It might just be my computer, but I had a hard time hearing you.

But it was GREAT to see you both!!!

Good job on the video Helene!

They make swings that plug into the wall?!?

Hey Helene! How nice to actually "see" you!

Great job on the video - you are much braver than I.

You look so calm and natural! I would never have guess that it was your 21st take! I definitely want to see the outakes.

great job!!

my daughter said: mom that's a cute girl.

lol. she's three. and she's hilarious. :0)

What fun it was to see you on camera, Helene. Excellent, excellent video, my friend. I especially want to thank you for touching upon the issue of postpartum depression. It is something that affects so many women, but we often times disregard its importance.

-Francesca

PS: Got your e-mail. My summer is wide open. Let's plan to coordinate a date to get together the next time your husband is in the area. Would love to grab a bite or a cup of coffee! :)

YOU DID A FAB JOB! Your advice is wonderful too for those moms with double duty. LOL. WOW. again, like I've said a MILLION TIMES.. I ADMIRE YOU HELENE!

Your kids are precious, and you so deserve a MOTHER OF THE YEAR AWARD! I'd fall apart with twins.! Let alone 2 sets! WOW.

Awesome! You did a great job! It was nice to see you in person. What a great idea........could I be as brave as you?

Good job! Crap, thanks for the tip on the swing, pretty sure the ones we registered for are battery operated. I better load up on batteries.

Wow, H! Great job with the vlog! I attempted to vlog when I first started my blog and I was so appalled at my appearance and the clutter of the family room in the background that I deleted it and told noone!!

I, too, like what you said about postpartum depression and the "raging." I had a 2-week bout of it after my second child, but I could totally feel the "chemical" aspect of it. I don't know how to put it, but I recognized that it was a false emotion layered over my real self. It didn't make the feelings any less powerful, but it helped me cope to know that hormones had taken over somehow and my misery was not a true register of how I felt about my new baby.

I was so glad the worst of it only lasted a couple of weeks, and I now have a much greater sympathy for moms who suffer from it.

My first swing was the ancient wind-up kind. I'm sure you can imagine how horrible it was to just get the baby asleep in the swing only to have to turn the cranks. A nightmare! Way to go, Helene, on the video and everything you do as a mom!

Gods, I had enough trouble with one at a time.

But mine DID stretch over a longer period. At least you'll be done faster.

I've had one out of the house for three years, and I still have a kid in middle school. It's a long, long, long road.

Great job!

I am totally with you on the swing thing! My daughter slept in the FP cradle swing for 8 months! Mine didn't plug into the wall either, but we did get huge packs of D batteries at Sam's! LOL!

I also think it's great that you mentioned Postpartum Depression. It is very scary and you feel so alone!

Great job on the VLOG. Thank you for sharing a piece of your life.

I thought this was a great VLOG and it was awesome to get to see you in person (sort of).

I know about the PPD after I had my son I had it bad and was a mess. Finally my OB said I had some serious chemical issues from all of the in-vitro stuff pregnancy etc and I was on medication for about 6 months.

With the girls I had it 10 times worse maybe because of the NICU and Avery's issues and moving etc, etc. But it was so bad that I had identified who would adopt the girls and I was begging my husband to sign the papers. Once again the OB took charge and with some good medications all is better.

I also loved the segment about the swing we had a battery swing and and a plug in kind and I think we helped increase the stock on batteries by purchasing so many :)

I have to say that I LOVED see you. I think that it is so cool to see the person behind the writing that I love. You did a fabulous job.

I have to say a word about postpartum depression too. We had a social worker that came over to our house a couple of times to check on us after the triplets were born and she would screen me for depression. I has a mild case. Anyway, the questions she would ask we cracked me up. She would ak, are you getting enough sleep?, enough to eat? are you feeling overwhelmed? are you able to take care of you basic needs like showering? etc etc etc.
Finally after the 3rd time she screened with these questions I screamed "NO I AM NOT DOING ANY OF THOSE THINGS I JUST HAD TRIPLETS!!!"

You did a GREAT job.

I love this whole Chick Chat thing and being able to hear my blog friends!

I also appreciate your honesty about your PPD. I think a lot of women experience it on some level but don't know what it is.

Kudos! You did a great job. I am still too nervous to vlog. Loved your honesty.

Great job!!!! I enjoyed it very much. I like Francesca and read her blog regularly.

As for the PPD, I'm so glad you mentioned it. I plan on posting about it in the near future also since so many mom's to be read our blogs. It's important I think to realize that you're not going crazy (or that you are but you can get help). Mine materialized in anger... think 2 yo tantrums, that was me!

God bless you! I thought I had a lot on my hands. But when you deal with babies the same age it's much more of a challenge...Congrats! I look forward to reading more of your posts!

That was very polished, Helene! What a fabulous job you did. You managed to pack a ton of reaaly good advice into your time, too!

You looked fabulous and it seemed to come so naturally to you. Francesca sure knows how to pick 'em :)

Geez! I can't imagine having two sets of twins so close together!

Thanks for the swing advice, I'm writing that down right now for future reference!

Wow you did so good. Very natural and I just loved seeing you, you look great on camera!! I am so impressed. I am too chicken and sound way to texan to ever do a video blog, lol!! I am also happy you touched on the ppd, I think I had a mild case, with losing my temper and feeling completely overwhelmed.

Great job, Helene. I enjoyed hearing your perspective on raising multiples and you are so spot on. I think that it was so important to actually not have that much help either. It is crazy, but it forced us to figure out our routine and schedule.

Also, you really have me thinking about PPD. I think that I suffered from it and may still be suffering in some ways. I tried to go back on birth control a couple months ago and I was a mess (cried regularly even when I wasn't on PMS) and finally gave it up. Now I am just in a slump. We have some stress going on which I am sure contributes a great deal to my emotions, but I never think that I got my hormones under control. Hormones are incredibly powerful. Literally the day after my C-section I remembering crying that entire day! It was so obvious that my hormones have dropped completely. You are so right on about this.

Thanks for your continued honesty and "realness".

You did a great job.

I had babies one at a time and I thought that was hard. I can't imagine having more than one at once.

By the way, you have beautiful rings! I noticed them when you were rubbing your daughter's hair and I was all, "Ooo sparkly!"

It is so good to see you. Thanks for sharing.

First let me say, Helene you look so pretty in your vlog!! It was awesome to actually see YOU instead of just hearing your voice in the videos. ;)

YOu are one brave mama for doing this. HA! I don't know if I could...

I had a little trouble hearing you as well but it could just be my computer. I was glad you touched upon the PPD. I had it with my son (not a really bad case) where I lived in our room for three months straight. I didn't want to see anyone, shower or eat. It didn't help that he was born in Nov. and winter hit soon after...winter makes me depressed to begin with. I was able to snap out of it after those three months so I never went on meds. With Kara, I felt fine BUT the stress of having a two year old and newborn did take it's toll for the first few months and I felt a lot of rage. Again, I just snapped out of it. I can NOT imagine what it would have felt like with TWO babies instead of one. I thought ONE was a lot to handle.

I think you should do an "outtakes" montage! Can't wait "see" you again! ;)

Oh yes I LOVED my swings that plugged into the wall - I can't imagine how many batteries we would have gone through otherwise.

Great video and I tip my "hat" to you for having multiple, I can only imagine the dead on your feet lack-o-enery you must push through - I have one and I feel tired quite regularly!

This was GREAT! Fabulous job! I really enjoyed watching you wrestle your daughter!
I only had one swing. I might have had an easier time if I had three!

i found it quiet too but I just turned up the volume onn the video itself...

great vlog Helene. It's so nice to see you live and get more of a sense of who you are than you get from just a photo! Great tips. I did not know you could get swings that plugged in.

You did great Helene! I loved seeing you. You're so pretty and a natural!

Loved it when you shushed your daughter. Also, who knew that swings could plug into the wall? Hello, would have loved that too!

Hugs!

yeah! It was so fun to see you come out from behind the camera!
\
I've heard your voice on other videos, but this was awesome to put it all together.

Great first vlog!

First let me say - Great Video! No way I would ever have the guts to do that. Also I don't think I could think of anything to say.

You did talk a little fast at first, but I think you always have talked fast. I seem to remember in college friends of ours complaining that they needed to listen to a message from you five times to catch everything you said. :)

I think it was wonderful that you mentioned the PPD. I was lucky enough not to have experienced it, at least not enough for me to recognize it. I admire you so much for coming through it and being able to talk about it.

Take Care!
Jen

Good job on the video! =)

It's been my dream since I can remember to have twins. They totally fascinate me. Thanks for taking the time to talk about them! =)

(Visiting from SITS / 3 BayBChicks