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Preparing For Twins: 7 Important Things to Consider

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Hearing the words “two heartbeats” are for sure the biggest life-changing words I’ve ever heard. Nobody ever thinks they will end up pregnant with twins! When I found out I was pregnant with twins, I was shocked and had no idea what I needed to do to start preparing for twins.

While I’m so thankful that I was chosen to be a twin mommy, there are many things to be taken into consideration with a twin pregnancy that you don’t even have to think about with a singleton pregnancy.

So. If you’re coming to my site today and you just found out you’re expecting twins, take a deep breath. You got this. I’ll walk you through the very first things you need to consider as well as other valuable information about preparing for twins.

preparing for twins

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Preparing Your Vehicle for Twins

#1: Do you need to find a different vehicle?

One of the first things to consider is your vehicle. Can it handle the number of car seats you will need?

If the twins are your first children, you are likely fine as all cars should be able to hold two car seats. If your twins aren’t going to be your only children in car seats, you could have a problem.

preparing for twins

Our son, Theo was 15-months old when we found out we would be having twins. That meant we would have 3 in car seats.

Unfortunately, we had JUST purchased new vehicles, neither of which could comfortably fit 3 car seats. We couldn’t trade either vehicle in without losing a ton of money, which we weren’t comfortable doing.

Luckily, even though it was incredibly tight, we were able to find car seats that fit 3 across. I’ve included some resources for you if you are in the same situation.

Read –> My Twin Baby Registry Guide

More Information on Car Seat Safety

Preparing for Twins Financially

#2: How are you going to afford two babies?

If you were planning for one child and now are getting two, it can be a big difference financially. I have an entire post dedicated to preparing for twins on a budget, so if you’re nervous about finances, that’s a post you should read.

Important things to consider are:

  • college savings plans
  • planning for the possibility of bed rest
  • double the cost of baby supplies
  • child care for more than one baby

The first thing to do is set up a family budget and make adjustments as you need to. If you need to cut expenses, it is best to know up front and start right away, not when the twins are born.

Other Posts of Interest

Preparing for Twins on a Budget: Everything you need to know to prepare financially for the arrival of twins! #expectingtwins #newborntwins #preparingfortwins #twinsonabudget
The Ultimate Guide to Your Twin Registry: all of the twin gear you need! #newborntwins #expectingtwins #twinbabygear #twinregistry #babyregistry #twinregistrychecklist
Pinnable image of how to set up a family budget by journey of parenthood.

Preparing for Twin Pregnancy

#3: What is your plan if you go on bed rest?

The biggest thing to consider is health complications and going on bed rest.

I know it seems extreme to PLAN and PREPARE for bed rest, but it’s not!

I had zero health complications. Zero. I delivered my first child, Theo, several days past my due date and he weighed 9 pounds. My doctor thought for sure that I would have no problem making it full term with twins.

preparing for twins

Then boom… or a guess splash… and my water broke just before 30 weeks, and there I was, stuck in the hospital, with no plan for who was going to take care of my children!

Perhaps going on bed rest won’t affect your daily life that much.

If you work from home and don’t have other children, then you should be able to carry on fairly normally.

However, if you work full time and rely on your income, or are the sole caregiver to your children, going on bed rest can be a problem.

Look into what you have for short term insurance. If you don’t have any, it’s probably too late to get some because there’s usually a grace period. It is a good idea to start saving money aside in case of possible bedrest.

It’s also a good idea to see what is available in terms of short term daycare or friends/family who could watch your children.

Other Posts to Read

Pinterest image for surviving hospitalized bedrest during a twin pregnancy.
Pinterest image on powerful ways to prepare your mind for childbirth from Christine Keys
5 Best Products to For Discomfort During Twin Pregnancy #twins #twinpregnancy #pregnancy #expectingtwins

Preparing to Give Birth to Twins

#4: Be prepared to give birth on an operating table.

Twin deliveries happen on an operating table. The risk of an emergency C-section is there because once baby A comes out, baby B can shift positions and there is no telling what can happen.

Also, there will be a LOT of staff there. Not only will they have the doctors and nurses for you, but they will have them for each baby. If your delivery is premature, they will have NICU staff in there as well.

You can read my twin birth story in this post if you’re interested in the whole story.

Preparing for Twins: NICU

#5: Mentally prepare for the possibility of NICU time.

Having twins in the NICU was incredibly difficult for me emotionally while I was going through it.

But honestly? Looking back now, it did have some benefits.

I was able to go home and spend quality time with my two-year-old, whom I’d been apart from for over two weeks!

I was also able to fully recover without having to worry about carrying babies or waking up to feed them. Granted, I did wake up to pump, but once I was done, I could go right back to sleep.

The biggest benefit of the NICU is that they got my twins on the same feeding schedule.

You can read more about the benefits of a NICU stay here.

Mama’s Organized Chaos

Other NICU posts of interest…

Childcare for Twins

#6: Will both parents return to work full time?

If you were planning on returning to work and put your baby in daycare, that could change if you have two babies!

If you were planning on having family members watch your baby, they might not be comfortable watching two babies.

This post has great tips for using family as babysitters and working through any issues that may come up!

The Babywise Mom

Sleeping Arrangements

#7: Where will your twins sleep?

Does your house have enough room for twins?

Perhaps you own a smaller, two bedroom home, and the big picture plan is to move once you’re ready to have a second child. What if the second bedroom is too small to hold two cribs?

You’ll have to make a decision. Do the babies get the master bedroom? Do you try to move? Only you can decide what to do.

To expand further upon the arrangements you need to make for sleeping, do you want your twins to share a room?

You can read more about safe sleeping arrangements for twins in this post.

Team-Cartwright

Other Posts You Should Read…

How We Got Our Twins to Sleep Through the Night: Learn tips to get your newborn twins to sleep through the night so the whole family can get rest! #newborntwins #twinmom #twinsleeptips #expectingtwins #sleeptrainingtwins

Hopefully after reading this post you feel more prepared to have twins! You will love being a twin parent!

P.S. Make sure you’re following me on social media to keep up with our family and all the twin cuteness! I am on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!

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Lauren

Wednesday 18th of May 2022

I'm so thankful I found this! I'm a foster mom of 3, plus I have 2 bio kiddos. We decided to try for one more baby and then be done. Because even just 6 kids is crazy, right? Well found out today that it'll be 7! Still in the shock stage, but thankful for resources to help me prepare!

Rachel

Tuesday 16th of March 2021

You are doing amazing work! Thanks for sharing your wonderful posts.! ? Me and my husband tried to have 2nd baby for about 5 years. I didnt have any problems getting preg with our 1st child. So I took clomid 50 mg for 5 days and I ovulated and found out 3 weeks latter I am having a baby and recently at 8 weeks along I found out I am having twins.❤️ So happy ? I found in Google ‘CLO4TWINS’ and got Clomid. Having twins is amazing! Good luck to all!

Anna

Thursday 12th of November 2020

Just found out today. I’m 10 weeks. Went by myself to the first ultrasound. My husband stayed home with our 3 year old boy. Shocked is an understatement. But trying to find peace in this!!!! More than likely the twins will be identical! Our family is ecstatic! This post helps!!! Our son was born at 30 weeks and he was in the NICU. I truly feel God just laid this out for us.

Caitlin

Monday 4th of January 2021

Oh my gosh, congratulations! I got goosebumps. I totally know the feeling of shock... still recovering over here almost 5 years later hahaha!

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