Finding out you’re having twins can be exciting and a little bit scary. In a few short months, you’ll have two brand-new babies to feed, diaper, bathe, and of course, love. Before you get there though, you’ll have to get through a pregnancy that can seem longer than the usual nine months and may require a little more care on your part in order to give the babies the best chance of being healthy once they arrive.
It’s important in any pregnancy, multiple or not, to drink plenty of water. When you’re carrying twins you are producing more amniotic fluid and trying to keep two babies healthy, so it’s especially important not to get dehydrated. That doesn’t mean you must drink twice as much water as you would during a single pregnancy. Keep a water bottle handy, and keep another one in the fridge or freezer so you always have good cold water available. Sip it at the grocery store, at your doctor appointments, while you’re relaxing at home; try not to let yourself get thirsty. If you do, you’re already getting dehydrated. If you can’t stand another sip of water, drink something like decaffeinated tea-hot or iced, fruit juice or milk. Even a soda is OK once in a while, a long as you drink other, healthier things as well
Get your rest.
Unless your doctor advises it, you shouldn’t lie around and do nothing during your entire pregnancy. Exercise is important to keep you healthy. But you do need to listen to your body and when it says “slow down”, pay attention. I know there’s a lot to be done when you’re getting ready for two new babies, but it doesn’t have to be done all at once. Take breaks during the day to lie down or at least put your feet up. If you simply have to be doing something, take those opportunities to fold laundry, pay bills, or look through books of baby names. Now is your chance to go to bed early and sleep late, if you can, and not feel guilty about it.
Stock up on books.
Your doctor or midwife will probably want to see you more often than you’d be seen if you were carrying only one baby, especially near the end of your pregnancy. That can mean lots and lots of time spent in waiting rooms, and reading the same old parenting magazines can get really old, really quick. Pick up a few good books at the library or thrift store, or dig out some of your old favorites from your home library. Get a puzzle book or two, or bring along your knitting or other handiwork-anything that will make the time pass more quickly.
Accept help when it’s offered.
If friends or family offer to help, don’t be afraid to take them up on it. These people care about you and want to make this an easy time for you. Even if it’s just having a friend wash the dishes while you dry, it takes a little of the stress off of you, and she’ll be glad to help. You can order a pizza (if it doesn’t give you heartburn!) and have a few friends over to help sort through all the hand-me-downs you’ve received, or let Grandma take your other kids for the afternoon so you can get some rest or do a few chores without the little ones under foot.
Eat sensibly.
Some people still take the “eating for two” thing literally, but if you really eat for three, you’ll gain a bunch of weight that has nothing to do with the pregnancy and will be really hard to take off. Your appetite may increase quite a bit, and it’s definitely OK to eat. Now is absolutely not the time to diet, either. Make sure you eat plenty of fruits and veggies, which will help you stay hydrated as well. As long as you get a good variety from all the food groups you should be fine, even if you indulge in your cravings for fatty fried chicken or your grandma’s awesome triple chocolate cheesecake. Your health care provider can give you more tips for maintaining a healthy diet; be sure to follow her guidance to avoid problems like anemia due to low iron. A quick note about vitamins-don’t double up on the prenatals unless your physician advises it. Many vitamins and minerals have no additional benefit in larger doses, and some can be dangerous if you take too much.
Do I need to explain this one? If you can see your feet when you’re eight months along, you’re lucky. Don’t make yourself miserable by trying to reach them.
…And a really cute maternity top or two.
While we’re on the subject of shopping-pick up something really cute to wear. Maternity clothes now are nothing like the frumpy, frilly things they were just a few years ago. I’ve seen some great tops in soft, slinky fabrics and styles that mimic those you find in the regular ladies’ or junior departments. They’re far more flattering than a loose tent of a shirt or dress, too. It may be tempting to live in hubby’s big t-shirts, but you deserve at least one nice outfit, or at least a cool shirt, that you can feel good in. You’re going to gain a good bit of weight and not feel like the most graceful thing in the world; you owe it to yourself to have something you can look great in.
Be prepared.
Twins are more likely to arrive early than their singleton peers; your health care provider can assess your individual risk. Regardless of whether your little ones look like they’ll be preemies or not, it’s a good idea to have things ready a little earlier than you might if you were having a single baby. Carrying around two babies twenty-four hours a day can be extremely tiring in the last few months, and the discomfort in your back, hips, chest and pelvis may make moving around in certain ways very uncomfortable. If you can get the nursery, layette and your hospital bag ready early, you’ll have more time to relax and care for yourself as your due date nears.
Keep your sense of humor, and don’t worry.
You’ll likely hear lots of old wives’ tales, old-timey, outdated advice, and horror stories about your what happened when your neighbor’s uncle’s stepmother’s ex-husband’s first wife had her twins. It seems everyone has some kind of advice or a story for a mom carrying twins. When Granny tells you that a sure-fire way to keep the babies from coming early is to stand on your head for twenty minutes a day, smile and thank her and try to change the subject. Some people seem to want to tell you the very worst thing they can think of, some twin tragedy or awful statistic that makes your pregnancy seem much more risky than it is. Take them with a grain of salt, and if you hear something that sounds plausible and it concerns you, check with your health care provider. Yes, a multiple pregnancy is riskier than a singleton pregnancy, but most twins are still born healthy and strong.
Some interesting and helpful twin facts:
Your chances of having fraternal twins naturally (without using any kind of fertility) is about one in sixty.
Your chances of having identical twins is about one in two hundred and fifty.
Because fraternal twins are the result of two separate ovum and sperm pairings, the chances of conceiving fraternals increases with fertility treatments. Identicals result when one group embryo splits into two, and the rate of identicals is not affected by using fertility treatments.
Fraternal twins can be two boys, two girls, or boy/girl. They may look quite different,or look nearly identical. Identical twins are always the same sex.
The tendency to have fraternal twins is genetic, passed down from the mother. It does not necessarily skip a generation, and if your mother was a twin or had twins, it does not guarantee that you will. The tendency to have identical twins doesn’t appear to be genetic.
The chances of having fraternal twins increases with maternal age and number of previous pregnancies.
The average length of a twin pregnancy is 36 weeks. While almost 50% of twins are born before 37 weeks, remember that infants born much earlier than that often survive with few or no complications. The risk of complications decreases with each week the babies remain in utero, so take good care of yourself and try to keep the little ones in there as long as you can. Your health care provider may recommend cutting back on your activities later on in the pregnancy in order to reduce the risk of delivering early. Sometimes nothing can be done to prevent a preterm birth.
Carrying twins doesn’t guarantee your need for a c-section, although the chances of needing one are higher than if you were only carrying one baby. If one or both babies are breech in the last weeks of pregnancy, they can sometimes be turned, but not always. A breech presentation is one of the things that can cause you to need a c-section.
It’s very possible to breastfeed twins. Your body should make enough milk to satisfy the babies’ demand. A Boppy pillow, or two bed pillows laid on your lap, will make it more comfortable to feed both babies at once.
Being pregnant with twins can exacerbate symptoms of pregnancy like morning sickness, heartburn and fatigue, but each pregnancy is unique. A twin pregnancy does not guarantee that you’ll feel awful for nine straight months.
Most twins, whether they’re early or not, delivered via c-section or vaginally, do just fine. You won’t be pregnant forever-although you would have had a hard time convincing me of that in a hot mid-July, eight and a half months pregnant with two very squirmy babies who were positioned in such a way that everything I did was at best uncomfortable. Your feet will come back into view, you’ll be able to go more than an hour without having to pee, and you’ll be the proud parent of two sweet, precious babies.
