It’s been a while now since I gave birth. Ages, even. Centuries. I am now 100 years old.
Just kidding, it’s been about 9 months. They have now been out of me the same amount of time they were in me. It feels like forever though.
Twins get a lot of attention, way more than just my previous one baby. I get stopped by anyone who has ever had a relative with a twin. I’m not complaining either, I LOVE it. I feel like I’ve become part of the twin tribe. I know many moms with twins now, way more than I thought was possible. One of my new twin mom friends even mentioned she specifically adds all twin moms to her friend group. She says she’s known for her twin mom collecting.
Other than the twin moms, I also get attention from everyone else. As I move around in my everyday life, people comment. Never rudely, always kindly, and I get it. I have a lot of babies. The number one thing I hear is, “You must have your hands full!”
If the conversation continues, there’s a few questions I get a lot. Since people seem to be curious, I decided to make this FAQ to answer all those common questions.
Are they identical?
Number one question I get asked. No, they aren’t. They actually look almost nothing alike. But babies look kind of like potatoes to lots of people, so I’m not expecting everyone to pick up on how they look different.
How do you manage?
Coffee, lots and lots of coffee. (That is seriously the best coffee ever though, I highly recommend!) But other than that… just one day at a time. It was very hard in the beginning. The lack of sleep was the main problem, waking up 6-8 times a night is brutal. I was drained, stressed, exhausted, and my entire life was just taking care of everyone else. I had no personal time for anything. I didn’t see friends and I didn’t even leave the house. I felt overwhelmed with all my horses. It was rough.
But it gets easier. It gets better. Every day is just a little bit easier.
Was the pregnancy hard?
Yes, but also not as bad as it could have been. A twin pregnancy is automatically a high risk pregnancy. There’s a lot that could go wrong. That being said, I didn’t have anything go wrong. I had sickness nearly the entire pregnancy, I was extremely uncomfortable, and my body looked like a wreck, but I went all the way to 38 weeks, which is not common for a twin pregnancy. Twins frequently come early and have complications, putting them in NICU, or sometimes worse. I didn’t have anything happen. I had a scheduled c-section with no complications, two 7lb babies (a very normal weight for a non-twin pregnancy), and the doctor said they showed no signs of being interested in coming out on their own. They probably would have gone the full 40 weeks if they weren’t forcibly ejected.
How are you recovering?
I’m okay. I was made to walk around just hours after my c-section, which was super painful and hard at the time, but it made my recovery fast. I had no complications from it, and it was a pretty positive experience. Like ordering takeout, call in your order, and then just show up and get your food. Except with babies.
The huge, angry stretch marks on my stomach, which I was very worried about, are fading. My hair has finally stopped falling out in clumps. I have a little bit of time to myself again. I’m finally making a dent in losing the baby weight. My hips seem huge now, though. I don’t know if that will be the new normal or not.
It’s been a journey for sure. But I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel – a normal life is coming back to me.
Are they IVF babies?
No, completely natural. But I’m also older, and it’s more common for older moms to have multiple babies.
Do twins run in your family?
Yes they do! Something I didn’t notice or think about before. There’s a huge amount of twins in my mother and father’s families. It’s not something I ever thought would happen to me, so I didn’t really think about it.
There are no twins in my husband’s family, but it should be noted that he would not have been able to influence whether I had twins. That was my body’s decision only.
Do they cost a lot of money?
Well, they use the same stuff, so really not much more than our single baby. Yes, it’s twice the diapers, wipes, and formula but that’s about it. We blend up our own food, which is a huge cost saver. It’s super simple and way cheaper than buying baby food.
How did you survive the baby formula shortage?
Since we had many months to prepare for the arrival of the twins, my husband stocked up massively on baby formula. This was before the shortage so we were able to get lots and lots of formula without a problem. We use the Costco brand, Kirkland Signature ProCare, which is much cheaper than other brands, and works great for the boys. So when the shortage first started, we weren’t low, but eventually our parents were watching the Costco website and buying formula every time it was in stock.
We did not run out of formula, but there were a few times the boys failed to finish their bottles and we had wasted formula. They were happy to throw formula around as though there was no shortage!
They are a lot of work, but it has been fun seeing their personalities come out. The last year has gone by so fast, it’s felt like everything was in fast forward. I guess that is what happens when nearly every minute of every day is filled. I don’t think I’ve ever kept to a schedule as well as I do now.
I can’t exactly recommend twins, as it’s not something that most people decide, but it’s not that bad. It’s just another life adjustment, same as when any baby arrives. You get used to the new routine, and then it is what it is.
The most difficult part is just trying to transport them anywhere. I can only carry one baby at a time, so it’s a little bit difficult to even just move around the house with them. The other baby gets upset at being left behind. I’m limited to areas that are close to each other to avoid upset babies. If my house was bigger, I’d bring my stroller inside and use that. I’m looking forward to the crawling/mobile stage, despite everyone telling me the doom and gloom of them getting everywhere. Yeah, they might be wandering, but at least I won’t have to basically schedule moving them around the house!
But I digress… just an life adjustment, and then you’ll be fine. Plus it’s just one pregnancy for two babies, so really it’s like a great buy one, get one deal. With just one uncomfortable pregnancy, you’re ending up with two whole babies, saving yourself from having another pregnancy, getting back a full 9 months of your life! Wow, what a savings! You’d be crazy not to do it!
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