Being twin parents has been a whole other experience. From the moment we found out we were pregnant everything about our journey with twins has been a curveball.
I thought I knew all about being pregnant and having kids…turns out I knew nothing. In the first month of my twins’ lives, I have also learned that there is a lot about twins that no one tells you about.
There is so little out there on twin pregnancies, twin labor, twin newborns, and everything twin parents need to know. But don’t worry I will share all I learn! For now, let me share 10 challenges faced by twin parents!
1.Finding Information For Twin Parents
As soon as we found out we were expecting twins my husband and I went immediately to Google and Amazon to find any information and books related to twin pregnancy and how to prepare for our boys.
What did we find? Not a whole lot. There is a lack of information out there for us, but fear not more research is coming!
2.Morning Sickness
Morning sickness was the worst from early on. I started getting morning sickness around week 4, which is what made me want to take a pregnancy test to begin with! The morning sickness was so bad some days I could not get out of bed.
What absolutely saved me was the Diclegis my doctor prescribed and making sure to eat small meals all day. Not only was my morning sickness more severe it also lasted well into 20 weeks! It felt like it would never end.
1st Trimester
3.Shopping for Maternity Clothes
Maternity clothes is not made for multiples pregnancies. I was in maternity pants at 6 weeks (gasp!) & tops as well. You would think simply sizing up would be sufficient but it is not.
When tops fit fine up top they did not usually cover my belly and if a top covered my belly it was really big up top. For bottoms, pants and leggings quickly became uncomfortable.
My belly got so big and heavy it would push down my bottoms leaving me sagging or constantly pulling them up LOL! I learned to live in long dresses…because the short ones would be lifted too much up front lol…oh the struggle.
Related Post: Twin Mom Lessons of The First Year
4.Pregnancy
My whole pregnancy was difficult but not horrible. I was more tired, I was hungrier, and everything felt EXTRA. And all my discomforts and feelings were always “normal” according to my doctors. Towards the end it all became a lot more difficult.
Every question I had about labor & delivery was answered with- “Well with twins it’s hard to tell. You should just come in it’s the only way we can know what’s happening”. Needless to say we got to know L&D pretty well!
5.Postpartum Recovery
I had a C-Section. Had I had a vaginal birth maybe my recovery might have been different, who knows. Despite the actual recovery from surgery, one of the difficult parts was being able to rest postpartum.
Because there are two babies I was unable to “take it easy” and truly rest, I needed to be up and helping my husband care for our kids. Not just the twins, but also our older kids.
6.Breastfeeding for Twin Parents
This one is touchy subject for me. I was sure my whole pregnancy that breastfeeding twins would be as difficult as it is with one baby. It seemed doable. What no one told me, and I don’t think anyone really knew was how difficult it is to breastfeed twins.
Even our lactation consultant said, “I don’t know if I could breastfeed twins”. I felt unprepared and uneducated. I had to stop. Had I known more about breastfeeding multiples I perhaps could have prepared myself a bit better?
What I do know is my boys were loved!
7.Getting them on the same schedule
After a month I can say that we are thankful to have the boys on the same schedule. This however was not able to happen until we began bottle feeding.
Although nights are easy because they both sleep and eat at the same time during the days they trade off. A few times a day they are up at different times, making it difficult for this mama to sleep.
8.Getting rest
Getting rest both during the day and nights is difficult. During the days I am home alone until around 4pm when my husband gets home. During the days I am a one man show!
As soon as my husband comes home we have all hands on deck…and all 4 kids to take care of. There is no running up for a nap or taking turns with the kids. We do it together, we are also exhausted together!
9.Leaving Your House With Twins
The days of leaving your home in 15 minutes are over! It takes me an additional 30-45mins to leave my home between packing a bag for two, changing two, putting two in car seats, and putting them in the car. My favorite is when I buckle one in and hear the other poop lol! Oh man!
10.Homemaking
My home feels cluttered, not as clean as I have always had it, and making dinner…there are a lot more freezer meals on our table lately! However, my kids are fed, my kids are cared for, and my kids are happy.
Sure there are difficulties along the way. We are definitely learning a lot about parenting and life as twin parents, but we are also loving it all. There is something to finding the beauty in chaos!