Are those twins….do twins run in your family…did you do IVF? Just a few of the frequent questions I get as a twin mom. There are also comments that make me cringe, “your hands are full…better you than me!” And by far the most common “How do you do it? So what is it like having twins? Let me tell you how it all started…
Ever since I was a little girl I loved babies and dreamt of being a mother. I was fortunate enough to get pregnant with our first baby about two years after getting married. A little strawberry blonde girl we named Anya. I knew I wanted more kids, ideally three but I couldn’t imagine two more pregnancies and my husband wanted to stop with our perfect little Anya. I convinced him one more would complete our family perfectly and so we decided one more baby. One more and our family would be complete; our little Anya would be a big sister!
The next month later, after diligent planning on my part, we got pregnant again. My first obstetrician appointment with baby number two did not go as planned. I had a positive pregnancy test but no heartbeat on the ultrasound. “You probably miscarried, it happens all the time” my obstetrician apathetically said “come back in a week and we’ll do a D&C (dilation and curettage, basically scraping out the miscarried baby) we will also do a blood test prior to the appointment to see if your levels are consistent with a viable pregnancy.” I was devastated and completely heart broken, what I thought I had was gone, or never even existed. I was so confused. Later that week I had the blood draw and surprisingly my levels were elevated. I was hopeful yet cautious and I went back to the obstetrician a week later for what I thought would be a D&C. He did an ultrasound just to be sure there really was no heartbeat before we proceeded with the D&C. “Wow, look! There is a good, solid heart beat!” he said. I couldn’t be more thrilled, thank you Jesus I thought! My obstetrician paused “Oh wait, there are two heart beats…you are having twins!” A state of panic ensued, especially since I hadn’t brought my husband to the appointment, selling him on a second baby was difficult enough, now twins! As my OB started listing off what felt like a thousand things that could go wrong with the pregnancy I felt faint. The phrase “high risk pregnancy” rang in my head like a siren. I felt as if the entire room was caving in on me. A couple deep breaths and I continued to listen and try to take it all. Immediately leaving the appointment I called my husband and shared that we had quickly gone from miscarriage to twins. In contrast to the joyous response he had with Anya’s pregnancy his response to twins was, “oh shit”. I thought to myself, here we go!
That night my husband and I dealt with the news in our own ways, he took a nap and I frantically searched the internet looking for products and other mother’s experiences in ways to care for the amazing blessing and challenge that had just been bestowed on me.
I was fortunate enough to have a healthy pregnancy, and I used exercise and physical fitness to help me deal with the nausea, fatigue and overall anxiety that was carrying twins. I continued to teach Bodypump (a full body barbell class) at 24 Hour Fitness and took Anya on jogs in the jogging stroller. I researched triple jogging strollers and with the help of other twin moms and my mother in law I was able to find one that would work for our growing family. I knew having a solid jogging stroller would give me the freedom to continue to run after the babies arrived, as well as take them places like the park and grocery store safely.
As the pregnancy carried on the twins were head down and we were planning a vaginal delivery, however at 34 weeks baby B (Natalia) flipped and became breach. We decided a C-Section would be our best option although another scary and unexpected decision.
The c-section went about as well as it could, other than vomiting for 30 hours after, ugh! The recovery was tough especially with a nearly two year old. I remember clearly one morning trying to get out of bed and being in so much pain from my week old abdominal wound that I just started sobbing. I was in pain, both twins were crying and wanting to be fed, and Anya was in the other room screaming to get out of her crib. I could barely get upand I laid there for a moment crying and feeling sorry for myself. Rather than sulking for too long I tried to remember that I was given a gift. It was tough and would continue to be but I had both the responsibility and the blessing of taking care of these three precious angels. Like all things in life worth doing, this would be difficult. The moments that were toughest I would lean on my husband for support. I would ask for help from my mom, sister and a few great Aunties. I would pray, call friends who had been through it, look for articles and books to read that relate to my situation, and sometimes cry, because that’s okay too!
We couldn’t be happier to be twin parents. The joy these babies have brought us is indescribable
Nikolaj is sweet and witty and such a goofy little guy. He love swimming and basketball and most of all playing with his twin Natalia or Talia as he has recently been calling her 🙂
Natalia is the sweetest, most loving lil girl I have ever met. She is very empathetic and can sense when someone needs a hug and is more than happy to oblige. She loves soccer and is quite good, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get the ball in her possession;)
Happy birthday my sweethearts! These past 8 years have been the best of my life because of you two! Now please excuse me as I ball my eyes out and squeeze these “babies” extra tight tonight. As we know they will never be this little again!
Loved reading this Jenny!!! Happy Birthday twins!!!