WHEN YOUR IDENTICAL TWINS TURN FIVE

I’ve just put all 3 kids to bed and the house is extremely quiet. Perhaps it’s because my husband decided to doze off too and its the rare occasion of just me, a glass of rose and the second episode of ‘Grace and Frankie’ on Netflix. I’m laughing so hard I’m afraid I might wake the family. Then my iPhone alerts me of a memory in my iphotos and boom. I’m a complete wreck. 

There they are, my identical twins, a few months in, goo-goo and gah-gah-ing all over the floor of the home I built while pregnant with those two. They were so tiny. And perfect. And I can’t stop crying. 

If you’re pregnant with twins at this very moment, I’m here to tell you, that in this moment of reminiscing bliss, it’s not always this perfect of a feeling. But almost, and here’s why.

Today the twins turn 5 years old. What?

Yep. They turn five today in the middle of a pandemic.

But that’s not the important part here.

Time is fleeting mamas. It’s a stealer I tell you.

From the moment I became their mom in that operating room, 5 short years ago, I became ultra human. 

It’s true.

I gained a cape I didn’t otherwise have or know that existed. 

I became a mother of twins. 

This job isn’t for the faint of heart.

So even if and when I’ve doubted myself or my skill sets or strengths in any aspect of my life, the moment my doctor and husband showed me our newborn twins, I was born a new woman.

It sounds so cliche. 

But I’m here to tell you.

If you can do this, you can do anything.

To summarize what I could probably relay in chapters 1-10 if it were the book of how to raise twins and still thrive, I’d leave you with this.

Trust yourself.

Hire help.

If you can’t hire help, say YES to any and all help offered your way. Whether it’s bringing you food, taking your older child on a play date, doing your laundry, or brushing your hair…..let them.

This season of your life is not to be done alone. 

It will be harder than any and every season of your life thus far and it must be noted that even if you’re the most organized, most patient, or most loving human on the planet, you still will snap. 

Yes. You will. It’s just simply two infants. TWO HUMANS. Two tiny humans that require you. Yes, REQUIRE YOU. That’s right. 

If you don’t believe me, see image below. I fed these two chunks everyday and all day. I was like a cow with a litter on me at all times. And aren’t they just so cute. But it was hard. Real hard.

Help is paramount. 

Rest is paramount. 

Good-ish  nutrition is paramount.

If you think my mother didn’t feed me fruit on a fork while I nursed two babies at once, you’re wrong.

She fed me. 

My friends fed me.

My Dad fed me.

My 4 year old fed me.

My husband fed them, while I fed me.

There is no down time, it’s game time and you only get one shot. 

But here’s the catch. 

God makes cute babies. He just does. He has some magic formula that helps create the purity and power of beautiful babies. So beautiful I kid you not, I’ve told my husband I’d have another set of twins again if I was so lucky to get pregnant again.

Husband said he’d move to the woods if I got pregnant with twins.

Not having more twins. But you get the point.

The miracle of twin babies is this. The hard parts are two times harder and the beauty is ten times more beautiful.

And it’s like an aphrodisiac. 

Their smiles, their breath, their eyes staring into yours like you are the greatest woman to ever have entered planet earth, it’s like a drug.

Only the good kind. 

The kind that has you sobbing in your supper over how they get to turn 5. How good God is. How one day these sweet little baby voices will turn into young boy voices and their constant kisses will turn into short hugs goodnight. Sigh.

Either way, let’s not jump the boat.

Let’s enjoy the now. The curly long hair. The “I pooped Mom and I’m done!” The “I love you so much Mom, your skin is so soft.” The “I want to marry you Mom.” The stepping on race cars on the way to the bathroom from the kitchen. The twin brother love.

*I suddenly cry a bit.

Yep. God knows what he’s doing.

And so, today when my identical twins turn five, let’s all just have a massive round of applause for the mamas. Yes. Us. The ones who did it. The ones whose twins will realize one day, that you were the mama that raised them from tiny 6 pound babies to grown, strong, beautiful humans.

Also, you’ll never sleep the same again.

In fact, you’ll never really sleep again. Ever.

But you’ll have twins. And they’ll change your life for the better. Forever.