Ready or Not...Here We Come! The Real Experts' Cannot-Live-Without Guide to the First Year with Twins (Paperback)

by Elizabeth Lyons (Author) "The alarm goes off-in the form of a cry from one of your two new bundles of joy..." (more)
Key Phrases: own baby food, infant car seats, Magnesium Sulfate

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...the advice you need in the short, funny format your sleep-deprived mind can absorb. An absolute must-have." -- Lisa Earle McLeod, columnist for Lifetime Magazine and author of Forget Perfect

"Elizabeth Lyons captures the universal discourse of sisterhood while guiding new mothers of twins through the first year." -- Kathy Voit, RNC, Labor and Delivery RN

"Elizabeth Lyons' humorous yet realistic perspective provides new parents of twins with a great starting point..." -- Dr. Bob Covert, Leading Chicagoland Neonatologist

"Finally...a humor-filled, solution-packed, tell-it-like-it-is guide for mothers of twins!" -- Betty Jean Young, BSN

Product Description
Uncertain where to start, how to coordinate endless double feedings, or how to control the whirlwind? Don’t worry -Elizabeth Lyons and her "multiples sorority" will get you through.

In her first humor-filled, solution-packed, tell-it-like-it-is guide to raising twins, Elizabeth Lyons highlights the experiences and strategies of a group of friends who met in a multiples birthing class, and survived their pregnancies and first year with twins together.

Topics include:
-Preparing the Lair: Mandatory Gear for Babies AND Mom
-Getting Organized: The Key to Success
-Getting Those Babies on a Schedule - Preferably the Same One!
-Out and About with Twins: Methods of Appearing As Though You’ve Got It (and Them) Under Control

Lyons provides the all-important feeling of camaraderie that will keep expectant and new parents of twins smiling, remaining optimistic, and remembering how much they are blessed through it all.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413401759
• ISBN-13: 978-1413401752
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,071,428 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A funny read, but..., October 30, 2006

By	A. Lyon - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Ready or Not... Here We Come! The Real Experts' Cannot-Live-Without Guide to the First Year with Twins (Paperback)

It was cute, but not a Girlfriends' Guide-quality manual. Very much a formula-feeding, Ferberizing kind of ideology. (The fact that it takes so many pages to tell you how to formula feed your twins should be quite revealing here. I feed my twins in 20-30 minutes inclusive, simultaneously, and if I had to wash 20 bottles a day, I would scream. But if you want to know how, she'll tell you.) First-time moms might really get the wrong idea about breastfeeding based on the treatment of the subject here -- get a second opinion, for the sake of your sanity! It is far easier than formula, after about a month. The book does prepare you for the weird questions and comments you will get as a twin mom. I thought she was overstating things -- but no. The public is amazingly intrusive, and you might want to be prepared. Bottom line: I'm still waiting for Vicky Iovine to have twins.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Parents of Multiples, February 17, 2006

By	K. Lawrence "K.L." (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Ready or Not... Here We Come! The Real Experts' Cannot-Live-Without Guide to the First Year with Twins (Paperback)

This book is different from most other twin/multiples books in that it is not only practical but funny and understanding as well. It's filled with the basic information plus little hints and shortcuts that are essential to keeping your sanity with twins. Most of these shortcuts aren't covered in any other of the dozens of twin books I have read. The girlfriend type perspective keeps you laughing. "Ready of Not..." covers everything from what baby items you won't need two of, to establishing a schedule. I can say that my husband and I referred to this book dozens of times in the last year. Of all the twin books on the market (I can say I've probably read all of them!) this is my favorite.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A requisite for new parents of twins!, January 19, 2006

By	Susan "Susan" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ready or Not... Here We Come! The Real Experts' Cannot-Live-Without Guide to the First Year with Twins (Paperback)

Anyone who reads this book and doesn't absolutely love it is nuts!

I have a 2-year-old son and 4-month-old boy/girl twins. Admittedly, before my twins were born, I might have thought Elizabeth's take on the amount of work involved with newborn twins was a bit exaggerated. But now that they are here, it's become clear that she's right on! The reality of twins is that you probably won't sleep very well for the first few months, your house won't be immaculate, and you might eat more cereal for dinner than you did previously. If you have older children, you might occasionally feel torn early on regarding the amount of quality one-on-one time you are able to give them versus the amount you could give them before the twins arrived. But that's reality. The other reality, which Elizabeth makes quite clear, is that twins (as well as their older siblings) are an amazing blessing, and each challenge that presents itself has a strategy or two that can be employed to address it. In the end, more than worrying about the state of her house, the state of her diet, or the state of her hair, what's most important is that parents work their way through this time with a sense of humor, an appreciation of the blessings they've been given, and the knowledge that it gets easier and more fun with each passing day.

I highly recommend this book for anyone expecting twins --- or anyone who's given birth to them in the last year. I also recommend a few more medically based books on raising babies, such as The Baby Book by William Sears, M.D., and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth (which Lyons also recommends) to help you understand the more medical aspects of raising children (these books provide detailed information on babies' sleep patterns and getting them on a sleep schedule, and ways to address medical challenges such as reflux and colic), but Lyons' book provides the hysterical girlfriend-to-girlfriend approach (much like Vicki Iovine) that most expectant and new moms of twins welcome with open arms!