Education

 ~ Disclaimer! There is no way to prepare completely for twins or multiples. ~

Regardless of the Reason

If you are trying to conceive multiples, I am not going to chastise, judge or scare you for desiring twins/multiples. It probably wouldn't change your mind, anyway. I am sure you have your reasons for why you would like one. In my experience, I have found some of the women online who openly express their desires for multiples have heard about the general risks of having twins or multiples. 

Thanks to our era of digital technology, women can read and see what it's like for mothers of multiples. On TV, viewers around the world have tuned in to Jon & Kate Plus 8 or Kate Plus 8. If you aren't familiar with these names, the parents, Jon, and Kate have twin girls (2 babies), and sextuplets (6 babies). At one time their hit show documented their day to day lives raising multiples. It even addresses the hardships of having an instant large family. If you think about it, they went from being a couple to a family of 4 when they brought their twins home. Then from a family of 4 to a family of 10. And eventually, Kate became a single mother of 8 when Jon and her divorced.

Sometimes non-celebrity women even make the news for naturally conceiving multiples, like Judit Minda. She is a triplet and gave birth to triplets! Even social media sites, such as Youtube is allowing all women to share their stories and have a voice. 

• 10 Things I Wish I'd Known Before Having Twins (Megan Bourne)
• What It's Like Having Twins: What To Expect (Kendra Atkins)
  

I'd be lying if I said I never thought about it. Especially when a couple of moms I knew became pregnant with twins. When I heard breastfeeding may increase a woman's risk for having twins, I know it crossed my mind if it was true? When I conceived my second and third while breastfeeding I wondered if I would see more than one baby on the dating ultrasound. I didn't.

• What are my Chances of Having Twins? (Very Well Family)

Dream vs Reality
With the dream comes the reality and the long term questions to consider, such as can you handle taking care of multiple babies? I know my experience as a daycare provider showed me that taking care of multiple babies of the same age or within a few months of each other can be challenging. Especially without help. My experience as a mom showed me even caring for one baby can have its challenges, as well as multiple children that are different ages. And even when I think I have it all figured out, I get something new, like my third child diagnosed with Autism as a toddler. 

Not to mention, my daycare experience is only a small piece of the reality of what it would be like to have multiples or a larger family. Right now we're a family of 5, 2 parents and 3 children. These glimpses of a larger family and multiples, came when my husband installed multiple car seats of various stages in infant, convertible, and 5 point harness boosters. And how I would have to buckle my 3 children and my daycare kids into the car seats each time I picked up my children from school. Then do a check to make sure every child was buckled and no one was accidentally forgotten. Around that time, I was buckling 5-7 kids. I remember putting multiple babies down for a nap and that feeling like an accomplishment. That experience with my daycare kids was 4-8 hours 3-5 times a week versus being a mom 24/7. Even with running my own daycare for 2 years, if I found out I was having multiples with a future pregnancy, I'd be excited. But really nervous and scared 

• What It's Like Having Identical Quadruplets (Nurture)
• Born Too Soon Documentary Part 1 (Real Stories)
• Born Too Soon Documentary Part 2 (Real Stories)
• Our Twin Co-Sleeping Arrangement (Megan Bourne)
  

How would I handle a high-risk pregnancy? One where I possibly could have Hyperemesis Gravidarium (extreme morning sickness in pregnancy)? And develop gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, or Cholestasis?  Being worried during the first trimester about the risk of Vanishing Twin Syndrome. How would I handle going into preterm labor, having a higher chance of not being able to have a home birth (something that is important to me)?  What if I need a Cesarean (C-Section) birth instead of vaginal? Or having a premature baby that has to stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for a few days to a few months (sometimes longer), and possibly going home alone while my baby remains in the hospital. What if my premature baby passes away and I am leaving the hospital childless or with fewer children then I gave birth to? These are risks associated with both a singleton and a multiples pregnancy. But the more babies a woman carries, the risk of these things happening increases. I thankfully haven't had to experience any of those things. So, I have no accurate way of knowing for sure how I would handle a twin/multiples pregnancy physically, emotionally, and mentally, even though I have gone through 3 full-term singleton pregnancies. 

Education

At the moment, this is nothing more than dreams, desire, and hypothetical scenarios. It comes back to if there really is any way for a woman to sway the odds in her favor of having multiples without the help of fertility drugs and procedures or genetics. Science would probably say there isn't much a woman can do naturally to conceive multiples. Even with the help of supplements that claim to increase the odds. 
  

But while you wait for your dream to turn into a reality, I will encourage anyone trying to conceive multiples, or at risk for conceiving multiples through genetics, such as twins run in your family or hyperovulation, or even through fertility drugs to become educated on twin / multiple pregnancies and raising twins/multiples. 

• Become Educated About A Multiples Pregnancy 

•  Prepare To The Best of Your Abilities
  

There is more than conceiving to consider. For example, multiples pregnancy, delivery, recovery, breastfeeding and caring for twins/multiples. So, I would research beyond the usual how to conceive twin articles. Some of you  may already know the common trying to conceive twins articles and the information in them:

• 15 Ways To Get Pregnant With Twins Naturally (Trimester Talk)
• How To Conceive Twins (Love To Know)
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Last Edited: July 8, 2019