Never say THIS to someone having twins

“Wow, TWINS, you’re sure going to be busy”.

“Watch out, you’re in for double trouble!”

“Oh my, four under four… aren’t you going to have your hands full?!”

Yes... thanks random people for pointing out the bleeding obvious.

If hubby and I didn’t know it already, we’re in for one heck of a ride when our newest additions (twins) arrive in November (that's me, above, at 27 weeks).

The fact we’ve already had to invest in a new (used) car (to accommodate four car seats, thanks Kia Carnival eight-seater), prepare to re-arrange our toddlers’ sleeping arrangements and sort through our mountains of baby clothes to be organised and ready, has signalled there’s a change a comin’.

And, as our toddlers are thankfully great sleepers (and will continue to be touch wood, touch wood), I’ve been ‘banking’ my sleep and really relishing the eight-hour uninterrupted sleeps.

Ha, joking, I WISH sleep banking existed.

I know plenty of people who, when they became parents, wish they had spent more lazy Sundays napping on the couch when they could, or wish they could’ve literally banked all the excess sleep they’ve had over the years which would come in handy when you have newborns who won’t sleep longer than a 45-minute sleep cycle.

But knowing what the coming months will have in store for us; we’re making the most of it now.

Our twins were certainly a surprise. A welcome surprise that took our breath away -- well I think after a few NSFW (not safe for work) words to the sonographer, we were overjoyed that not only were we expecting a welcome number three, but a surprise number four as well!

Since discovering I was carrying twins (at an ultrasound at seven weeks gestation), the fear has been building particularly on issues such as – hope the babies are OK, hope they both are healthy and make it to full term, hope their delivery is safe and uncomplicated, hope they latch well and have the same feeding/sleeping routine, hope our 18-month-old and three-year-old adapt well, hope we can give all our kids equal attention and hope we can provide all of our children with everything they could ever need.
So.many.things.on.our.minds.

If there wasn’t enough to worry about, now we have strangers (and others) who feel the need to point out: “Wow, you’re going to be huge, will you need to have a tummy tuck like ‘Octomom’ after your babies are born?!” or “Haven’t you heard of contraception” or “Wow, wait til your twins are toddlers and you’ll have two of them to chase around”.
Thanks. Thanks very much. My nerves and hormones just love this!

Or the other thing that can rub parents with larger families the wrong way is people who might assume we’re welfare bludgers who need help from the government or charities to raise our brood.
And nothing is more unhelpful than the possibly well-meaning (or perhaps they’re just mean and like to scare us) people who can’t help but comment in a negative tone on our exciting situation.

There’s no denying that the fact we’ll have four beautiful children might now mean that our kids will go to public school instead of private, or might have to do one less extra-curricular activity (choose either dancing or gymnastics and either soccer or footy), but hubby and I have both worked very hard, and will continue to do so, to provide for our family.

Yes things may slip, for example, things I would have previously been onto in a flash, like a runny nose, or messy hair thanks to Miss 3 pulling her pigtails out just as we arrive at a BBQ, might fall through the net, so forgive us now for our possibly-upcoming-dishevelled look, but with four under four to look after, I’m predicting things like that are bound to happen and I’ll just have to suck it up, let it slide, and go with the flow while keeping my cool.

Our primary focus is ensuring our brood are happy and healthy.

Those who get off on scaremongering can go jump – as we’re going to retreat into our own little dreamworld of perfect cute-as-a-button- Anne Geddes-style, well-behaved babies and toddlers. Until reality hits in November. ;-)

Are you the mum of twins? Any stories to share?