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Twin Mom of 7 (Almost 8!): Her Vaginal Twin Birth, NICU Costs & Why Early Pediatric Therapy Matters · Twin Mom Life

• Kiki Amlaw: I do have a saying that I always, always said, and sometimes I still say it, there's one of me and two of you. And I felt like I also had to tell myself that there's only Jess Sittig: Mm. Mm. Kiki Amlaw: one of me. There's two of them. Jessielee Sittig: Hello and Welcome to the Twin Mom Life podcast. I'm your host, Jess. I created this podcast to help build community, connection, and most importantly, friendships among moms of multiples. Being a twin mom can be amazing and magical. That twin bond is unlike anything I've ever witnessed, but it can also be isolating and overwhelming. I'll be chatting with other twin moms, diving deep into the twin experience. giving advice on what works for us so you don't have to learn the hard way. Juggling two babies at the same time is challenging, but I'm confident we can learn from each other and figure out how to raise these babies together. Jess Sittig: I'm so excited to have you on the podcast today. So today Kiki Amlaw: I'm so excited. I'm so excited. Jess Sittig: we have Kiki and I just can't wait to tell I'm like, I shot it from the rooftop. That's my daughter's nickname. So I was like, yes. Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: This is gonna be good. Yes, I know. We have like Kiki Amlaw: And our daughters share a name too, so it's even better. It's even better. Jess Sittig: so many fun similarities and so many fun things to dive into. But can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Kiki Amlaw: So my name's Kiki, I currently live in Oklahoma. My husband had, we've moved from Florida to Oklahoma to Arizona and then back to Florida, no, not back to Florida, back to Oklahoma. And we have been married, this November will be 20 years of marriage. I know, I know, Jess Sittig: That's fantastic. Kiki Amlaw: October will be, I always joke, I'm like, my gosh, it's gonna be 21 years in October. Our relationship can legally have a drink and. Yeah, we'll be married 20 years in November. We have seven kiddos and I'm 19 weeks pregnant with our eighth. I'm so excited. I think I found out the gender today by accident. We were trying to do a surprise and he got a really good shot and I was like, okay. So now that I feel like I know, I'm gonna ask my next appointment because I'm like, now I need to know. I feel like I can't not know at this point. Jess Sittig: So what did you think that you saw today? Kiki Amlaw: Nothing. So I think it's a girl. It was Jess Sittig: is it Kiki Amlaw: like, I have a picture. It's like an acrobat picture and a little booty is up top and there's nothing there. And so was Jess Sittig: Hmm. Kiki Amlaw: like, unless, unless all that stuff is hiding real well, this Jess Sittig: Sure. Kiki Amlaw: is a girl, which my husband was like, honestly, I'd be totally fine with because we have four boys and three girls. And he's like, I'd Jess Sittig: Okay. Kiki Amlaw: love to even it. I'd love to even it out. And we're done regardless. Not that you can tell God anything, but I've always said, if I'm gonna have another one, I wanna be done by the time I'm 40. And my due date is three days before my 40th birthday. And so, yeah, Jess Sittig: That's wild. Kiki Amlaw: so God was like, there you go, boo, I got you. Jess Sittig: Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: So we had four boys. And then we're like, let's just try for one more. Not trying for a girl. I just never felt like I was ready to be done. And then when we tried for one more, it was twins. Jess Sittig: Well, I Kiki Amlaw: So. Jess Sittig: am so excited to dive into the dynamics of a big family. That like I can't even imagine I can't. Kiki Amlaw: Yes. Never in our lives did we think we'd have eight children. I'm an only child. My husband has one sister. Jess Sittig: You shut up. Kiki Amlaw: I am an only child. I was raised with two of my cousins. Like I had some cousins that lived in Florida while I lived in Rhode Island. So I was part like not raised with my cousins, but like I only had two cousins that I was with all of the time for family events. And one of my cousins, she is my best friend. We talk every single day. She thinks I'm insane for having this many kids, but she would never envision anything else. Those are her babies too, so much. were both actually, our 10 year olds, we were both pregnant together at the same time. So was so great, because when we do get together, our boys are inseparable. So yeah Jess Sittig: Hmm, that's so sweet. And that is so wild. I'm like I have so many questions. But before I do, have you Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: filled your cup today? Kiki Amlaw: I've been crocheting a lot and I'm Jess Sittig: Cool. Kiki Amlaw: actually making a blanket for one of my friends right now. So that's what I try to do is sneak away while our youngest is a year and a half. So she's still the baby. You know, she'll always she'll be the baby until this baby's here. So while she's down or entertained, I try to sneak away and do that. Kaia and her both had speech today, so I brought my blanket with me and while they were in speech therapy, I was crocheting away and yeah, so that's. Jess Sittig: That's so fun. Kiki Amlaw: That's my current fixation is my blankets that I'm crocheting. So yeah. Yeah. Jess Sittig: love that I I I think that is fun and like how productive like you are Kiki Amlaw: Yes. Jess Sittig: actually making something. Kiki Amlaw: I'm currently binge watching ER again with my husband. And since I've seen it before, I don't have to keep my eyes on the screen. So I'm like crocheting and he's like, you just finished half of a blanket in an episode. I'm like, I know, don't talk to me. Let me keep doing this. Let me keep going. So. Jess Sittig: That's awesome. And it's probably really like relaxing and therapeutic. Like, I don't know how to crochet, but like I can picture. Kiki Amlaw: Yes. I haven't done it in a while. Like I hyper focus on it and then I stopped doing it and then I really got into it again. I was like, my fingers, they're all crippled. my gosh, I need to stretch my fingers out. So yeah. Jess Sittig: Sure. Yeah, I bet. Well, that's really fun. I love that. I feel like it's so nice as moms to have hobbies and to be able to do something outside of our kids. So Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: I love that. Kiki Amlaw: Except when you tell your kids you're gonna make them something and then it's when you have the other project out and they're like, did you finish my purse? No, not yet, sorry. Sorry. Yeah. Jess Sittig: Well and when you have almost eight kids and then you have to make eight eight items, I can imagine that that's Kiki Amlaw: Well, the blanket that I'm making, the blanket that I'm making, the yarn got like stuck and I went to like fix it and try, but it got stuck in like a knot or something. And so I kept trying to like get it out. And when I did it ripped and I got so irritated that I just like threw it I was like, somebody gets this lovey now. So they like scrambled like kids scrambling for scraps of food or something. Like they've never had a blanket in their lives. And I'm like, you guys all have, like when I first started, crocheting and everything was wonky and uneven and you know my edges were terrible they would get those little things and so everybody has at least something so but it was just funny I like threw it in the living room and they all dove for this like scrap piece of blanket that I made I'm like you guys are crazy Jess Sittig: That's so funny. That's hilarious. It's like, they're like, we just want what mom made. It is really special. Kiki Amlaw: No. Exactly. Jess Sittig: I feel like the first thing that popped in into my head is kind of like a double-edged sword because it filled my cup and then I feel like it also gave me anxiety. So I Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. huh. Jess Sittig: am like a one cup of coffee girl. I love my cup of Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: coffee in the morning. And I love a treat iced coffee in the afternoon and I almost always regret it. So I had one Kiki Amlaw: Yes. Jess Sittig: because I get anxious and like like I can't. Kiki Amlaw: I feel like once I hit 35, I could not have caffeine after three o'clock, because then I was up all night long. And I was like, oh, cool, cool. And I work at our church. We have a coffee bar at church. And so then I started pulling myself a decaf shot if I was going to make myself a nice coffee. Because I was like, if I have Jess Sittig: No. Kiki Amlaw: a caffeinated coffee tonight, mommy's not sleeping. It's not going to happen. Jess Sittig: The idea of DCAF is a really good idea. Kiki Amlaw: Yeah, because to me it doesn't change the flavor. So when people are like, Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: my gosh, that's so gross. Why would you do that? I'm like, I doctor it up, not doctor it up, but like I make it a treat where I have like flavored coffee creamers. I'm not just drinking a black shot of coffee. So it tastes of like a latte and Jess Sittig: Yes. Kiki Amlaw: I'm not getting the I'm up all night feeling. So pull that decaf shot. Jess Sittig: Yeah, okay. I I'm gonna use that next time. So we went to Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: a park and they had like a coffee truck. And this Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: coffee truck has the best lattes, like very Kiki Amlaw: Mm. Jess Sittig: interesting flavors. And I got a cinnamon pecan latte. Delicious. But then like an Kiki Amlaw: Yum. Jess Sittig: hour later, I'm like, why am I so anxious? Like I've reached my exactly. Kiki Amlaw: Yes. Why can't I feel my heart beat? Yeah. Jess Sittig: I'm like, I have reached my like caffeine capacity here. So Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: that was cup filling and fun to like get and also yes. Kiki Amlaw: Yeah, that cup literally got filled and then now I'm like get out of here get out Jess Sittig: Yeah. But it was it was fun. okay, so I wanna know all the dynamics of the family. And I just Kiki Amlaw: It's very crazy. Jess Sittig: I'm like try so I am also an only child. So Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: I am trying to comprehend the only child. Having eight kids. Kiki Amlaw: I try to comprehend the sibling dynamic because I like I said, I don't like I didn't have that growing up like I had my cousins, but we weren't together all the time. We weren't living Jess Sittig: Sure. Kiki Amlaw: together. So I feel like each and each of my kids is so different. So our oldest is 17 and he just graduated high school, which I don't know how that happened. He's still, I know I'm not quite sure how that happened. How am I about to have an 18 year old next month? That's disgusting. Jess Sittig: my gosh. Kiki Amlaw: That's disgusting. But he is. He thinks he's a musician. He is. He does music stuff. He has guitars. He has drums. I actually just text him right before we started this. I was like, I need you to stop because his drum set is right under my bed and he has it's an electric drum set, but you can still hear the banging. And I'm like, I need you to Jess Sittig: Sure. Kiki Amlaw: stop. I'm not going to be able to focus if I hear your songs. So he is really into that. My second is 15. He'll be 16 in October and he is really into like the engineering aspect of things. So they both obviously go to like the same school department or they were in the same school department, but our oldest is in like regular high school. then Carter, who's our second, goes to, almost like a STEM type school. So he did his orchestra Jess Sittig: Okay. Kiki Amlaw: class at the high school, but all of his like... core subjects we're at, it's called Vanguard Academy, have their own stuff and it's smaller. Jess Sittig: Cool. Kiki Amlaw: There's only like, I wanna say like 200, 300 kids in the school, which sounds like a lot, but Keaton graduated with 1,427 people. So the whole nine through 12 is like 300, 400 kids. and Keaton's senior class alone was 1400 kids. So Jess Sittig: wow. Kiki Amlaw: yeah, it was a very long graduation. my gosh. Yes. But we did it. And he graduated. He's the first grandchild. He's the first great grandchild. He's the first one that's graduated. It was big for like, and nobody lives here. So I think the Lord everything could be, you know, live streamed. So it was great. so all of our kids also, and my husband myself, all start with a K. And so, yeah, so Jess Sittig: That's fun. Kiki Amlaw: my husband is Kyle and I'm Kiki and our kids are Keaton Carter Kyson, Camden Kaya, Kaitlyn Koda. And so I trip over it a lot, but so Kyson, he's 10, he's bored all the time. He's just so bored all the time. Nothing is fun anymore. Yeah, but he is also, he's very, very smart. He's our gifted kiddo. He's in gifted program. So he does get bored where I'm like, read a book. That's boring. I'm like, but listen to an audio book. Like, Jess Sittig: Go sure. Kiki Amlaw: yeah, but it's also so. disgustingly hot outside right now that I'm like, I don't want you to go outside and play. And I know that sounds terrible, but it's so hot that they'll Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: be outside for three seconds. And then they come in and they look like they've, you know, ran a marathon. Camden is our. first real spicy redhead. Carter's also a spicy redhead, but Camden is definitely a spicy redhead and he's seven. Him and the twins are very close in age. He was, think, 14 months when I found out I was pregnant. And then so they're 23 months apart. And people do Jess Sittig: wow. Kiki Amlaw: like to say that's like two years. I'm like, no, it's not. I had three, one and under for an entire month. And I will. That is the hill I'll die on. Don't you dare tell me they're Jess Sittig: Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: two years apart. They're less than two years apart. It's like when people say, well, Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. That's wild. Kiki Amlaw: I have two under, no, that's not twins. That's not twins. I would never say Jess Sittig: It's not the same. It's not the same. Kiki Amlaw: they're triplets, even though because they're all so close together and personality and everything, people think they're triplets. And then Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: argue with me when I tell them that they're not. And I'm like, Jess Sittig: Isn't that so weird? You're like, I actually know how old my kids are and I yeah, I carried and birthed them so Kiki Amlaw: I was there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But they're, but they look alike. And it's funny because Cam and Kaia have that same orange red hair. So people sometimes think they're the twins and Caitlin's not. And Jess Sittig: Mm. Mm. Kiki Amlaw: I'm like, no, no. They're like, are you sure? Yeah, I'm sure. Wait. Yeah, I'm pretty Jess Sittig: Yeah. I'm actually a hundred and ten percent sure. Kiki Amlaw: sure I was the one on bed rest trying to take care of a toddler and a five year old at the time. I'm pretty sure I know which ones are the wombates versus not wombates. Jess Sittig: Yes, yes. Kiki Amlaw: and then the twins are, they're five. They are very spicy. And it's so funny because I went from four boys to then girls. So everything was different and it was pink and rainbows and unicorns. And now we're not struggling, but their hair is so long that I can't wash their hair in the bathtub because more than half of their hair is in the bathtub. So now I've Jess Sittig: Mm, mm. Kiki Amlaw: been washing their hair in the sink and then we hop in the shower to get clean. And it's just a process. and being pregnant, like the thought of like hopping you on the counter to wash your hair is exhausting me. And it took me, I did it last night and it was, I think I waited till Koda went to bed. And then the whole process took about an hour. And I'm like, just to bathe you. Yes. Thankfully, like Jess Sittig: gosh. That's a lot. Kiki Amlaw: the boys, they can hop in the shower, grab the bar of soap, wash their hair, wash their body, get out. And they're like, can we take a bath? And I'm like, you guys are dirty girls. You're bathing in soup water. That's gross. Get Jess Sittig: Ha ha. Kiki Amlaw: out. That's disgusting. Hop in the shower. And the girls love the shower. So that makes it easy. Just hop in, soap, take the shower head down and hose them down. Get out. So. And then Koda is our 18 month old, 20 month old. She's a year and a half and she is not really verbal yet. So she's in speech. She's just starting to babble, which is very delayed on her speech, but knows what she wants. Very receptive, like, okay, it's time to go clean up and she will just turn around and go clean up all the blocks or go clean up all the stuff. And I'm like, I'm so glad you're so smart and you understand what I'm saying, but I don't know what you want. What are you saying? So. Jess Sittig: Hmm. She was like, Why do Kiki Amlaw: she is. Jess Sittig: I need to talk when I have all these brothers and sisters to Kiki Amlaw: Exactly. Well, we did we did her speech eval and the her speech therapist is Kaia's speech therapist also and when she did the eval she was like her receptive age is you know right on track 15 to 18 months, but her expressive age is a six month old and I was like, okay, so Just starting speech. She's actually starting to use her mouth more and starting to babble and I always joke where like when your kids are that babble and you're like yeah buddy yeah you're like this kid's probably cussing me out left to right but i'm just saying yeah buddy yeah and that's her right now and she'll just do the the jibber jabber and they go into mama dada yeah it's so funny it's so fun Jess Sittig: That's so cute. Kiki Amlaw: so that's them they're fun they're loud Jess Sittig: I love it. Well, yeah, I can imagine because my three are very loud Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: and I I can't even imagine. And we have so many similarities. So I also have Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Yeah. Jess Sittig: fiery redheads. All three of mine are Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm Jess Sittig: redheaded. They have more of like an auburn hair, but Kiki Amlaw: That's how Carter and Coda are. Coda came Jess Sittig: Okay. Kiki Amlaw: out with brown brown hair, like my hair color. And I was like, wow, I haven't seen this in so long. Cause like Keaton came out with really dark dark hair. Carter came out bald. Kyson was bald. And then from then on it turned red. And I was like, wow, I haven't seen a dark headed baby in such a long time. And then now that it's grown out, everyone comment, if it's just her, they comment on how red her hair is, but I don't see it as much. because I have Kaya and Cam who have that orange red hair. So I'm like, it's red? Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: yeah, I guess it is a little red, you're right. And then they look at me like I'm crazy. I'm like, no, but you don't understand. This is red over here. Yeah, Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: Right, in comparison. Sure. Yeah, absolutely. Well, and it's so interesting. Like, so my Kaya, when she was born, it was black. And I'm like, that's fitting. Like I have very dark Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Yeah. Jess Sittig: features. And my mom always was like, You're gonna have redheads. And I'm like, no, I'm not. Like my husband Kiki Amlaw: You're like, why would you say that? Jess Sittig: isn't a redhead. So my great grandmother was a redhead, and my husband's great grandfather was a redhead. But like Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: none of our like Cousins, siblings, like no Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: one else has red hair. So then around, I don't know, maybe like four months, I feel like a lot of her hair fell out. And then at six Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: months, when it grew back in, it was like carrot red. And I was like, what is happening? Especially Kiki Amlaw: You're like, what in the world? Yeah. Jess Sittig: because she wasn't born with that color. And then Kiki Amlaw: Yes, yeah. Jess Sittig: it's changed a lot. And now it's like an auburn, where hers is actually slightly lighter, especially with it being summer and being in the pool. Kiki Amlaw: Summer. Jess Sittig: She's getting like blonde highlights and I'm like so dark. I'm like I don't know what to do with this. Like Kiki Amlaw: You're like, people pay for this. People pay a lot of money to have that. And here you are with natural. Jess Sittig: I'm sure you have gotten this. I have been asked before if I dye my kids' hair. I'm like Kiki Amlaw: Yeah, especially Koda because Koda was born with such dark dark hair and then as it's growing like the ends of her hair are so little dark but the Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: roots and like what's grown out is red and people like I've had people be like, did you dye it? No. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Jess Sittig: They're like, that's just what's happening. Like it sounds very similar to Kaya. And I'm wondering too, so you obviously have twins and a lot of the red hair. I Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: honestly, like if I could do a poll, I would say I get more comments about the red hair than I do having twins. Kiki Amlaw: Yes, because Katie and Kaia, are your boys identical? So Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: my girls are dye dye twins. So they look similar, but like Caitlin wears glasses. Kaia doesn't wear glasses. Caitlin has red hair, but not as red as Kaia's. when people don't, sometimes they don't realize that they're twins. And plus Caitlin is like two and a half, three inches taller than Kaia. Jess Sittig: I see. Okay. Kiki Amlaw: And so like they sometimes that's why sometimes now people think that Cam and Caitlin are twins. Not so much Cam and Kaia, even though their hair color is the same. But Caitlin and Cam can share shoes. Caitlin, like they're almost the same size. And I'm like, what in the world? Like, they're not the twins. But yeah. Yeah, ours Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: is. And it's the we drive a 12 passenger transit. That's my car, like my everyday car. Yeah. Yeah. Jess Sittig: literally going to be one of my questions is like logistically Kiki Amlaw: So when I had a minivan for the four boys and I could fit five kids in there when I got pregnant, was like, we can fit one more Carter seat in here. Because at the time, think Keaton might have still been in a booster seat. Carter was probably still in a booster seat. Kyson was still in a five point harness and Camden was still rear facing whenever I got pregnant. I was like, yeah, we could totally. this is also really funny. This is one of our favorite stories. When I first found out I was pregnant, I was in nursery with Camden like helping serve in nursery and one of my best friends has twins. They're Camden's age. They're about to be seven and I was holding both of her girls on my arms and Camden's at my feet and I don't know if I knew I was pregnant yet. I know I had not been to the doctor yet and I was like I could do this joking right like and there's that meme that says like she said she could do this then the God gave her twins. God gave that cocky. twins and I jokingly was like I can do this so I have my best friend's twins in my arms and can at my feet like whining that I'm holding his friends and then just a few weeks later I go to the doctor or find out I'm pregnant and I go to the doctor and of course it was the The day before my first appointment was during COVID still. And so my husband could come with me, but we were just about to go out of town for like an informal interview for him to possibly get a job in Arizona. And he couldn't come with me because he had to like finish up some stuff. cause he worked at a church and when you're missing the Sunday, have a lot of stuff that you have to make sure is prepped and ready to go. So I go to my first appointment and I immediately see the two girls, like the two sacks on the screen, and I just kept telling my OB to shut up. And he was like, stop yelling at me. I was like, shut up. Shut up. shut up and he was like I didn't say anything and then I remember asking and I don't know how I word it but I remember saying does that mean that they're not identical because you could see two separate like very separate sacks and he said something but you know in a movie when something's happening and it's just the background noise or there's no sound and like that's exactly what happened I really like my body was there I could not hear anything he said and I was like Jess Sittig: You heard like wow wow. Kiki Amlaw: Yeah, yeah, and he was like, and then I found out, you know, they still could be identical, blah, blah, just depends on when the eggs split, blah, blah. My girls are not identical. But I left and I tried to call my husband and he didn't answer. And I tried to call my husband and he didn't answer. And I finally texted him. said, if you don't answer, I'm coming up to work. And so because I was trying to FaceTime him, so I was just going to show him the ultrasound. And so finally he FaceTimes me back and I knew he was busy, but. He answers and he goes like what and I just hold up the ultrasound and on FaceTime you could see all the color just drain from his face and he goes We need a new car because we cannot fit two more car seats in our car. Because our oldest at the time, he's grown since, but he was very tiny. He couldn't ride in the front seat. Like he wasn't one, old enough or two, even big enough to ride in the front seat. And then even if he could, we wouldn't have had enough seats for my husband to be in the car with us. And so he's like, we have to get a new car. And then he left, like he hung up, we hung up and he went back to work and he sat down in his, they had like an open office and he sits down and his coworkers at the desk next to him and his wife was pregnant. And so Kyle sits down and his coworker goes, everything okay? And he goes, yeah. And he goes, can you go to the doctor today, right? And he goes, yep. He goes, it's not twins is it? And he goes, yep. And he goes, I gotta go call Kaylee. And he gets up and calls his wife and says, when's your first appointment? And so and then obviously after I told my husband, I told my really good friends and who one of them has twins. I said, this is all your fault. This is your fault that this happened. Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: Because she would always be like, oh, my God, what if it's twins? Because I had a miscarriage right before I got pregnant with the twins. And I had read Jess Sittig: Hm, I'm sorry. Kiki Amlaw: I had read in some group, some Tulsa mom's group like what I heard an old wives tale that if you get pregnant after your like first cycle of having a miscarriage, you have a higher chance of having twins. And everyone was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I text Christina, my best friend, was like, cause she had a loss right before her twins. I was like, hey, how many cycles before you got pregnant with the twins from your loss? And she goes, one. And I was like, oh crap. And I had just found out I'm pregnant. I hadn't even been to the doctor yet. And she's like, oh my God, what if you are? And I was like, okay, well we'll figure that out, I guess. And sure enough. Jess Sittig: So interesting. Okay, are your Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: friends twins also fraternal? Kiki Amlaw: They're die die. Yeah, they're die die. Jess Sittig: Okay, that okay, so also my boys are die die, but they are identical. Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: They're died. I did. Okay my what at our church I I don't even know how many sets of twins there are I really don't there's something in the water at our church that if you want to have twins come drink some water, but if you don't Want to have them don't come but they're One of my friends, she has twins and they were di-di twins. But then they did the test and hers are identical di-di twins. Jess Sittig: We were beyond shocked because our first appointment, like I didn't know anything about twins at all, except like, that's crazy, like crazy. And I love hearing the dad's reactions because my husband, the first thing that he said was also, we need a bigger car. Kiki Amlaw: Yeah, yeah. And we didn't get a car till the girls were around a month old I mean, my van was fine, but I ended up going on bed rest at about 26 weeks. I was on like modified bed Jess Sittig: really? Kiki Amlaw: rest. Yeah, I was like, I can't really do bed rest because this kid right here is one, and my husband works. How am I supposed to do bed rest? And so she's like, you can do couch rest. so we got the van when the twins were four weeks old. so I didn't need to drive for a while because I was on bed rest. And then, I had them and there was a van of it. We bought it through Enterprise. So big families, if you need a van like that kind of van, Enterprise sells cars after two years. They take them like off the lot and they sell them. I'm sure they sell other cars too, but this was obviously we needed the van. And so there was one in Phoenix. We lived in Tucson and there was one in Phoenix and my husband was like, okay, yeah, we'll put the application in on it. But the guy he was talking to called them back like 30 minutes later and said, I just got a transit on the lot. Put your application in right now. So he finished literally typing the application out, put it in, and the guy called him back and said, okay, you guys are approved. And it was like, okay, okay, okay. And it went from nothing. And I was too scared to drive it at first. And. Jess Sittig: It's massive. Kiki Amlaw: Yeah, but even like it was just crazy because he my husband worked at a church and He was already at church on Sunday mornings and like I said I couldn't fit All of my kids in the van at first was not they weren't all even big enough None of them were lot old enough big enough to sit in the front seat So people were coming to our house and would take the big two boys to church with them while I had the little four kids So that because all their car seats were in my car and I was like, thank you because because I am such a social person that being on bed rest and not going to church for. So I was about 26 weeks when I was put on bed rest and I so about 10 weeks because I had the girls at 36 weeks. And then the the worship pastor at the church was actually my husband's boss in Florida. He was we he worked at the same church in Florida and that's why we ended up in Arizona because he was like I Jess Sittig: Hm. Kiki Amlaw: really want you. This is a tech guy. He's in production. And so he's like I really, really, really want you. Would you guys come out and do the interview or whatever so that's why we went out for the weekend and It I think I gave him PTSD because right before I had Kyson There was a time that I was contracting and I was due around Christmas time and churches have Easter productions and Christmas productions. And so I was due Jess Sittig: Mm, mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: around the 20th, but I think the 21st was my due date. And so he was like, as long as you keep that baby in until whatever day after the Christmas musical, you have my blessing to have that baby then. And I was like, oh, okay. Well, Jess Sittig: Like thanks. Kiki Amlaw: yeah, I ended up getting in a fender bender on my way to work the Monday before the Christmas musical. Like super minor accident. My husband fixed our headline himself, but jarring enough that set me into labor. So I went to the hospital just because I knew that if I didn't get monitored, my OB would probably yell at me. So I go, they said, you're going to be here for a minimum of six hours. I was like, okay, great. Called out of work, all that stuff. By hour three, they're giving me IVs and saying, we're admitting you, you're having this baby. tonight or tomorrow. And I was like, I beg your finest bargain. I was like, but you don't understand. This is a really busy week for my husband. Like he was, we lived in like the Tampa area and he was about to drive to Orlando to go get all the lights that they rented for the weekend. And he had to send someone else because I was in the hospital. He missed the first practice of it and all that. So then we get out to Arizona. My due date is May 6th. I knew they wouldn't let me go. past 38 weeks, which was around Easter. So this whole time, yeah, this Jess Sittig: Like sorry. Kiki Amlaw: like whole time, it was after Easter, but you know, then I get put on bed rest. So then he's like freaking out his boss, not my husband, his boss. And then like the weekend before Easter, our church had like a big Easter, family day like there's Easter icons and petting zoos and all that stuff. I had been locked up in the house with only seeing my own children and so my husband left work came and picked all of us up and our church in Arizona was amazing community to where I did not cook for 10 weeks. People brought us meals every single day. I mean Jess Sittig: Mmm. Mm. Kiki Amlaw: weeks I did not cook. And so they were just so great. When my husband's dad came to visit, his one of his coworkers brought me to the OB, like just like just so because I couldn't drive. I couldn't fit behind the wheel. And then I got put on bed rest at that point, which sucks because my father-in-law was in town and I'm like, now I can't do anything. So have fun, guys. But they were just so, so great. But we get there and it's like this it might have been the Saturday before Easter. I don't think it was the whole week before I just remember getting there and I'm pushing the stroller and I go to sit down and you just see My husband's boss go. Why are you here? You are supposed to be on bed rest This is a very busy weekend. You can't do this to me. And I was like, yeah, I'm doing this on purpose Brad I've been literally cooped up in my house for nine weeks. I needed to get out and we After church that Sunday all the pastors as they were walking out they all looked at went, all right, Kyle, she can have the babies now. And I went into labor Wednesday and had them Thursday. So I literally Jess Sittig: my gosh. Kiki Amlaw: made it through Easter and I didn't ruin it. I didn't ruin a holiday celebration. No, it was perfect. It was great. They came, they were there. And then we were back at church like two weeks later. I'm not, Jess Sittig: I am impressed. Kiki Amlaw: I am also not one that wants to be cooped up. I had the girls on a Thursday. The kids had practice for soccer on Tuesdays. I don't think I made it to that following Tuesday soccer practice, but I was there that game on Saturday. So the girls were nine days old and I was at the first game. Cause I was like, I can't, I don't want to be cooped up. don't want to be, I'm back at church a week later. I don't want, I don't want to do it. Don't make me stay here. I've already been here by myself for 10 weeks. Yeah. Yeah. Jess Sittig: For so long. I get that. Well, and I feel like that's one nice thing. I mean, obviously having a kid or multiple children first and then having twins is hard because that's a lot to manage. But Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: one thing that is really nice is you are forced to stay on a routine for your kids' sake. Like I Kiki Amlaw: Yes. Yeah. Jess Sittig: remember with Kaya, who's my my first singleton, my only, my only singleton, Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Jess Sittig: waking up and being like, What time is it? When do I brush my teeth? I'm wearing pajamas. Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: Like there was no start and end of my day in the newborn phase. So Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Jess Sittig: when I had the twins and I had a toddler, it was like, we're up, we're doing breakfast. I get dressed because I had to do that. Exactly. Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. You have to take care of her. while also taking care of them. Jess Sittig: Yes. Kiki Amlaw: I would always see in twin mom groups like, not the new, so I was so scared of having newborn twins. Like that was my biggest fear. Give me newborn twins over to mobile twins any day of the week. Yeah, they might be crying at the same time. I nursed my girls, but so, and I figured out how to tandem nurse real fast. That twinsy pillow, I still use it actually. I used it with Koda as my nursing pillow. I use it as my, I But I made sure that I learned how because that was a conversation that my husband and I had before Having them I was like am I gonna nurse both of them? Am I gonna nurse one and formula feed one? Who do I choose to formula feed? Do I formula feed both of them? How does this our oldest never latched so he was formula fed all of the others were nursed for well over a year and I my goal is always One is a goal like let me get you past like needing to be on a bottle and then anything after that is a blessing and I'm totally fine with Kaia was so tiny she was never like concerned failure to thrive tiny, but she was always a dainty little girl She was the smaller of the two she was I mean she was still big she was five pounds 13 ounces at 36 weeks, which I feel like is still pretty big and Caitlin was Jess Sittig: Yeah, I feel like that's great. Kiki Amlaw: Caitlin was six pounds two ounces and so they were both decent size but it's so time granted that is tiny for us because Carter and Camden were both nine pounds two ounces yeah and so they holding Kaia, she was just so tiny. She was just like this microscopic little itty bitty thing. And they both of the girls ended up needing some NICU time because of their sugars. Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: I think Kaia, they might've both had oxygen for a little while. It was very fast. I did not have a C-section, but you still deliver twins in an operating room regardless. Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: And so it just, everything went by really fast. And I went from like seven centimeters to 10 centimeters. in about four minutes to where my nurse was like, okay, I'm going to go have lunch. I'll be back in 20 minutes, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so she left the room and then four minutes later I'm calling for another nurse because something wasn't right. And the charge nurse came in and she was like, yeah, your nurse just checked you. And I was like, I know, but some like it hurts. Like my epidural had worn off. It is hurting real bad. Like my pelvic bone is hurting. And she went to check and Kaia's head was almost completely out and she like, okay, so she's screaming for the nurse so that she doesn't go on break yet because she was still gathering her stuff. She dropped her lunch box in my delivery room. She dropped her lunch box because she had it. My husband is trying to get his gear on and they're rushing me down to the OR and the nurse that checked me, know, nicely checked me, was on the bed the whole way riding so that if Kaia were to fully come out, she would be there. And Jess Sittig: No way. Kiki Amlaw: Yeah, I'm not kidding. And it went from like the doctor had was in there short time, not too long. And then he even like Kyle was in the wait in the hallway waiting for them to call him in. And the doctor walks by and goes, well, what took them so long to like call me? Like, why is this such a rush thing? And Kyle goes, um, well, she was seven centimeters five minutes ago. And they go, the baby's head is almost out. And he goes, yeah. And you go, all right, well, come on in, dad. And I just remember there's like certain things of my labors that I remember and I remember like because I was in so much pain from my epidural wearing off I was like I need a tissue because I was crying and I was like I need a tissue Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: there was no tissues to be found in my room so Kyle hands me paper towels and I remember getting Kaia and still having paper towels in my hand and I go can someone take these please so they're like yeah so Kyle takes them and so then I had Kaia and then Kaia was born at 2 0 4 p.m. And the doctor tried being funny and was like, do you want them born on the same day? And I was like, yeah. If it was like 1150, I'd be like, yeah, sure. Let's let them have their own day. No, it's two o'clock in the afternoon. he, he, Jess Sittig: Right. You're like, no, we're Kiki Amlaw: yeah. So then he broke Katie's water and then I was like, well, can I push now? He's like, mama, this is all you. If you want to push, you, you go for it. If you feel like you're ready to push. And I was like, okay. And four minutes later, Caitlin was born and he was like, good night. These are perfect. I love these kind Jess Sittig: No Kiki Amlaw: of delivery. I Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: was like, Jess Sittig: okay. Kiki Amlaw: perfect, fantastic. an MFM with my OB here unless there was a congenital heart defect or something like that. He goes, I can handle all of that stuff in office. Like they're really, really good. And my the first thing out of the doctor's mouth in Arizona was, OK, I'm going to be sending you to an MFM. And I was like, my God, is something wrong? And she was no, it's standard practice. And I was like, OK. And then she goes, and also both of your babies must be head down in order to have a vaginal delivery. And I was like, she's like, so do you want to schedule your CC? And I was like, no, I was only like 16 weeks. And I was like, we have plenty of time. Like, no, thank you. I did do, Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: I did go to a chiropractor because Caitlin was transverse and she was taking up Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: the whole top of my abdomen and poor little Kaia was just like in a ball down at the bottom. And then at 35 weeks and five days, so two days before I had them, they were both marked as head down. So I was cleared to try for a vaginal delivery. was like, Thank you, Jesus. I could not imagine having four kids, twins, and then having to recover from a C-section. Like, that Jess Sittig: Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: would have been, and that was like my biggest, I did have complications after having the twins. Like I had some prolapses, but I did it, like that was much easier a recovery than having to recover from a C-section. I would much rather Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: have done that I had a prolapsed uterus and I jokingly told the doctor, was like, just leave it out. Like these are babies five and six. And he was like, I can't do that cause it's healthy looking. Like it's not like your uterus looks healthy. And I was like, okay. But now like I wouldn't have CODA. I wouldn't have this one if that would, if they would have just like done the hysterectomy. And I'm like, okay, God, that was you. Cause I just, can not imagine life without that. redheaded toddler that we have. So, yeah. Jess Sittig: So what was the and I loved the birth story. That was I always love hearing that. I think it's so fun. And Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jess Sittig: yeah, just like how quickly it can happen, especially with them being. Kiki Amlaw: My labor was really long. Like I went in on Wednesday morning contracting, but I didn't have them till Thursday afternoon. So my labor was once I Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. But like once it was once you hit seven it was like done. Kiki Amlaw: also my OB wouldn't break Kaia's water and at first wouldn't Jess Sittig: Hm. Kiki Amlaw: give me my apidural, but she wouldn't tell me why she wouldn't give me a reason as to why she wouldn't break my water. Now. Jess Sittig: That's really interesting. Kiki Amlaw: Finding out from the other OB that had come in the next day, he said, the reason that we did not want to break your water so soon was because we had given you the shot of steroids for their lungs and we wanted the first shot to be working at least 24 hours before we gave you the second shot. And I was like, that would have been really great information to know in the moment instead of being Jess Sittig: Right. Why didn't you just say that? Kiki Amlaw: told, no, no. And then she kept telling me, no, I could have my epidural. Now, mind you, I had already maxed out on all the pain meds that I could have had. I had like state all I had like the fentanyl all the stuff that I could have had I was maxed out on that by Wednesday at like 1030 at night even the Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: anesthesiologist was like can I at least place the port of the IV of the Jess Sittig: Right. Kiki Amlaw: Epidural so that when you sign off on it and she was like no she's fine. I'm like am I am I fine like Yeah, I was very glad Jess Sittig: Hmm. Is that Kiki Amlaw: that she didn't end up delivering them because it was a different doctor that delivered them and then she even came in the next day after I had them and said, are you ready to be discharged? And I was like, no. like one they're in the NICU. I'm not ready to leave. Two, I had a prolapse uterus and a prolapse cervix. Everything is still very sore. I am not ready to just get up and go home. And so another Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: doctor, she was like, okay, well you can stay one more day. And then a different, this practice, I think they had five, five or six doctors and I saw three of them while I was there. He had come in the next day and I was like, can I just have one more day? I'm still very sore. Everything hurts. I'm so swollen. I didn't swell. lot when I was pregnant but all the fluids from you know 28 hours 30 hours of having all the IVs my ankles were like this big and I I'm so sore and my girls are gonna cue he's like I'll you off to have another day in the hospital so I got one more day in the hospital I was like thank you I was like she tried discharging me two days ago and he went what I was like yeah it was I in the moment if we were still in Arizona in the moment of my delivery the doctor that delivered them in my brain I literally went, this is my new gynecologist. He was nice. He explained things to me. He gave me the reason Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: as to why they didn't want to break Kaia's water. If she would have done that, I feel like I would have not been as anxious or anything or not trying to rush it. Not that I wanted to rush. mean, there's a point where you're like, okay, let's get this baby out. But if all she had to say was we need this shot to be in your system for 24 hours for the girl's lungs. I would have sat back and relaxed. probably wouldn't have been as tense and in as much pain as you not allowing me to get my epidural. the new nurse came, she was like... How are you feeling? I was like, terrible. Like everything hurts. And I couldn't really walk as it was because it was awkward with being hooked up to the monitors with twins. Because it's not just one monitor. You have like all the sets of monitors. And I was like, everything hurts and I can't even move and I can't even eat. And she's like, well, why don't you do you want your epidural? It's like, I've been asking for an epidural for six hours. She put her foot down and the doctor finally came in and was like, fine, you can have it. And I was like, OK, thanks. Jess Sittig: Yeah, that's really bizarre. I'm sorry that you had Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: that experience and that even with her being there, that it seemed like Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: since you got a different doctor that it was still a good experience in general, but Kiki Amlaw: And I just, yeah. That was just one thing that I just remember going as soon as like Caitlin was delivered I was like this is my new OB like he was just on Jess Sittig: Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: top of it and it's funny because I didn't have I've usually had pitocin with most of my I've usually been induced with all of my kiddos and I've had pitocin and I Remember remarking I didn't have pitocin with the girls. Oh my gosh, this is crazy But then when I had those prolapses they had to squeeze two bags of Pitocin to get my uterus to shrink down. I was like dang it So close and they had to squeeze two bags in super fast to get it so that he could place my body parts back inside of me. So that was, I was like, dang it, now I the contractions, pitocin contractions now. And that was also hard, so. Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: And then dealing with the NICU, like it wasn't too bad. It wasn't that by the time I got to see them, they were both off of oxygen. So I didn't have to worry about that. I do have pictures of them with it because Kyle went straight as soon as like I he could. He went I made him go to the NICU for the girls. And then they were in for about five days. They were discharged on the fifth day and they. It was just their sugars and eating. Caitlin would not take a bottle and she just kept trying to rip out her energy tube. And so finally Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: I asked the nurse, I was like, can we try a weighted feeding? And she was like, you know what that is? I was like, this is yeah. Yeah. I was like, I've nursed, you know, three others. And she was like, absolutely. Let's totally try a weighted feeding. So they weighed her and then I nursed her and they weighed her again. And she said she only technically needed 35 milliliters of milk formula breast milk, whatever and she got 64 milliliters and she said Jess Sittig: Wow. Kiki Amlaw: You're done. You can go she fed she got it. You transferred more than she needed You're good to go. And so was like, okay. Well, can we can we Jess Sittig: that's fantastic. Kiki Amlaw: make sure that kaya let cuz kaya was fine taking a bottle I said, we make sure kaya can nurse too before we go just so I can get in position. She's like absolutely And because kaya was taking a bottle they didn't half like that wasn't what the whole up with her was it was all the the sugar like your sugar had to be a certain number and because she was so teeny tiny her sugars were so crazy and so her sugars were finally fine i was able to nurse her and then we were discharged on sunday and came home with two babies not just one not just one Jess Sittig: Not just one. Well, and I would always imagine my boys didn't have any NICU time. We were in the Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: hospital for about four days. Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: Wayland, my twin bee, had inhaled some amniotic fluid on the way Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: out. So he was having like some lung issues and they were having troubles with their sugars also, but it was enough to manage like in the postpartum unit versus Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: NICU time. But I would always imagine that would be so hard to balance with having kids at home. And that's what I was the most afraid of. Kiki Amlaw: Yes, I and I was so grateful that my that other OB let me have that extra day So I think I went home on Jess Sittig: Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: Saturday and so the girls were really only away from me for one day and but I was you know getting up every two hours to still pump so that I could at least try to build my supply and I was calling the NICU and we had one nurse that you know, we know that there's no guarantee they were breathing they were fine all that stuff was fine. They weren't having infections they were like some of the biggest kids in the NICU because you know, they're not too, too preemie. But we did have one nurse and we cut, my husband was like, hey, how their stats are, what are you thinking? Like, what do you think as a, as a professional? And we, just remember her saying something about how their brains aren't developed. And we were like, what does that have to do with that? She's like, well, most NICU babies and their brains don't have, I'm like, okay, we're not talking to you anymore. Nope. Jess Sittig: Like right, you're like that's not no. Kiki Amlaw: No, so when our regular nurse came on the next day, I was like, okay, how do you think? She's like, well, we need Caitlin to not have to use the NG tube. Kai is great. We need her to not have to use it. So that's why we did the weighted feed. And once we passed that test, they did the car seat test, I think Saturday night, which they both passed that because their breathing was fine. But all the heel pricks. my gosh. We're I'm not gonna lie. We're still paying their NICU bill because we just have it set up a certain way. So much money every month because that's just how you know it works. But I think I think they're gonna be like seven or eight by the time it's paid off unless we get some win the lottery. But I mean they don't the hospital doesn't care. It's paid every month and it's great. But those I'm not kidding. I think I don't even know. how many heel sticks each girl had but each heel stick was $50. $50 times two times every 30-45 minutes because they needed Jess Sittig: Times Right. Kiki Amlaw: I'm like cool cool cool cool cool and then they did like a sickle cell anemia test on the girls twice and I was like Why did you do it once to begin with? Twice. So when we had called and got the itemized bill, husband said, okay, if it's standard to do the sickle cell anemia test once, cool. You're gonna take the other charge off. Because my children Jess Sittig: Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: don't need it. It did not need to be done twice. it was $250. So that's $500 per child. I... Yes. Jess Sittig: that's a a great tip to get an itemized bill. Kiki Amlaw: Yes, get your itemized bill for sure and the hospital that I had the girls at for some reason so I had gone in a total of five times before having them because one time I was contracting at the OB this is what had put me on bed rest I was starting to have contractions but every time I went in, they would create a whole new account for me. And they could not combine the accounts. And so by the Jess Sittig: Hmm. Hmm. Kiki Amlaw: time the girls came, we ended up with like eight accounts between the three of us. And so my husband was like, okay, well, can you just combine them so we can start making payments? And the hospital said no. We can't do that, but we can send it to collections. So they sent it to like a fake collections office like to try to scare you and my husband was like, okay, well, can you combine all of my wife's? Because the hostel said, he said, how am I supposed to make payments on these? And they said, well, they're different accounts. You'll have to make up new accounts for each account. So they wanted him to make up six, us to use six different emails just for me to pay them and then two for the girls. Thank you. That's exactly our face. Like Jess Sittig: You're like, I'm sorry, this is your error. Like, what the heck? Right. Kiki Amlaw: I'm not making... Yes, not only that, I'm like, it's 2021. It's 2021. Like you can't just be like, that's one family. That's literally one person. It'd be one thing. Like I said, we totally understood with Kaya's and Kaitlyn's because they were two separate people. Jess Sittig: Sure, yes. Kiki Amlaw: But six for me. You're crazy. they what Jess Sittig: Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: they sent I think the like the collections had like five of the eight and has like well three more are coming. Can you call me when you get baby a amla and baby B amla's bills? And so they called and she goes, okay. Well, can I set up a payment plan for those three people? And they said we could just combine all of them together. So you just have one. goes, yes, please. So they combine Jess Sittig: Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: the twins and myself to one lump sum and Every once in a while like do we we think we have the money to pay it all off at once and I'm like no we don't Once we got like into four digits instead of the five figures. I like did a little dance I was like, oh my gosh, we're under $10,000 That's so Jess Sittig: I know it's Kiki Amlaw: exciting Jess Sittig: it's insane. So my boys didn't even have NICU time, but Kiki Amlaw: huh. Jess Sittig: I so I did see the high-risk doctor because I have a blood clotting disorder. So with all of those high risk appointments Kiki Amlaw: Yep. Jess Sittig: and being, you know, the it's like you get bills from the hospital and the OR and Kiki Amlaw: Yes. Jess Sittig: the doctor and the anesthesiologist, and you're just getting bills right and left. We reached our out of pocket maximum, So Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: We were like, it was a rough year. It was a rough year. Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. was like anybody anybody break their leg. That's fine. You break your leg you do that It is covered my at the time well He's seven now, but Camden was kind of walking funny and our oldest son should have had physical therapy when he was little for some like Intel wing that he had I just didn't now all of my kids my younger kids have had some sort of therapy physical ot speech. I'm so like Now with with cam i'm so like early intervention because in arizona I brought him to the doctor and my husband's like well if he has to have physical therapy at least it's covered for the rest of the year like it'll be fine and I brought him to the doctor and he was like, yeah He has something called atibia torsion. I was like, okay your tibias are not supposed to turn What are we gonna do about this? He goes, we'll wait till he's three Well, we had moved back to air back to oklahoma before that and I brought him back to his original pediatrician that has him since a baby and he goes, no, that's literally his entire hips. This kid was in physical therapy because of a hip issue that should have been corrected in Arizona and he had to wait almost an extra year. Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: he was in physical therapy for two and a half years because of it. And I was like, if this doctor just would have done this. But it's fine. We're fine. Uh, Katie had some physical therapy. Kaya had more because she was just, you know, so tight. She ended up having to wear braces on her feet for a while. Um, she curled her toes like in a, even in a resting position, her toes would curl. And Jess Sittig: Hmm. Kiki Amlaw: so we put braces on her feet to help keep her toes out so that, cause she wasn't walking. She was older when she walked. And then, uh, Katie walked almost too soon. So she was kind of bow-legged. So she did some and PT for a little while and yeah. So we have a very close relationship with our therapy place between, Yeah. Jess Sittig: A good, I mean, my boys have done physical therapy too. I feel like it something about baby A is very squished. And he Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: both of my boys were late walkers, 15 and 17 months. And my son, Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: baby A had to have a cranial helmet. So Kiki Amlaw: when I had CODA, was funny because Kaia had just graduated speech the week before I had CODA. I was like, I'm gonna miss you guys. Like I had been going there once a week. for two years, two and a half years. you just become close with your therapist. Jess Sittig: Yeah. Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: And one of the physical therapists jokingly was like, well, if you ever need us with the baby, you know where to find us. Koda had torticollis and did physical therapy for six weeks. And I told her, was like, this is your fault, Kristen. You're the one who mentioned it. Jess Sittig: I mean, all of that is so important. And I totally agree. Like get help earlier if you think that Kiki Amlaw: Yes. Jess Sittig: if you're questioning it, because it just sometimes if you wait longer, it takes exactly. Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: If it's nothing, it's nothing. Yeah. And like with Cam, like I brought Cam once we noticed that his leg was turning in and his pediatrician brushed it off. And as soon as we moved back here and we went to our favorite guy ever, he immediately said, it's not that it's actually this. And then he's like, what do mean the doctor said no before? And I was like, he like brushed Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: it. He was about to retire. And I think he was just kind of like checked out, like, I'm done, you know, whatever. And Jess Sittig: Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: I was like, but there's something wrong. I know that there's something wrong and not that you don't want your kids to be in therapy but I mean, Kaia actually was in speech therapy, graduated speech therapy, she had tubes in her ears and when the tubes came out she lost 75 % of her speech and we could not figure out why. We were like, she didn't have tubes for ear infections. It's bizarre Jess, it's literally bizarre what's going on with this poor child right now. I couldn't understand her. I'm her mom. I've always been able to understand her. Jess Sittig: Hmm. Kiki Amlaw: brought her back to, I got a speech eval, because finally I was like, okay, something, like what is going on? She kept passing all of her hearing tests. I was like, okay, but what's going on? Why I need to, we need to find out why she sounds like she's talking underwater. Everything Jess Sittig: Hmm. Kiki Amlaw: she was saying was like, it sounds like you're trying to hear her underwater. And I brought her to her speech therapist and the lady who did the evaluation was her speech therapist before. And she looked at me and said, what is happening? I graduated this child. She was talking perfectly fine. said the only thing that happened was the tubes came out of her ears. Nothing. Like there was no injury. There was no trauma. That's the only thing. Come to find out, we've got her into an actual audiologist now and we've just done all this testing and she has no acoustic reflex in her left ear. So when it's loud Jess Sittig: Hmm. Kiki Amlaw: in the background, she cannot hear. So like if she was in a room with a lot, which is so hard. when you have six siblings, it's always loud. She just Jess Sittig: Sure. Kiki Amlaw: gargles her words pretty much because she can't hear. she, it's like the auditory processing. She can't get it out because she can't hear what's being said. And so I'm like, well, that makes so much more sense. I'm not crazy. And not that you want something wrong with your kid, but when you know there's something not right. Jess Sittig: It's nice to have an answer. Kiki Amlaw: Yes. And when the ENT kept telling me she's passed, she's passed, and I'm like, but. Why is she not talking? Yes, she's talking. Don't get me wrong. And we did tubes because all of her hearing tests were always inconclusive at first. Like they were, she never had an ear infection. It was just every time they did the hearing test because she was a preemie and all that stuff, every time they would do one, it was never a pass. It would just say inconclusive on the screen. Jess Sittig: Hmm. Kiki Amlaw: Can't pass. Not a fail, not a pass. And so when I brought her to this actual specific audiologist here, she was like, That's really weird. She had passed like the same test at the ENT, but when she did this acoustic reflex, when she was done, she had zero acoustic reflex in her left ear and only like 20 % in her right ear. So Jess Sittig: Wow. Kiki Amlaw: when she does the hearing test, when she has like the headphones on, she'll start with words that are, say this, repeat this word, and then it'll bring in a background noise with the word. And Kaya goes, I don't know what it's saying. So we go on Thursday to figure out like, hey, what's our, what's our steps? Like, what are we gonna do for this? So I was like, this poor child. like, but I knew it. I knew something wasn't right. That's why mom gut is so real. it's so real. It's definitely a sixth sense I feel like that I have with. with the kids. And even when like my husband, when she was younger, my, and she wasn't really verbal, my husband would call me and he's like, Kaya wants something and I don't know what she wants. And I'm like, well, what do you, what, what is she trying to say? And he goes, I don't know. She's like sawing her arm off. I don't know what she's saying. I was like, she wants the wheels on the bus and it's a specific cocoa melon episode, but she's trying to say wheels on the bus, but it just looks like she's trying to saw her arm off. And he goes, thank God, you know what that meant? Cause I have no idea what she was saying to me. So yeah. Jess Sittig: That's I mean, I'm so sorry that you guys are going through that, but I'm glad that you're finally getting answers and that you found someone who Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes. Jess Sittig: isn't just like putting it off and like really Kiki Amlaw: Yes, yes. Jess Sittig: is diving into the underlying issues of what's going on. And I hope you guys get answers. Kiki Amlaw: Yeah, she also did like a brain stem test on her. Like there was like electrodes like behind her ears and stuff, which is so traumatic because Kaia is very like a sensory kid. So like we had to put like a gel on her head and kind of rub it in. She was like freaking out. Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: It's like, you're OK. Mommy will do it. Like the lady doesn't have to do it. Mommy can do it for you. she also on her and that's her left ear But also her left eye her optic nerve never formed So when she was a baby, we thought she had a lazy eye because her right eye would like drift in and I Jess Sittig: Mm, mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: brought her to an eye doctor and they're like no, fine. No, it's fine." And then I brought her to a different eye doctor for like just a regular checkup and then they discovered she has something called Dwayne's retraction syndrome, which is where your optic nerve never forms. So it looked Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: like her right eye was lazy when in fact her right eye was looking to the left but her left eye physically can't move to the left. And I was like, yeah. Jess Sittig: Hm. I see. Okay. Kiki Amlaw: So I was like, I knew something. It wasn't what we thought it was, but it is something. But now everything's like on that left side for her. So now Jess Sittig: Hmm. Kiki Amlaw: we're trying to, do we do an MRI? Do we figure out is there something else? We just want to make sure because she's starting kindergarten like she's already done pre-k She did great. She's very smart, but she's gonna be in kindergarten. There's gonna be more kids in the class It's gonna be louder we just want to make sure that she has all of the and her speech had digressed so bad that she ended up qualifying for in-school speech which is really hard to qualify for and I was able to because I was on the PTA at my kids elementary school last year I gave the speech evaluation to the speech therapist at the school. like, tell me what you think. Tell me if you think she would qualify. And she was like, yeah, I'll let you know. And she called me back 30 minutes later and said, I sent this to my boss. She's going to evaluate Kaia on Thursday, as long as your paperwork is filled out. And she will start speech in two weeks. And they're like, that Jess Sittig: wow. Kiki Amlaw: never happens. In most cases, it would have been the following school year, probably, because of trying to get in. She'd put everything lined up to where she's going to be at the school. evaluate her, all this stuff. And I was like, that is a God thing because otherwise, Jess Sittig: Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: like there's no way this poor girl, so she's doing private speech and she's doing in, well now she's not doing in school speech because it's summer, but she'll pick that back up when school starts. And then we'll see what happens with her hearing and all that stuff. And so we're going on Thursday. Jess Sittig: Well keep me updated. I wouldn't Kiki Amlaw: Yeah, definitely. Obviously, I'm not the audiologist. I'm like, I don't know what. And everyone's like, will she get hearing aids? I'm like, she can hear. She can hear you. It's just when there's the background noise. So I don't know if there's something that they do that can like tune some sort of hearing aid to tune out that background. I'm not sure. But with her being in school, I just, I don't want her to struggle. I don't want her to fall behind. or anything like that and the girls were not in the same class last year they didn't want to be in the same class and so I gave them the option yeah yeah Jess Sittig: Like we could have a whole nother podcast episode on that. Kiki Amlaw: yeah let's schedule that next I'm just kidding yeah Jess Sittig: No, for real though. I know that's like a big, a big thing. I do have just like a question about like big family. Like Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: what made you decide to like after twins and already having four boys, like, let's go for more. Kiki Amlaw: I just never had that feeling that I was done. I don't know if it's because I was an only child. mean, granted, you know, once you have three, then they all have a plane essentially. But I just never had that. I actually, this is, y'all are going to laugh. I actually had a tubal scheduled for last August and Jess Sittig: Really? Kiki Amlaw: I canceled it. I cancelled it. One, this is terrible. One, because it was right before school started and I had so much PTA stuff happening. But the other part was I was not ready. I just kept saying, no. No, I don't think I'm done. I don't think I'm done. And we had been trying. So that was I said, if I if I'm not pregnant by the time I get this tubal, you know, then I'm going to get it done. Then I didn't get it done. And so that was August twenty twenty five. And I think I was, I think I found out I was pregnant March 2026. So it's still been some time, but I remember saying, you know, if I'm not done by the time I'm 40, then I'm going to be out. I'll schedule the tubal and my due date is three days before my 40th birthday. And so it was funny, my friend Christina, who has twins, she's like, okay, you have like one more month, like joking, like you've got one more month to get pregnant, you know? before you say you're done. And then sure enough, I'm... When we're actively trying, always test before my cycle. Like, let me just try. And I remember thinking to myself, stop doing this. You're just stressing yourself out. Like you Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: have seven kids, you're fine. But I remember in whenever I had tested, I was like, why are you doing this? Stop peeing in this cup. Nope, still actively peeing in it. Stop dipping the stick in this cup. Nope, actively doing it. Okay, stop watching it, staring at it the whole time. the first law, Jess Sittig: Ha ha. Kiki Amlaw: seeing both lines immediately. I was like, okay. So then I like quickly like say, okay, if my last period was this day, like I switched it in my app, like, like by my period Jess Sittig: Mm. Kiki Amlaw: tracker app, and it literally put my due date three days before my birthday. And I was like, okay, God, okay, you I said that's what I wanted. And you gave it to me. So I'll most likely be induced also, especially because my due date is like Black Friday. And I jokingly went in not that I'm a shopper but like that's Thanksgiving week like you know you don't want to risk going into labor and then ruining everybody's holiday and because I had been induced with everybody before I said I went in at my very first appointment I was like six weeks and I went in I said why don't we just go ahead schedule the induction for like November 20th and he goes you know you're really sweet to think of us like that but it's a little early I don't think the hospital will let us schedule 33 weeks in advance and I'll I was like, I'm just trying to help you out and when I when Jess Sittig: That's hilarious. Kiki Amlaw: I would not change anything about it and I'm glad I'll be done by the time I'm 40 Jess Sittig: I well I love the timing of all of that. Like you said that's a God thing. Like the timing three days. That's so cool. Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Yes. Three, three days. Yeah, three days. And when I went, I went up to Rhode Island for my cousin's 40th birthday. And one of my aunts, who she's only nine years older than I am, so we're closer in age as sisters than she is with her actual sisters, we all went out to lunch and stuff. And I, my cousin was recording me and said, I said, record me telling Auntie Kelly that I'm pregnant because she's never seen me pregnant in person. And so I said, hey, fun fact, you've never seen me pregnant in person until today. my aunt, one aunt was literally speechless, had nothing to say. And it's on video and it's one of my favorite things. So I'm like, I highly recommend you flying out of town to tell your family that you're pregnant. And it was just, it was perfect. But then by the end of the weekend, like my whole family knew I was pregnant because they're like, did you Did you hear? hear? Did you hear? And so Jess Sittig: What? Kiki Amlaw: people are coming up to me at my cousin's birthday party like, are you serious? I'm like, yeah, it is what it is. Surprise. And it's funny because I'm the only one that's an only child. And so they're like, you have all people we never thought would have Jess Sittig: Sure. Kiki Amlaw: this many kids. I'm like, well, sometimes they come out in twos. You just have to remember that. Sometimes it's literally Noah's Ark. Yeah. Jess Sittig: Well, that definitely got the number up faster with having twins. Kiki Amlaw: Yeah, exactly. And then everyone's like, well, you're done now. That was the other thing was, well, now you have girls, you're done. I'm like, but I'm not. I'm not. I think for the twins actually we had been trying for a very very very long time or after not for the twins but after the twins we had been we weren't ever preventing and I actually went to my doctor to see like I am getting older let's check my ovarian reserve and it was right at the line of like in the green it was right at the line like it was low and I was like okay and so that was in December and then I found out I was pregnant with Koda in February and so I was like, my gosh, maybe this is literally my last egg. Like, that was the other thing before I got pregnant with this. And I was like, maybe Coda was literally my last egg, And then it's just literally all God's timing. We'll take it. Yeah. Jess Sittig: Well, that's so special. And I just I can't even imagine how fun and chaotic it is because it's pretty fun and chaotic over here and I only have three. So they're they're three years apart. So I had three under three, which Kiki Amlaw: It's so chaotic. Yeah. Yeah. And how old are yours? How far apart in age are yours? They're three years apart. Yeah. Yeah. Jess Sittig: was wild. I mean, you know, you had like your quote unquote triplets, right? Like the it's it's crazy. Kiki Amlaw: Yes, exactly. I had three under two. I had three under two. And I will, Jess Sittig: That's wild. Kiki Amlaw: that is the hill I'll die on when people tell me like, they're two years apart. like, no, no, no, no. He was not two. Jess Sittig: Mm mm, they're not. I love it. It's been so fun chatting about all Kiki Amlaw: Yes! Jess Sittig: the things. Eight, almost eight kids and twins Kiki Amlaw: Absolutely. I know. Jess Sittig: and our fiery redheads and all of it. Kiki Amlaw: Yes, so fiery. So, so much attitude. So much, so Jess Sittig: Yes, it's Kiki Amlaw: much sass. Jess Sittig: as a mama and a twin mama, you have a lot of experience. So if Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: you could have a heart to heart with a twin mom or give her a piece of advice, what would you tell her? Kiki Amlaw: I would say the newborn stage is not as scary as everybody makes it. Like I said, Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: was my biggest fear was reading all these twin mom groups of, there's two, they're both crying. Yes, hold them. They want to be comforted. They've been with somebody next to them for nine months or however long Jess Sittig: Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: you incubated them. And now they're out in a cold world. They just want you to hold them. I, there was men, I remember our first like cluster feed. just, everybody just kept bringing me food. Cause I was like, I'm not getting out of bed. I just sat in the spot with my twinsy pillow. Both that is another thing. I, if you're not, even if you're not gonna nurse that twinsy pillow was great. Like little. I loved it, but hold them and I know it's hard. know it's hard because there's two of them and eventually one might become more independent whereas Caitlyn was fine she didn't need to be held as often but Kaya was definitely one that just needed that more she needed mommy a little bit more than Caitlyn did so just hold them love them snuggle them because they only let you snuggle them for so long and then they turn 18 almost and then they don't Jess Sittig: I can't even imagine that. It's hard to I mean it's getting slightly easier to imagine my daughter is six, Kiki Amlaw: huh. Yeah. Jess Sittig: so to imagine her as like a teenager, but I still I still can't even imagine it. But Kiki Amlaw: Uh-huh. I... It's crazy because I'm gonna have four kids in the elementary school next year because the twins will be kinder, Cam will be second, and Kyson is going into fifth. So I'll have four kids in that school, which I'm so excited because it's one drop-off, one pick-up, Jess Sittig: Yeah. Kiki Amlaw: one building. The girls, their preschool was right next door on the same campus, essentially, but it was different times. So I had to drop them off earlier, pick them up earlier, and then... I'm very excited for one car line. One. Yes. Jess Sittig: I bet. I feel like we could have a whole other podcast on just like the logistics of how you manage eight, like Kiki Amlaw: Yes. Yeah. Jess Sittig: or how you're going to manage eight, you know? But I think that's really I Kiki Amlaw: Yeah, we could do that. Yeah. Jess Sittig: think that's really good advice. I think there's a lot of negativity online about twins in general. And especially like, yeah, o overholding your twins. It's like nothing is wrong with like you're not gonna spoil your baby. Kiki Amlaw: Yes. Mm-hmm. Let themselves... Yes. Mm-hmm. I never had a carrier. I didn't have a twin carrier, but when they were really itty-bitty, I figured out how to do it in the Moby Wrap, because it was stretchy enough. And there was Jess Sittig: Mm. Mm-hmm. Kiki Amlaw: a few times where I had to do that, because, like... because I did have other kids like Kyson was five and Camden was two and they were both home. I do have a saying that I always, always said, and sometimes I still say it, there's one of me and two of you. And I felt like I also had to tell myself that there's only Jess Sittig: Mm. Mm. Kiki Amlaw: one of me. There's two of them. I have to remember that, yeah, they might both be crying, but she might be crying because she's crying. So she really doesn't need something, but she needs something. So sometimes I would pick one of them up to get her started to nurse and the other one realized, Okay, she's fine. I don't need to be screaming anymore, too. And they're not identical, but some of the things that they do are very twin-like. And their voices don't sound the same, but sometimes they'll say something at the same time. And my husband and I will both just look at each other and be like, that was twinny. That was weird. Because they, like, Katie has like a deeper voice than Kaia does. And Kaia has more of a speech impediment, so some of her words don't get, but sometimes they'll say something or both like... That was 20. That was weird. Yeah. Yeah. Jess Sittig: That's really cute. I'm gonna use that. That was 20. I think like twins, and maybe this should be talked about more. I feel like because Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: twins are raised literally together at the exact same Kiki Amlaw: Yeah. Jess Sittig: time, they have so much more patience. And maybe you can't see it when you're in it. Kiki Amlaw: Mm-hmm. Jess Sittig: But now that you know, my kids are my boys are three and my daughter is six, I can see a difference Well, it's been Kiki Amlaw: I love it. Jess Sittig: so fun to chat with you and get to know you more. Kiki Amlaw: I know, yeah, I have to do a follow up with Kaya's ears and when school starts and all that fun stuff. Jess Sittig: Yes. and I so appreciate your time Kiki Amlaw: Absolutely. Jess Sittig: and coming on the podcast. Jessielee Sittig: Thank you for taking the time out of your busy twin mom life to listen along. I hope this podcast shed some light on a topic that's been on your heart and gave you more confidence as a twin mama. If you know a twin mom, please send this her way. If you like what you heard today, please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. Check out the show notes to be connected with today's guest and get discount codes for brands I love. See you next Thursday. Until then. You are made for this.