Finding out you're pregnant with twins is possibly one of the most surprising pieces of news you will ever receive and it sits with folk differently. Mums and Dads find themselves dealing with all different feelings ranging from shock and fear through to contentment and excitement.
I myself had the surprise twin news twice; I have fraternal twins and identical twins and had them in that order.
I never believed to be pregnant with twins but I was over joyed.. I was over the moon. I was deliriously cheerful. I cried tears full of emotion. These were my first youngsters so the reality is I had no idea what being a parent was about and I had no prior experience with taking care of one baby not to mention 2. This is probably why I was able to relax in my joy of being different to the norm and felt privately extraordinarily pleased with myself for naturally conceiving twins. I felt part of a very special club; the twin club! In my opinion, my twins were the most wonderful to have happened to me and life made complete sense when they arrived.
My 2nd piece of twin surprise news came at approximately 8 weeks pregnant if I can remember rightly. I had previously had a miscarriage at 11 weeks so I was feeling terribly anxious. An early scan was in place to relieve nerves more than anything. At the beginning of the ultrasound I had spoken privately to the nurse about the miscarriage and she could see that I was ok about things and simply said "well you have actually made up for it this time". The nurse questioned if I had any person with me to which I explained my father was outside as my hubby was abroad and she suggested we bring him in. I'm convinced my Father was in more shock than I was. You do not expect it again notwithstanding all those funny acquaintances and family guffawing at their proposals of "oh what if it's another set of twins?"
How did I feel? Well, instantly, I just felt so enormously happy to be having another set of twins. I was high on adrenalin; incredibly excited. It was unimportant that I was equipped with the experience and understanding of how exhausting a twin pregnancy can be and indeed how demanding and exhausting having baby twins is. I was excited. I felt relieved it was twins. I knew the antenatal care would be comprehensive and felt cosy knowing that.
The best bit was telling the news first to my husband who I telephoned as fast as I was freed from the hospital doors. The communication was mobile to mobile and he just didn't get what I was saying. I'm saying "its twins" and he says "what about them?" and I say "it's twins" and it does not register as it was unexpected and among the crackling of the line he thinks I'm talking about our 5 year old twins! Finally, it goes in and he is excited too. Then my number one pal who was one of my funny friends provoking me about a second set of twins. Ultimately, my mum on vacation in South Africa at the time; shocked and had to hang up and call back. Nobody truly anticipated a second set but everyone was much more shocked than me!
Personally, I've learned so much from having children and having them has definitely altered me as a person; not that I used to be a bad person before, far from it but I was basically an individual who only had to take care of myself and therefore could lead my life quite care free and hedonistically. Looking after somebody else actually means something quite different and having two tiny babies being unconditionally dependent upon you is a great responsibility but one which has been rewarded with double the love and double fun.
So , my message to all of you twin mums who have just received the surprise twin news is don't sweat, be happy, you are about to start on doubtless the most special time of your lives.
I myself had the surprise twin news twice; I have fraternal twins and identical twins and had them in that order.
I never believed to be pregnant with twins but I was over joyed.. I was over the moon. I was deliriously cheerful. I cried tears full of emotion. These were my first youngsters so the reality is I had no idea what being a parent was about and I had no prior experience with taking care of one baby not to mention 2. This is probably why I was able to relax in my joy of being different to the norm and felt privately extraordinarily pleased with myself for naturally conceiving twins. I felt part of a very special club; the twin club! In my opinion, my twins were the most wonderful to have happened to me and life made complete sense when they arrived.
My 2nd piece of twin surprise news came at approximately 8 weeks pregnant if I can remember rightly. I had previously had a miscarriage at 11 weeks so I was feeling terribly anxious. An early scan was in place to relieve nerves more than anything. At the beginning of the ultrasound I had spoken privately to the nurse about the miscarriage and she could see that I was ok about things and simply said "well you have actually made up for it this time". The nurse questioned if I had any person with me to which I explained my father was outside as my hubby was abroad and she suggested we bring him in. I'm convinced my Father was in more shock than I was. You do not expect it again notwithstanding all those funny acquaintances and family guffawing at their proposals of "oh what if it's another set of twins?"
How did I feel? Well, instantly, I just felt so enormously happy to be having another set of twins. I was high on adrenalin; incredibly excited. It was unimportant that I was equipped with the experience and understanding of how exhausting a twin pregnancy can be and indeed how demanding and exhausting having baby twins is. I was excited. I felt relieved it was twins. I knew the antenatal care would be comprehensive and felt cosy knowing that.
The best bit was telling the news first to my husband who I telephoned as fast as I was freed from the hospital doors. The communication was mobile to mobile and he just didn't get what I was saying. I'm saying "its twins" and he says "what about them?" and I say "it's twins" and it does not register as it was unexpected and among the crackling of the line he thinks I'm talking about our 5 year old twins! Finally, it goes in and he is excited too. Then my number one pal who was one of my funny friends provoking me about a second set of twins. Ultimately, my mum on vacation in South Africa at the time; shocked and had to hang up and call back. Nobody truly anticipated a second set but everyone was much more shocked than me!
Personally, I've learned so much from having children and having them has definitely altered me as a person; not that I used to be a bad person before, far from it but I was basically an individual who only had to take care of myself and therefore could lead my life quite care free and hedonistically. Looking after somebody else actually means something quite different and having two tiny babies being unconditionally dependent upon you is a great responsibility but one which has been rewarded with double the love and double fun.
So , my message to all of you twin mums who have just received the surprise twin news is don't sweat, be happy, you are about to start on doubtless the most special time of your lives.
About the Author:
Mother of Two Sets of Twins shares experiences of twin pregnancy and parenting twins on her web site Twinstips.com
