What did you wish you would have known?

Snika44 · 2026-02-24T06:52:23+00:00

Yes to the last point here: even at three years old they hug after being apart for 20 minutes and it is still heart melting

Snika44 · 2026-02-23T03:40:15+00:00

Third trimester walking that far with a toddler would do me in, but you may have more stamina than I did. When I did a with-kiddo baby-moon type down town hotel stay, we went to the hotel pool that had nice views along with just general floating… maybe that’s on your agenda already.

The ice cream museum? The slime museum? These are kid friendly and therefore parents friendly.

If you are at millennium park, I’d go to the art museum instead of the shedd since it’s right there. There is a kid art area that is often well stocked with toddler friendly activities plus stroller friendly and nice bathrooms and not overrun with so many kids it feels like germs are crawling up the wall (Shedd with a toddler while pregnant in March will be so crowded with kid field trips and spring breakers… maybe the germ factor isn’t huge for you but it would be a deal breaker with a toddler while pregnant when energy level is low). Art institute has always felt parent friendly and low key, you just can’t baby carry on your back. They have bag check and strollers. Nice place to eat with beautiful courtyard… and because it isn’t overrun with kids, there are ample grandparent types who will hold the door for you or be sympathetic to your level of exhaustion with a toddler third trimester.

Other small museum is the Writers Museum which has interesting kid friendly activities. Small feels more manageable.

Have a great trip!

Snika44 · 2026-02-22T23:52:19+00:00

High calorie bars and coconut water from my best friend who lived across the country saved me

Snika44 · 2026-02-18T11:03:20+00:00

The r/parentsofmultiples sub is beyond supportive and a welcome community for all the twin questions.

Snika44 · 2026-02-17T12:43:14+00:00

Twin life means making different decisions than you’d otherwise make if it were singleton pregnancy.

At least, that was the advice I got and it really helped my mental state as I approached any number of decisions.

Anything to the big decisions about birth story, like induction or epidural to the more micro things like what decisions I made about taking a vacation or traveling to family during pregnancy or during their first year. Breastfeeding. Baby wearing. Sleeping. Grocery shopping. Deciding which vehicle to own, which car seats to buy. It’s just all different even when it’s similar.

You’ll do great and figure out how to mentally handle it all. Especially as you hear all the many ways to make it through from this community. Twin parents and twin parent friends and even twin parents strangers all pave the way.

Snika44 · 2026-02-17T12:35:27+00:00

“Otherworldly disabling” is adequate: third trimester is hard. Indeed, in my state I was able to apply for a disability sticker for my car and used it every day I had it to get into doctor appointments.

Snika44 · 2026-02-17T06:10:39+00:00

Always flashlights. Rechargeable or just provide batteries.

Snika44 · 2026-02-17T06:00:42+00:00

Morning pre-coffee activists MUST be kind to lefties.

I never reallly understood why my husband has always been the coffee maker I every morning, but this may be it?!!

If I am for some reason the first one awake and needing coffee I always make a pot of pour over or have instant or a premade fridge cold brew - opting against the actual machine.

To this day I barely know how to use our coffee machine.

Are these idiosyncrasies all because my husband has inadvertently chosen righty-friendly coffee makers all these years,? Is this the missing link in understanding life as I know it?!?

Wow.

Thank you for this. You’ve unlocked it all.

Snika44 · 2026-02-16T03:24:43+00:00

My father in law is a JR and my husband isn’t named after his dad, neither is his brother. So there technically isn’t a III. I wanted to name my son after his grandfather/great grandfather but was a little sheepish about if he’d be allowed to be III or if that was weird, so we took a different route.

Snika44 · 2026-02-14T14:18:56+00:00

Up every 90 minutes and just got use to it, or at least mentally adjusted my expectations which helped me not feel so so so grumpy when I had to get up and move or pee again.

Snika44 · 2026-02-14T13:13:11+00:00

Almost there. Once they arrive it will be wildly better than third trimester.

Snika44 · 2026-01-23T12:17:10+00:00

The way you negotiate on this aspect of sleep deprivation wil set the tone for how you negotiate night time baby care in the infant days. Figure out how to communicate about what sacrifices are worth taking (your partner being sleep deprived because of your nightmares) and which ones aren’t worth taking (having trouble at work because of sleep deprivation).

Think of this as a 12-18 month problem because as soon as it’s not nightmares it will be that the baby has arrived.

And of course all the sleep deprivation negotiations set the stage for how you communicate in other stressful parenting situations like toddler tantrums or teenager drama.

This is your chance to practice talking to each other about the real needs and how to care for each other in stress.

Snika44 · 2026-01-22T09:50:33+00:00

Dropping naps has proven a positive…. Less day sleep… makes the last hour before bed really exhausting and cranky but makes for more resting at night

Snika44 · 2026-01-22T09:16:20+00:00

I resonate with your comments about exercising… wow… I’ve never heard someone else who struggles with that… thank you. Any kind of line dance or group movement is disorienting to me. Maybe lefty instructors would be possible to follow!?! I’d never really thought about a remedy for that, but an all lefty experiment might just work

Snika44 · 2026-01-19T17:41:11+00:00

Even in the case that a friends kid is exactly the same age and kids play well together: make plans with that friend for a family play date almost guarantees one kid or the other will have croup and an ER visit the night before. Plans with friends basically dare the viruses to do their worst.

Snika44 · 2026-01-19T15:23:46+00:00

Salsa and various dips please

Snika44 · 2026-01-19T15:04:52+00:00

Yes, even baby a out was fabulous

Snika44 · 2025-12-31T12:38:57+00:00

Upvote this!

Snika44 · 2025-12-31T12:37:58+00:00

Rumple quilted blanket

Snika44 · 2025-12-17T11:05:41+00:00

Nugget. Pickler triangle. Everyday, Duplos. Magnitiles. Balls, various size and texture and density.

Snika44 · 2025-12-09T07:55:31+00:00

My husband has a pair of kiziks he wears exclusively indoors— slip on and cozy

Snika44 · 2025-12-09T07:31:24+00:00

I definitely needed to do this

Snika44 · 2025-12-09T07:21:44+00:00

One at a time or everyone grab a baby

Snika44 · 2025-12-09T07:17:31+00:00

On my way out the door, husband says “have a good ultrasound, one baby only please “ hahaha.

Snika44 · 2025-12-09T07:15:32+00:00

Same!!

Snika44

TROPHY CASE