When I was sent home less than two days after my twins were born I was scared to death. My previous two pregnancies were large babies weighing just about 11 pounds each. This time around both babies weighed around that together. They were tiny creatures literally half the size of the infants I was used to raising. I quickly learned how to care for my preemies, but I also learned a few things other parents may find useful.

They Grow Fast – Buy Big
My family thought they would take my twins early birth as the perfect reason to go out and buy some of those tiny preemie outfits in stores. The welcome home party when we introduced the twins to family members was full of these tiny bags with tiny outfits. But, little did my family realize that preemies grow fast. It took all of two to three weeks for twin A to grow out of the preemie clothes and another week or two for twin B to do the same. 

They Grow Fast: Don’t Buy N Diapers
Those tiny little N diapers are literally worthless after the first few weeks. My smallest twin weighed just about five pounds at the end of his first week of life. By the fourth week he was out of the N diapers and into size 1. We had more than 10 packages of N diapers we donated to a local midwife. 

They Grow Fast: Breastfeeding for Two
While I did not choose to breastfeed my twins, I have talked with mothers who did choose to breastfeed twins. Your breasts will grow huge in the beginning but as your body gets used to providing milk for two, things will settle down. You will have larger than normal breasts while breastfeeding, but the increased size is nowhere near that of the size they’ll get in the first few weeks. 

Twins are fun, exciting and taxing. Just remember, think big because preemies grow too and not all premature infants stay smaller than their peers. Today I have an 8-year-old boy who is nearly 5-feet tall and 90 pounds and an 8-year-old girl who is WELL above average, though smaller than her brother.