Sahara: “What did you do about the car/car seat situation? How did specific people (MIL! William!) react? Did you know you would get one boy and one girl ahead of time?”
We bought a used Toyota Sienna minivan, and the process was way smoother than I’d feared: we got an online car loan from the same place that did our mortgage, went to the Toyota place with the blank check, looked at the four used minivans they had, test-drove the one that seemed like the best combination of age/mileage for our needs, and filled out the blank check and bought it. I’d been VERY FRETFUL about getting ripped off (this was our first time buying a car from anyone other than my parents), and what I found most comforting was my friend Astarte saying something like, “Just assume you WILL get ripped off a little bit, and go choose one and get it over with.”
For the car seats, I first decided on the double stroller: once I’d chosen the Graco DuoGlider, I bought the pattern I liked best out of those that were locally available and then bought two Graco SnugRide car seats that matched.
…Ha ha ha! Do you see how easy I make that sound? What actually happened was that I read and re-read the Consumer Reports information about both car seats and strollers. Every time I saw a mother with a twin stroller I stopped her and asked her what she thought of it. Then I fretted and Fretted and FRETTED about whether to get a side-by-side or a front-and-back: both had advantages and disadvantages. I finally chose the front-and-back, mostly because the infant carseats could click into it and then later it could be used as a regular double stroller. Then there was a terrific month-long $50-off-plus-free-umbroller sale at a big baby/toy store, but they were out of stock on the stroller all month and no rainchecks (because it was on “any stroller over $100”—not the specific stroller) so I agitated about THAT. Then I wasn’t sure AT ALL about the pattern, and I didn’t want to choose until I knew if I was having boys or girls or one of each, and when I found out I was having a boy and a girl I wondered if I should NOT match the fabric pattern so that I could choose a girly-patterned seat for Elizabeth. And then all the local stores carried different patterns, but some of them didn’t carry the coordinating stroller and ACK!! I think I finally just CHOSE, mostly to be done with it, and I went with matching car seats so I could use either seat for either baby. I think that made them look more obviously like twins, as it turned out.
Reactions. Rob and William were with me when I found out I was expecting twins, and I was all emotional and they were like “Oh really? Huh.” I emailed Paul and he emailed back “NO WAY!” and I emailed back “WAY!” He was really happy about it; he likes twins too. I called my mom, even though she was a teacher and was in the middle of teaching class, and she was happy and surprised and excited. My mother-in-law was pretty excited and happy. Most of the people I emailed were satisfyingly “!!!!” about it. The best reactions were from the other moms at Rob’s kindergarten: they were screaming and laughing and hugging and getting teary-eyed, and every time another mom arrived they were all like “GUESS WHAT?!?!” The teachers were trying to get class started and we were all still jumping up and down in the coats area.
Yes, we found out ahead of time that we were having a girl and a boy. Because I was expecting twins, I had an ultrasound every 6 weeks. I’d had a quick one at 13-14 weeks, but had the first real one at 18 weeks. I was VERY EAGER to find out, and VERY DISAPPOINTED when they couldn’t tell. The first technician said maybe Baby B was a girl, but she couldn’t see Baby A at all. She called in the head technician, and she said she thought maybe Baby B was a boy but she couldn’t see Baby A at all.
The next ultrasound was at 24 weeks, and this time the first technician guessed Baby A was a girl and Baby B was a boy, and the head technician guessed the same—but both of them would only give about a 70% chance that Baby A was a girl. They were both much more certain about Baby B being a boy. So I didn’t take it as a For Sure at all, but I did start looking more at boy/girl name combinations.
At the 30-week ultrasound, the technicians used the word “definitely”: one boy and one girl.
Tess: “I want to know about twin DYNAMICS. Like, is Edward closer to his TWIN, or to the other boys? Do you think twins born as MIDDLE children are less twin-y than only twins or oldest twins?”
So far, Edward is closest to Elizabeth because they’re the same developmental stage. BUT, he also spends a lot of time with Rob, because the two of them both like video games so much. I think twins are probably just as twinny whatever their birth order, but that boy-girl twins are the least twinny of all the possibilities. I wouldn’t say we “forget” they’re twins, but sometimes the thought of it surprises us anew. Part of it is that their personalities are so different. They seemed most twinny when they were babies, and they’re starting to seem twinny again now that they tell clerks about it (“We’re both four! We’re TWINS!”) and now that I’m registering them for school.
Jess: “Do twins run in either of your families? Or were they just a total surprise?”
One of Paul’s cousins has a set of identical twins, but the theory is that fraternal twins are only from the mother’s family tree: as I remember reading somewhere, “No man’s sperm can make a woman ovulate twice.” A family tendency to fraternal twins is actually a tendency for the women in the family to ovulate more than once per cycle.
My great-grandfather was part of a boy-girl twin set, and there was another set of boy-girl twins in that sibling group. So my great-grandfather was a carrier of multiple-ovulation genes, and he passed those to my grandfather, and my grandfather passed them to my mother (who might have had twins if she’d had more pregnancies), and my mother passed them to me. There are a couple other sets of fraternal twins from other branches of that same family tree.
But they were still a total surprise. For one thing, I didn’t know at the time that my great-grandfather had been a fraternal twin. I would have said no, twins didn’t run in our family. For another thing, even if I’d known, I wouldn’t have guessed I’D actually HAVE twins (even my great-great grandmother, who had two sets of boy-girl twins, had another seven pregnancies that were singleton births), though I might have hoped with more realistic fervency.
More next time!
I am loving these!!! Keep going!
You could just post new baby twin pictures everyday for the rest of your blog life and I would be satisfied.
OMG those I heart my twin shirts are adorable!! I always thought it would be cool to have twins, but after my first baby, I was TERRIFIED of having twins the second time. I asked my doc a million times during my second pregnancy, “are you sure there is only one?” Seems like you handled it beautifully!
I can’t tell you how much I want a floppy little newborn right now. The pictures of them sleeping on each other are just too much. More twin posts please!
The pictures of the baby wonder-twins are KILLING me with cuteness! Sigh.
I have younger sisters that are twins and it was always my greatest fear that I would have twins. Not that my sisters were so terrible, but I just saw how much WORK it was! And I saw the struggles they had as they couldn’t help but be compared to each other as they grew up (especially as they are the same gender – I agree with you that boy/girl twin are less “twinny” than same gender sets), in school, activities, personalities, etc. Still, your pictures of the twins are SO FREAKIN’ ADORABLE I’m almost changing my tune! And I’m loving reading all about it too! More! More! :)
Oh, this is so interesting! And the pictures are all so excellent.
Is it just me or is he smooching up to her in just about every photo lol? I love third from the bottom, it looks like she just punched him!
My word, you make adorable babies.
This is such a sweet post. Those pictures!
Heather- He was a TOTAL smoocher! She would sometimes cry because he was smooched right up to her and she wanted a little SPACE. When they moved from a bassinet to a crib, we put them on opposite ends—and he’d always end up on her side. SNUGGLEBUG.
i want twin posts for breakfast, lunch and dinner… they are picture perfect and adorable.
i LOVE THESE POSTS! quick, folks, ask more questions!
the photos of them snuggled up together as babies are KILLING ME DEAD.
Oh dearie me. Floppy babies with personalities right there from birth. Oh why does pregnancy have to be so very uncomfortable? I think that evolution has FAILED on that front: I’d be willing to have lots more babies if it wasn’t so long and painful (and I had easy pregnancies and deliveries, relatively speaking).
I love the pictures of them cuddled up together. Or, I guess Edward cuddled up to Elizabeth :) So cute!
Oh I could read stuff like this all day!!
I am enjoying this “Twin series” :) More please.
Ditto on the twin photo cuteness! I just love seeing these pics.
Don’t stop with this! I’m loving hearing about it all!
I’m swooning from those pictures.
I’m loving all the twin posts. I don’t think I ever would’ve thought to ask but I love what you’re writing. Thanks for sharing!
These pictures are so adorable! I especially like the ones with Edward sleeping on Elizabeth’s shoulder. Doesn’t he still do that and doesn’t it drive her crazy? Love that. :)
De-lurking because these twin posts are awesome. I don’t know what’s so fascinating about twins, but reading this is so interesting!!!
I have one very important questions. How did you come up with their names? Please share with lots of details!
Love, love, love. Especially Elizabeth’s arm around Edward’s shoulders, him snuggling. So sweet!
Have their developmental milestones come together–did they walk/talk at the same time, etc.?
Just another vote to keep the twin series going for a LONG time with LOTS and LOTS of details.
They’re adorable.
Thanks!
I must second Lori D. From now on, ALL posts must contain twin baby pictures.
I keep thinking I want to ask questions, but between the twin pics and the shocking news that one of your relatives had 2 (TWO!!!) twin sets AND seven other births, presumably all in the pre-Cesarean age, I am feeling uterine exhaustion.
OH MY GAWD THESE PHOTOS ARE PRECIOUS! My uterus is ACHING. I can’t wait to have babies!
I’m loving this post. There are NO twins in mine or Martin’s families, so I highly, highly doubt I’d have any. I’ve always wanted boy/girl twins though. I baby-sat the cutest little boy/girl twins, who spoke French to their mom, and when they got to be around four, they started to speak French to each other when I was there because they thought I didn’t understand them (they used it as their little secret language)… it was ADORABLE! (Also, I totally understood them, LOL).
SO CUTE. And yes, is Edward still a snuggler?
This is SO much fun. I want to know if what you hear about twins developing their own language is true.
Hmm. If that’s the case, I may have a chance of having twins since both of my father’s parents are fraternal twins. That would be weird.
Gah. These pictures just kill me! SOOOO cute
God, I am LOVING this. LOVE.
I’m loving these twin posts! You almost make me think that having twins wouldn’t be so bad. Ha ha ha…
What’s been the thing that surprised you the most about having twins, either in a good or bad way?
I love these posts too, and totally noticed that Edward was a snuggler too. A. Dorable.
Thanks so much for stopping by my new little blog! I appreciated comformation of my suprise & discomfort at my buddy’s choices. P.S. Those peas in a pod shirts are ADORABLE!
So Stinking Adorable
Can’t type. Am dead from cuteness overload.
awwwww. Love the pics, Swistle!
You know, even though you’re not having NEW babies (sad)(ish), talking about the kids when they WERE babies is almost like the same thing to the reader.
I’ve never HEARD these details or SEEN these pictures and they are KILLING ME WITH THE CUTENESS.
It’s like the BEST RE-RUN EVERRRRRRRRRR.
Oh, I miss baby babies suddenly (I have an 11-month-old and he’s fantastic but not all floppy and drooly anymore. Sniff!). That photo of Edward sleeping on Elizabeth’s shoulder is just too gorgeous…
You have a lovely family.
I love it! Swistle, have more babies so we can all live it through you! Or, just recount your kids over and over.
Oh my, these are some of the cutest pics I have ever seen.
Baby snuggle shots are making my uterus ache, too, and it’s only been vacant for 16 months! I want a set of girl twins, so I can two boys and two girls.
Honestly, I’d be happy with a basketball team, but I don’t know if the rest of my family could handle it.
Do Elizabeth and Edward have a secret language?
I love the third picture, it looks like Elizabeth is socking Edward! So Cute!