So, Now You’re Pregnant with Twins

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Pregnant with twins?

First of all, let’s do this together: Take a breath, let it fill your diaphragm, and push it out. Repeat. Keep doing that . . . for the rest of your life.

Right now you are probably feeling a mixture of shell-shock, joy, fear, excitement, gratefulness, and a slew of other bizarre, girly tear-or-vomit-inducing emotions. And that’s ok. You’ll probably keep on having all those big feelings . . . well, forever.

But now that I am one step (just one teeny, tiny three-month step) ahead of you in the adventure of having twins, I want to give you a virtual hug and a squeal and say:

You can do this, Mama. Having twins is so very wonderful.

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I’m sure the moment you found out you were carrying TWO bebes, you googled. You googled in the car, didn’t you? It’s ok. But sister, do not google. You will find all sorts of scary junk out there. For instance, the article I found in the early days of my pregnancy was titled something light, like “10 things you may not know about twin pregnancies.” It then went on to rip away violently any shred of calmness I had about having twins.

But I want you to know some other things, too.

1. Not all twin births end in C-sections. Some do; mine didn’t. And once I started asking around, I found out that many of my twin mom friends had vaginal births, too. If Baby A is head down, your OB/GYN can likely flip Baby B’s head down, too.

2. Not all twins come early or stay in the NICU. Your twins may hang out in the NICU for a while, but your singleton could hang out there, too. My two got induced on my due date. A good friend urged me not to have expectations: just breathe in, breathe out, repeat.

I mean, no more toe touches like this!
I mean, no more toe touches like this!

3. You don’t have to stop exercising if you are pregnant with twins. After the go ahead from my OB, and encouragement from the national fitness director of FIT4MOM, I continued with my fitness routine, with obvious modifications as time went on (because ladies, my belly got HUUUUGE). And you know what? I felt great and gained as much weight with my twins as I did with my ice-cream baby  my second baby.

4. You might get high blood pressure and gestational diabetes and all that other scary stuff the blogs told you about, OR you might have a normal, healthy pregnancy. Stay healthy and try not to worry or be fearful. Did you know anxiety raises blood pressure and your heart rate?

5. Tandem breastfeeding is ridiculously ridiculous. But breastfeeding both twins, separately, is not ridiculous. It is time-consuming, but very possible. The odds are in your favor. Your body made twins, so likely your body will also make breast milk for them. But if it doesn’t, aren’t you glad there are other ways to provide nourishment for our littles?

Burping two babies is a farce, people.
Burping two babies is a farce, people.

Having twins is not the hardest thing in the world. Of course, it’s challenging. But having one kid is challenging. And Mama, there is NOTHING like birthing those two babies into this world. There is NOTHING like holding them together and watching them discover each other. And there is NOTHING like watching them fall asleep at night. I adore being a twin mom.

Breathe. You’ve got this.

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