Twins? who's got them?

[Skip2MyLou]

If you feel like it would help you and make you feel more confident, then maybe do it. But if you're not sure, maybe just read some books on raising multiples. Our local library had several relating to twin parenting. I would also suggest talking it over with your partner, I know personally, my DH probably would have been in favor of taking a class to increase his comfort level.

In my opinion, you can't really "prepare" for it with a class. Being a twin parent is on the job learning! If it were me, I would skip the class in favor of saving money and time. I know at least at our hospital, you can sign up for a free tour of the birthing center, so maybe contact your hospital and see if you can just tour the NICU.

Good luck to you in whatever you decide!

I would skip it. I think if you find the right twin website you will get all the help/ support you need.
I know I found twinstuff when i was put on couch rest in the beginning of my twin pregnancy. I don't think i would have breastfeed my girls if it wasn't for that site.

We did take an expecting twins class. We also took basic childbirth prep class and breast feeding class. I enjoyed the twins class because in Both other classes it was "this is this, except for you guys with twins. " over and over. I felt like we totally didn't belong. At the twins class, which was taught by a nurse who has twins herself, it was all about us. The best thing I took from the class though was meeting another expectant twin family that we have become good friends with, have play dates together, etc.

Thanks all! We are going to skip it. The class is tomorrow night but this has been a rough week & I don't think I can do 2 & 1/2 hours. Unfortunately, they don't have another until Oct 12. Oh well, it would have been nice to build some confidence or meet other twin families like pp's suggested but I will check out that website instead now.

 

[goteamwood]

Thanks all! We are going to skip it. The class is tomorrow night but this has been a rough week & I don't think I can do 2 & 1/2 hours. Unfortunately, they don't have another until Oct 12. Oh well, it would have been nice to build some confidence or meet other twin families like pp's suggested but I will check out that website instead now.

Maybe look for a local moms of twins club. I wish I had found mine when I was pregnant. We do lots with the club and I have made many twin-mom friends. I'm not from around where we live so I don't really have friends locally who have kids the same age. It's been great support for our family.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

I kind of have twins. My dds are exactly one month apart.

I'm assuming one was a preemie?:

 

[dd53]

I have fraternal b/g twins who are 12 by birth. I also have two seven year olds but they are three months apart.

 

[Interrobang]

I have four year old b/g twins who will turn 5 at WDW in February!!

 

[shebjo]

Hi. I havent read all the posts yet ....I am a mom of twins too - I have fraternal girl twins. They just turned 10 a couple of weeks ago. It does get better as they get older. My advice - especially when thhe twins are young: Accept help from others - let them cook or bring you food, do your laundry, stay around while you take a shower or nap, etc.
One of the best decisions I think I made was to put the twins in separate classes in pre-school (at age 4 or 5) and to put them in an all-day pre-school. The pre-school recommended separate classes but I was hesitant about it at first but in the end agreed to it. It was a little hard for a month or two (on the girls and mom) but in the end it worked out great. It made he transistion to kindergarten much easier - they were used to not being in the same class and they were used to going to school all day. They are going to fifth grade in Sept - are used to being in different classes and staying in school for up to 10 hours a day ( 8 to 5 or 6 pm).
And - we are going to Disney World in less than 3 weeks - part of the trip is being paid for by their school becasue they did very well academically.
Go with your gut feelings - you know your child but be flexible.

 

[Disneytwinsmom]

I have boy/girl twins, who are now 3 1/2. I had an awesome pregnancy. And I was high risk not only because of the twins but because I was 40 and it was my first pregnancy. I carried them full term! ( The first for my doctor for a mom with twins). I never even went into labor! I think I hade maybe one or two contractions, but nothing major!It was a scheduled c-section because of their position.
Keaton 6 lbs. 11 oz
Kinsey 5 lbs 14 oz.

Very healthy babies and now toddlers!

Love reading all these stories!

 

[quandrea]

I have boy/girl twins (2 and 10 mos). Since school let out (they go twice per week), I'm having a really tough time. They are running wild. Finished toilet training dd, but having a hard time with ds (poops everywhere but the toilet, pee ok). Every day just seems wild and I find myself yelling a lot and feeling extremely stressed. I think my dh is growing weary of my bad moods. I have a sitter who comes for an hour and a half, plus two half hour swim lessons per day. Otherwise it's me, them and my dd 8. Any advice? Really need some support. TIA

 

[quandrea]

We have 7 year old boy/girl twins! For those just starting off or still in the toddler stage, it does NOT get easier!

Our twins have been to Disney at least once every year, sometimes twice. I sure miss the days when they got in for FREE.

Don't want to hear this today!!!I said year two was toughest, now I'm saying year three. Is this a trend? Why doesn't it get easier. Please tell me it gets easier. This made me smile today. Thanks.

 

[quandrea]

congrats!! My twins were due Jan 21, they decided to arrive on Dec 22. Seems they do have a habit of coming a bit early, which if your wife is anything like me she will appreciate at that point It was the best Christmas present EVER!



I hear you on the potty training...hard enough with one...with 2 its nearly insanity inducing

Potty training has been THE hardest thing about having twins so far.

 

[Twin Dad]

I have boy/girl twins (2 and 10 mos). Since school let out (they go twice per week), I'm having a really tough time. They are running wild. Finished toilet training dd, but having a hard time with ds (poops everywhere but the toilet, pee ok). Every day just seems wild and I find myself yelling a lot and feeling extremely stressed. I think my dh is growing weary of my bad moods. I have a sitter who comes for an hour and a half, plus two half hour swim lessons per day. Otherwise it's me, them and my dd 8. Any advice? Really need some support. TIA

Sounds very familiar. My suggestion is to get them out of the house as much as you can. Also, talking instead of yelling works good too. I know its not easy and I'm guilty of yelling but talking and stating your expectations seems to work good. Also lay on the compliments. Hang in there. Everyone says if the twos are rough the threes will be better.

 

[quandrea]

Sounds very familiar. My suggestion is to get them out of the house as much as you can. Also, talking instead of yelling works good too. I know its not easy and I'm guilty of yelling but talking and stating your expectations seems to work good. Also lay on the compliments. Hang in there. Everyone says if the twos are rough the threes will be better.

Thanks so much. The past couple of days have been better. I've really been trying to stay calm in the face of chaos and it's working. Still lots of fighting and toilet training my ds is still not going so well, but I'm staying calm. It helps.

 

[HoosierDaddy71]

Another Dad to twins here checking in. My only kids are boy/girl twins who are 6 now. They have been to Disney World once and we are surprising them with a trip in Oct.

As far as pregnancy, my DW had a good pregnancy except that last week. She was miserable. Being only 5' tall, she carried the kids all out front. She actually couldn't drive the last 4 months of her pregnancy because between the big belly and her short legs, she couldn't reach the pedals. She carried to 37 weeks exactly and the kids were born by c-section, DD was transverse and on the bottom. DD had to be revived but has been healthy since. Both kids spent 12-18 hours in the NICU for oxygenation issues but have no issues since.

Biggest advice I have for parents of twin infants is if you use formula, mix a daily batch. Life got much easier once I figured out how to mix a days worth of formula every night. Trying to do it a bottle at a time was frustrating. A big pitcher and a hand mixer were the key.

How did parents of boy/girl twins handle the question "are they identical?" After a few times I just would say no and leave it at that

It still fascinates me to watch them and see how different each of them is, but how well they play together. Life is good...

Best of luck to any parents expecting twins, it is a unique experience.

 

[twinmom319]

My DH would answer "Are they twins?" with "No, they are triplets, we sold one on the black market."!!! You should have seen the looks he got!! And how many people believed him....

 

[quandrea]

Another Dad to twins here checking in. My only kids are boy/girl twins who are 6 now. They have been to Disney World once and we are surprising them with a trip in Oct.

As far as pregnancy, my DW had a good pregnancy except that last week. She was miserable. Being only 5' tall, she carried the kids all out front. She actually couldn't drive the last 4 months of her pregnancy because between the big belly and her short legs, she couldn't reach the pedals. She carried to 37 weeks exactly and the kids were born by c-section, DD was transverse and on the bottom. DD had to be revived but has been healthy since. Both kids spent 12-18 hours in the NICU for oxygenation issues but have no issues since.

Biggest advice I have for parents of twin infants is if you use formula, mix a daily batch. Life got much easier once I figured out how to mix a days worth of formula every night. Trying to do it a bottle at a time was frustrating. A big pitcher and a hand mixer were the key.

How did parents of boy/girl twins handle the question "are they identical?" After a few times I just would say no and leave it at that

It still fascinates me to watch them and see how different each of them is, but how well they play together. Life is good...

Best of luck to any parents expecting twins, it is a unique experience.

A fellow twin mum says about the boy girl identical question: No, one has a p***s. I thought that was hilarious, although I've never used it myself.

 

[Tabologist]

I have 7 1/2 year old boy/girl twins. They're going into to 2nd grade this fall

Planning our first Disney cruise for next July 4th

 

[Ennazus8810]

We have "Irish Twins". They are 11 months apart. My hats off to all of you with actual twins, after having mine I can't imagine having real twins!

 

[Twin Dad]

How did parents of boy/girl twins handle the question "are they identical?" After a few times I just would say no and leave it at that

It still fascinates me to watch them and see how different each of them is, but how well they play together. Life is good...

Best of luck to any parents expecting twins, it is a unique experience.

My response has always been "Boy, Girl." In a tone that says "You're a complete dumb***."

My kids are also completely different. They are best friends and worst enemies. It just depends on which 5 minutes you're watching them.

 

[Tabologist]

...How did parents of boy/girl twins handle the question "are they identical?" After a few times I just would say no and leave it at that ...

I always respond "no, they're not identical. Only one has a *****" Usually gets a laugh

 

[JessB320]

So no I don't have twins, but my 5and 6 year olds call themselves twins. Thought a few people may get a laugh out of this, the backstory - they are 15 months apart and look very very much alike (girl-6/boy-5) they are the exact same weight and about 1/2" apart in height. There are SEVERAL sets of twins in my family, on top of that they have two sets of best friends, both boy/girl twin sets. On top of that everyone , and I mean everyone asks if they are twins. The worst was at the drs office, the doc who they have seen for a at least 3 years now has referred to them as twins on multiple occasions (and yes this has begun to concern me as to how much he is really a paying attention to their files, or if he even reads them) anyway so add all that together and they have decided they are twins, when strangers ask they pipe up quickly and say yup, we are! I have tried to explain several times what twins really are, their response? Well we are still twins, just a different kind!! So now I'm just waiting for them to grow out of it and when strangers ask I just get away as quick as I can.