Traveling With Twins

Our first long trip we took with the twins was to visit my parents for a 2 1/2 hour drive when they were 7 weeks old. Worst. Weekend. Ever. The boys were still getting up every 2-3 hours to eat and we knew it was going to be tough to be out of our element and comfort zone during our trip. But, I was so desperate to get away and have a change of atmosphere. We packed everything but the kitchen sink and planned exactly how we were going to get there and feed them in the car, etc. Surprisingly, we fed them and put them in the car and left. They slept the entire car ride! I was so glad because we didn't know what we were going to do if they woke up. Well, the weekend didn't go so great. They were very fussy, we didn't have their swings which we completely relied on all of the time to get them to sleep, and they were in a different bed. We did our best to survive the nights when they woke up to eat. It was hard because we were used to having everything right where we needed it to be. There was not a whole lot you can do with 7 week old twins. They can't hold their heads up and they are still in the preemie stage at this point. The second night, Josiah was having a hard time breathing and wouldn't sleep. He seemed to be weezing and moving all night long until he finally woke up and stayed up for 3 hours. The next day we were exhausted and they would not stop screaming. No swings, no way of getting them to sleep, and just plain miserable. I was so frustrated I just wanted to go home where we could get back in our comfort zone. We fed them again and put them in the car and headed home. Thankfully, they slept again the whole way home. That marked our first trip with the twins which I must say, it was a miserable one. That next week, they began sleeping through the night 5-7 hours. I thank God really heard our prayers for some mental sanity.

Then in June, we took our first beach trip! They were 10 weeks old this time and had really been sleeping well without any problems. I wish I had taken a picture of the truck packed for the beach because it literally looked like the Beverly Hillbillies going to Florida. And yes, we had to pack the giant swings. I look forward to our beach trip every year, but this one I must say was a bust. Here's why...

Ok, word of advice for anyone with twins: DON'T TAKE NEW BORNS (especially twins) TO THE BEACH. It was awful. We had a long walk to take them over the sand dunes plus a million supplies to keep them comfortable. We had to pack bottles, burp cloths, diapers, wipes, their bouncy seats so that they would have something to lay in, and then umbrellas for shade. Good grief, you would think it wouldn't be so hard. The very first day at the beach, the boys were under the tent in the shade the entire time. I think maybe the sun hit them for the 3 minutes it took to walk to the beach from the house. However, somehow, Jacob got a sunburn on his face and arms. We still have no clue how this happened. All of the doctors say that babies should not have sunscreen on their skin until 6 months of age. I was so upset about him being burned that I went and bought some anyway to put on their face the next day. The next day, Josiah got sun burned on his face. We still have no idea how this happened either!!!! I felt like a horrible mom, but I didn't know how to prevent this from happening. The boys also hated the beach. If they were not asleep, they were crying and it was so hot. There seemed to be no breeze and they didn't like it one bit. I think we only spent a maximum of 2 hours on the beach each day. Not my typical sun tanning beach trip!

                                                                        Beach Bums

                                                        I call this one, "Hello, Ladies..."

                                     They loved the baby carriers walking on the beach each night

On the 4th night, Josiah started having breathing problems AGAIN. He couldn't sleep and he was crying. I know they say never to let a baby sleep with you, but we didn't know what else to do to get him to sleep. So we let him sleep with us propped up on a pillow so that he could breathe better. It did help and he was able to sleep really well. However, I could not sleep because I was so worried about suffocating him that we both lost sleep to stay awake to monitor him. We decided to go home because we were miserable, they were miserable, and we were really worried about Josiah because this was the second time he has not been able to sleep because of his breathing. So we packed up to go home 2 days early and headed for home. I was so bummed to leave and not being able to enjoy the beach like I hoped, but I was sure glad to be going back home to our comfort zone. As soon as we got back, we took Josiah to the doctor and come to find out, they were pretty sure he had reflux by all the symptoms that he was having. You see, about75% of the time that he would drink a bottle, he would scream during feedings and not want to eat. Our doctor put him on reflux medicine and he has been a different baby ever since. He sleeps with no problems and does not scream while eating anymore. So, our beach trip with twins was also a bust. I didn't want to travel any time soon! I was done with traveling with the twins.

Finally in July, I wanted to try to go to our cabin at the lake because I missed it and wanted to go at least go once this summer. I was worried because the past two trips we had been on turned out to be a nightmare. This time the boys were 13 weeks old and doing well. This was our first trip not taking any swings and we had no clue how we were going to get them to sleep. But.....they did it! Both nights we rocked them to sleep and they slept perfectly through the night. The first night we actually had a horrible lightning storm and they slept straight through it. Yay! They were wonderful the whole weekend and we were able to take them hiking with us to the waterfall and do a little bit more with them. Finally, a successful trip!

                                          Their first trip to the lake and to our favorite spot!



Our next trip we went on, the boys were 16 weeks old. We went to visit my family again, the same place we went the first time that was a disaster. On our way, we had not made it out of town before one of them had a BM and we had to stop the car to change him. 30 minutes up the road the other one had a BM and we had to stop again and change him. We decided to feed them since we had to stop. Ok, here is the fun part I have not talked about. I know lots of moms either breast feed their babies in the car or make a bottle, but try it with 2 babies and a car full of supplies. Quite a sight! We feed them the best we can and I change their diapers in my lap! It is the only way to get things done. You do what you must to cope with two! Then we left after a 45 minute stop and they slept a bit more. However, the last 25 minutes of the trip they were so ready to get out of the car that they screamed the entire rest of the trip. Talk about being miserable! On a lighter note, they were excellent the entire stay and slept from 9:30-7:40 the next morning. I love my sleeping babies! Oh, and we now don't need swings to get them to sleep! :)

Traveling with twins is quite an experience, but it can only get better, right?

Twice the supplies, twice the stops, twice the screaming, but twice the fun! :)