I was never one of those people who hoped I’d have twins. When I had my first baby, I had a friend who had twins around the same time and I remember thinking better her than me. One newborn was enough work. I was perfectly content popping one baby out at a time.
Fast forward to my second pregnancy. I went in for my 20 week ultrasound and after looking around a bit, the first words to come out of the ultrasound technician’s mouth were, “So did you know you’re having twins?” No. No we did not. We simply thought we were going to find out if we were having a boy or girl that day. Instead, we found out that we were halfway through a twin pregnancy.
The moment I became a twin mom, my life changed forever…in the best possible way.
Don’t get me wrong. The first year was HARD. Harder than anything I’ve done in my life. It was pure survival mode. If you know a twin mom, I’m sure you’ve felt her desire for you to know and understand just how difficult it is. It’s true, we do kind of want you to recognize that having twins is no walk in the park.
However, we also want you to know that being a twin mom is one of the best things that can happen to a person. Don’t pity us too much because while it’s obviously double the work, we’re also having double the fun.
10 Reasons Why Being a Twin Mom Is Awesome
1. ONE pregnancy. We might have been HUGE and uncomfortable, but we only had to go through one labor and delivery, one recovery, one sleep deprived newborn stage, and we got TWO babies!
2. Extra daddy bonding. While many dads of singletons were sleeping during middle of the night feedings, our men were in the rocking chair next to us, and are now totally empathetic when they hear us say “I’m exhausted.”
3. Celebrity status. It’s a bit of a thrill being a twin mom when we venture out in public. We’re almost always stopped and get lots of questions and attention from strangers. And while we might get tired of a million people a day telling us we have our hands full, we also know that means our hearts are too.
4. We don’t judge. We’ve likely found ourselves in every embarrassing new mom circumstance, which may or may not include pumping in the car while going through the Starbucks drive-thru with screaming babies. So when we see a mom of a singleton doing really anything that other moms might sneer at, we’re gonna give you a high five and hand you a Bux gift card.
5. We view milestones as estimations. It’s fascinating to watch two babies grow at the same time. Even identical twins, who are genetically the same, develop at different rates. Instead of comparing them, we notice that each has been gifted in different ways. We aren’t stressed if they hit milestones exactly on time or not, we celebrate their uniqueness.
6. Built in besties. There is nothing sweeter than watching two babies giggle back and forth, communicate in their own language, chase each other around the kitchen, or play peek-a-boo together. Honestly, after they learn to sit up, a twin mom’s job becomes more of an observer than an entertainer!
7. More time at Target. When you’re a mom of multiples, shopping has to be about convenience. Thankfully, Target knows this and has blessed us with the mega cart, making it one of the few places a twin mom can easily take her crew. Target runs being totally justified? Hallelujah.
8. Sharing is caring. Twins have to share everything. We don’t have to work as hard teaching them to share and take turns because they’ve been doing it since birth! They learn from a young age that life is not about them, and it’s so sweet to see the compassion they have for one another, even if it does come in the form of sounding like crying fire sirens.
9. Matching and coordinating. Before twins, I never thought I’d be one of those moms who had the matchy-matchy twins. But it must be of those twin mom phenomenons. It’s just SO MUCH FUN.
10. Double the love. Our hearts explode and our love multiplies constantly. Seeing two smiling babies pop up after nap time, ready to snuggle with mommy is enough to convince us that we’d go through every difficult moment again in a heartbeat.
The list goes on and on. The next time you see a twin mom, tell her how lucky she is. One of our favorite things is when other people acknowledge the double blessing it is to be a mom of multiples!
51 comments
I am an identical twin, and I have identical twins! My doctor said I had a better chance of winning the lottery than having identical twins. My girls are 18 now, but I remember the craziness when I attempted to go to the store with infant twins and an 18-month-old. Enjoy every moment, because they will be all grown up before you know it. When people told me I had double the trouble, I always replied that they were double the blessings! Thanks for the great article, and best of luck!
My twins are prepping for college in the fall…I can’t believe it’s been 18 years since we heard…”boy are you gonna be surprised” at our sonogram! I proceeded to ask every adult twin I could find what their parents did right & what I could do to be a better mom of twins…they all said “even though we look alike, we arent always.” I took that advice and raised mine as sisters who look alike…don’t get me wrong…before they wanted to pick out their clothes.. I did have them matching. They have become incredible young ladies. Worth all the hard work!
My twins are 41 yo, identical boys! Double the trouble, but double the joy and love. Dad was in the army and gone a lot, but we made it work. Didn’t go shopping much when they were very small, but was blessed w neighbors and friends who would watch them or go with me when hubby was deployed! Right now they don’t have children, but some day. I would love to see one of them have twins. Would not change one minute of the twin experience!
I loved this article because it rang so true to me as I have three under three as well! A 2.9 year old daughter and 19 month old twins so I completely sympathize and can relate to everything you have gone through. HOWEVER, I have never seen those shopping carts at any Target near me…those would have changed my life!!!! Do you know how many target runs I’ve missed because of logistics? The only viable carriage is at BJ’s wholesale, which means I buy a lot of bulk:-)
I enjoyed this. I don’t have twins, but have a 9 month old adopted daughter and 7 month old son. I deal with the logistics of toting them around and also get asked if they’re twins. I knew it would be hard, but I just do what needs to be done. I put them in the stroller to shop. I make all their baby food, and it’s hard to keep up!
I have four girls and when my twins were born my older two were 2yrs 8m and 18months , then came our new born mono twins:) it was truly a blessing and they keep me on my toes. But they are all best friends and I love watching them play! It’s amazing! I did the first few years alone as my husband had back to back deployments! And when u have four under 3 you make life work! But I would never change anything in my life I am blessed! And to all new twin moms it will all work out:)!best of luck and know it’s a true blessing a baby one, two , are six they are all amazing in there own little way
My twin boys are 17 now…wasn’t sure we would make it this far many, many times. Some of these 10 reasons are spot on true and some just make me laugh. I remember the day I was leaving the hospital after having them…they were staying in the NICU after being 6 weeks early and only 3 1/2 lbs each…there was a gentleman in the elevator with us whose wife was in labor with her THIRD set of twins, no they didn’t run in the family (one of the questions the multitudes love to ask on their 101 questions) and no they didn’t have fertility treatments. I knew from that day I would do everything possible to not get pregnant again becuase I had that kind of “luck”. LOL I wouldn’t trade any of the days with my boys for anything (well maybe a couple of those days like the one where they got a hold of the brand new bottle of baby powder), it’s easier to look back now and laugh at the days I cried. I still get the “I wish I had twins” statement when people see my boys and I grin and think to myself “borrow mine and you will change your mind!” Life with twins is never a dull moment.
It is so fun with two at once…and incredibly exhausting! My twins are babies 3 & 4 and I am not sure how 4 hours of sleep a night can be enough, but by the grace of God it has been. The first year has been tough, but very rewarding too. So glad for the twin mom community!
If I’d had the time & energy when my twins were little, I would have posted the following on the side of the stroller (maybe if you know someone with little twins you can do her a favor and make her a sign): Yes, they are twins.
Yes, they are identical.
They were born four minutes apart.
They were both just over 5 pounds.
They are now six months old.
I have to agree about having a hard time with thinking the labor & delivery were OK because you got two for the single delivery. I hemorrhaged & then coded twice the night my twins were born and remained non-functional for four days thereafter. It took a long time to gain my strength back. I always said that I would take another set of twins if I didn’t have to be pregnant with them or deliver them!
My twins are now 26 with a singleton 3.5 years younger. I can remember being so tired, but they were so much fun. We moved to Europe when they were 7 weeks old. I swear by my old perego double stroller. We shopped and walked all over Germany with it. Mine have been such a joy. The funniest thing I heard was a lady insisting my boy/girl twins were identical:)