Three Plus Two

Baby wrap in review

Kim asks how I like my wrap now that I've had it a while, and if this particular wrap must be bought, or if it can be made.  So here's my update.

I like my Storchenweige wrap a lot, but I'm still having problems with the length.  The wrap I ordered is one continuous rectangular piece of fabric 5.2 meters long.  Considering that I still haven't carried both babies in the wrap at the same time, I probably should have gone with a shorter length.  If you're only carrying one baby and you're short, you definitely don't need this much fabric, particularly when the baby is tiny.  (If you're a tall or large woman, or if your husband will also use the wrap, though, you might.)  Also, marking the center of the fabric will help a lot in tying it, because in most of the carries, you have to start in the middle of the fabric.

The wrap is more difficult to learn than a ring sling, but it is also more versatile and I am having a great deal more luck with it.  With the wrap, you can tie a sling, a front carry, a hip carry, or a backpack.  (There are many variations on these holds demonstrated on the CD.  I really need to learn to tie a hold that can be left in place and not dismantled every time I have to take a baby out and put in another one, but life has been so nuts lately I haven't had time.)  I can wear an eight month old baby for a long period of time without feeling tired or having my back hurt, which was an issue for me with typical backpacks and baby carriers.  And the babies seem to like it a lot.

As far as making it yourself goes... I'm probably not the right person to ask, since I don't know how to sew.  (A situation I would really like to remedy!!)  But here's my uneducated opinion anyway :-).

The fabric of the wrap is very sturdy, but also nicely stretchy to accomodate growing, moving babies.  It washes well, too.  The wrap is advertised as being so durable you'll be able to pass it on to your children.  I have no idea if this claim is true since I've only had mine a short time, but it does seem to be pretty durable. (It also comes with a two year warranty.)  I'm only 33 (well, for another month at least), so it's likely that there will be more babies in our future (God willing), and I think we'll probably get our money's worth out of it.  Depending on the kind of use you think your wrap will get, you might opt for a cheaper one.  (I also chose the Storchenweige because I was advised that it's the only wrap strong enough to carry twins.) 

I would be leery of making one of these myself, personally.  Since it's a wrap, it has no buckles, belts, or rings, of course, and that means that it has to be able to hold a knot extremely well, in addition to being strong enough to tote around a baby all day. You can tie the Storchenweige at the very ends and the knot won't slip.  The booklet has these things to say about the wrap:

1. Storchenweige baby slings are made with a diagonal elasticity using double strength 100% cotton threads in both directions (warp and woof).  This allows for a firm and healthy support of your baby; the sling does not have to be retightened, even after prolonged wear.  (I sound like a commercial for Storchenweige, but this really is true.  You don't have to tighten them after you do it the first time.)

2.  The double hemline ensures lasting strong edges which are necessary for a firm hold.

The wrap is also supposed to be shrinkage proof and is manufactured using non-toxic dyes.  It's also supposed to be ok for mothers and babies with allergies.

All in all, I really like my wrap.  I'm considering buying a second (shorter) one so my husband can use the longer one to wear one baby while I wear the other one.  (That is, if I can convince him that wearing a baby in a wrap is just as manly as carrying one around in that big old unwieldy backpack we have, and more comfortable.  I probably still need the other wrap, though, if I'm going to haul both my guys around at the same time, though!)

Rise in Twin Births due to Dairy Consumption?

This article from the New York Times is interesting.  But they make it sound as if conceiving twins is a medical complication, like gestational diabetes. 

Homeschooling Moms of Multiples, part 1

Since I rely a lot on the support afforded by the internet in this homeschooling and parenting adventure... here's a round up of posts by homeschooling moms of multiples!

Mary Ellen at Tales from the Bonny Blue House is pregnant with twins and writes about her joy at discovering the good news.  Wendy at Well-Mannered Frivolity posts the birth stories of her twin boys in part 1, part 2, and part 3.  At Six and the City there are boy/girl twins, and life is a blur.

More to follow... (provided we're not at the doctor for a third day this week!!)

Disappearing triplet

I spent Friday afternoon running kids to the doctor (an hour drive there), getting medicine, and making a quick stop at Border's while we were in Albany.  When we arrived at the doctor's office, I tried to unfold my tandem umbrella stroller and discovered that it was stuck.  This stroller was a $10 buy from one of my neighbors while we were still living in St. Louis.  One of the wheels is now attached by a radiator clamp and when it got stuck one other time, I stood on one of the metal pieces that was supposed to unfold and bent it.  Yesterday I bent the other metal piece and totally ruined the stroller.

That meant, that sans sling or wrap, I had to carry the babies everywhere in their carriers.  It was a workout, but with the other kids holding doors and carrying the diaper bag (which weighs a ton), we managed.  When we got to Borders, I let the kids look around the children's section while I sat down at one of the small tables and prepared to give the babies their bottles. 

As I was feeding them, a man and his elderly mother walked past me.  "Aren't you glad you don't have triplets?" the man said as he passed.

I have to start preparing responses for these sorts of comments.

The man was just joking, of course, and he probably would have been horrified to discover that I actually had conceived triplets, but had lost one around the same time we discovered that I had a multiple pregnancy.  This was very, very early, because almost immediately after I took the pregnancy test, I started contracting and bleeding. (As luck would have it, this began when my husband was out of town.  I called him in tears to see if he could find an early flight home.) Since I'd had a previous miscarriage, my doctor didn't waste any time giving me a series of ultrasounds.  The ultrasound revealed two healthy sacs and a grainy third sac.

"Probably just a bubble," my doctor said.

"Looks like a third," the ultrasound tech said.

Every Friday for a month, I contracted and bled.  At the time, we were also trying to get our house ready to put on the market, find a rental in New York, and do all the thousand other things you do when you're getting ready to move.  I was wretchedly sick, and every Friday when the contractions and bleeding started again, I was also convinced that I was going to lose my two other babies.  It was really a horrible time, and not the best foot to start off on as far as either the pregnancy or our move went. 

When the babies were born healthy and only a month early, we all breathed a sigh of relief.  We had an extra carrier around when we brought them home for one reason or another, and after a while, I couldn't look at it anymore.  I couldn't see the two carriers full of babies and the empty one together.  I took it out of the room and put it away.  I don't know why it was out in the first place.

What was really strange is that my husband and I both fully expected the boys to be girls, and we both -- independently of one another -- came up with the same name before we knew they were boys.

Evelyn Grace.

I think that must have been the name of our triplet.

So no, I am not really glad that I don't have triplets.  But I am glad that I have twins.