My local Moms of Twins club has been a great resource. I honestly think I have a better support system in place having had twins than I would have with a singleton. It’s a really nice thing to belong to.
Two programs they offer are a big/little sister matchup, and monthly sort of “support group” meetings. I took advantage of the matching and met my big sister back when I was about 28 weeks pregnant and she had nine-week-olds. We now have three- and seven-month-olds, chat all the time, and go for walks at least once a week. Not only is she just a fun person and good friend, but it’s great to know someone with twins just a bit older than mine. It’s like a preview of what’s to come. I also went to my first group meeting around that same time. It was early summer, and I was one of two pregnant women there. The other preggo had the same due date as me. I remember sitting around the table, feeling like I was getting a taste of what was in store for me. I remember a ragged-looking woman who had seven-week-olds, desperately asking the others if it would get better.
I definitely do NOT have all the answers now, and I still have millions of things to learn. But I have flipped over to the other side. Now I have a “little sister,” who is due with her two girls any day. We met last week, and it was wild to remember what 35 weeks felt like (ugh), and fun to find myself on the other side. The one who showed up at lunch with her babies on the outside.
Tonight I found myself almost literally on the other side of the table at the group meeting. It was hosted by that woman with my same due date, who delivered about 10 days after I did. There we were, relatively relaxed and collected (though she looked much more put together than me). I sat on a bench next to my big sister, and we happily tag-teamed a pair of pregnant women opposite us. It was a blast to be the ones they wanted to pepper with questions about strollers and schedules. Instead of having opinions formed from reading books and product descriptions, I had three months of experience telling me which products were totally worth getting and which were a total waste. Which things I thought I’d do that turned out to be unrealistic, and which strange solutions I used to solve various problems.
At the same time, I came ready to ask for help and advice about my kids and the way they struggle out of their swaddle at night, yet won’t sleep without it. A woman with two-year-olds demonstrated her turbo-swaddle with napkins and a wine bottle opener. There’s always something new to learn. But it’s fun now to be on the side of the table that has something to offer to someone else.
Oh, and I didn’t take any photos today, but I did go for a walk with a college friend. And since I said I’d try to post a picture almost every day, here’s one from a few days ago of babies in the Snap N Go. We looked pretty much the same today.
