Boat Hacks

Both boys woke up crying like we hadn't fed them in years this morning. At the same time.  It might be one of those days...

Except that I totally rocked it thanks to some of my twin hacks and I could potentially end up with one whole hour to myself.  I'm typing that sentence and not saying it out loud for obvious reasons.  Right now as I type I am even happily eating my breakfast (sunny side eggs and buttered bread and cinnamon coffee) which I made for myself.  I rule this hour.*

Now that we've settled into being twin parents a bit, we're also settling into the modified boat more too.  While most non-boat people (liveaboards) have wondered (scoffed?) how the hell we're going to do this (psst..we're DOING it!) Brian and I have sort of just rolled with the punches (mainly the snow storms and frozen water lines at the marina) and just figured it out.  Because that's what we do.  And while figuring it out is certainly harder than just "being", it's not much different than what those of you on land are dealing with.  In fact, I dare say we were better off.  We had no driveway or sidewalks to shovel, no parking spaces to save, no roofs to worry about caving in, no oil tanks to fill at an outrageous cost.  Yes, living aboard during the winter may seem extreme to most of you, but really, it's quite cozy 95% of the time.

And then there's the space issue.  Ah, yes...the space.  We don't have a lot of it.  And that's the issue that's hard to get past.  And I'll admit that when these boys are older (2-ish) we'll probably find that we want more.  But right now I'm finding that being contained in this small space is actually making things easier on me during the days when I'm alone.  Because everything is close by.

Forgot a bottle in the kitchen? 
     No problem!  Just reach over and get it!

Ran out of diapers in the diaper caddy? 
     Just walk two steps and get more!

Want to take a shower while the babies nap, but worry they'll not be OK without you?  (This is one thing that a lot of you told me I couldn't or wouldn't do...bathe!)
     It's OK, the bathroom's RIGHT THERE!

You get my point.  So far, even with two extra humans and lots of extra "stuff" on board, we're doing fine.  And don't worry-we're still not those people who will refuse to change our surroundings because we're too proud, in the event that this stops working.  But this is our home and I don't know many people who would easily give their up either.

OK, so do you want to see a few baby related "boat hacks"? Really, they're mostly nursery pictures:

We still haven't managed to finish the nursery 100%.  What remains is purely cosmetic and while I'd love to have it done because, obviously, it's 100% functional and is working beautifully.  If you didn't see the posts about the nursery's construction, click HERE. 

Brian put up a lee-cloth of sorts at the end of the crib.  While the babies aren't completely rolling yet, they are rolling a little, and it's enough to worry that they could have rolled right out of the bed if it wasn't closed.  Later, when they are bigger and rolling completely, Brian will install a gate here.  It'll be exactly like the side of a traditional crib.  The lee-cloth is seen below in white:

You'll also notice that I decorated the walls with decals.  Our original idea of a jungle with sleeping monkeys in trees (with their names on the wall) went out the window when I couldn't find monkey decals in the right size that didn't look possessed.  Instead, we have elephants (which I love anyways) and giraffes with some birds and a tree.  Not bad...I still have one wall to fill, on the left.  When I find something I like that fits, I'll add that and call it done.

Sorry for the poor lighting.  I can't find a bulb that fits the damn IKEA lamp we bought for the nursery...except for at IKEA, which is far away and there's no way I'm going there with babies without Brian!

 

This is the shelf on the back of the seat.  As you can see, it's still bare wood.  This will eventually be covered with cream vinyl which matches the cushions in our main living space.  And there will be a cushion with pretty blue and green stripes on it, once we cover that too!

Cute, no?

And here's a real boat hack.  The swing.  Which is actually a hammock, for actual babies, on land.  When I saw it online I knew it'd be perfect, and it is!  We ditched the frame (in storage, so we can donate/sell it later), added heavy duty carabiners and hung it from the handrails on the ceiling!  Thanks to my awesome Aunt Carol for getting us this super cool swing.

I'd write more and finish less abruptly, but...duty calls!  Time to feed babies again!  Have a fantastic day everyone. :)

Twin Hacks

I just successfully completed my first two weeks at home alone with Jack and Bobby.  When Brian walked out the door for work that first day (after being home with us for an incredible month!)  I sad that we'd no longer all get to hang out together, but also terrified of being left alone with the boys all day long.  Logistically I just couldn't fathom being able to handle it.  What would I do when both boys were crying?  How about when they wake up at the same time to be fed?  And when they were both inconsolable?  Not being able to soothe your crying baby is hard.  Not being able to soothe both your crying babies is heartbreaking.

The first day was awesome.  After my initial crying attack (hello postpartum hormones!) I thought, "I can totally do this!", and then I did.  We had a few hiccups and there certainly was a lot of crying (the boys this time, not me!) but we got through it.  I even managed to cook dinner AND to give them both baths before Brian got home.  Go me!  The next day was good as well and I used my Moby wrap for the first time.  It ruled.  But I was tired and I missed Brian.

On the third day (it's hard for me to not say "he rose again" after that phrase) I had a meltdown.  The boys wouldn't stop waking up together for feedings and Bobby spit up several times after having a really good run the week before.  Instead of having 30 minutes between feeding cycles, I had no minutes.  None.  I'd feed one, feed the other and start all over again.  It was hell.  I started wondering how the heck I was going to get through this alone, and how my boys would grow up without a capable Mama to care for them.

Anyone who knows me well though, knows that one thing I'm really good at is bouncing back.  I'm super good at rallying myself and giving myself a good "buck up little camper" speech.  And then I just push forward and make the best of things and eventually overcome.  So I pushed on.  I told myself that babies cry, and that they do have a capable Mama but I just have to figure things out.  And I reminded myself that while I'm physically alone during the day, I'm never really alone; I have an amazingly supportive partner in Brian and that is more than a lot of people have.

And then I started figuring things out.

Enter what I call, "Twin Hacks".  These aren't new, and I suppose they aren't always going to be specific to twins, but they help me handle our twins and I'm a twin Mom, therefore, I'm calling them Twin Hacks.  If you have any other ideas which you think might help, please feel free to leave your positive comments1

Twin Hack #1: The Moby wrap

I received several conflicting opinions from family and friends about this wrap, but decided to register for one based on the opinion of a fellow MoM (Mom of Multiples) who wore her twinfants in a Moby when they were newborns.  I'm so glad I listened to her, because it is amazing.  And truthfully, it's not even that difficult to wrap.

So far I've only worn one baby at a time.  I hope to try to put them both in there today with Brian's help to see how it goes.  But wearing one baby (pictured above is Jack) while feeding the other has proved to be invaluable.  Keeping the fussy swaddled baby close to my body usually buys me about 20-30 minutes-which is just enough time to feed the other fussy baby. 

Twin Hack #2: Rolled up blankets

Yes, rolled up blankets.  This hack only works for Jack.  Because of Bobby's GI issues, we still have to be more careful with him when he's eating.  This means it's harder for me to put him down mid-feed to soothe his brother if he's crying.  Jack amazingly started "holding" his bottle a couple of weeks ago, but a full bottle is too heavy for him.   I tried reaching over to feed Jack while feeding Bobby, but I just couldn't do it without laying Bobby down.  So I took a few swaddle blankets, rolled them, and propped the bottle on top to see if Jack could drink.  And it worked!  It was just the right angle too, to ensure he didn't cough and spit up.  Hooray!

Twin Hack #3: Channel 100

It's no secret that we don't have a lot of room on the boat, and that we're "baby-gear-lite".  We do, however, have a small travel white noise maker which we use in the nursery.  But it's in the nursery.  Which, you know, isn't too far away from where I sit with the babies all day, but...it's not RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, which is when I needed it.  I thought back to advice about vacuum noise and hair dryers being used to soothe babies, and I thought, "Hmmm...I wonder if TV snow would work."

It does. 

In fact, it works like magic.  And when I have the TV on during the day, I always have this channel on "flashback" so I can just hit the button and switch to snow immediately if I need to.  The boys almost instantly calm down and I'm able to change a diaper or warm a bottle without them getting overly worked up.  It's especially helpful during the very early morning feedings when I don't want to wake Brian (who would have just ended his night shift) or the other twin (so I can have a few moments alone with the other).

Secret: It doesn't have to be channel 100.  The other channels you don't get work just fine too. :)

Preparing For Their Arrival: Organizing the "Stuff"

Before you say, "It only gets worse!" or, "You're going to need more of XYZ!", please hold your comments, and go back to read this post which begins by saying:

"...It requires us to think a lot about what we bring into our home, to shop for groceries more often, and to try to live a little more simply than we did when we had a huge two story apartment.

And we're OK with that.  In fact, we're more than OK with that-it's actually one of the philosophies behind why we want to continue living aboard and why we want to raise our twin sons on a boat.  We want them to appreciate the value of community, neighbors and friendship.  We want them to appreciate that you can, in fact, live with less, even though society tells us we need more, more more!" 

It's true that we have a lot more "stuff" now that the babies exist-it's two extra humans living in a small space.  But it's also true that we still have a lot less than the average family expecting twins, and we're pretty sure we'll survive.  We don't have a traditional crib, but what we will have is a kick ass custom cabin built by their daddy with a lot of love.  And they won't have a large playroom to run around in, but they'll have the entire ocean to explore, including islands to conquer (complete with pirate gear!), beaches to comb and interesting people to meet.  And in the summer, they'll know what it feels like to have the wind in their hair (oh, how we hope they have hair!) and they'll be surrounded by the splendor of the sunlight dancing like diamonds on the water.

They won't have the latest and the greatest <insert gadget/gear/toy here>.  But what they will have will be divine...

PSA over...now, onto the post. :)

Over the last couple of weekends we've really been trying to get everything ready for Jack and Bobby's arrival.  That means that everything we received from our multiple baby showers that once lived in storage, now lives at home.  And that means that we've been organizing like mad!

Here's what our car looked like when we left the storage unit:

Everything's boxed up in bulky packaging, crammed into bags or boxes.  I knew that once we got home and opened everything up, we'd be able to get a handle on it.

First things first, the car seats!  Those two boxes alone took up most of the back seat and LOADS of room in storage.  So, we installed them!

Somehow, even though I have this huge belly, we've felt them kick, seen their little hearts beating and have them named...THIS made it all seem very real.  We're actually going to have babies!  (It's even still currently hard to imagine, being that neither of us have ever had babies of our own.)


Once those two big boxes were broken down and thrown away, we were left with two carts of stuff that we brought back to the boat.  Most of which ended up in these two cabinets.  Yes really:

There are additional diapers stored under the crib/bed (and more will be opened and put in that bin above-I just didn't want to open too many in case the boys don't fit into these, or don't react well to this brand), a bag of toys that have a home on a shelf across the way (space is already set aside for that, I just have trouble making it over there, physically, right now due to my huge belly), and burp clothes and swaddlers that will also get a home on that shelf in a bin (so I can easily grab them when feeding).  But we managed to get everything in that big, crammed car, onto our 36 foot sailboat without making our space unlivable.

We kind of rock.

Stay tuned for more nursery pictures, coming soon!