Last week my brother Darren and his wife Nikki had twins. A boy named Henry Robert Harris and a little girl named Lillian Harris. Today Henry is supposed to be released from the NICU and join his family at home. They look so adorable in the pictures I have seen of them.
A couple of weeks before that, Jon's brother Aaron and his wife Carolyn also had twins. They named their two little girls Aspen and Emery Waite. It has been so fun to see the photos of them in all their pinkness.
These two sets of twins in our family make 5 sets of twins in 3 generations of Jon and my immediate family. I have twin brothers and my sister also had twins. Plus Jon's mother has twin brothers.
Whenever I tell people about all these new twins they ask me if I ever worry about or want to have twins. The truth is that I did used to want twins. I used to think twice the baby for only one pregnancy? Count me in! Then my sister had her twins. I packed up my kids and went to go help her.
I was still nursing Annie but she was sleeping through the night. So I left her and Sabrina with my mother in law and I drove across town to Lesli's. I helped during the days and then one night I told her to leave it to me. I would do the night shift and she could get a full night's rest.
That night I think I logged in a total of 1.5 hours of sleep. I haven't wanted twins since then. Having multiples is one of those things that you really don't fully understand unless you have lived it. Even with so many twins in my life, I know I don't really come close to understanding fully how it feels to have twins. Lucky for my brother that he has had my sister able to come help show him the ropes.
Go visit their blogs from my blog rolls to see all these cute new twins and the handsome 6 year old ones too. I think being the Aunt to so many twins is the best job in town.
10 comments:
I am a twin; I have a twin brother. We have always gotten along and been best friends. I think with boy/girl twins, you don't get the competition that is possible with same sex twins. Oh, what an adventure they are in for, but what a joy. Congratulations to them; all of them. Hope all is well on your end. We should get the girls together soon.
Love ya!
I love stories like this. That is so awesome. I have a set of twins, my sisters are twins and I have a sister with two sets of twins.
Yes, your brother and Jon's brother are in for a handful. I absolutely love having twins, though. The beginning first few months were probably the hardest ever. You were right on about the no sleep thing. We made it through that part, though, and my boys are so much fun. They have each other to play with and are best of friends.
Best of luck to those with new twins.
I went to stalk on their blogs and those babies are so cute! I even went back to read about when one of them found out she was having twins. I have boy/girl twins and finding out was the biggest shock of my life. No family history, never wished for two, etc.
Anyway, so nice that you can sympathize with them after that night. It is true, for the first 6 months or so a 1.5 hour night of sleep is not uncommon. I always tell people it was fun after they slept through the night. Before that, it was awful!
Here's a view from the other side of the spectrum:
I have two year old twin girls, and they were ten times easier for me than my almost six year old boy was as an infant. He was colicky and slept terribly. The girls were born sleeping 5 hours and slept from 7 to 7 at 12 weeks. They were happy, easy babies, and I enjoyed them thoroughly! Yes, the pregnancy was harder, but after having a difficult, colicky child, my twins seemed like a piece of cake!
I never wanted twins before I had them, but I find myself wanting to go back to their newborn and infant days and to experience that kind of joy again.
Not all twins are a nightmare during infancy as I know everyone thinks. I know I thought that before I had mine. I have several friends with twins, and a lot of them actually have had a smiliar experience to mine.
I wouldn't necessarily wish for another set (the pregnancy was brutal), but the experience of having two come together is so special that I'd certainly welcome it!
I think it would be MUCH better to be the auntie of the twins than to be the mommy of the twins. :oP
Seriously though, those are all beautiful kiddos. I stalked your brother's blog since Ellie and the twins share Camille's birthday. :o) And, when I saw Jon's brother recently had twins as well, I was REALLY intrigued. Wow! That's bunches of twins for one family.
I dunno, Stephanie...With all those twins in the family, you may not have a choice!! I'll say a prayer that you keep having singletons, though :)
I just have to ask if you are related to the Waite family in Bunkerville Nevada....My cousin married one. :)
I have fraternal twin girls who are now six. Before them, I had two singletons. I learned alot from my twins about keeping to a schedule and how important that is to making life a lot easier. That said, the first two years were still very hard. But I love the relationship that they have that I think only twins can experience. I am really grateful that I have had the experience of having twins.
Twins are great! I have two sets: 2-year-old twin daughters and 11 month old boy/girl twins. I love that they have a built in playmate and best buddy. Good luck to all those new mommies in your fam!
Great work. congratulations. Have a nice weekend.
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