Chalice is back...

[chalice]

I seem to be surrounded by people with a deep resentment and disappointment for this world.

Hmmmm.

Well get you.

Who got your snickers in a wrist?

[megabyteme]

Yeah. Sorry about that, Chalice. We kinda drifted, didn't we?

We'll set this ship on it's due course, ASAP...

All hail the mighty wordsmith, Chalice!

[Skweeky]

No wayz, back to toddlers and double bellybabies!

[megabyteme]

We have started receiving our cribs, mattresses, dresser, etc. The wife says we can't hold off any longer on putting the babys' room together. I have even gotten out of my catatonic state from the first trip to "Babies R Us" (forever know to me as "Babies R Really Freakin' Expensive"). That trip showed us both (especially me) how little I know about...what are those little things in my wife's tummy called again?

[Skweeky]

The worst thing is, that in about 6 months time, you'll realise how much money you've spent on stuff you don't need...

We got all our nursery furniture out of Ikea, including mattresses, curtains, sheets, blinds etc. Other stuff we got off ebay, or TKMaxx (it's a shop that sells overstocks, you get some brilliant stuff in there).

I think all in all, we spent about £800 on everything.

[megabyteme]

We went to "BRRFE" to register for my wife's showers. We left without scanning a single item. I got online and did quite a bit of reading- reviews from other parents mostly. That helped. We also recruited a couple of knowledgeable, no-nonsense mothers who had been through it in the past few years. Did you know that people put their children in "car seats" now days? I would bet people would get upset if I put the kids in the back of a pickup, too... Things have sure changed since I was a kid (38 years ago).

Our budget is limited, but my wife has squirreled away money (read that as kept it out of my hands) for this. We did not expect twins in the "planning" stage, but at least it was not a complete "surprise". We have also been together for 15 years, so it isn't like we are just starting out ourselves. It is more of an anxiety thing than an inability or an "oh, shit" followed by hyper-ventilation. If I had any doubts, the trip to "BRRFE" let me know that this is indeed real.

My wife's family is local (or is that loco) and are very excited and willing to help. I trust them and know that they will be good, supportive caretakers when we need them.

[Skweeky]

The things I could't have done without:

* my changing table: make sure it's at a comfortable height, there is nothing worse than having to change explosive nappies whilst folding yourself into an uncomfortable position
* my video baby monitor: especially when Ben just started sleeping into his own room, it was nice to have a quick glance at the baby monitor and know he was perfectly fine
* breastpump: not sure if you guys are planning on breastfeeding, but if you are you WILL need this to get rid of excess milk.
* baby sleeping bag: even though they are tiny, they move around so much when they are asleep. Like this you know they are nice and cosy no matter what

[megabyteme]

Thanks for the advice. I think we have at least headed in the right direction.

The dresser is actually a dresser/changing table. Which we have one of the changing table pad thingies- and everything is measured to a comfortable height. I even tested the measurement against the height of my table saw.

We are looking into the baby monitors. That seems like a very good idea. Also, with the way technology and public surveillance are heading, it will be good to get them comfortable being monitored at all times.

Yes. My wife is quite excited about the opportunity to breast feed. That is one of the things that she was quite happy about, that I had NO thoughts on whatsoever. As long as she is happy with it, great.

The sleeping bag is something we have not thought about and will now look into. Thanks for the heads-up!

We are also looking into tandem strollers/car seats (all-in-one systems), play pens that now have a new name, and either a SUV or a mini-van. The mini-van seems to be the direction we are currently thinking.

[Skweeky]

Yeah, with regards to the baby monitors, we used to just have the normal sound one, and I would wake up all paranoid and have to run through to make sure he was still breathing. Irrational, I know, but it's a nature thing.

If she is going to breastfeed, get her a good nursing pillow; they are basically u-shaped pillows, but are so easy, because the babies can comfortably lie on them, without you actually having to support them.

For travel systems, I would recommend a 3-in-1. They usually come with a car seat that attached directly to the base of the pram. That way you don't have to wake up the babies every time you get out of the car; just grab the car seat, attach it to the pram and you're good to go. It was an absolute godsend for those first few months!

Haha, I have turned into such a mum. You'd be laughing if you had been here 6 years ago and knew what I was like.

Kev still thinks it's hilarious.

[megabyteme]

I will let my wife know about the nursing pillow. Maybe we can find one for twins and get everyone "served" at once...

We have narrowed our travel system search down quite a bit. A lot of the dual systems are made for children that are of different ages. Finding one for twins has been a bit more difficult. We did find one though. It also has both seats that are detachable and then lock into the back seat. Slick little design. The strollers are pretty nice, too. We were getting some ultrasounds done the other day and had to do a bit of a walk between offices. We saw some mothers who were packing their kids in the car seats. Seemed like too much work.