2013 In Review

This has been an incredible year for How Do You Do It?, if I do say so myself. Let’s take a look at 2013 in review.

2013 Year in Review at hdydi.com

HDYDI got involved in modes of social media beyond just the blog, from Facebook and Google+ to Pinterest and Tumblr. We even resurrected our Twitter account with the help of our new Twitter Moms. We freshened up around the blog, adding some snazzy icons, thanks to the very talented Nicole at the Pixel Boutique.

We added a number of new features and resurrected old ones, including Foodie Fridays. We started some other weekly series, targeted especially at providing inspiration and support to the newest MoMs, those with infants and toddlers. The ever-creative Dory kicked off Make-It Mondays, while Katelyn got our Monday parenting link party off the ground.

I dug up old gems From the Archives, remembering that many parenting questions, tips and tricks remain the same year after year.

The HDYDI Moms also ramped up our theme weeks this year. We participated in a Breastfeeding Blog Carnival, blogging about all aspects of nursing multiples, from tales of success to stories of heartbreak and loss. Our Back to (Pre/Home)School Week focused on beginning a new school year, while the How to Afford Twins Week spoke to one of the very real challenges we all face. Prematurity Awareness Week was both inspiring and heartbreaking.

Check out some standout posts from what our 37 contributors this year have had to say. That’s right. Thirty-seven contributors just in 2013! We wrote over 400 posts this year.

January
- It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: DrLisaM tried to take away her 3-year-olds’ pacifiers.
- Tips for Surviving the First Year With Twins: With two two-year-olds to care for, 2cuteblog reflected back on what helped the first year.
- Alone Time: Carrie considered the need for one-on-one time with each child and the challenges of finding it.
February
- Sundy shared her 20 Reasons Why Having Kids is Like Being a Celebutante. She was so funny, she got picked up by Scary Mommy.
- In The Great Minivan Debate, lunchldyd confessed that with twins making a family of five, the minivan she’d been avoiding has won her over.
- To Work or Not to Work: lunchldyd needed to decide whether to return to her teaching jobs after having twins plus one.
March
- Dr. Nancy Segal, renowned twin expert, graced us with her guest post, Separating Twins at School. This is a must read for parents as their multiples enter school. In short, every set of multiples is different and parents usually know best.
- In The Top 10 Worst Reactions To My “It’s Twins” Announcement, Elizabeth shared some of the unhelpful things people said to her on learning that she was expecting babies 4 and 5.
- How I Do It: Sadia told us exactly how she raises twins as a working single mom and former Army wife.
April
- When One Twin Doesn’t Want to Nap: ldskatelyn seeks help in managing her twins’ different sleep needs.
- In Talking to Kids About Chronic Illness, Sadia explains to her daughter what it means to have depression and how she manages her chronic condition.
- In Am I Being Responsible?, Elizabeth wonders whether she can responsibly expect the vaginal epidural-free birth she’d anticipated for her fourth pregnancy, in light of carrying twins. The commenters told her to seek out a new, more open-minded doctor.
May
- Pride and Joy: In what may be the most beautiful post ever published on HDYDI, Marissa talked about her pride in both her sons, both the “typically developing” D and “special needs” miracle A.
- In What Makes Her Special, Sadia‘s daughter M reflected on her own birth defect in a way that humbles and inspires the adults around her.
- RebeccaD pondered when to intervene in her babies manhandling each other in One Womb, One Space Bubble.
June
- MarisaB had handled her share of negative comments about having twins, but “I would die” was the last straw. She came out and told the woman that she’d been rude. How would you have handled it?
- In Baby Sleep Books: A Review, lunchldyd reviewed Weissbluth, Pantley and Ferber, having found the closest thing to sleep nirvana one can expect with twinfants.
- In Being Fair, lunchldyd confessed how hard it is to practice the fairness she would like to present to her kids. She’s just spread too thin.
July
- An Unlikely Pair: Living with Functional Multiples (And, Hi, Nice to Meet You!): Jeanene told us how her foster-to-adopt journey made her a mother of functional multiples, siblings who are just a few months apart in age.
- In Silver Linings of Bed Rest, Katie told us what she learned in her 12 days on hospital bed rest.
- How Baby B Stopped Sucking Her Thumb: MandyE used a sock with great success to help her daughter break her thumb-sucking habit.
August
- When Separation Isn’t a Choice: Jen Wood had to put her twin boys not only in different classrooms, but in different schools.
- In Twinfant Tuesday: Why the First Year is Hard, Sadia reflected on what makes the first year of parenthood such a challenge.
- In Breastfeeding Buddies: Twin Brothers Nurse while Living in the NICU, Carolyn – Twintrospectives gave us some concrete advice to new MoMs wanting to breastfeed while their babies are in the NICU. This is one of several breastfeeding posts from the week.
September
- RebeccaD has managed to fall in love with her Re-Shaped postpartum body.
- Carolyn – Twintrospectives, ldskatelyn, MandyE and Sadia collaborated to illustrate how The Most Challenging Age varies from family to family.
- Foodie Fridays: Saving Money at the Grocery Store: ldskatelyn and MandyE gave us practical pointers for stretching our budgets when feeding multiples. This week was filled with money-saving inspiration.
October
- Fourteen of the moms put together a how-to guide to Grocery Shopping with Twins and More.
- SarahP realized that one of the great lessons of multiple parenthood is to Let Them Be Different.
- dorydoyle compiled a fantastic list of Twin DIY Halloween Costumes. Could anyone say no twins as Luke and Leia? Or Superman and Clark Kent?
- Janna shared the Three Pictures you *MUST* Take of Your Twin Babies.
November
- Triplets?! Angela’s Story of Love and Loss: angelabickford3 talked about how she will always be a mother of triplets, even if the world perceives her surviving two NICU graduates as twins. This week was filled with stories of life in and after the NICU.
- Marissa‘s description of A&D’s Birth Story: 35 weeks 2 days isn’t a birth story for the faint-hearted, but her boys are doing extraordinarily well today.
- In A Year of Twins Taking Off Their Diapers, ldskatelyn took us down her twins’ journey of diaper removal, finally arriving at duct tape as the ultimate solution.
- Dana gave us The Straight Tuck Talk, her story of choosing, undergoing and making it to the other side of a tummy talk to deal with the very real damage caused by her twin pregnancy.
December
- In Do You Celebrate Christmas?, 2cuteblog told us how she, not being Christian, celebrates the holiday on a social level, not on a personal level.
- lunchldyd went on The Search for a New Pediatrician after she and her children were treated abominably.
- I Almost Missed My Child’s Call for Help: Sadia was grateful that she took the time to talk to her daughter about her abnormal behaviour, discovering that it came from a critical mass of difficult situations, both within the family and at school.