Franny Mommy : The Society of Twin Parenting

During one of our recent meet-up with friends, some of them gave us sweet encouraging messages on how they're at awe on how we're raising our twins and still look human during the day. Well aside from the fact that they didn't get to see us during the first two months of being twin parents, we're also blessed to have very disciplined kids who can now sleep through the night which allows us to have better sleep or at least some quality evening time. There are still fussy nights but they come rarely and we get over them quickly.

Modesty aside though, I never felt like what Paul and I are doing is something out of the ordinary. To us, this is our NORMAL. For us, it's normal to repeatedly change two sets of diapers each time, it's normal to prepare two bottles every time, it's normal to tandem feed, it's normal to deal with two crying babies, it's normal to put two babies to sleep at the same time, the list can go on and on. I guess we're also lucky that J and L are our first borns and we will never know what it's like to just take care of one. It also doesn't hurt that both Paul and I are incredibly OC so we try to track everything from their diaper changes, to their poop schedules to their drinking frequencies and quantities too. We try to understand our twins and listen closely to their cries. 

However, what made the ride enjoyable for us is knowing that we are not alone. Even before the twins were born, we got to know fellow twin parents like K, B and S who have been so helpful in sharing their tried and tested tips with us. From what UV sterilizer to get to getting two single strollers vs a tandem one and so on. They also all have boy and girl twins too so somehow, we never felt like we are so different in this parenting world. 

When I gave birth to the twins, I also met D who has been my Mommy buddy since the twins were a month old. It's funny because we both have the same OB-GYN, the twins have the same neonatologist and both our little girls have to undergo the same procedure just a few days apart. Her set of twins were born 3 days after mine and we've been going through pretty much the same things at the same time. I'd say she has been my twin parenting soul sister and I don't think I would have survive the first two crazy months without our late night messaging which have made feel that finally, someone out there can totally understand me. That was also one reason why I didn't fall into post-partum depression and believe me, the struggle to not fall into the hole is real. 

Anyway, recently, The Parenting Emporium held a meet-up with fellow Twin Parents and it was such a fun afternoon. How I wish I brought the twins with me but being probably the youngest in the group as the other parents were still expecting their bundles of joy, L and J would either just sleep through the session or get all fussy and cry for hours on end. Paul and I decided to just let them relax at home while we took this as our opportunity to have an us-time and learn from fellow twin parents. 

My twins are no longer considered newborns (OMG!) but there's still a lot to learn as they grow up and start to get incredibly curious. It felt good to share what we have learned with the expecting parents while taking note of some tips from the veterans in this field. One take away from the session that I'm glad we followed was to get the same set of godparents for our twins. This has been a constant debate even before the twins were born but since we sensed that our chosen godparents wanted to be ninong/ninang to both J and L, it was easy to just decide to make them godparents to both. Beng of The Parenting Emporium shared this tip and after hearing her explanation why, we're really glad we did. 

Another tip that I got was to consider getting a sturdy playmat for the twins as this will allow them to freely move and to learn how to walk, stand, crawl. L most especially is so good at turning now that she would literally turn all over her crib sometimes hitting her brother in the process. I know that the crib will have to go soon and so the hunt for a good mat starts now. 

Before we knew it, our sharing session has ended and it was time to go back to our twins. How I wish we can meet with all our fellow twin parents more often as it really does help to know that you got someone who can fully understand you. It may take a village to raise a child and this awesome support group to raise twins.

BTW, we were also treated to cookies from Happy Pill Desserts which were sooo good! Normally, I'd take a photo before taking a bite but I dunno what got into me that day as I was just too happy stuffing my face with their giant chocolate chip cookies. You just have to take my word on this. It was AMAZING. Anyway, I will definitely order more and share more info with you all soon. 

If you're expecting or you're also a twin parent, drop me a message! I really would love to connect with you. :)