Sleep Program!

Today I want to GUSH on how amazing WeeSleep is and how it changed our lives forever. Having a baby is a huge lifestyle change and it turns your world upside down... and right-side up again. Yes don’t get me wrong it's a truly magical time but here on #ChooseLemonade we talk about the challenges too. Many people tell you what a wonderful parent you will be and how amazing it is to have a baby, which is very true! The thing we found the hardest was the lack of sleep. The first 4-6 weeks you are running purely on emotions. Once the “excitement” dies down and the visitors aren't coming as often the exhaustion really hits you like a ton of bricks. Having one baby is hard enough and then adding another one in at the exact same time ... well let me just say we barely survived. Lack of sleep affects our minds in very negative ways - it makes us anxious and upset not to mention no one wants to be around grumpy parents! My husband and I has most of our disagreements at the 2AM feeding when we were exhausted and just wanted to sleep. 

This is where we sought the help of Heather from WeeSleep to try to improve our quality of life, help our marriage, and make the boys much more content. Yes you can always go out and buy a book on how to sleep-train your children but WeeSleep is just so much more then following a programme. Having someone there cheering you on every step of the way makes a huge difference as well as the daily calls to help with any questions that we had throughout the programme. Heather was (and still is) amazing and was the positive voice we needed! All in one night - we took away the soothers, got the boys to sleep together in the crib while mommy and daddy were in our own room! 

To this day she is open to hear about our progress and answer any questions that come up through nap transitions (from 3 naps down to 2 and then again from 2 naps down to 1). I don’t take advantage of this and call her everyday but to know she is always there for me if I need her is an amazing feeling. We stand behind this company and always will. Our boys are now great sleepers and sleep 12-13 hours overnight and nap great during the day. Also while traveling they have had no problems adapting to their surroundings. We are so grateful to have found WeeSleep and it's well worth the money. They have different programmes varying in cost so you can always find one that fits your needs. 

SLEEP IS EVERYTHING. 

**TWIN TIP** 

Don’t worry if they wake each other up at the beginning - yes it's hard but stick with it and if one wakes up crying eventually the other learns to tune it out! It might seem like a nightmare when they bother each other at the beginning. But with some hard work and commitment... it can turn into a dream come true! 

How to Make - Baby Wipes!

I have to start by telling you that our boys have not had one bum rash or red bum since they came home and I attribute that to these wipes. If you buy wipes from the big-box stores, they are usually 2 cents per wipe. With these homemade wipes, depending on how much you can buy your paper towel for, it might only costing you around 0.8 cents per wipe. Note! Even though we use these homemade beauties at home, they are harder to travel with so we do use the store bought ones in our diaper bag while we're on the go. 

What You Need

- Bounty Paper Towel 

- 1 tablespoon coconut oil 

- baby shampoo 

- 2 cups of boiling water

- Spillproof container

The How-to

1) Cut paper towel roll in half 

2) Put the water into a bowl with the coconut oil and a squirt of baby shampoo - mix until coconut oil has dissolved.

 

3) Place the halved paper towel into your container and pour the water mixture over the paper towel. The paper towel with soak up all the liquid. 

4) Pull the middle of the roll out and pull the wipes from the middle of the roll! 

It's as simple as that, folks... Enjoy! 

All You Need to Know About... Baby Box!

This blog is all about the wonderful Baby Box, how you can go about finding them and why we loved them so much!

At first we had a really hard time deciding what we were going to do with two babies sleeping in our room. Should we buy two bassinets? Should we go with the mini crib? Should we put their full-size crib in our room? There were a lot of decisions to make since there are lots of choices out there. 

I was about 22 weeks when my mom emailed me a link to Baby box University. She saw the advertisement on a morning show that she was watching that day. I did a lot of research and looked into the various different companies that provided baby boxes and found out the best one was Baby Box University. I felt that the other companies out there appeared to have an agenda to push a particular baby product (like baby formula). And get this: Baby Boxes were free! This was going to be a great choice for us because we were already spending so much money on double of everything that this just fit our family perfectly. 

There are places around Toronto that carry the Baby Box and are open during business hours for you go pick them up. There is a small catch, if you can call it that: you have to do some e-learning. There are a series of videos you have to watch which are highly educational for new parents. At the end of the suite of videos there is a certificate that you can print off and bring with you to receive the box, in my case two boxes, for free. 

When you get to the Baby Box University website (https://www.babyboxuniversity.com/) you have to first create an account with them. Once logged in, go to the right side of the page and select your syllabus. This might seem a little confusing but depending on the region you come from the syllabus might change. In this case the syllabus I chose was for those living in Ontario. All you have to do next is simply watch the 14 short (and I do mean short, some were less than a minute long) videos. You do have to watch them all in order to print off that certificate. Have the hard copy of the certificate with you and go pick up your box(es). You can find a list of all Canadian Baby Box pickup locations here.

Although these videos were "mandatory” to pick up the Baby Box, I found myself watching a ton more videos on their website that weren't part of my syllabus. I loved them - they were short and to the point. Very educational and even if you aren't thinking about using the Baby Box I highly recommend it! 

What is included in your complimentary Baby Box? (from what I can remember.. you can find out more by going to Baby Box Company):

- firm mattress (non-toxic and certified safe by CertiPUR-US laboratories)

- 100% cotton mattress cover (I got more as one is not enough for all those poop explosions… I got 3 “bassinet” sheets which I found fit them perfectly. I like the Kushies Bassinet sheets which I got at West Coast Kids)

- small package of diapers and wipes 

- wooden teething ring 

- baby shampoo 

- shortsleeve onesie size 0-6- reusable bra pad (so you aren’t leaking everywhere :) ) 

Our boys slept in one together for the first month until they got too big to be sharing. We moved them over to their own boxes where they stayed till around 4-1/2 months… after that we did sleep training (I will dedicate an entire blog all about the boys sleep training soon!) because mommy and daddy needed their sleep too. They stayed in their separate boxes until they were probably 5 months old. Really  they can be moved to the crib when they grow out of the box! 

We loved the baby box and wouldn’t have done it any other way. They traveled well in the car when we went places overnight. We filled the box with their things and away we went! 

How to Make - Padsicles!

A Must Have 

As promised here is the recipe for these amazing “pad-cicles”. I used 3-4 a day for the first 4-5 weeks postpartum. I would not go to the hospital without these! Highly recommended!


What You Need 

- All natural Aloe Vera (don’t get the green stuff because they have added colour… I used Fruit of the Earth which you can buy from Walmart)
- Alcohol Free Witch Hazel (I used Earthwise which you can get from Amazon) 
- Lavender Pure Essential Oil (I used doTERRA which you can get from Amazon) 
- Always heavy pads - without wings (the wings can be bothersome when you have stitches) 

The How-to

1) Take the pad from their package but be careful not to remove the backing. Put them with the pad exposed and facing up on a cookie sheet. I made 24 at once using 3 cookies sheets.

2) Put a squirt of witch hazel and aloe vera on each pad. Then take the lavender oil and put 3-4 drops on each pad. Fold the pad back up like they were originally packaged and place them flat into a freezer bag. 

3) Place the bag laying flat into the freezer. If you don't the soothing solution may not have set and you'll  end up with a goopy mess! 

4) When you want one take them out and peel off the back and place in the underwear or Depends. 

The Lowdown

The cold temperature on this padsicles is very soothing and the witch hazel/lavender combination helps with healing. I gave these to my mom to bring when she visited us after I had the boys. We were lucky to have a mini fridge in our room with a small freezer compartment. If you don’t get a mini fridge with a little freezer in your room then just ask the nursing staff to put them in the freezer for you!

Packing up for the Big Day

A comfy shirt is not only comfy for you, but for the babies too!

It's never too early to pack your bags ... or should I say suitcase. The motto to Pregnancy should be “prepare for the unexpected”. Most women don't have their babies on their due date. Being prepared will make things much more relaxed and ease the pressure of the 11th hour. That being said I still ran around gathering some last minute things after I found out I was being induced. When packing my bag I got these little compartments to put inside the suitcase so that I could keep everything organized
and not have it a big mess!! You can easily find these on Amazon for under $20 since they don’t have to be super high quality.

These compartments may be cheap, but you can't put a price tag on a tidy bag keeping dirty and clean clothes apart!

 Here is a list of must-haves for the hospital bag:

• Pillows – one for daddy and one for you. Hospital pillows are hard to come by and if you do get some, they’re flat and uncomfortable.
• Card games – labour can be long and involve lots of sitting around so be prepared and have fun while you wait!

Any card game can seem like the best
game in the world at 3AM

• Breast pump – start using it ASAP because it will help bring your milk in. Ask the nurse to show you how to use it. You want to be using your pump properly so you aren't sore! Ask ask ask: some nurses won't volunteer to help you so take initiative! 
• Snacks – you will be hungry before and after labour and hospital food can be pricey
• Toiletries – for both you and daddy. It feels so good to wash your face, put some nice creme on, brush your hair and teeth! 
• Clothes for daddy – lounging clothes, as lounging around is all you will be doing. Comfortable pants and shirts. Also slippers are great for when you are in the hospital room since he won't want to be wearing shoes all day.
• Blanket for hubby – as he will be sleeping in a chair and the hospital can either be cold
• Phone chargers – don’t forget to put your name and phone number on it just in case it gets left there. I hate losing phone chargers!
• Baby clothes – 2-3 outfits (per kid) and a special one for going home in! These clothes can either be newborn (up to 7 lbs) or 0-3 months. 
• Slippers – for mommy in the hospital room and walks in the hallways 
• Nightgowns – 2-3 very comfy ones but don;t bring a PJ set with pants because it's so much work putting pants on and off all the time.
• Headbands – nice to have your hair off your face but still looking good 

Comfy nightgown and headband

• Light housecoat – nice to get out into the halls for a little walk so having a housecoat to throw on is perfect 
• Diapers!! At Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto where our boys were born they only gave us a few diapers and we went through them in a few hours! So pack some newborn (N) size diapers and wipes 
• A spray bottle with olive oil or fractionated coconut oil – this is used to spray on your baby(ies)’ bottom to help with cleaning after they have that sticky icky black/green poop (meconium). This trick will save you a lot of anxiety as it helps with removing it fast because your little one will be screaming through every diaper change at the beginning. 
• Padsicles – lifesaver for soothing your lady parts after that baby decides to enter the world!! Look out for posts on Instagram or this blog for how to make these in the near future
• Granny panties – especially recommended for potential C-section births. Fruit of the Loom make breathable comfortable large panties so they can cover your stitches and not bother them. I did not have a C-section but I packed both large granny panties and Depends (they are also lifesavers). I got the slim silhouette kind and they are so comfortable and you don't need to wear those huge thick pads that the hospital gives you. Tip: they only provide you with a few and make you buy more if you need them. Remember ladies you can have discharge for up to 6-8 weeks! I would pack 2-3 Depends per day. For singleton moms you should only be there 1- 2 days if everything is good with the babes (which it will be!) For moms of multiples I would PLAN for a few extra days at the hotel hospital... we were there four days. Results vary!
• Going home outfit for mommy – remember you will still be wearing maternity clothes. Pack clothes that fit you now (while pregnant) so you won't be disappointment leaving the hospital.
• Pack something that makes you feel a little bit like a human! – For me putting on some lip gloss on and brushing my hair helped! I would do this just before leaving for our daily walks in the hall. 

Now that you have your bags packed, here are some things to have ready before going to the hospital:

• You will have to get a temporary health card for your baby(ies) before leaving the hospital. We suggest that you have some names picked out so that you are not stressed right after birth to have to figure out a name on the spot. If you are not finding out the sex of the baby until delivery then have a boy and a girl name picked out! You will thank me later :)
• Be prepared to call your doctor to set up their first doctor’s appointment for 1-2 days after you are discharged. I was unaware I needed to do that and it was just another added stressor. The more information you have at your fingertips and the more prepared you are will help you be a little less stressed in such an overwhelming time.

**(Twin) Tip**
Be generous when packing up diapers and wipes! You never know how long you'll be at the hospital postpartum (and we hope you won't be there long) but a longer stay means you'll be going through more diapers and wipes. Also make sure the pump you get is a double because you'll need to be producing twice as much milk!

Stretch Marks

Walter and Woodrow - One day old!

The Lowdown

It's time to talk about stretch marks. Firstly: it's never too early to start hydrating that belly!! No, there is no magic trick to avoiding those dreaded stretch marks, but I think it's important to apply something to your belly (or butt, boobs, thighs really anywhere you might be gaining some extra love!) early and often.  I used two products religiously morning and night everyday from the time I found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks to 37 weeks! I alternated between Bio-Oil (I got the big 200mL bottle from Shopper's Drug Mart with availability from Walmart and Amazon too) and Matter Company's Substance Belly Jelly (I picked up the 8oz tin from West Coast Kids with availability from Snugglebugz, Well.ca, and Matter Company's website). 

The Goods

Bio-oil is clinically proven to limit the appearance of stretch marks

Bio-Oil is much advertised and is an award winning formula comprised of ingredients that help restore natural oils that keep your skin supple. It comes in liquid form so applying it on your body can be tricky since it can potentially stain some clothing. It is also the more expensive of my two choices but it is a proven solution. 

Belly Jelly smells great and is healthy for you too

The Belly Jelly is a natural product made with Shea Butter, Oats, and Lavender. It comes in a more solid form but once you warm it up in your hands, it melts away into a paste that you can apply on your area of choice. Both products smell natural and sweet and after a while, it started to become a comforting smell! You don't need much ... I would say you need the size of a quarter for each body part you want to apply it to. Yes I did still get stretch marks but I couldn't imagine what they would be like after having the twins if I didn't stick with these products! Also keep using after you have your baby, the oils in these two products continue to help soothe and tone your skin after it stops stretching. Stretch marks are not pleasant and preventing them or mitigating their nastiness can go a long way in helping your self esteem. 

What to expect when you're expecting... 

Stretch marks! You may already know what they look like, but the simplest way to describe them are purple worm-looking veins. They are bright purple and since some studies show that stretch marks are hereditary, when they appear will really depend. Mine didn't show up until after I had the boys. I describe it like this... you know how after you blow up a balloon and then you deflate it and it gets all wrinkley and full of ripples? Well that's what happened to my stomach . My stretch marks are now getting lighter in colour and I have attributed that to my strict regiment of applying these oils. I'm not sure I will ever wear a bikini anymore (maybe a high-wasted one!) but it's definitely nice to know that I'm getting my old body back! The boys are 4 months old now and I still use it 3-4 times a week. 

Choose Lemonade

This one is obvious... stretch marks may get you down, but look on the bright side: there are tools out there to help your skin to bounce back after the babies inevitably stretch your belly out. Wear your baby bump as a badge of honour and keep hydrating your skin throughout and after pregnancy! My husband has noticed that my stretch marks have gotten significantly better since I've religiously applied these two products... yours can look better too!

**(Twin) Tip **

You are going to get big, maybe bigger than mothers carrying singletons... but that's okay! Embrace it and be proud that you are carrying not one but two beautiful babies!!

Modified Bed Rest 101

Me cuddled up in my sheets during bed rest

     This week will mark 15 weeks since I gave birth to my boys. I'll start by saying that birthing twins is automatically considered to be "high risk" due to the added variables of having two babies growing in me. Because of this I had to get ultrasounds every week. It was during one of these weekly visits that the images showed that I had a shortened cervix. This was very shocking to me and what frightened me most was that I had only carried the boys to 23 weeks at this point. The doctors were concerned that this cervical issue could lead to premature labour and admitted me that evening. I was scared and upset because the worse thoughts popped into my head. The next day I was released from hospital but was told to go on a modified bed rest. Many women who are pregnant with twins are put on a bed rest program so this was considered very common but those pregnant with singletons can also be put on it for a variety of reasons. 

     Bed rest was a very challenging time as I was in the program for 11 long weeks. How I got through it I don't even know but I do have some tips that you might find helpful. Netflix was a saviour. I watched a lot of shows and I found BBC's "Call the Midwife" particularly good because I felt the issues and the plot-lines very topical for me. 

     My husband and I were connected with an OBGYN at Sunnybrook Hospital who specialized on twin pregnancies. On one of our checkup visits, we were told about a prenatal class being offered at the hospital to first time parents providing tips for before and after birth. Because one of the recommendations of my bed rest was not to be upright for an extended period of time, we made the request to have these classes in the comfort of our own home. Graciously, the course coordinator obliged and gave us a course specific to twin pregnancy. These courses come highly recommended and this blog strongly suggests it especially for first time mothers and fathers. During one of these classes our teacher told us that knitting was an excellent way to keep my mind occupied while on bed rest. As you can well imagine, being stuck in your house for 11 weeks would drive most sane people crazy. However I chose activities to keep my mind free of any worries because there were inherently concerns with my shortened cervix. 

     Many of you are thinking maybe you don't know how to knit but let me tell you: it's very simple. There are many YouTube videos that you can watch to help you get started. I started off knitting a baby blanket with some nice soft yarn. Make sure it's yarn you can wash because you're going to want to wash the blankets often when your baby starts using them! Check out the pattern I attached below to get started on your own blanket! Yes bed rest was very challenging but on the upside it was very rewarding in the end because keeping relatively immobile for this period allowed my babies to stay in until 37 weeks gestation. At the time we found out I'd be bedridden until I gave birth I didn't see the end result but it was amazing what a little bit for rest can do for your body. I had a ton of time to do research on things I thought we'd need for when the babies came as well as thoroughly look through reviews to weed out the bad stuff from the good. What I found greatly beneficial was reading about what other people bought and whether it fit their particular situation. Another example of #ChooseLemonade! 

     Another thing that was a bit challenging while I was on bed rest was I wanted to get a lot of stuff ready but wasn't physically capable of due to my cervix. Things like getting the nursery ready or washing clothes or even getting my bag packed for the big day was difficult and I couldn't do most of it until my husband got home from work or my mother was over. This phenomenon was called nesting and being on bed rest turned out to make it very difficult! 

     Going to appointments was that much harder while being on modified bed rest too since every appointment I needed someone to come with me so they could drop me off at the front door while they parked the car. This was all the more important because this all took place in icy and snowy conditions during our deep winter freeze in Toronto. I felt very helpless at the time. It was a new sensation being on bed rest but I did learn a lot about myself and about pregnancy in general. One of the tips I really found helpful was that even though you're going to be at home all day during your bed rest, go wash your face and get changed! Don't stay in the pajamas you wore that night all day. While it might feel comfy it has adverse psychological effects since it just makes you feel worse. Even if you just get into a pair of clean pajamas or sweatpants it can leave you feeling much better about yourself. 

     Now showering is a whole other story when you're on bed rest. I was allowed to shower twice a week and I needed quite a bit a help getting in and out. We have a clawfoot tub with a shower head so I had to get my husband to help me climb in and out of the tub while also helping me wash my legs and feet because I couldn't bend over. I mean you have to laugh at these little things and take it lightly because it's not the greatest time... but keep strong, you can do it and remember to #ChooseLemonade!

** (Twin) Tip **
If you do find yourself on bed rest, be sure to find a pair of compression socks! They help promote circulation in your legs and feet which are common body parts for blood to collect. These socks are easily found at your local drug store and will go a long way to provide comfort when you're on bed rest, or when you're pregnant at work too.

As always, drop a comment below and feel free to send questions and comments on any of our other social platforms!

Easy Knit Baby Afgan

Knitting Needle Size11 or 8 mm, Circular Knitting NeedlesYarn Weight(6) Super Bulky/Super Chunky
Gauge7 sts and 14 rows = 4" [10 cm] in stocking st (knit every row)
Finished SizeApprox 33" x 35" [84 x 89 cm]

 Materials List

• Super chunky yarn  (10.5 oz/300 g; 258 yds/234 m)... (I used Lion Brand Yarns' Homespun Thick and Quick, I added a picture of what it looked like above)

• Knitting needles   

Cast on 57 stitches and knit every row until 35” long (89cm) and cast off and tie in ends