Mommies Magazine

Parents of Twins on Twitter

Posted on 22. Apr, 2009 by Susan Heim.

Are you on Twitter? It’s the hottest new site around for meeting and connecting with people who share your interests. If you’re a parent of twins, you’ll want to connect with other parents and family members of twins. Fortunately, Jennifer Miller, who is @TwinHappyJen on Twitter, has compiled a list of Twitter twin parents on her site. Following is the list she had when I wrote this post, but feel free to head over to Twinhappy.com/twinhappy/Twitter as she’ll continue to update the list as she finds more parents of twins on Twitter! By the way, be sure to follow me on Twitter. My Twitter name is @ParentingAuthor. And contact Jennifer through Twitter if you’re a parent or grandparent of twins and would like to be on her list.

@Dave21030 – This is Josie & Anna’s Daddy! He hasn’t really gotten into Twitter yet, but help me bug him to join in!
@BeckyDMBR – I have twin girls who turn 5 in a couple of weeks.
@kristinalevy – I have 3 year old twin boys.
@DavidMTaylor – I’m a Dad of twins boys, both are 3yo (4 in July).
@luckyduck21 – I have 2yo boy/girl twins!
@marillionflower – I am a twin Mom. I have almost 18 year old boy/girl twins and 9 month old boy/girl twins.
@indigoeyes – Mom to 20month old (7/27/07) identical twin boys from SE Michigan.
@amber_eubanks – I help care for/raise my 1 year old twin nieces.
@brandi_b – I have 8 month-old twin girls.
@twinmama – I have twin boys who will turn 5 in July.
@appleandbutter – Four-year old twin boys who tweet!
@Trish_HR – I’m a twin mom, b/g twins age 5.
@alikitty619 – I’m the Godmother/Nanny of 17 month old fraternal twins.
@tjstaab – Mum to twin toddlers.
@Joner – Mom to Twin Girls, age 10!
@brandibest – 2 year old ID twin boys!
@KJ_is_GFree – I have twin boys 3 yrs old.
@LucyWanless – I’m an auntie to one year old non-identical twin boys.
@littlebites – triplets + one
@cass1218 – I’m a stay at home mom to a 5 year old and 1 year old twins who have SMA type 2.
@youngmommy – Mom of Six!
@AmandaNethero – Stay at home MoM to twins.
@Multiplesnmore – A blog network that proves there really is strength in numbers!
@twincident – Mom to Twins!
@ontheupside – Mom to Four!
@Dad2twins – Dad2Twins!
@MommyAmy – Stay at home mom of twin girls.
@moonbake27 – I have twin boys 7mths old:)
@cahaning – Mom of Twins!
@JesMcKinney – My b/g twins are 21 months old, born on lucky 7/7/07.
@mom2wondertwins – Happy Mom of Twin Toddlers!
@thesingotrio – Mum to 13 month old twin girls and a 3 year old as well. I’m in England!
@gatortwins – Mom to 3.5 yr old ID twin girlie-girls!
@childsplayx2 – Dad of toddler twins!
@amyandrews – I am expecting twin boys in September!
@MichelleBlake – Mum of 4 year old boy/girl twins.
@LateshaBelmont – I have 5 month twin girls!!
@sjmokeefe – I have twin 3-year old girls!
@sandwichINK – Grandma to 5-year old twins!
@BabyDipper – I have 2 sets of twins! 4.5 y/o girls & 9 m/o boys.
@laviking – I have twin boys age 2 and will be turning 3 in July.
@Parenting Author – Mother of Twin Boy Preschoolers!
@tom_disabledvet – My wife is pregnant with twin boys, due in Sept.
@mrsizabel – I’m a mom of almost 2-yr old identical twin girls and 4-yr old boy.
@milenka79 – I have 29mo old g/g twins & a 9mo old micropreemie son.
@rhianaleigh – Mom to identical twin boys, two and half years old
@momtotwinsons – Mom to identical twin boys!
@cntrypmpkn – I’m also a twin mom…fraternal boys who are 5.
@lonestar818 – Mom to 7-yr-old id twin boys and a 4-yr-old boy
@Mombizowner – Mother of boy/girl twins!
@authorsara – I have twin boys
@littletechgirl – Mom to 2 sets of twins under 6yr
@Nyree_Dawn – Mom to twin boys!
@googhie – Mom to 2-year old twins!
@DiannaKennedy – I’m a Catholic mom to 4 beautiful children, including ID twin boys!
@RashelleReid – I’m lucky enough to be mum to two sets of b/g twins. Oldest 5 in July, youngest 7 months!
@HappyGrand7 – My son has 12 yr old twin sons & 3 years later my daughter had twin girls. The boys were born on the same day (71 yrs later) that their paternal g g grand had a boy & girl.
@andreaheryford – Mommy to 13 month old twin boys!!

P.S. I also posted a list of Twin Parenting Tips from Twitter parents at http://twinstalk.com/twinstips/tips-raising-twins-parents-twitter!

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National Multiple Birth Awareness Month & Chicken Soup for the Soul Giveaway!

Posted on 07. Apr, 2009 by Susan Heim.

The National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs, Inc. (www.nomotc.org) has declared April 2009 the first National Multiple Birth Awareness Month. The following information on their website explains why this month is so important:

“With the incidences of multiple births on the rise, more families are faced with both the joys and challenges that face multiple birth families when dealing with medical complications, both pre- and post-term, financial hardships, and other unique issues that only impact multiple birth children and their families. The National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs, Inc. (NOMOTC), along with its local chapters and other national sponsors, want to focus on creating a higher level of understanding of what those challenges are, as well as what support groups are in place to assist our multiple birth communities…. For 2009, our focus/theme will be on educating our communities on the vast network of support groups that are available to assist families with multiples.”

If your multiples group would like to hold an event to educate parents of multiples, educators, medical professionals and/or the media about the needs of multiple birth families, please visit NOMOTC’s website for ideas, promotional materials, and more. If you’re looking for a local support group to join, you can also find a list of organizations on the site.

At the TwinsTalk website (www.twinstalk.com), we’re celebrating National Multiple Birth Awareness Month by giving away 4 copies of the book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More! Just submit something you’ve written to the Articles, TwinsTips or TwinsTales section of the site during the month of April, and you’ll be included in 4 random drawings for the books. (Hint: The earlier you submit, the more chances you have to win!)

What should you write about? Tell a cute story involving your twins. Share a good time- or money-saving tip that has helped your family, or a favorite recipe! Write a book review about your favorite twins book! Just about anything goes, as long as it’s of interest to families with multiples.

Winners will be selected throughout the month of April 2009 from the qualified articles received.

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Surrogacy: A Gift from the Heart — Times Two

Posted on 27. Feb, 2009 by Susan Heim.

“You can try again,” the doctor told Kim. “This is nature’s way of taking care of something that wasn’t meant to be.”

“Not meant to be? Tell that to my heart,” Kim replied.

After five miscarriages, Kim just couldn’t handle another disappointment.

Later that day, she sobbed out her pain and anguish to her friend Helen. Suddenly, Helen realized she could answer Kim’s prayer for a child.

“Let me carry a baby for you,” she offered.

At first, Kim thought it was a crazy idea. “I can’t ask you to do that,” she told Helen.

“Don’t be silly,” Helen said. “All I have to do is carry the baby for nine months; you have to raise the child. Just think about it.”

Thus began Helen Zanone’s journey into surrogacy.

A surrogate is a woman who agrees to become impregnated via in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or intra-uterine insemination (IUI) to carry a child for an intended parent or parents. With traditional surrogacy, the surrogate uses her own eggs and is impregnated through IUI. A gestational surrogate has no biological connection to the child she carries and is impregnated through IVF with the eggs and sperm of the intended parents or donors. No national statistics are kept on surrogacy, but the Organization of Parents through Surrogacy estimates that there have been approximately 10,000 births via surrogates in the United States since the mid-1970s. And it is not uncommon for these pregnancies to result in multiple births as IVF increases the chance that multiples will be conceived.

In the true story above, which appears in its entirety in the book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More, Kim found that using a surrogate was the answer to years of unfulfilled longing for a child. In fact, the pregnancy resulted in twins! It’s not too difficult to comprehend the rewards of surrogacy for the intended parents, but what about the surrogate? Why would a woman put her life (and that of her family’s) on hold for a year, risk her health with up to nine months of pregnancy, only to surrender the baby (or babies) she carried inside her?

For Sharon LaMothe, a two-time gestational surrogate, “Seeing the look on the parents’ faces when their babies are in their arms—happy, healthy and wanted—is a great feeling.” Surrogate Angelina Ramos was thrilled to be carrying twins for a couple “because everything they had ever dreamed of was about to come true.” Stacie Lykins concurs. “Nothing can compare to the experience in the operating room of witnessing the intended parents hear their babies’ first cry…. That I could help them become parents—nothing can compare to that feeling.”

But despite their noble intentions, surrogates sometimes come under attack. People ask: How could you give up a child that you carried and nurtured inside your body? The women interviewed for this article all agreed that it was a matter of mindset. Helen Zanone explained, “Even before I was pregnant, I kept saying ‘their baby’ anytime I talked about it. These babies were not related to me in any way.” Stacie Lykins clarifies, “I made sure it was clear in my mind before I even became pregnant that these were not my babies. I was a gestational carrier, and they were not biologically related to me. My mindset from the beginning was that I was carrying these children for someone else.”

Another criticism that surrogates hear is that they’re “in it for the money.” Stacie Lykins retorts, “No amount of money is worth a 24/7 job for nine months and more. Many surrogates go through multiple attempts to get pregnant. They go through hormone shots, pills, mood swings—there’s so much more involved than with a traditional pregnancy. Women who go through all this for the money are few and far between.” Sharon LaMothe adds, “When you look at what the surrogate actually makes, and how she’s spending about a year’s time ‘on the job,’ she’s making less than minimum wage.”

All four of the surrogates quoted in this article carried twins, sometimes twice! But none of them had any qualms about their decision to become a surrogate in spite of the risks of a multiple birth. Says Sharon LaMothe, who carried two sets of twins, “I was happy for the intended parents each time. Being able to give them twins when the surrogacy process is so expensive in the first place is an added bonus for them.” Helen Zanone admits that she panicked at first when she found she was pregnant with twins, but “now that it is said and done, that was the easiest pregnancy out of all of them. I was excited when I found out I was pregnant with identical twins.”

Building a family, these women insist, is what surrogacy is all about. Sharon LaMothe shares, “It’s also great knowing that you’ve helped shape an entire family by providing grandchildren to grandparents, nieces and nephews to aunts and uncles, and so on. You’ve impacted an entire family, which is a wonderful feeling.” None of the surrogates interviewed have any regrets about their surrogacy experiences. The conclusion of Helen Zanone’s story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More sums up the rewards of surrogacy perfectly:

Next thing I knew, Kim was holding her twin boys—the twins she had longed for since her first miscarriage. Kissing the tops of their downy soft heads, the sweet baby smell lingered under her nose. Removing their blankets, she counted all twenty toes and fingers. They were perfect gifts from God.

Tears filled her eyes as she leaned toward my ear. Her voice shaking, she spoke barely more than a whisper, “Thank you. Thank you.”

This article also appears in the March/April 2009 issue of Twins Magazine.

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“Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More” Is Coming!

Posted on 29. Jan, 2009 by Susan Heim.

If you’re a twin, a parent of twins or even just fascinated by twins, you’re going to love the upcoming book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More. This is Chicken Soup’s first book about the growing world of twins and multiples. I had so much fun putting this book together. This wonderful collection of 101 stories highlights the special bond that twins share, the joys and challenges of raising multiples, the unique circumstances of their arrival, the double trouble that twins get into, the multiple blessings of being a twin or having them in the family, and adventures in raising triplets, too! Chapters include:

1. Expecting Multiples
2. Sleep Deprivation
3. Seeing Double
4. A Special Bond
5. Twin Trials
6. It’s Triplets!
7. Grandparenting Twins
8. A Different Path to Parenthood
9. Double Trouble, Double Fun
10. Lessons Learned

Here’s what people are saying about Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twin and More:

“Like the song says, ‘I’m So Excited’ that Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More is here! I have always been excited about our twin boy, Conor, and girl, Ali. They are everything and more when it comes to raising both genders. They are the other music in my ears and my heart. They bring me life-changing melodies. Raising twins is a song I’m still learning to sing.”
—Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters

“As a journalist covering breaking news around the globe and mother of two young daughters, I thought I was juggling a lot—until I had twin boys! Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More is funny and moving, insightful and inspiring. Life with twins is a chaotic, wonderful, joyful experience—and this book captures it perfectly!”
—Soledad O’Brien, CNN journalist

“What a blessing Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More is to our family. With Tom being on the PGA Tour, we don’t always have the gift of time to pause and count our blessings. Our two sets of twins sure do keep us hopping! When I do find the time to cuddle up and read, this is the book I grab. It allows me to laugh, cry and reflect on the beautiful gifts that twins give so effortlessly. Thank you for speaking for us all.”
—Tom Purtzer, PGA Tour Professional, and his wife, Lori Purtzer

“In countless nations, we have witnessed an insatiable fascination for twins. Even we, being identicals, marvel at the God-given uniqueness of our twinship. Dive into these intriguing first-hand accounts in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More. You will laugh. You will cry. Your heart will be stirred. Read and be doubly blessed.”
—Janice and Faye Rostvit, international singers, composers, recording artists, and co-authors of Twin Reflections

“As a mom of twins and owner of a greeting card line for twins, I can’t get enough of the subject of twins! So I was the first in line when I heard that Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More was coming out! This is a wonderful read, and an excellent addition to the growing line of products available for families of twins and multiples.”
—Angelice Tyson, founder, Gemini Greetings

“As a child development specialist, I thought I knew all about bonding by studying the beautiful mother/child bond. But when I became the mother of identical twin girls, I learned about a bond that is unlike any other. I’m continually amazed by the unique connection shared by my girls. Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More is filled with stories that showcase this mysterious and wondrous relationship between twins.”
—Holly Engel-Smothers, coauthor, Boosting Your Baby’s Brain Power

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More will be published on March 10, 2009, but you can pre-order it now for a great price on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online retailers.

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On the Road with Twins and Multiples

Posted on 23. Nov, 2008 by Susan Heim.

Are you hitting the road this year for Thanksgiving or Christmas? Going to Grandma’s for the holidays is lots of fun, but sometimes the trip there can be a real battle. What parent hasn’t heard the wailing from the back seat, “Are we there yet?” or “I have to go to the bathroom” (for the third time in an hour)? So, here are some tips for surviving the ride:

• Lower your expectations. Don’t expect everything to go smoothly. Don’t expect all of your plans to go perfectly. In fact, don’t expect anything at all! Just “go with the flow.” You’re away from work and the drudgeries of home. Enjoy yourself and ignore the whining.
• Take the worries out of packing by getting the kids to help out if they’re old enough. Give them a checklist of what to pack and have them pile their selections on the bed. You just need to glance through to make sure everything looks appropriate and put them in the suitcase.
• Pack plenty of things for the kids to do in the car. Bring new toys and games and dole them out slowly, not all at once. (Check your local “dollar store” for inexpensive options.) Same goes for snacks.
• Don’t be a marathon driver and expect the kids to sit in the car for five hours of driving. Take plenty of breaks. Consider leaving earlier than you need to and doing a little sightseeing along the way. Every town you pass through is a new destination to be discovered! Sometimes interesting things can be found off the beaten path rather than in a guidebook. The kids will be talking for years to come about the little fish they saw jumping in a pond or the creaky old bridge you crossed over.
• Kids get more excited about trips when they’re given a chance to help plan it. Get out a map before you go and show them how you’ll be getting there. Consider buying several copies so they can “help” you with directions. Let them be the timekeepers and tell you when it’s time to stop for a potty break.
• DVDs are always good for entertaining the kids for a couple of hours at a time. If you don’t have a player installed in the car or minivan, rent, borrow or purchase a portable one.
• Be prepared with towels, extra clothes, and wipes in case someone gets carsick. Stopping frequently for breaks will help prevent this.
• Avoid the “he always gets the best seat” argument by assigning seating arrangements ahead of time. If both kids covet the same position, perhaps they can trade off after each stop or for the trip home. Laying down the ground rules ahead of time will help minimize the squabbling.

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Taming Twin Preschoolers

Posted on 24. Sep, 2008 by Susan Heim.

I often hear from parents of twins between the ages of 2 through 4 who are frustrated by their children’s misbehavior. Preschoolers love to test their limits and push their boundaries as they explore their world. And they frequently behave the worst for their parents because they know they’ll always have their love. Following are some tactics for helping to tame your preschoolers’ behavior:

Consistency: Make sure that you are always consistent with discipline. If you tell your twins that they will not be able to watch TV if they throw one more toy, then be sure to follow through on your threat. Too many parents give in, or give their children just “one more chance,” because they don’t want to listen to the children complain. But punishments are only effective if your children know that you will follow through with them.

Distraction: If your children are beginning to misbehave, rather than engaging in a shouting match, steer them over to another activity. If they’re fighting over a toy, say, “Who would like to come over here and play this game with me?” Get them away from the activity that is causing friction.

Separation: Twins often get too much togetherness and start getting on each other’s nerves. Or they reinforce each other’s naughty behavior. Try to get them involved in separate activities. Have one color while the other plays with blocks, and then they can switch after a while. If you or your spouse is running an errand, take one child with you while the other stays with the other parent.

Burn off energy outdoors: Children this age have lots of energy and often get stir-crazy being in the house all day. Be sure they’re getting lots of unstructured playtime outside. Play ball in the yard or head to the park. Look for bugs and butterflies, or build a snowman.

Rules and structure: Kids thrive on routine. Make sure they go to bed at the same time every night. Try to make mealtime and bathtime the same time every day. When children know what to expect, they’ll start to cooperate better.

Reinforce good behavior – catch them being good! If one child gives a toy to another, praise him or her. “I love how you shared that toy with your brother!” “You did a really nice job eating your lunch!” Be sure to praise the behavior. Don’t say, “You were such a good boy today!” They won’t know what activity earned your praise. Be specific. “Thank you for getting your socks on so we can go outside!”

Take a break: Make sure you’re getting enough time for yourself. Your needs are as important as your children’s. Some days, instead of doing the laundry or other housework while the kids are at preschool, treat yourself to a movie (that doesn’t have cartoon characters) or just relax by reading a book. Relaxation time is important to recharge your batteries and restore your patience.

It’s easier to handle your preschoolers’ misbehavior when you remember that they are not intentionally trying to drive you crazy! They are doing what comes naturally for children that age. It is how they learn about cooperation, building relationships, and more. Soon, they’ll be five and your sanity just might return!

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Do You Blog About Your Twins or Multiples?

Posted on 17. Sep, 2008 by Susan Heim.

Are you a blogger, as well as a parent of twins or multiples? Now you can be recognized as an official TwinsTalk Parent Blogger! Send 2-3 sentences about your blog, along with the URL, to susan [at] twinstalk.com. If we agree that your blog is a great place for parents of twins and multiples to visit, you will be awarded an official TwinsTalk Parent Blogger badge to display on your site. You’ll also be listed on the Links page of TwinsTalk, and your blog will be spotlighted in the next monthly TwinsTalk newsletter that goes out after you receive the award. This is a great way for parents of twins and multiples to connect with each other, and for more people to read about your many adventures with multiples!

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