Twins are pretty unusual. The CDC says that there are “more than 132,000 sets of twins out of 3.9 million births of all kinds each year, which is about 3.4%, or 1 in 30”. So when people see twins, they ask questions. Some of the questions are good, some are hilarious and some are downright weird. Here are the most common ones that I’ve gotten – so far.
- When they were infants people would ask me “How do you tell them apart?” — They never looked alike to me. Ro had a longer face and dimple in his chin. Z had a wider face and more olive shaped eyes. And they had completely different personalities, even in utero. Do you have 2 chocolate labs? How do you tell them apart?
- Now that they’re toddlers people say “They don’t look alike. Are you sure they’re twins?” – Yep, I’m positive. Would you like photographic proof?
7 months pregnant with twins and 7 months post partum
- Do twins run in your family? – My polite answer is “They do now”. Sometimes I say, “My husband’s father has twin sisters”. Those that remember high school bio think for a minute and then start to look confused. *The chance of having twins is controlled by the female. You get twins when two eggs are released at the same time, or when an egg splits. The propensity to release multiple eggs at once is genetically (or sometimes age) controlled.
- How do you do it? – I don’t know. How do you do it? I just do what needs to be done! That being said, it’s really, really hard. Giving and getting support from other moms and from my family and friends has been critically important. If it takes a village to raise a child it takes an entire city to raise twins! It also helps to know that I’m not alone, so I get together with other MoM’s as much as I can.
- Did you want twins? – Easy one. Yes.
- Do you want to have another baby? – Depends on the day but usually no! But now that they’re stinky toddlers I miss that baby head smell.
- Do you have 2 of everything? – No, we have 4 of everything because they each need a thing in both hands or it’s a battle to the death.
- Do they get along? – They’re almost always together so they get on each other’s nerves a lot. But they’ve recently started to play together and to talk to each other. Sometimes they sit and babble and giggle with each other behind the couch.
- Do they have the same personality? – Not at all. They’ve been different from the moment they were conceived. Ro is my crazy baby – we call him Mr. Personality. He loves people and loves to be the center of attention. He stomps around the house wearing everyone’s “sues” and gives big hugs and bright smiles. Z is a thinker – we call him Mr. Suspicious. He likes to sit back and observe. He is very quiet and reserved and mechanical. When he figured out that his little fingers weren’t strong enough to move the latch on the baby gate he took the gate apart at the hinges. He likes order and routine and will even put himself in time out when he’s done something wrong.
- Do they sleep together? – No, but they don’t really sleep much so there’s that.
- How much weight did you gain when you were pregnant? – Come on people, really? But whatever, I’ll you. I was 122 lbs when I got pregnant and 183 lbs when I delivered, so I gained a total of 61 lbs when I was pregnant. However, I was 134 lbs when I returned home from the hospital so a large percentage of that weight was babies and water. So the answer is either 61 lbs or 12 lbs, depending on your perspective.
Twins on the inside and twins on the outside
What questions have you gotten about your twins?
Pretty much this. Every day.
