My preemie twin daughters are going to be 18 years old this week! It is hard to believe that my little 2-lb. birdies will be considered adults soon! Even though my girls had just about every preemie complication go wrong that could go wrong as an infants, we were lucky that they were as healthy as they were growing up. Both girls are on multiple medications for health conditions now (Macy has OCD, and Mallory has Epilepsy), but neither diagnosis is attributed to prematurity.

With the rising costs of prescription medications, I am going to check into joining the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club.  For $10 a year, a family membership covers everyone in my immediate family, including my spouse (if I had one), my dependents ages 22 and younger (all four of them) and even my pets (if I had any of those, too)! Individuals can join for only $5 per year. Anyone can join the Prescription Savings Club membership risk free, and if one doesn’t save more money than the cost of the membership fees during one full year of their membership, then Walgreens will refund the difference!

This offer is available through January 31st, 2012. For more details, check out Walgreens on Facebook and/or Walgreens on Twitter.

Midwife services are more than just being there when you baby is born. The best midwives take care of you from the very beginning of your pregnancy and continue long after the baby is born. They can help with the postpartum care and offer help caring for your baby from nursing to baby care. In Austin, midwife service offers help with family planning, reproductive care, and annual exams. They follow you through from the beginning of your pregnancy to the end and beyond.

The first thing you want to look for in a midwife service is their credentials. They should have at least one of the certifications from Lay Midwife, Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), and Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM). They don’t need all of them but at least one. Of course, the finest recommendation is word of mouth, but do ask around to see what others say about them.

The second thing to look for is what services they offer. In Austin, midwife service covers a wide range of health care. They may come out to your house or have a birthing center to see to your needs. They do multiple births such as twins and triplets. They can teach you all the breathing techniques or Lamaze techniques you need for the upcoming birth. They cover diet, supplements, and exercise and other changes you’ll be going through such as lifestyle and emotional changes. They work with the whole family ensuring mental wellness for the family members as well as the baby.

Another thing to look for is the nature of a midwife. They should be a helping hand, not the ringleader. They aren’t doctors but good midwifes take you by the hand and walk you through the natural, biological birth process. They support you when labor begins and stay until the baby is born. After the baby is born they also help with nursing for the first time, how to care of the baby, and visit for several weeks or months (depending on your needs) after the baby is born.

Austin midwife service is trained to deal with single, twins, or triplet births as well as any complication that may come up. Their training covers the natural birth process in the normal sense, but they can deal with problems that come up along the way. If they can’t, they will direct you to the proper medical center. Don’t forget you can ask them any questions and find the answers to any problem.

More Than a Midwife Sommers, Mary US $38.26 Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 2:22:12 PST   | Watch this Item

NEW Pharmacology for Midwives - Jordan, Sue US $43.48 Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 4:01:31 PST   | Watch this Item

It’s not too late to shop at some your favorite online stores to buy Christmas gifts for your preemies and/or twins (or anyone for that matter)! Plus today is National Free Shipping Day 2011! Here’s our top six (6) picks that will get you the gifts on everyone’s list in your hands on or before Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2011:

1. Amazon – they sell Everything!

– Order by December 19th with Standard Shipping
– Order by December 23rd with Last Minute Prime Shipping

2. Best Buy – Combine with Best Buy Coupons for the “best buys”.

– Order by December 20th (10:59 am) with Standard Shipping
– Order by December 22nd (10:59 am) with Express Shipping

3. The Land of Nod Check out their Kids & Baby Sale!

– Order by December 2oth (1:30 pm) with Standard Shipping
– Order by December 22nd (1:30 pm) with Overnight Shipping

4. Kohl’s – Lots of current deals!

– Order by December 20th with Standard Shipping
– Order by December 21st with Overnight Shipping

5. Macy’s – My daughter “Macy’s” favorite place to shop!

– Order by December 21st with Standard Shipping
– Order by December 22nd with Express Shipping

6. Overstock – Plus $5 off $150 and Free Shipping through our link!

– Order by December 19th with Express Shipping
– Order by December 20th with Fastest Shipping

For more Shipping Deadlines for Christmas 2011, check out Steal The Style and/or BestOnlineCoupons.com.

28 INCH "GLIZTY GIRL PURSE" MYLAR BALLOON, BRAND NEW~FREE SHIPPING PARTY PERFECT US $7.50 Auction Ends: Tuesday Feb-07-2012 23:01:02 PST   | Watch this Item

FREE SHIP New Bandai KERORO TAMAMA ROBO Model Kits Toy Figure No.12 US $19.99 Auction Ends: Tuesday Feb-07-2012 23:01:06 PST   | Watch this Item

Now, let’s dig inside and learn what Nopalea is made up with. Trivita has hired the best professionals around to work for them. They have used high fiber contents that help human digestive system work in a more optimized way. You must already have learned from the health digests that an optimized digestive system can make you feel better. Apart from this, the drink has cholesterol reducer chemicals. Higher cholesterol level can be proved extremely dangerous for your internal vital organs like heart and liver. Nopalea helps reducing the level of cholesterol in blood and you stay outside the risk-circle.

The miraculous benefit that keeps this Trivita product hundreds of miles ahead from others is pain and inflammatory control power of the contents. Inflammation is the mother of all kinds of pain. AS an inflammatory regulator, Nopalea controls the pain mechanisms of human body and thus relieves the sufferer. Moreover, the inflammation reducing effect keeps the entire situation improving towards total healthiness. This product is now available for all and ready to purchase in the Trivita stores around the globe. You can also search them at the affiliate stores and the leading online stores as well.

40 Free Advertising Sites$1.00 TriVita Nopalea MLM Network Marketing Multi Level US $0.90 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 2:38:06 PST   | Watch this Item

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Most people would have assumed that I gained the most weight while carrying my twins. But no. Probably because I only carried them for six months instead of nine. And they only weighed two pounds (2 lb. 6 oz. and 2 lb. 9 oz. respectively which is actually “big” for 27 weekers) each at birth. I am sure that if I had continued to carry them to term that it may have been a different story!

So how did I lose all my post-baby weight? Let me count the ways! I’ve tried everything from prescription weight loss drugs to infomercial remedies to fad diets to extreme exercising. Obviously diet and exercise are the best ways, but I did use hcg drops earlier this year with some good results as well.

Stevita Stevia Drops 3 Bottles HCG Diet Friendly Chocolate Cinnamon Toffee US $17.99 Auction Ends: Tuesday Feb-14-2012 13:30:48 PST   | Watch this Item

Stevita Stevia Drops 3 Bottles HCG Diet Friendly Vanilla Peach Peppermint US $17.99 Auction Ends: Tuesday Feb-14-2012 13:30:52 PST   | Watch this Item

Melissa and Doug toys have been around for over 20 years. They have toys for kids ranging from newborn to 10 years old. All of their toys are specifically designed to educate kids while giving them something to play with at the same time. They have puzzles, dollhouses, and hand crafted baby toys, and much more to enhance children’s lives. When you buy holiday gifts for twin, Melissa and Doug toys give you a large variety of choices.

You can also find great gifts for twin from Aden and Anais. Aden and Anais make blankets, sleeping bags, and an even an Aden and Anais Swaddle. If you must dress your twins the same, then purchasing cloths from Aden and Anais will have the twins identical in every way. However, the toys you buy for them should be different. You can easily buy a toy for each of them and one set for them to share. It teaches them to share but gives them their own separate toy they don’t have to share.

To encourage your twins in the creative process, Melissa and Doug have a double easel for twins that are old enough to draw. Even if they aren’t old enough, most kids like to scribble on a blackboard. The double easel has one side as a blackboard and the other side is paper. They can have a lot of fun while learning to use their creative genes. Having twins is a lot of fun but remember they are separate individuals, with separate tastes in toys.

HOLGA 120 GTLR Twin Len Reflex Medium Format Film Purple Plastic Toy Camera LOMO US $63.79 Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 0:35:07 PST   | Watch this Item

HOLGA 120 GTLR Twin Lens Reflex Medium Format Film Blue Plastic Toy Camera LOMO US $63.79 Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 0:35:59 PST   | Watch this Item

We had speech therapists, physical therapists and occupational therapists start coming out to our house before the twins were even one year old. And it didn’t cost us a dime. Once the girls turned three years of age, the school provided transportation to take the girls to an Education Service Unit school setting.

I also enrolled the girls in a regular preschool on opposite days, and let me tell you, I loved having a couple hours break from all the hustle bustle! And besides the twins attending two different preschools, we also worked on preschool worksheets at home as I was bound and determined to get my girls up to par.

The twins are now juniors in high school and still receive special assistance in school, but they are truly my miracle babies!

I Spy Preschool Game See the words! Match the pictures US $5.00 Auction Ends: Tuesday Feb-07-2012 22:56:01 PST   | Watch this Item

MENS NIKE AIR JORDAN OL SCHOOL IV (GS) PRE-SCHOOL SAMPLE KIDS SHOES 3.5 US $79.99 Auction Ends: Tuesday Feb-07-2012 22:57:15 PST   | Watch this Item

I introduced rice cereal to my son (my first born) when he was only six (6) weeks old by mixing it with Similac formula in his bedtime bottle. I had a special nipple with a slightly bigger hole in it since the mixture was obviously thicker and wouldn’t fit through a regular sized nipple hole. My mother taught me that trick, as my youngest sibling is only one year older than my son, so everything “baby” was still fresh in her mama mind mode as well.

When introducing my children to jarred baby food, my mother also always told me to introduce the “yucky” foods first, you know the orange baby foods, like squash and carrots. Her reasoning was if you introduce the “good” tasting baby food first, like apples or pears, that they won’t ever eat the vegetables and only like the fruit. I wish I could find the pictures I have of my son eating carrots for the first time to share with you – there was ORANGE everywhere!

Since my twins were premature, they obviously didn’t follow the same schedule, thus why I say every child is different. We had a hard enough getting them to even keep down or digest formulas, and I think we tried every known brand of formula made, from prescription only formulas to tube feeding to IV nutrition. The girls even used different kinds of nipples for their bottles. Oh, those were the days… I’m surprised I don’t have any gray hairs by now!

With my youngest child, the best investment I ever made was this mesh popicle-looking thing that you could fill with any foods (I used a lot of canned fruits and/or vegetables) that they baby sucks on to get the food in itty-bitty tiny pieces so they don’t choke.

What are you baby feeding tips?

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. To learn more about Plum Organics, visit their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PlumOrganics.

1. Angelina Jolie (with Brad Pitt) – Boy/Girl Twins (Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline) born July 12th, 2008

2. Celine Dion (with manager/husband Rene Angelil) – Twin Boys (Nelson and Eddy) born October 23rd, 2010

3. Holly Hunter (with partner Gordon MacDonald) – Twin Boys (Claude and Press) born January 2006

4. Jennifer Lopez (with (now-ex)husband Marc Anthony) – Boy/Girl Twins (Max and Emme) born in February 2008

5. Lisa Marie Presley (with husband Michael Lockwood) (Finley and Harper) born October 7th, 2008 – Fact: Lisa Marie’s famous father, Elvis Presley was a twin himself, but brother Jesse was stillborn.

6. Marcia Cross (with husband Tom Mahoney) – Twins Girls (Eden and Savannah) born February 20th, 2007

7. Mariah Carey (with husband Nick Cannon) – Boy/Girl Twins (Moroccan Scott and Monroe) born April 30th, 2011

8. Nancy Grace – Boy/Girl Twins (John David and Lucy Elizabeth) born 2007.

9. Rebecca Romijn (with husband Jerry O’Connell) – Twin Girls (Dolly Rebecca Rose and Charlie Tamara Tulip) born December 28th, 2008

10. Sarah Jessica Parker (with husband Matthew Broderick, but delivered by a surrogate mother) – Twin Girls (Marion Loretta Elwell and Tabitha Hodge) born June 22nd, 2009

I LOVE YOU MOM CELEBRATION OUR MOTHERS GIFTS CELEBRITY CONTRIBUTERS B. FLAY MORE US $0.99 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Monday Feb-13-2012 10:32:10 PST   | Watch this Item

1974 press photo Sinatha Singer mom celebrity party US $13.88 Auction Ends: Monday Feb-13-2012 15:50:41 PST   | Watch this Item

When my twins were premature and diagnosed with all kinds of disabilities, I seeked assistance from all kinds of agencies, whether is was help with oxygen tanks or heart rate monitors. It helped to talk to other parents of preemies on where to apply for funding and/or financing for everything.

When Mallory was two and still was not walking, the pediatrician thought it was from her kyphosis (a sharp curve in her back similar to scoliosis that eventually resolved itself), but the neurologist diagnosed her with peri-ventricular leukomalicia which causes developmental delays.

Mallory eventually did learn to walk – she was just a happy-go-lucky baby that was content not walking! But had she needed to use an mobility equipment, I could have contacted the NMEDA (which stands for National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association) as they have an office in Omaha (which we frequented for doctor’s appointments).

The NMEDA does not actually sell anything, but they are a great resource to help people educate consumers on finding mobility equipment (whether it be a wheelchair automobile, handicap van or just vehicle modifications) for disabled people. NMEDA has Dealers and Quality Assurance Program (QAP) dealers, which is the only nationally recognized accreditation program for the Adaptive Mobility Equipment Industry.