Babies on Board (Sponsored & Giveaway)

The following post was sponsored by Ergobaby. Thanks, Ergo!

Since my babies were very little, I have worn them. Okay, so I wore Bo mostly and had I known how easy (and comfortable) it was to wear both of them, I would have done so. I would have eaten my words on the multiples babywearing tip and rocked that thing with pride. 

with Bo @ three months

With everyone, two weeks ago

I baby-wore Archer and Fable as well but for different reasons. I was on my own with zero help when they were babies so wearing them was the only way I could get anything done.

With Bo and Revi, I've been fortunate enough to have help during the day when I work, but still for the first six months I had a baby on my body pretty much all the time. It was the only way for me to connect with my girls one on one.

Something I was unprepared for when Bo and Revi were born was my inability to split my attention between them. I loved them unconditionally of course but because there were two of them I couldn't spend hours (let alone minutes) gazing into one pair of eyes. I was unable to take them with me everywhere like I did with Archer and Fable. Their schedules were for the most part, identical, so getting up with one in the middle of the night meant getting up with two, which isn't exactly "special mommy baby bonding time." And I needed that. It was confusing for me to have such a different experience.

Because Archer was my only child when he was a baby, "bonding" with him was never a worry. He was my only and therefore got the most of me. With Fable it was much the same. I nursed her for thirteen months and in that time she was stuck to me like glue until we both outgrew each other and became separate humans.

But with the twins, a very different story. I wouldn't be able to nurse them and I was totally at peace with that. I wouldn't be able to give them my everything either (Not even half of my everything!) so developing relationships with them individually would be much more challenging. I knew this would be the case but it was still incredibly hard on me. Here were these babies I adored and wanted to sit with and marvel at but I couldn't. I couldn't be there for them like I was with Archer and Fable.

Almost a year later, I'm FAR less hard on myself. Bo and Revi are incredibly well adjusted babies who have been surrounded by love and attention since birth. From me and Hal but also from their siblings, grandparents, great grandparents and our incredible nanny who is here with them when I work.

Still, creating one on one time with my babes would not have been possible without my "pack" which I wore, no joke, for hours and hours (and hours) at a time every single day. I realized early on that if I was going to spend bonding time with my babies individually, wearing them was the best way to do so. So on walks? I wore one and pushed the other in Fable's old single stroller, trading off babies every other day.

And when Bo started sleeping fine in her crib? I wore Revi during her nap and it was lovely.

And now, with Bo and Revi all grown up and all of us very much bonded, I wear them for more practical reasons, like, say getting them both in and out of the car when I pick the kids up from school or go on errands (shopping carts only have room for one baby = womp womp) and/or for keeping Revi from busting into the bathroom and unspooling the entire toilet paper roll. 

I snapped this yesterday on my way out the door to pick up Archer from his first day of second grade.  (Sniff!)

I've also recently started wearing both of them to places where strollers are too much work. (The beach, Archer's stair-filled school...) It isn't often I get a photo of myself with all of my kids because I'm usually behind the camera but the one below is one of my favorite photos ever because I AM DOING IT, GUYS! I am holding all four of my kids while crossing the street and nobody is crying and it only took two hours to get out the door but WHO CARES I AM GODDESS MOTHER BABY GODDESS!

... So thank you, thank you, Ergo. Thank you for having my back and my front and my babies on lock when I need them to be. Thank you for allowing me to hug my girls all day long for the last eleven months. It's made all the difference. 

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My lovely friends at Ergobaby are offering a 10% discount to all GGC readers. Just use code GIRLSGONECHILD10 at the register! Annnnnd, I also have an Organic Ergobaby carrier up for giveaway grabs this lovely afternoon! (Winner gets to choose between Lattice or one of the Organic Bundle carriers with infant insert!) To win? Leave a comment below. I'll pick a winner via random.org next Friday, August 24th. Good luck and happy babywearing!

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Updated: Congrats to commenter #10, Jessica Oliveto and thanks to everyone for participating in this giveaway! 

GGC