Friday, January 21, 2011

Guest Post: 2 babies are better than 1


Today's post is, as you may recall from yesterday, a guest post! (Did you already forget?) This comes from Brittany from A little of this, a little of that.  She has two super cute girls who are five months old, and has been a great friend since I started harassing her and emailing her several times a day. Leave her lots of comments (like about how awesome that last picture of her girls is) so she knows what nice people read my blog. :)
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I found out I was having twins on February 24th 2010. I'll admit that I had a small hunch that this news was coming because I was only 12 weeks pregnant but looked (and felt) like I was 20 weeks. In my Valentine's Day post just a few days earlier, I even joked that I was pregnant with twins because I was feeling so big. Still, I was in shock when I looked at the ultrasound screen and saw two little babies kicking away. It wasn't a joke. I was growing TWO babies. I was terrified. I instantly started crying and immediately said the classic line, "WHAT are we going to do!?". I had visions of bedrest, stretch marks going from my feet to my brain, c-sections, flabby post-baby skin, sleepless nights, screaming babies, poopy diapers, and a loss of my own identity. However, I'm 5 months into this twin mommy-hood thing and I must say, although a couple of those things have and are happening, nothing compares to the joy I get from my baby girls.

First baby pic
After being hooked up to monitors on opposite ends of the room for 4 days, this is the first picture we have of the two of them. Lillian on the left and Sophie on the right.

My pregnancy and birth were actually pretty great. I was able to work until about 3 weeks before the babies came (although I was a bit miserable), my water broke at 35 weeks and 6 days (on 8/9/10- how cool is that?!) and even though I had a c-section due to Sophie being breech and Lillian being transverse, my recovery was a breeze. I was also blessed with two very good babies. They got up every 1 1/2-2 hours to eat, but instantly fell asleep. They were tiny (we brought them home weighing 4 lbs 15 oz) but healthy. 

Holding hand B&W blog
About 3 weeks old

The first few months were tiring, but I honestly kept waiting to have our own 'horror story'. I tried to prepare myself as much as I could by getting my hands on anything twin related. I read some scary stuff. But guess what? The scary stuff never happened. Sure there were nights that we'd get woken up 8 times and there were plenty of diaper blow outs (until we switched to cloth), but it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone was making it out to be. I heard the "I'm glad it's you and not me" comments all the time when I was pregnant and still continue to hear them 5 months later. I usually just smile and nod my head because I actually AGREE with them. I'm so glad I'm Lillian and Sophie's mother and not them. Knowing that my husband and I have been entrusted with these two little babies is the greatest thing that's happened to us. Yes, it comes with some stress, but the perks make it all worth it. 

One of the benefits of having twins, is that I get to see them discover each other. When they were newborns, they were basically two little blobs that didn't pay much attention to anything but their source of food. But then one day it happened, Lillian noticed her big sister. 

IMG_4087 
18 days old

Since that day, they've are noticing each other more and more and the bond that comes with twins is getting stronger. It's amazing to listen to their jibber-jabber in the morning, see that they can already calm each other down by smiling at and reaching for each other, and know that they will always have a special bond that I cannot even begin to comprehend. All the naysayers have no idea what their missing! 

IMG_5918
5 months old

Another great thing about having twins is how hilarious they make my days. Babies do some really funny stuff and I get to witness it all in double! Double the pooping grunts, giggles, spit bubbles, and crazy faces. I laugh way more than I ever would have imagined and my kids are only 5 months old. I'm excited to see how hysterical they'll be when they develop their own sense of humor and start talking. 

IMG_4664
4 months old

Being a mom of twins is great.
I've been welcomed into an exclusive club that everyone should want to be a part of. 
I've learned so much about God, my husband and myself since then and have loved 99.8% of being the mother of Sophie Lynn and Lillian Jean.

(I docked .1% for each girl. When they start sleeping through the night, maybe I can say I enjoy 100% of it.)
;)

8 comments:

Mary said...

That picture is truly hilarious, its nice to see Becky has someone to harass about what to expect for her twins. We keep telling her its a gift from God and that he knows she'll be awesome, you sure should like the proof of it. Your girls are simply adorable teach Becky all you know!

Anonymous said...

Brittany,

Your girls are so adorable!! I love the pictures of them in their bunny coats (at least I think they're coats). Those expressions are just too cute! I loved your post, and I'm looking forward to my babies sleeping through the night as well. :)

Brittany said...

Awwww....thanks! Yeah, those bunny things are ridiculous fleece snow suits. We didn't use them much before they outgrew them, so they spent several days in them straight so I would feel justified in buying them. Oddly enough we pretty much stayed indoors the whole time. Poor kids...

MARCIE said...

very sweet post! Darling photos. I love them holding hands! What a nice mommy they have!

LeAnne said...

I am so proud of Brittany! She is such a great mom and a good writer and photographer, too! I am her mother and grandmother to the twins. We have such a wonderful family!

Liz said...

Great guest post Brittany!!! I love following the adventures of Sophie and Lillian. And congrats Becky!! I am also a future twin mama blogger and my boys will be here in April-but-actually-March, probably just a couple weeks after yours!

Sher said...

The black and white pic of the girls holding hands is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Congrats on two beautiful little girls.

Amy said...

Hi Becky, I read Brittney's Blog and am a fellow twin mamma. I have Identical twin boys that are almost 3 months old. It is a difficult journey being pregnant with twins and raising them, but as Brittney stated in her post, being able to experience double of all the joys of a baby makes it worth it. There is definately nothing that compares to holding 2 sweet babies in your arms. Good luck in your pregnancy from one twin mamma to another. Welcome to the club.