Babywearing After the NICU

I went into premature labor at 29 weeks and gave birth to identical twin girls via emergency C-section at 30 weeks.  My daughters were in the NICU at St John for 89 days.  During that time my husband and I were only allowed to hold them for a maximum of 20 minutes every three hours, though there were many days that we held them less.  

I was very worried that my children would not have a bond with me and I was stressed about bringing unattached children home.  As a former educator, I knew the importance of building trust and attachment in infancy and was extremely worried that we had missed the critical window.  When the girls finally came home, they were miserable.  They cried almost every minute of every day.  I thought I was going to lose my mind.  

Luckily a friend of mine, Ann Bennett, introduced me to babywearing and even gave us a Moby wrap.  I was also able to purchase an Ergo soft structured carrier, and quickly fell in love with babywearing. 

First Time Babywearing

Although I had first thought babywearing sounded strange, I quickly realized that it was truly a life and sanity saver.   Babywearing gave my husband and me a chance to spend time skin to skin with our daughters.  Babywearing allowed us to build an attachment that we had missed out on in the NICU.  Babywearing helped improve our very tenuous breastfeeding relationship (which is still going strong at 15 months!).  Babywearing helped soothe my very colicky, very refluxy girls.  Having twins can be a difficult balance of tending to the needs of both children, who both always seem to need something at the same time.  By babywearing, I am able to meet the needs of both girls without sacrificing my own.  Babywearing made a big difference in making up for some of the losses in the NICU.

Katherine Conner works for Early Head Start and is pursuing a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Oklahoma.  She and her husband live in Broken Arrow with their twin daughters and two dogs.  In her extremely rare free time, Katherine likes to run, read, and cook.

Babywearing on vacation in Hawaii

March Meeting

We had an AMAZING March meeting!!!  I mean, just look at this turnout: 

 

 

And thats just the folks who were able to stay for the picture.

Babywearing 101, taught by one of our amazing instructors, Ashley Ritchie, was well attended.

 

Many carriers were tried on and many happy babies worn.

There was a fantastic sharing on knowledge and bonding over the love of babywearing.

There were a couple skeptics though.

You just gotta love them!  Oh, the babies too. (haha)

 

Its awesome being able to bring this kind of bonding to mama and baby.

 

 

Thank you so much for your continued support.  If you didn't make it to our March meeting, try to make our next one.  Due to a conflict with the Great Cloth Diaper change, our "April" meeting will actually be held on May 3rd (same time and place as usual).  We would love to see you there!  As you can see above we have carriers to fit every need.  From wraps to ring slings to soft structured carriers, from newborn to toddler and every stage in between, even in multiples, we've got you covered! 

 

We will also have an information booth at the Tulsa Great cloth Diaper Change.  Stop by and say hi, we'd love to meet you!



Tandem Wearing: Saving a Mama’s Sanity, One Shopping Trip at a Time

So there I was… doesn’t every good story start that way?  

So there I was, in the parking lot of Sam’s Club. I carry my Moby Wrap, Babyhawk Mei Tai, and Boba with me everywhere I go. I normally carry my newborn in my Moby and my husband carries our two year old in the Boba. However, today, I was by myself.

Then came my bright idea! Tandem carry!!! I had seen it done multiple times, so I figured, “Lets do this!” Tandem wearing is something that I had considered and dismissed in the past. Now, I had a newborn, a two year old, a 3 (almost four) year old, and a five year old and I needed to buy groceries. My oldest is 13 and he is normally my minion wrangler/chaser when I go shopping, except he was at Tae Kwon Do summer camp this week.

I wrapped my newborn first in my Moby wrap. Then, I tied the Mei Tai around my waist, slung my two-year-old up onto my back, and tied him on.

It was surprisingly comfortable and everyone seemed secure. I put the older two in the cart seat. Success!!! Everyone was contained and safely so!

I received the usual comments about having my hands full, but I also received a ton of comments about how genius it was that I could carry two of my babies at once and still have my hands free to do my shopping.

What could have been a stressful, chaotic shopping trip turned into a peaceful trip where I was able to educate a few people on baby wearing! A very pregnant mama even asked me specifically about the Moby Wrap and if I liked it. She had received one as a gift at her baby shower.

My lower back was pretty sore, but I believe that is directly related to the fact that I gave birth only one month before.

 All in all, it was a great experience and I am looking forward to tandem wearing more often!
 

 

 

 

Danielle is a SAHM to five sons! She spends her time refereeing wrestling matches, walking around in a zombie-esque state, cloth diapering, and homeschooling, and she wouldn't change a thing!