Double Trouble: Twins and How to Survive Them
This indispensable guide to multiple pregnancy, birth and beyond, comes from an expert on the subject – Emma Mahony is a twin herself as well as being the mother of twins. Humorous cartoons from the Times’ front-page cartoonist make this a lighthearted, informative guide to everything expectant mothers of twins need to know.Twins are amazing – but multiple pregnancy and birth, not to mention coping with twins once they are born, carries a set of special fears, risks and issues. Many parents-to-be find themselves overwhelmed.This guide is informative yet informal – in a similar vein to ‘Best Friends Guide To Pregnancy’.The author is uniquely experienced in this subject, being a twin and also a mother of baby twins.Contains advice from pregnancy and childcare experts as well as case studies.Illustrated inside with humorous cartoons from Jonathan Pugh, father of two and front-page cartoonist at The Times.An exploration of practical issues such as eating for three, managing breastfeeding, and the trend towards Caesareans for NHS twin births.• Any special concerns? The unnecessary label of ‘high risk’ in pregnancy.• Testimonies from mums who have tried different approaches.• Interviews with medical and midwife experts.• A step-by-step guide to the different stages of pregnancy and birth, including how to involve the father and explain twins to other siblings.• Tips on managing once the twins have arrived.
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Double Trouble
Twins and How to Survive Them
EMMA MAHONY
(with chapter cartoon illustrations by Jonathan Pugh)
For my twin brother and Olympic hero, Dominic
Contents
Chapter 2: What Flavour Are They?
Chapter 3: Eating and Exercising for Three
Chapter 4: I Shop, Therefore I Am
Chapter 6: Positive Prem Baby Talk
Chapter 7: Everything You Want to Know about Twin Birth (and Are Too Afraid to Ask)
Chapter 10: Congratulations! Congratulations! The Babies Are Here!
Chapter 11: The Gentlewomanly Art of Breastfeeding Twins
Chapter 12: The Fourth Trimester
1. You have an instant family â just add milk.
2. If you get fed up with one, you always have the other.
3. Nobody asks you whether you are going to have any more children (for a year, at least).
4. You never feel guilty about getting more help.
5. You get to eat 4,000 calories a day when breastfeeding (thatâs a tub of Häagen-Dazs and a pint of Guinness for lunch).
6. Twins start giggling at each other as soon as they can smile.
7. You make proper use of âbuy one get one freeâ offers at the supermarket.
8. You only have one birthday party to organize every year.
9. You become a local celebrity in the park and playground.
10. Your twins will turn out to be more confident, supportive, innovative, substantial, self-knowing, sought-after and giving than the average singleton.>*
Welcome to the club. If you are reading this because you have just learnt that you are expecting twins, sit down. It may be your last chance. Whether you got to this point through good old genetic probability or, like a growing number, via the magic of IVF, congratulations! You are one of the most blessed people on the planet. Twins are the greatest gift in the world. I should know, because I am one. And Iâve never once had to worry about being the only person at my birthday party, because Iâve always had my brother there. And now I am doubly blessed, a twin whoâs had twins. What more could a woman want (okay, a career, a little more money, a husband who thinks youâre Kylie, a flatter stomach â oops, sorry).
If youâre reading this and youâve already got twins, well done! Youâve made it back into the real world. Youâve made it into a shop, fully dressed (or did you buy this online, like most twin mothers?) And thereâs more good news. Like it or not, you have just become a lifetime member of the most inclusive club in the world. The twins club is a club where you will never again be stuck for conversation. From now on, you will have enough stories to entertain the oldest of grannies and the youngest of Teletubbies fans. You will discover the universal truth that everyone, old and young, loves twins. And the worse the stories are, the more they love them.
This is useful information to absorb now, because there will come a day when you feel like âputting the twins out with the rubbishâ (to paraphrase a comment from a three-year-old sibling). At that moment, you know you can load the babies into the double buggy and someone, somewhere, will stop you and say âAre they twins? Arenât they gorgeous! Well, you have got your hands full.â And as you nod back in agreement, you will find all those frustrated feelings melt away. Itâs a funny thing, motherhood.
But for you pregnant women, thatâs all way, way into the future. Right now, all you care about is whether you will find any jeans to fit you in the last month and whether your husband will still love you when he can no longer fit in the bed. So, youâve got the book in your hands, what are you waiting for? Now all you need is a box of chocolates (âeating for threeâ excuse) and a nice cup of raspberry leaf tea (if âniceâ and âraspberry leaf teaâ can sit in the same sentence) to settle down and prepare for the onslaught. I wonât keep you too long â I know about pregnancy and attention spans, and I will make any important stuff stand out in bold so you donât have to try too hard to remember it.
For those who already have their twins, I hope this book will help you buy at least one good double buggy or learn a few tricks about how to stop the little angels crying. Or if you are a man reading this and have already got this far, feel free to skip straight to Chapter 12, âThe Fourth Trimesterâ and read the bit about Sex after Birth. I promise not to tell. Of course, as a woman who forgot to pack a proper hospital bag and brought her twins home wrapped in the midwivesâ scarves, I canât pretend to be an authority on everything. Because I know I donât have all the answers, I have canvassed dozens of other twin mothers who do.
This is a book that has been waiting to be written since I first started fighting my brother for a little more space in the cramped conditions of my motherâs stomach. Because I am writing about twins from the perspective of being one, I feel at liberty to be a little more risqué on the subject than most. With the âDouble Troubleâ column that has been running for the past two years in
