RAISING TWINS

Who said raising Children was easy let alone raising Twins, not only one set of Twins but two sets of Twins.  This is a household with a Mother, Father and five Children.

When my first child was born he was the centre of attention on both sides of the family because he was the first Grand Child for both sets of Grand Parents.  By the time the first set of twins were born four years later, our four year old was no longer the centre of attention. 

Here were two non-identical female twin baby sisters and my four year old was excited at first which soon turned to slight jealousy and occasional tantrums.  I tried to include him in my daily routine with the babies.  My Mother was a great help as she came over to help me in my babies' first two weeks at home and then it progressed to her helping me on some week days each week.    

Breastfeeding was difficult at first with my first set of twins but I managed to do it for two months which then included extra bottle feeds because I would run out of milk pretty quickly.  I could only breastfeed up until they were two months of age.

My second set of (boy, girl) twins was a shock to the system again when at the first ultra sound we discovered we were having twins again.  We had heard that it could happen again but I never thought it would be me.  When I discovered I was pregnant again I had joked with my Husband "what if we have twins again. "  He replied, "we'll have an instant family again."  By the time the second set of twins arrived into the world my first set of twins were three years of age.  I had trained my twin girls on how to hold a baby by purchasing baby like dolls prior to the birth of their twin Brother and Sister.  

Breastfeeding was even harder for me when I came home with my second set of twins.  I just couldn't cope so I opted for the milk formula within the first week.  I had heard from the nurses that if my babies have had the initial breast milk then that is better than no breast milk at all because Colostrum is very important in the initial stages of development for the babies.

Shopping

A quick stroll through the shopping centre, (so I thought), to the supermarket would end up being a one to two hours shopping experience because my twins were a people magnet, especially nice elderly women who would stop me to have a chat about my twins.  It was lovely that my twins were like celebrities but sometimes I would have to try to break free from these nice people without sounding rude so I could complete my shopping on time.


We're the talk of the town.  In the past our family has starred in the local newspaper and the Brisbane Courier Mail.  (Pics coming soon)


Until next time, I will share more of my ups and downs in raising two sets of twins.