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Hi everyone! My name is Chelsie and I am a stay-at-home mother to three sweet boys. My eldest, Jonah, is 20 months old and my twins are 8 months old. I guess it can be expected that my life is chaotic, busy, but most of all beautiful. My days are filled with diaper changes, breastfeeding, and naps. Though no two days are ever the same with three children under the age of two, I am going to try my best to showcase a typical day in our lives.
My husband and I met in the sixth grade. We were friends all through middle and high school and even much of college. One day things turned romantic and we have never looked back. When we learned we were expecting our eldest son, it came as a huge shock. Jonah was born on December 12 of 2012. Just as we were settling into our lives as new parents we got an even bigger shock, twins! Jonah was only five months old when we learned we were expecting not just one new addition but two. When we went for our first ultrasound of the pregnancy we were actually hoping to find out the sex. We were unsure of how far along the pregnancy was because I was on birth control. The ultrasound tech began with the external wand on my stomach but it was unclear what we were looking at. After switching over to the internal wand she pointed to the screen and said “There is your baby.” Tyler and I looked at each other and smiled. But then the tech wiggled the wand a little more and said “And there is your other baby.” We about croaked. Twins are popular in our families but we hadn’t given it a second thought until that moment.
My pregnancy was healthy for the most part. I battled with Gestational Diabetes and eventually a touch of Preeclampsia. My platelets dropped very low the day before I was 37 weeks and my doctor scheduled my c-section for the next day. So at 37 weeks gestation my twins were born, beautiful and healthy. Miles Blayne arrived at 8:38 a.m. weighing a whopping 7lbs. 2 oz. A short minute later Rylan Kade was born weighing 5 lbs. 14oz. I was so in love!
So here we are eight months later and it feels like such a different world. The twins are finally pulling out of their crying 24/7 phase, and it couldn’t be a moment too soon. My twins, I am very proud to say, have been exclusively breastfed from the beginning. This was no easy feat. Miles struggled with nursing while we were still at the hospital. I even had one nurse tell me it would be impossible for me to breastfeed them. When they were about a month old we made an E.R. trip with Rylan after a nursing strike. They finally got the hang of it and we haven’t had a problem since. We are still up between 2-4 times each night for feedings, but it is getting easier. We are fortunate that they now sleep in their own room and their own cribs. They are crawling now, sitting up on their own, and pulling up on occasion. We live in a very small town in North Carolina, the closest grocery store is a half an hour drive so we are pretty much homebodies during the week. This is how an average day looks for us:
2:48-3:03 am- Both babies begin to fuss wanting to be fed. I get up and wake Tyler. I nurse Rylan first while Tyler tries to soothe Miles. I can no longer tandem feed because of their size but it would make things a lot easier right about now. Rylan finishes and Tyler and I switch babies. I nurse Miles while Tyler lays Rylan in his crib and waits for me to finish (while snoring). Miles finishes and we lay him down in his crib.
5:41-5:52 am- Both babies are up again and ready to nurse. I start with Miles this time. He finishes and I nurse Rylan. When he is full Tyler lays him back in his crib.
6:31-6:36 am- Rylan begins fussing again. Tyler gets up at 6:30 am for work so I go get Rylan alone and nurse him. He falls asleep nursing and I return him to his crib. I go lay back down in hopes of getting another hour or two of precious sleep before the day begins.
7:30 am- Tyler leaves for work.
8:27 am- We are up for the day. I begin morning diaper changes. We are fortunate that our kids don’t wet much at night anymore and can go all night without a diaper change. I change Miles first and then Rylan. At this point, Jonah is standing in his crib ready to get up. I get him up and change his diaper.
8:38 am- Playtime ensues while I get breakfast ready.
8:47 am- I feed Jonah his breakfast. He has a sippy cup of milk and some oatmeal.
8:56 am- I put Miles and Rylan in their snug-a-monkey chairs for breakfast. They eat a tub of Gerber apples and cherries each.
9:11 am- Both babies have eaten but Rylan is still fussy.
9:15-9:19 am- Rylan nurses.
9:20-9:24 am- Miles nurses.
9:28 am-Rylan begins fussing again.
9:42 am- Yay! I finally finished my oatmeal. Most mornings this does not happen.
9:45 am- Both babies are fussy so I put them in their crib and turn on their crib soothers. We have the baby einstein aquarium crib soothers. They save my life basically everyday. Some of the best money we have spent!
9:46-10:02 am- Jonah is in a big dancing stage so I play some music and dance with him. He really enjoys the one on one time and it gets him (and me) active. So I may look like a fool, but he doesn’t judge.
10:03 am- I sneak in to the twin’s room and they are both napping away. I decide to take advantage of this time and do some dishes.
10:10 am- Dishes are done and I go check on the twins again. They are still sleeping, so I fold some laundry and try to straighten up. This is never easy with a rambunctious toddler running around. But hey, I give myself an “A” for effort.
11:00 am- Miles is up.
11:07am- I change Miles’ dirty diaper when I hear Rylan on the monitor.
11:08 am- I get Rylan from his crib and they all play while I figure out lunch.
11:25-11:42 am- The twins go back to their bouncers for lunch. They eat a tub of mixed veggies each.
11:43 am- I change Rylan’s dirty diaper and put him and Miles in their jumpers. I put the jumpers facing each other and they really love it.
11:50 am- Lunch time for Jonah. He eats cheese toast and sliced grapes with a Sippy cup of watered down apple juice.
12:01 pm- I change Jonah’s diaper and lay him down in his crib for a nap.
12:02-12:05 pm- Rylan is fussy so he nurses.
12:05pm- Rylan is still fussy but I make myself a turkey and cheese sandwich anyway. I choke it down while trying to soothe Rylan.
12:10-12:17 pm- Rylan calms down just in time for Miles to start fussing. So I nurse him and he seems content.
12:17 pm- Rylan begins fussing again so I lay him in his crib and turn on his crib soother.
12:53 pm- Miles starts to fuss so I lay him in his crib and turn on his crib soother.
1:00-1:07 pm- Rylan is still fussing so I go into their room and nurse him. He falls asleep and I lay him in his crib. Miles is already asleep at this point.
1:56 pm- Jonah is up from his nap. I get him from his crib. Quick diaper change and then we snuggle and play.
2:24 pm- Miles is up from his nap. I change his diaper. He and Jonah play in Jonah’s room.
3:25 pm- Rylan is up from his nap. I change his dirty diaper and they all three play.
3:54 pm- I interrupt their playing to change Jonah’s dirty diaper.
4:13 pm- I have to interrupt again to change Miles’ dirty diaper.
4:38 pm- The twins start to get fussy. I put them back in their jumpers.
4:57-5:07 pm- I pump to get milk to mix with their dinnertime cereal. I got 2 oz.
5:30 pm- Tyler gets home!
5:39-5:45 pm- I pump again and get 1oz. this time.
6:01 pm- I start on dinner, brown hamburger meat, mix rice cereal and peas for the twins, and fix Jonah more cheese toast and grapes (oh, picky toddlers). While I am doing this Tyler feeds the kids puffs.
6:21 pm- Tyler finishes feeding the twins rice cereal and peas.
6:25 pm- Tyler feeds Jonah while I finish our dinner. Tyler then goes run baths. The twins go first then Jonah by himself.
6:45 pm- Bath time is over. We dress and diaper everyone.
7:02 pm- I nurse and lay Rylan down for the evening. Miles continues to play.
7:09 pm-I nurse and lay Miles down for the evening.
7:09-8:03 pm- Tyler and I spend one on one time with Jonah, read him a book, and get him ready for bed.
8:04 pm- We lay Jonah down for the night. Tyler and I breathe a sigh of relief, eat our dinner, check emails and social media, and watch some t.v. that isn’t animated (yay!).
11:02 pm- Tyler and I turn in. Every night we talk about how we should go to bed earlier and never do. Once our heads hit the pillow the cycle starts over.
I know things will not always be this way so I try to soak in the little moments. Looking back over the day it looks like utter chaos but somehow it all works.
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Have a question for Chelsie? CLICK HERE to email her! You can also follow her adorable family on Instagram: @chelsieowenwilson
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Don't forget to send us your 26-week baby bump! Email your name and the twins' birthday (or due date) to twintalkblog@gmail.com. Please have your picture to us no later than noon today!
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