Twin Talk

Being the mom of twins, I get asked many questions pretty much anytime I venture out with the babies. Although I just recently got the courage to take all 3 kiddies out by myself, I even got questions when I wasn't them. So, to those of you wondering what it's like to have a set of multiples and a singleton, I will fill you in on some of the weirdest and oddest questions to the plain and simple and some I know you are dying to know the answers to.

Are they identical?

Ummm. NO! I have a boy and a girl. Therefore, they cannot be identical. Different parts and all. They are fraternal twins meaning they each grew in their own sac and placenta.

Did you know you were having twins?

A little bit. Yes. Of course we did. We found out at my first ultrasound at 8 weeks.

How did you feel when they said you were expecting twins?

Honestly, at first at laughed and then I cried my eyes out. Thank goodness Chuck was with me. When they finally left us alone, that's when the waterworks started. Chuck and I weren't really planning to get pregnant just yet and I freaked out. I instantly thought about everything. How will we fit 2 more kids in our 2 bedroom house? Will we have to get a minivan? How much is this going to cost? What will Gracie do? How can we possibly do this? But after we left, I got a grip and was excited to share the big news. I had ultrasounds of Baby A and Baby B to showoff.

Do twins run in your family?

Nope. Chuck, I believe has like 2nd cousins that are twins. My mom at one time pregnant with twins. And that I didn't even know until I was pregnant. Surprisingly with my HUGE family, there is not one set of twins that I am aware of.

Were they conceived naturally?

When I bought every book there is on being pregnant with twins I learned that almost 1 in 30 pregnancies nowadays are with twins. Plus if you are older, like me, it increases your chances. (I was 30 years old). The older you are, the more eggs you release. So be prepared if you are older and trying to get pregnant. What I learned: one time is all it takes! And that's the truth!

Did you find out what you were having?

When we first found out that I was pregnant, we decided to be surprised this time around. Afterall, the pregnancy was a surprise. But then when we found out we were having twins we though we better find out. But then as time got closer to finding out, we decided not too. I think it made it all that more exciting to me. I don't regret not finding out either. It made birthing day a little less nervous and a bit more exciting.

How many weeks were you when you delivered?

I was like Super-Pregnant-Mom! I made it to 38 and a half weeks! I was literally a week and half away from my due date. My due date was November 20th and I had the babies on November 11th. The doctors were very impressed! And they made we wait that long too! And although most people looked at me like I was a freak, I was one huge mama!

How did you deliver?

I orginally planned on delivering vaginally but the babies had other ideas. Both of the babies were breech nearly the entire time and pretty much there was no way that they would have been able to turn around so a c-section was planned. I was nervous at that but I knew that was pretty much the only option. I delivered Gracie naturally so that was all I knew. But the pro is that I expereinced birth both ways so now I can relate to any of my friends' birthing stories too!

What was the c-section like?

Well, for one, the day took forever and a day to get there. I was going to the ob once a week and going to the high risk doctor once a week too for nearly 2 months! I was ready! I showed up at the hospital at 6 am. They made me walk to the operating room and told me to climb on the table. Um, yeah, like I could really do that, I was a beast! They said lean forward for the epidural. I leaned forward like an inch. They asked if I could go anymore. Nope. Were they expecting me to touch my toes? My stomach was already taking up the whole table! I laid down and Chuck walked in and then they were like "Baby A is a boy! Big Boy!" What? Are you kidding me? You just started! Then they were like "Baby B is a girl!" I was crying because I was so excited about the boy-girl thing, cuz that's what I was hoping for. I looked at Chuck holding both babies and then I just wanted to go to sleep.

How big were they?

Baby A was Presley and he was 8 pounds, 19 1/2 inches long. Baby B was Evelyn and she was 6 pounds 4 oucnes, and she was 18 inches long. Very good-sized twins! I grew 'em big what can I say? Gracie was 8 pounds too!

Did they have to go to the NICU?

Nope. And because I made it to 38 weeks, the NICU doctors didn't even have to come to the delivery of the babies. Even though each baby had a little team of doctors and nurses, NICU people were not one of them. Go me! My babies were able to leave with me!

Did you breastfeed?

I tried. And at first it went good. And then we get home. I nursed and pumped but still had to supplement with formula. Presley just wanted to eat all the time and it was hard to get both babies latched on at the same time. If one slipped, I didn't have an extra hand to help them back on. I did my best with nursing until they were about 2 months old and then I stopped. I knew I had to go back to work and didn't want to worry about pumping. I had Gracie, my 2 year old running around. It was very busy! I felt like I just sat around feeding babies all day! It was too hard! I felt guilty about quitting but now I feel okay. Sometimes a sane mother is better than a breastfed baby. If you can do it, good for you!

What is life like with twins?

It was an adjustment . I can't say it's easy, ever was easy or will ever be easy. Gracie needs attention too. I had a hard time adjusting in the beginning and then it got ok. And then I went back to work and it got superhard again. When Chuck went back to work, I had a hard time. I still sent Gracie to the babysitter 2 times a week. We took turns sleeping on the couch because the babies just slept in the pack-n-play in the family room. We quickly realized that if you didn't feed them at the same time during the night, then you weren't going to get much sleep! So we did wake up one baby if the other was ready to eat. It still is that way today. Although they sleep all night, I have them a schedule during the day. Eating and napping at the same time is key or you will go insane!

How does Gracie do with the babies?

She is such a great big sister! She loved the babies from the very beginning. She really takes to her sister, Evie. She wants to help feed them, change them, sing to them, read to them, play with them. I was worried and felt horrible guilt about bringing home 2 babies to her but she did really, really well. Sometimes she gets jealous but for the most part she is good. I make sure she has her time too with just mommy and daddy and she likes that. Now the babies are sitting up and playing more, she loves making them laugh. She sits by Evie in the van and I always here her talking to her and hearing Evie laugh. It is so cute. And if one of the babies is crying, she will go up to them and say "it's ok." And when they wake up in the morning, she will come wake me up and tell me to go get them. I really do have the best 3 kids around. I am truly blessed.

Did you have to buy a lot of other baby things?

Well, thankfully, we had all of Gracie's things. And they were all gender friendly since we didn't know what we were having. In addition to trading in our Escape for a minivan, and keep in mind I already traded in my prized yellow bug for the SUV when Gracie was born, we for sure had to buy another crib and luckily found one that matched the set we already had. Plus it was on clearance. We had to buy another car seat. Although we ended up buying 2 that matched since I had a complex about that. Luckily, again, clearance and I found out Babies-r-us has a twin discount. I bought another bouncy seat, a small swing and my friends surprised me with a new pack-n-play. I also bought a few matching outfits that were gender neutal. And let me tell you, that is super hard to do these days since almost everything is girl or boy themed.

Do you take them out?

I do. Mostly it's to my parents or the babysitters. I didn't take them out much though for the first few months mainly because it was cold and winter. I just recently started taking them all to the store with me by myself. It's not as hard as I thought but I have to be quick and in-and-out. I have to time it around eating and napping and making sure Gracie uses the potty before we go. I have to either drag my double stroller or use 2 shopping carts but I am determined to NOT spend my summer sitting in my little dinky house just because I don't want to take them all with me.

So there you go: a little light into the world of twins. Sometimes I really feel like if I can handle 3 kids under 3, I can do anything. Being a mom is hard but it's the best and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Now if only I could make that be my one and only job..........