, pumping or breast feeding, and you will truly lose your mind.

What I realized though was that babies in the NICU are put on either 3 hour or 4 hour feeding schedule for a reason. This is much easier on the babies’ digestion and will truly save your sanity especially if you are bringing home triplets or more!

Plus the babies will sleep better and more on schedule.  Pretty soon, the time between feedings at night will stretch out to 6 to 8 hours, and then the babies are sleeping through the night.  Yeah!

So does worrying about what to expect when expecting multiples have you stressing about . . .

  1. How to feed your babies . . .
  2. How to get them to sleep through the night . . .
  3. How to bathe and care for the babies.

Well, there is good news.

One of the ways to be less stressed and more prepared is to read about different ways to get the babies on a feeding and wake schedule before they arrive. So where can you learn about the feeding/wake schedules?

So where can you learn about the feeding/wake schedule?

Once place is a book called On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep. This book offers basic information on how to slowly get the babies to be on a schedule you choose, thus sleeping when you want them to sleep . . . which is night time. J

Also, if you are just stressed in general about what to expect when expecting multiples, then do some stress reduction techniques.  You want to remain calm and in charge when either pregnant or taking care of small children.

If you have 5 minutes a day, then there is a great resource for stress reduction in a simple format called “Overcome the 3 Deadly Mistakes That Cause Stress, Overwhelm and Burnout ebook Package”

Inside this package, you will discover:

  1. What the 3 Deadly Mistakes that Cause Stress and Burnout are
  2. The Three Big Secrets That Allow You to Avoid and Recover From Stress and Burnout
  3. An Amazing Simple Technique to Having Less Stress and Overwhelm in Your Life 5 Minutes From Now
  4. How to Reduce Your Stress Instantly Just by Listening to “Ancient Wisdom” Guided Relaxation™ Audio 5 minutes a Day

So do yourself a favor and just click on this link to check it out for yourself.

And remember it includes a 5-minute guided relaxation tape to help you relax and get some sleep! Newborn multiples quickly show you how precious sleep is . . .and well worth many times the cost of the package.  Check it out for yourself.

To Your Abundant Life with Multiples,

Kimberly O’Bannon
Ambassador of Positive Parenting, www.howtoliveonpurpose.com
Founder, TipsForMomsOfMultiples.com
AKA MultiMommy

Article Source:

Part 2 Worrying What To Expect When Expecting Multiples: How Do You Get Your Babies To Sleep Through The Night?


emotions, family, kimberly o’bannon, mind, multimommy, multiple births, news, positive parenting, quadruplets, TipsForMomsOfMultiples.com, what to expect when expecting | 2 Comments
Positive Parenting |

April 12, 2011

| by Kimberly O'Bannon ("The MultiMommy")

Part 1 Worrying What To Expect When Expecting Multiples: How Do You Take Care of Your Infants While Feeding Your Family?

I had a very interesting weekend recently.  I meet two different moms who had young twins.

One mom I met at a grocery store; the other at the hospital.

I exchanged a conversation with each mom.  It brought back some fond — and not so fond — memories of when my quadruplets were infants.

Each mom had that “I am so exhausted but am surviving” look on her face.

And each was astonished saying, “Wow you have quadruplets?  I can barely take care of two!”

I smiled and said “Yes, it was difficult with four.  I found ways to make it manageable.  And you can too.”

Multiple Births

So are you sitting there worrying what to expect when expecting your babies?

Do you have many questions about how you will survive and thrive after the babies are born?

Do thoughts like these keep you up at night . . . ?

1.     How will I find time to make meals, grocery shop, get exercise and all the other chores of running a house?

2.     How do I feed three babies at the same time?

3.     How do I get them to sleep through the night?

4.     Where will they sleep? Cribs or bassinets in the living room? Should they sleep together?

5.     How do I get the babies from place to place by myself?

6.     Will family/friends be able to help me and if so, how will that process work?

Well, sit back and relax.

How well I remember those days of worrying about what to expect when expecting . . .then worrying that my worries were hurting the babies.  It became a vicious cycle!

One worry builds upon another — seemingly without end.

You know there’s nothing like getting suggestions from someone who’s been there . . .done that . . . and more than survived — thrived !

Rather than only worrying about what to expect when expecting your babies, you can take positive steps now to relieve your worries and make bringing your babies home easier . . .

Here is the first of 6 major tips that worked for me, and I’m sure they’ll help you too.

Prepare Food ahead of time.

This is a tip that is not often discussed, but you need to have meals prepared and ready to go once the babies are home.

Why?

Because you will not have the time or energy to be creating healthy meals when the babies first arrive.  Healthy meals are important to keep up your energy, especially if you plan to nurse or pump breast milk.

Don’t want to start the babies off with fast food milk!  🙂

How can you prepare food ahead of time?

Well, you can make or have your partner make some meals to freeze before the babies arrive.

Or get your friends and family to sign up to bring meals to you for the first few weeks, maybe longer.  (I know having meals delivered by friends after my quadruplets arrived truly saved me.)

Today there are food delivery services that can provide healthy, fresh made food to your door. Click here for one specifically for moms:

www.tipsformomsofmultiples.com/mommeals

When you have multiple births it can make your life a lot more stressful than a singleton births, but hopefully with planning a head, it can help easy your mind.

If you would like more information please leave a comment below.

Or Sign up to get your Free Tips and Updates from “Tips For Moms of Multiples”


To Your Abundant Life with Multiples,

Kimberly O’Bannon
Ambassador of Positive Parenting, www.howtoliveonpurpose.com
Founder, TipsForMomsOfMultiples.com
AKA MultiMommy

Article Source:

Part 1 Worrying What To Expect When Expecting Multiples: How Do You Take Care of Your Infants While Feeding Your Family?

emotions, family, kimberly o’bannon, mind, multimommy, multiple births, positive parenting, quadruplets | 1 Comment
Positive Parenting |

April 5, 2011

| by Kimberly O'Bannon ("The MultiMommy")

Multiple Births: What Will People Say When You Take Your Triplets Out In Public?

Your triplets are finally big enough to be out in public.  You’re so excited to take them for a walk in your triplet stroller.

Do you have the diapers, multiple diaper bags, the bottles and the blankets?

Yes . . .

Did you remember your sense of humor?

Why?

You ask.

Well, when you have  multiple births, it seems as though many people think they are allowed to stop you and interrogate you about your beautiful babies.  And ask some of the most silly  and sometimes personal questions . . .

It came as quite a shock to me to get some of the questions I did when I took my girls out in their stroller.

Okay, I admit that a 4 chair, stadium seating stroller is quite the sight to behold.  Really, did they have to ask the questions they did?

What are some of the silliest questions about multiple births you can expect when taking your babies out? (What I wish I had said is in parenthesises)

“Are those all your children?” (Nope, I just went though the neighborhood to collect four screaming children to take to the grocery store for fun?!)

“Are they all natural?”  (No, my husband and I spent a fortune creating four robot babies.)

“You must have your hands full.” (That may be the understatement of the century!)

“Do they have the same father?” (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.)

“They can’t be all the same age because they are not the same size.” (That will be news to their pediatrician.)

“Are they all girls? Two look like boys.” (Really?  I thought the four pink dresses with pink bows in their hair would identify them as girls.)

“Are you the nanny?” (Nannies don’t have this many circles under their eyes, and usually don’t bear a very close resemblance to the babies.)

And then there are the questions that are just too personal to mention in a blog.  (Yikes! I don’t even discuss that subject with my own mother!)  I should have gotten a distant look in my eyes, pasted on a BIG smile, and walked quickly away whistling a happy tune to end those discussions with strangers.

For a better understanding and an even funnier explanation, I found a You Tube video that pokes fun at the silly and personal questions people ask moms of multiples.  

Moms of Multiples Are Freaks Of Nature.

Whether the questions crop up from your kids, your family or from perfect strangers it’s important to keep your sense of humor when raising multiples.  

A smile or a laugh can turn a potential tragedy into a joyful experience.  Whether it’s spilled milk or the silly and sometimes rude personal questions of strangers, strive to make it fun!

Don’t feel like it’s fun?  Then put on your best BIG smile and “Fake it ‘til you make it.”  Sometimes the feeling of joy and fun comes after you smile and make that decision to have a good time.  

Your kids may take their cues from you.  Here’s a simple secret to raising happy multiples I learned. . . “Mom’s smile can be infectious!”

For more fun insights into caring for and raising children of multiple births, get my FREE newsletter with the FREE Report “Top 5 Tips to Prepare for Twins, Triplets or More..

To Your Abundant Life with Multiples,

Kimberly O’Bannon
Ambassador of Positive Parenting, www.howtoliveonpurpose.com
Founder, TipsForMomsOfMultiples.com
AKA MultiMommy

P. S. If you have a funny comment someone said to you regarding your multiples, please share them in the comments section below.

View original post here:
Multiple Births: What Will People Say When You Take Your Triplets Out In Public?

emotions, family, kimberly o’bannon, multimommy, multiple births, multiples, news, positive parenting, triplets | Comment
Positive Parenting |

March 26, 2011

| by Kimberly O'Bannon ("The MultiMommy")

What Do You Do When Your Quadruplets Fight Over Mommy?

Now there are many things about quadruplets that are fun and exciting.

And there are also things that are stressful.  I find it especially stressful when my girls fight over me and my time . . .

Too often I heard comments as:

“You spend more time with Makayla than me”

Or, “You gave Nicole more kisses than me”

At bedtime, it was “Kiss me first” . . .“No kiss me” . . .“No kiss me” . . .over and over from four cute adorable little girls.

It was enough to break by heart—or lose my patience.  I want to give each one the first kiss.

When you’ve struggled to have children each one is precious.  Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember they take each other for granted.

Like when driving home after school and four voices talking at once—each one trying to be first to tell Mommy about her day.


Never thought all the years of trying to get pregnant would lead to me being something that is fought over. Rather funny really.

Now I love my girls very dearly.  When they fight over me it makes me feel a little guilty.  And I’m sure it increases my stress.  Definitely not a good idea while driving home from school in traffic!

What are some ways to stop your quadruplets fighting over Mommy?

1. Set a timer.

I have been using a timer with my girls since they were probably six months old.

I set the timer for equal time for each girl, which is fair.  Each one knows when her time is up it’s time to
share . . .whether it is a toy or a game or me.

When I’m tucking them in I want to spend time with each one at bedtime.  So I’ll set the timer for five minutes for each girl.

2. Divide the children up into smaller groups.

I sometimes do activities with two and two.  Since I have four children it works out rather evenly.  Often when watching TV I’ll sit next to two of them at the same time.  Midway through the program I will switch and sit with the other two.

Or maybe I’ll play a board game with two of them for 15 minutes and then switch to the other two.

3. Do activities with all four at once.

I find ways to play with all four of them at the exact same time.  That way they can’t accuse me of spending too much time with one over the other!  This works out best for playing outdoor games or going bicycle riding or playing Clue with them.

quadruplets4. Randomly draw a number from a cup.

I have a little blue cup with four pieces of paper.  Each piece of paper has a number — one, two, three and four.

Each of the girls knows exactly what their birth order number is.  I use this cup by randomly pulling out a number determining which child gets to do something first.  So, if they can’t decide who gets to tell the story to Mommy first, or who gets to sit by Mommy at dinner, then I pull a number from the cup.  The number tells us which child gets to do the activity.

It’s a random and “fair” way to stop fighting over Mommy.

When you find your quadruplets or other multiples fighting over Mommy or Daddy, one or more of these ideas may work for you.

They reduce my stress, and think they will for you too.

When you’re stressed and overwhelmed sometimes you need a quick solution.  I received help from my friends Chief Robert TallTree and his wife Terri TallTree.  You can read all about how I felt stress-free in only five minutes by clicking on this link or this picture.

The Three 'Deadly' Mistakes That Cause Stress, Overwhelm and Burnout by Robert and Terri Lynn TallTree

To Your Abundant Life with Multiples,

Kimberly O’Bannon
Ambassador of Positive Parenting, www.howtoliveonpurpose.com
Founder, TipsForMomsOfMultiples.com
AKA MultiMommy

See original here:
What Do You Do When Your Quadruplets Fight Over Mommy?

emotions, family, kimberly o’bannon, multimommy, multiple births, positive parenting, quadruplets | Comment
Positive Parenting |

March 26, 2011

| by Kimberly O'Bannon ("The MultiMommy")

What Do You Do When Your Quadruplets Fight Over Mommy?

Now there are many things about quadruplets that are fun and exciting.

And there are also things that are stressful.  I find it especially stressful when my girls fight over me and my time . . .

Too often I heard comments as:

“You spend more time with Makayla than me”

Or, “You gave Nicole more kisses than me”

At bedtime, it was “Kiss me first” . . .“No kiss me” . . .“No kiss me” . . .over and over from four cute adorable little girls.

It was enough to break by heart—or lose my patience.  I want to give each one the first kiss.

When you’ve struggled to have children each one is precious.  Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember they take each other for granted.

Like when driving home after school and four voices talking at once—each one trying to be first to tell Mommy about her day.


Never thought all the years of trying to get pregnant would lead to me being something that is fought over. Rather funny really.

Now I love my girls very dearly.  When they fight over me it makes me feel a little guilty.  And I’m sure it increases my stress.  Definitely not a good idea while driving home from school in traffic!

What are some ways to stop your quadruplets fighting over Mommy?

1. Set a timer.

I have been using a timer with my girls since they were probably six months old.

I set the timer for equal time for each girl, which is fair.  Each one knows when her time is up it’s time to
share . . .whether it is a toy or a game or me.

When I’m tucking them in I want to spend time with each one at bedtime.  So I’ll set the timer for five minutes for each girl.

2. Divide the children up into smaller groups.

I sometimes do activities with two and two.  Since I have four children it works out rather evenly.  Often when watching TV I’ll sit next to two of them at the same time.  Midway through the program I will switch and sit with the other two.

Or maybe I’ll play a board game with two of them for 15 minutes and then switch to the other two.

3. Do activities with all four at once.

I find ways to play with all four of them at the exact same time.  That way they can’t accuse me of spending too much time with one over the other!  This works out best for playing outdoor games or going bicycle riding or playing Clue with them.

quadruplets4. Randomly draw a number from a cup.

I have a little blue cup with four pieces of paper.  Each piece of paper has a number — one, two, three and four.

Each of the girls knows exactly what their birth order number is.  I use this cup by randomly pulling out a number determining which child gets to do something first.  So, if they can’t decide who gets to tell the story to Mommy first, or who gets to sit by Mommy at dinner, then I pull a number from the cup.  The number tells us which child gets to do the activity.

It’s a random and “fair” way to stop fighting over Mommy.

When you find your quadruplets or other multiples fighting over Mommy or Daddy, one or more of these ideas may work for you.

They reduce my stress, and think they will for you too.

When you’re stressed and overwhelmed sometimes you need a quick solution.  I received help from my friends Chief Robert TallTree and his wife Terri TallTree.  You can read all about how I felt stress-free in only five minutes by clicking on this link or this picture.

The Three 'Deadly' Mistakes That Cause Stress, Overwhelm and Burnout by Robert and Terri Lynn TallTree

To Your Abundant Life with Multiples,

Kimberly O’Bannon
Ambassador of Positive Parenting, www.howtoliveonpurpose.com
Founder, TipsForMomsOfMultiples.com
AKA MultiMommy

Visit link:
What Do You Do When Your Quadruplets Fight Over Mommy?

emotions, family, kimberly o’bannon, multimommy, multiple births, positive parenting, quadruplets | 1 Comment
Positive Parenting |

March 24, 2011

| by Kimberly O'Bannon ("The MultiMommy")

How Can You Minimize the Child Care Costs for Triplets?

Do you stress about how to pay for child care costs but also how to emotionally pay for leaving your triplets?

My friend Julie had triplets a few years ago.  Like many moms, she looked into traditional child care at a local daycare center.

Eventually she decided child care costs were to high for her to return to her previous  job. Julie came up with a way to earn some money for her family and not have to pay the high cost of child care.

How?  By changing her career and creatively finding child care for her triplets.

She started a job three times a week with a flexible schedule.

Then she enlisted child care helpers for the three days.  Her sister one day . . .her mother-in-law for the second . . .and another mom of multiples for the third day. She watched this moms’ kids a different day of the week.

By using different people as baby sitters she was able to pay little money for childcare.

child care cost

What is the true cost of child care for triplets?

There are other child care costs to consider besides the financial cost such as emotional cost of mother and children . . .stress cost . . .even not seeing the children meet milestones.

According to Runzheimer International, the U.S. national average cost for full-time day care is $611 a month for full-time day care for a 2 year old child on weekdays.

Now multiple that by 3 and you are talking $1,833 per month!

Depending upon what you are earning, this could take most of your paycheck.

So are there ways to reduce or off set this big price tag?

Yes, there are . . .

How do you combat child care costs for triplets?

Get Financial aid: Check with your accountant. Options may include:

Websites designed to help parents dig up additional funds.  

You may be able to use your employer’s Dependent Care Account, a type of Flexible Spending Account. In a Dependent Care Account you can put away up to $5,000 in pre-tax dollars for day care.

Also, for child-care expenses you pay with after-tax dollars, you can take the Dependent Care Tax Credit on your tax return.

Barter and swap:

Volunteering at your child’s day care center, donating goods or making other types of contributions.

Offer to watch your neighbors children then have them watch yours.  I have seen this method work well for nurses who work the late night shift.

Have family or friends watch:

Maybe the family member still needs compensated but it may be cheaper then an actual daycare center. Plus there is added benefit in knowing exactly who is watching your children. Less stress this way.

Flex your schedules: If both the parents work flexible schedules, it is possible for child care cost to be zero.  

For instance, my friend who is a nurse works Friday to Sunday 12 hour shifts at night.  Her husband who is a teacher, watches the triplets on the weekends while she is at work.  Although she’s tired on Mondays when she watches the kids, they pay zero for daycare.

Someone stays home. If one salary is enough to live on, then consider this option.  This also provides zero child care costs.

Like these tips?  If you would like to receive emails with more tips and tricks I learned along the way, sign up to receive your free report “Top 5 Tips for Preparing Your Home for Twins, Triplets or More.” at this link:

http://www.tipsformomsofmultiples.com/FreeReport

Kimberly O’Bannon
Ambassador of Positive Parenting, www.howtoliveonpurpose.com
Founder, TipsForMomsOfMultiples.com
AKA MultiMommy

See original here:
How Can You Minimize the Child Care Costs for Triplets?

child care cost, family, kimberly o’bannon, multimommy, multiple births, positive parenting | Comment
Positive Parenting |

March 15, 2011

| by Kimberly O'Bannon ("The MultiMommy")

Pregnant With Triplets and Can’t Sleep?

Shannon–not her real name–was finally pregnant with triplets after having tried for 10 years to get pregnant.

She and her husband were so excited about this event!

Shannon had no idea what was in store for her with the pregnancy and was looking forward to the adventure, until . . .

First there was the exhaustion from lugging around the extra baby weight and heart burn like she had never experienced before.

Then she noticed extreme fatigue.  She was just so tired . . .

Not getting enough sleep at night was a BIG part of it.

Then one day a Native American friend told her about some techniques to help her sleep better.  While they didn’t totally take away her insomnia, they sure helped.


Are you having a hard time sleeping at night because you are pregnant with triplets?

pregnant with triplets

Are you uncomfortable with your big belly?

Need to run to the bathroom every hour?

Maybe you are experiencing leg cramps

Or just excited or anxious about the new arrivals?

Well, I have good news for you. You are not alone!

Eight out of ten women have insomnia and other sleep problems during pregnancy. Add the fact that there are three babies in there, it only makes sense.

Don’t despair; other multiple moms have been in your place.

So . . .

How can you reduce your stress helping you to sleep better when you’re pregnancy with triplets?

  1. Writing in a journal before going to bed. Write out your feelings about the day.  List 3 things that were positive. Maybe just journal on how the pregnancy is going.  Focus on the wonder of becoming a Mom.
  2. Winding down before bed with your own soothing ritual. Taking a warm bath . . . having a cup of chamomile tea . . . listening to quiet music . . . asking your     partner to rub your feet . . . just relaxing. Especially listening to guided relaxation tapes can help prepare you for bed.
  3. Creating a comfortable sleeping environment. Make sure your room is a comfortable temperature for sleeping. Is it dark and quiet enough?  Heavy or dark-colored curtains can help keep out unwanted light, and sound machines can help mask the drone of traffic with white noise.
  4. Stopping drinking your water at least 45 minutes before bed. You need your fluid when you are pregnant, but you don’t want to be doing this too close to retiring for the night.  When three babies are pressing on your bladder, you will need to go more then usual.
  5. Sleeping when you can! That means, if you can sleep during the day do so.  Don’t worry about when you get the sleep, just get some. Too many women try to do so much when they are pregnant, that they forget to sleep whenever they can.  Not just at night.

Of course, it goes without saying that if you think you have a serious sleep disorder, consult your medical practitioner.  Being pregnant with triplets is a more serious situation then a singleton pregnancy.

In the meantime, remind yourself that insomnia may be frustrating, but during pregnancy, it’s also perfectly normal.

Ready for help relaxing and getting rid of stress during your pregnancy now?

Have you heard about “The 3 ‘Deadly’ Mistakes That Cause Stress, Overwhelm and Burnout” by Chief Robert and Terri TallTree?

Now you can experience relaxation and rejuvenation when you uncover the root of your stress and overwhelm and then reverse it forever using the tools inside Overcome the 3 Deadly Mistakes That Cause Stress, Overwhelm and Burnout ebook Package.

Inside this package, you will discover:

  • What the 3 Deadly Mistakes that Cause Stress and Burnout are (page 9)
  • The Top Five Stress-Related Health Risks (page 5)
  • The Answer to the Question “Is That All There Is?” (page 9)
  • How to Reconnect With The People You Love (page 10)
  • The Three Big Secrets That Allow You to Avoid and Recover From Stress and Burnout
  • An Amazing Simple Technique to Having Less Stress and Overwhelm in Your Life 5 Minutes From Now (page 10 and 11)
  • How to Reduce Your Stress Instantly Just by Listening to “Ancient Wisdom” Guided Relaxation™ Audio 5 minutes a Day

So do yourself a favor and just click on this link to check it out for yourself.

And remember there’s a 5 minute guided relaxation tape to help you relax and get some sleep.

To Your Abundant Life with Multiples,

Kimberly O’Bannon
Ambassador of Positive Parenting, www.howtoliveonpurpose.com
Founder, TipsForMomsOfMultiples.com
AKA MultiMommy

Link:
Pregnant With Triplets and Can’t Sleep?

kimberly o’bannon, mind, multimommy, multiple births, news, positive parenting, pregnant with triplets | 2 Comments
Positive Parenting |

February 22, 2011

| by Kimberly O'Bannon ("The MultiMommy")

How Do You Tell Identical Triplets Apart?

So, you have been told you are going to have identical triplets.

You think, “Is this common?”

Well, no.  Only about 1 in 1 million triplet births are identical.

But can it happen?

Yes . . .

Identical Triplets
Along with realizing you are expecting identical triplets, comes many questions.

One BIG question . . .“How do I tell them apart?”

Don’t panic!

One answer is color coding.



Color Coding Multiples



Well, in my case, I did not have identical triplets.

I had quadruplet girls, which are two sets of twin sisters . . .one identical, and one fraternal.

And to be perfectly honest with you, when the girls first came home from the hospital, I was afraid to take the name tags off because I could not tell them apart! Especially the identical ones.

All four quadruplets were the same size with the same coloring.  So, basically they were exactly alike!

Color coding my babies helped me feel more confident about taking their hospital name tags off . . .

Yes, all four of them!

My first one was blue, my second yellow, my third, pink, and the last one was purple or green.

Why purple or green?  Well, because it was a challenge finding all green things for girls!

I bought baby onesies and pj footies  in these colors. Every size baby bottle and mixing pitcher in these four colors.  Because each baby had a different formula I needed the color-coded mixing pitchers.

There were color-coded blankets, and shoes and stuffed animals.

Everything in the house was blue, pink, yellow, and green.

Now you might be thinking I went a wee bit far in my color coding, but it served several purposes.

1. It helped me quickly identify the identical twins, Natalie and Nicole.  I always kept them in their individual colors until they were at least six months old.

2. It was easy to instruct the volunteers. Now this is important! When I had volunteers over to help me with the feedings,  it was much easier to say, “Okay, blue bottle, blue formula, go get the blue baby with the blue blankie.”

Because the last thing you want is to finally have a volunteer to help, but you spend the whole time explaining which clothes, bottles and babies go together.

Or worse, mix up the identical twins!

3. It helps immensely having the identical twins in different colors come photo time! Now I can look back and know which twin is which by her colors.

Even now I truly cannot tell Natalie and Nicole apart in their infant photos except for the color coding.

With time, I learned to tell my girls apart.  And slowly felt a little more confident taking off their sleepers and without color coding them.

I hope this tip helps you too.

Looking for more tips for your newborn (or soon-to-be-born) multiple babies?

Sign up for your free report, “Top 5 Tips To Prepare for Twins, Triplets, Or More . . .”  at this link:

http://tipsformomsofmultiples.com/FreeReport

To Your Abundant Life with Multiples,

Kimberly O’Bannon

AKA: MultiMommy

Tips for Moms of Multiples

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Link:
How Do You Tell Identical Triplets Apart?

identical triplets, kimberly obannon, multimommy, multiple births, positive parenting, quadruplets, twin sisters | 4 Comments
Positive Parenting |

January 21, 2011

| by Kimberly O'Bannon ("The MultiMommy")

Quadruplets: Do you have your hands full?

I always find it funny that when I tell people that I have quadruplets, the first thing they
say is “You must have your hands full”.  I smile and laugh and say, “Why yes I do!”

But I was thinking recently, what does that phrase really mean?  What does “You must have your hands full when raising quadruplets” really mean?

quadruplets hands full

Well, it depends upon the stage that you are with your quadruplets.

For example, take Susan’s story.

Susan (name change to protect identities) was a new mom of quadruplet girls.  She had infertility issues so she and her husband had turned to IVF to have a baby, but the 3 eggs took and then one egg split so Susan ended up with quadruplets.

She was so excited to have children, but so very overwhelmed at the prospect of taking care of four tiny babies.

Susan felt that her days were filled with utter chaos and confusion.  There was crying baby A, crying baby B, crying baby C and crying baby D . . .and sometimes even crying Mommy number 1, herself!

There were certainly diapers galore (30,000 the first year alone). And don’t forget bottles, bottles everywhere.

Burp rags hanging from every possible piece of furniture so there was always one handy.

And a breast pump running what seemed like non-stop.

And the laundry, laundry and more laundry would not stop. She would not sleep for the first 6 months and there wasn’t much sleep for dad either.

And then there was the keeping track of who has been feed, diapered, given medicine played with and rocked.

And on top of it all, there was keeping the identical twins straight. Susan often worried about mixing them up.

If there ever was a “Calgon ~ Take Me Away” moment, it was Susan’s life with quadruplets that first year.

This story reminds me of this time in my girl’s life. It was the best time in the world.

Really.

Of course I can say that because my girls are beyond the infant stage.

But I remember it well . . .with both a mixture of fondness and gladness that it is over.  I kind of miss those days when my girls could completely fit into my hands.

But when you are going though the fun and insanity . . .there seems to be no end in sight.

You long for the babies to be able to hold their own bottle, sit up, crawl and
become more independent.  Anything to make it easier to do all the tasks that are required
to take care of small infant quadruplets. Link to opt in box

So how do you survive and thrive during these very hands-full kinds of day?

Here are some suggestions:
1. Get and keep the babies on a schedule. Most multiple births require the babies
to be in the NICU for some time before coming home. And the babies are on a feeding/wake schedule while in the NICU to help them grow and thrive. This becomes more important at home just to keep up with feeding and caring for them.

2. Have meals prepared for you or have meals made and frozen for easy cooking. When taking care of many newborns, there is no time to cook nutrition meals for the adults so plan ahead. This is especially important if you are breast feeding.

3. Create systems to keep track of the feeding and diaper habits of the babies.  This is important so you can tell the pedestrian if there are any feeding issues.  I had two of my babies that writing down and keeping track of how much they ate, when they ate and how many dirty diapers they had, helped to find two very serious health problems.

4. Find ways to keep track of all the babies’ habits.  I color coded everything.  This especially was helpful when I did have volunteer over.  I could say take pink baby, give pink bottle, wrap pink blanket around pink baby, ect.  This also helped because I three different types of formula for the four babies.

5. Smile, smile smile.  There is nothing like a smile and a laugh to get you though the
rough, long nights when no one is sleeping.  Take a little time to smile, laugh and enjoy the ride.

I have been where you are. I want to share my insights and lessons learned with other moms of multiples and maybe be able to easy the stress of those first years.

If you would like to receive emails with tips and tricks I have learned along the way, please subscribe to receive your free report “Top 5 Tips for Preparing Your Home for Twins, Triplets or More”.

join our mailing list

 

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Also, feel free to leave a comment or ask a question.  I would love to answer your questions.

To Your Abundant Life Filled with Multiples
Kim
Aka: MultiMommy

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Quadruplets: Do you have your hands full?

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