Image by Rebecca and Bernhard / Flickr.com
Isn’t it amazing how much advice you get when you are pregnant? I never realized until I was pregnant with twin girls that EVERYONE has an opinion about EVERYTHING when it comes to a baby. We were so excited when we found out that we were having twins! Being my first pregnancy, we were also a little nervous about what to expect and how we would handle two babies! That is when the comments started pouring in! When people found out we were having twins some said they were happy for us and that it sounded like fun, but here is what we heard most of the time…
“Oh my gosh, I’m so glad it isn’t me!”
“Wow, you are going to have your hands full. You won’t get any sleep for a long time!”
“Oh, what a nightmare!”
“I could never imagine having twins. Having one baby is hard enough!”
“Oh, you must have been on fertility pills right?”
“Wow, you guys must have ‘been busy’ to get two babies (wink wink)!”
After one of those comments, the person would inevitably tell me about someone they knew who had major complications with twins or some horror story of the like. Now these remarks might not sound like that big of a deal, but to a nervous first-timer, they weren’t the words of encouragement I wanted! I learned to tell people that we were so thrilled to get twins and that quieted most of them!
So if anyone out there is pregnant with twins, just prepare yourself for the unusual things that come out of people’s mouths! You might get some negative opinions about twins now, but once people see you with them, they will praise you for your hard work, your adorable babies, and call you a “supermom.” Let me just tell you that there is nothing more fun in the world than twins, so get excited!
QUESTION: How many of you have had twins?
CHALLENGE: Share your knowledge, positive experiences, and insights with a first-time “twinner” mom. She will appreciate it.
Submitted on 7-31-2010 at 11:35pm
Katie – This is a wonderful positive spin on twins. Thank you! We have two sets of twins. Our youngest (identical boys) just turned one. And our girls (fraternal) are three. “Boy do you have your hands full!” is by far the most common statement. Like you, we always mention how grateful we are, that it’s been a joyful thing to have our children come in doubles.
I write a Tuesday Twinspin on my blog and would love to have you contribute sometime. Leave a note on my blog if you’re interested. It’s getting an overhaul in the next few weeks so I can create a better forum for twin parents to ask questions, discuss, and glean support. Thanks again for your article!