The ABC's of Double Trouble: D is for "Double Feedings"

We held double feeding sessions

at our home sweet home.

These are my twins ~

(Four Days Old)

This is one of our twins

(5 Months)

~ my youngest daughter ~

(5 Months)

~ this is my other twin ~

my son.

Some double feedings are so easy an eight-year old sister can do them…

(My oldest Daughter)

...even in a stroller!

When the babies were newborns, we simply plopped them on a pillow and put the bottles in their mouths…

(6 Weeks Old)

...or we plopped them any which way but lose.

(2 Weeks)

Of course, as time went on, we became very creative with our ideas. We never had any help, so we had to cautiously swerve around every obstacle that came our way.

We referred to these positions as either: planned or cornered.

Planned feedings are when you are organized and worry free. You have all of your props intact to assist you. For example, we found that we couldn’t live without our infant car seats.

(8 Years & 6 Months)
This is the planned…

“duo-car seat under-the-kitchen-bar” variety.

Or we have the planned…

(6 Months)

“one car seat ~ one crossed-legged style.”

Having twins certainly doesn’t always mean that you’re going to live “the glamorous life.” In fact, a lot of the time, I wasn’t able to “sit like a lady” like my mother taught me. We called this...

(6 Months)

the planned
“one between the legs ~ one car seat” position.

To tell you the truth, being the parents of twins brings on the beast of fatigue. You don’t sleep a whole heck of a lot at night; you don’t sleep a lot during the day either, especially if your babies are the twenty~minute nappers. You become very weary and beat.

On the other hand, we have the babies. They’ve slept and they’ve flipped their switches to go; they’ve recharged their batteries; they’re alert and energetic. And suddenly, they’re famished. They chose not to wait to eat; they want to eat NOW. They let you know in no uncertain terms which magnifies double and your eardrums have a deafening throb. And if yours don't use pacifiers or phalanges, you're doomed.

You’re tired! You’re desperate! You’re tired and desperate with no person to love, cuddle and coo one of your babies and to assist you. To top it off, you don’t have a prop to assist you either. You’re in a pickle; you’ve been backed right into a corner. And all you have left to your name to work with is your body, mind and soul.

There were times when we just grabbed a boy or girl and went to town.

Sometimes they even grabbed us, but together we brought the…

...cornered positions to life.

(7 Months)

Like the “lean on me”...

(7 Months)

or the cornered…
“side~by~side” melody.

Actually, that moment suddenly turned into…

the “catch~if~catch can.”

Everybody knows that once a baby has had his/her bottle, you don’t want to forget to burp that baby. For that reason, we figured out the…

(7 ½ Years ~ 2 Weeks)

"Double Burp".

We even got so good at it, we…

(7 Months)

created the

“criss~crossed” maneuver.

At times this turned into…

an action~packed

planned move…

(7 Months)

“burp one ~ feed one.”

This was a strategic event. You need to lift and turn, and seat, and begin burping the one baby without removing the bottle from the second baby’s mouth.

As time went by, solid foods took to the scene. And like most parents feeding their babies, we instinctively used one jar or bowl of food and one spoon for each child. Yes, you have to take into consideration the “sharing germs” factor, but they share and put each others toys in their mouths all day long.

So, what were we thinking!?! Were we shear and utter lunatics?

There is absolutely no time or compassion given to the parents of twins in this case scenario.

We quickly changed our act. Unless the two were sick, one bowl and one spoon worked just fine for them both.

Dip the spoon in the bowl, put it in a mouth.

Over and over again.
Don’t stop!

Don’t slow down!

And, whatever you do, don’t rest!

Papa Bo, an Unhappy Evan, & a Content Emma

You learn to feed fast. You may feed their hair, eyes and nose at times, but inevitably your sense of direction is on target.

(Some people thought we were awful, but I always stripped our children to the diaper when we fed them. That way I never had to scrub stains out of their clothing.)

Oftentimes, when one twin had enough to eat

then it was time to…

(8 Months & I'm the one who should have been wearing the bib.)

“feed one ~ bottle one.”

This is a planned,

but learning how-to-endure procedure.

The day after this photo was taken, we acquired our second high chair. So, I didn’t have to look and act like an old-rugged cross anymore.

This “bottle-bottle balance”

was a little tough to take.

All in all, we discovered that God has given all of us two arms and two legs, and unlike the norm, we have undoubtedly learned how to use them in an extremely practical sense, with no questions asked.

Yes, there were and still are days when we wish we were one person for every person in our family, but obviously, God had a different plan in mind.