Having twins after older siblings – Guest Post

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This week we have a guest post from Nadia. She is mom of four, two of which she had before getting pregnant with her set of twin girls.

Today she is sharing her story of what it was like to give birth to twins, as well as what life has been like since having twins after older siblings.

When I got pregnant for the third time I had all these ideas in my head of life with two toddlers and a baby, how I’d get that cool double stroller and have my younger toddler on the bottom with baby on top.

Little did I know, this time I was in for a double surprise.

Moms of twins/multiples will relate when I say I was shocked when the ultrasound techs first words were “well I’ll tell you right now, there’s 2 in there…”! I saw it before she said it but I just couldn’t believe I had 2 babies.

Fast forward seven extremely hard months later and we were ready to welcome our two sweet little girls to our family. I had a scheduled repeat (third) csection with them which went so smoothly. The OB was also my OB for my previous csection, prayed over me and then started.

I went into the zone; closed my eyes and took deep calm breaths just waiting for them to say baby’s out. Both babies had a little trouble breathing so I wasn’t allowed to do skin to skin with them. The hubby went with the girls to their nursery to be monitored and he did skin to skin with both of them the whole time.

I’m so grateful for the nurses who took pictures and ran back and forth between us to give me updates on them.

Since it was January and cold/flu season, we didn’t have many visitors in the hospital and my older ones waited patiently at home to meet their little sisters. They were very excited to find out the names since we didn’t decide/announce it until after they were born and I finally got to see them and hold them.

We brought Grace and Leah home two days later, healthy and well! They were so tiny, oh to remember that stage. Both Tim (4) and Emily (2) loved watching us do simple things like feeds and diaper changes. Emily took about a week before she got used to the babies crying.

At first, any time a baby would cry, she would burst out crying as well and scream “Mom do something, I don’t like it when they cry!” Now, when one of the twins cries she just tells whoever is near her, “it’s ok, Mom is there, she can fix it.” We try our best to include them when we can with simple tasks like ‘can you put on their socks?’ ‘Please hand me a diaper and wipes’ etc.

One thing I did when I had my second baby that really worked wonders for my first was go on little “dates” with the older one(s). By dates I mean things like going to Costco or the bank without the babies. No matter how boring the errand is, it’s quality time with your older child(ren) and gives them time to talk to you, feel heard/seen, and just not ignored.

After twins were a few weeks old and I felt comfortable leaving them with my mom or husband we started doing this again. Neither of my older ones are in school or daycare so sitting at home all the time definitely wears on them. I make it part of our week to take them alone with me at least 2-3 times.

I am forever grateful to my mom and aunt for taking care of my older two so much while I have my hands full with the twins.

We moved in with my parents after finding out I was pregnant with twins because the pregnancy was so extremely hard on me. Most of it I spent in bed so they took care of the kids and let me rest/sleep to avoid throwing up around the clock. I am in awe of mothers who don’t have help and have multiples, you are true superwomen!

On top of having dates with older two kiddos, my mom and husband remind me often to take breaks and go out by myself.

I will admit, I am that type of person who likes to do everything herself.

I won’t ask for help even when it’s obvious I cannot possibly do it by myself. So I do go out by myself about 1x a week to unwind and clear my head. I believe self-care is very important for us moms wether you work or stay at home or a mix of the two. Being a mother is a full time job, one with the biggest responsibility, and that isn’t stress free. Our children need us to be happy in order to truly be the best parents we can be.

I am so thankful for Nadia feeling comfortable enough to share her story about having twins after siblings!

If you you like to submit your own twin birth story or experience, shoot me an email at [email protected]and let’s talk!