Life as We Know It With Twins

Guest Post by Lisa Gertsman

Mother of two year-old  identical twin girls is the title I find most meaningful today. My journey now involves juggling work life and family balance–a challenge I work toward achieving every day. Relatively new to blogging about my personal life, I’ve been writing for over a decade for businesses and organizations. I am a former corporate marketing executive, who’s been running my own marketing firm based in Montreal, Canada for seven years.  Join me in conversations about being a parent, parent of twins and various other topics.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

When my daughters were born, as I looked into their impossibly tiny faces and heard their kitten-like cries, a flood of happiness washed over me– quickly followed by a hurricane of panic. Was I even physically capable of taking care of two infants — at the very same time? I was awed by parenthood, and then humbled by it.

We became the nuclear family overnight, even the dog had been eagerly waiting to welcome the two new, noisy inhabitants into her previously comfortable home.

Our family was together at last. One of my daughters had just arrived home after staying a week in the hospital–due to low birth weight. My husband and I delighted in our new “insta-family”, as a friend had laughingly called the four of us.

As the late afternoon sun filtered through the windows, it cast a heavenly haze over our angelic babies as they slept peacefully in our arms. It was so perfect.

Crushed Expectations

After a very short time, however, my daydreams faded and reality hit hard. This wasn’t going to be easy. I had visualized the motherhood scenario so differently.

Holding two screaming, wriggling babies at the same time without dropping them, or figuring clever ways of feeding them simultaneously had never entered my mind.

I had planned to get up and make the most of every day. I’d envisioned toting my adorable baby to a variety of fun activities, Starbucks in hand, chatting happily with other moms. But, I soon realized that logistically speaking, some “mommy and me” activities were not quite as easy to navigate with two infants and only two hands.

A Moment of Clarity and Acceptance

One day, after bursting into a fit of uncontrollable tears outside of a playgroup as I realized I couldn’t make it up the icy stairs with my two car seats, I made a promise to myself. I had to accept the reality of having the twins, and do everything in my power to overcome the disappointments of an occasional mishap or lost opportunity. I shifted my attitude. I would need to be creative.

Fast forward, two years into the future. I have learned to savor the days of sticky messes, and laugh at the two toddlers laughing and running wild outside, half-clothed in the summer breeze. You know what? It really is double the fun.

What really helped me was having found some wonderful groups of women to share with. Some had twins and some didn’t. Whether you are a mom of twins or not, I encourage you to do the same. It saved me. And, for that I am grateful.

If you are a mom of twins, here are a few web sites and Facebook groups you may find interesting;

In the U.S.: National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs, http://www.nomotc.org/.

Canada: Multiple Births Canada, http://www.multiplebirthscanada.org/

Canadian Parents of Twins, Triplets and Higher Order Multiples: Facebook: Canadian Parents of Twins, Triplets, and Higher Order Multiples

4 thoughts on “Life as We Know It With Twins”

  1. My sister has twins. They are the adorable and we love them, but I honestly didn’t know how she did it! I have one son the same age, so we went through the same trials at the same time, only she had it multiplied. I did not envy her.

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