where did you start, did you have a plan?

[hels182]

We went for an 8 week scan and I have just found out its twins, I have a lb who will be 27 months.
It's just such a shock and don't know what to do first, I'm thinking a to do list and to buy a couple of books. What did you do to help the shock and get organised?

Congratulations hels! Do you know what kind of twins you are expecting? It is quite a shock, but I think it helps to find out early. I found out around six and a half weeks; I'm now nearly 29 weeks with identical (MCDA) twins, and have an older DS who will be three and a bit when the twins are born.

The best resources I have found so far are TAMBA and a local twins club, as well as a few friends who are twin mums. Try not to feel overwhelmed, as you have plenty of time to sort things out. I focused on the bigger things first (namely getting a bigger car!), and am almost completely ready now, just getting the final small things together - hospital bag, etc.

Once you are further along, check with your hospital to see whether they have a specific multiples antenatal class. Ours did a free four-week session, which was great both to help me feel prepared (we toured the NICU/SCBU and etc), and to meet other expectant parents of multiples.

Congratulations! You have plenty of time to get used to the idea gently and you'll get extra help from your midwife and, later on, more scans too . If you contact TAMBA they will give you lots of support and information. They have a listening service (Twinline) and Preparation for Parenthood courses. They could put you in touch with your local twins club too. I have twins, a boy and a girl, now three and a half plus DC1 who was at least as shocked as us at that first scan!

Congratulations hels! Agree with getting in touch with your local twins club. Mine have a facebook group which is a godsend to be able to send a quick query and have experienced mums of multiples reply or reassure you that you are doing the right thing.

There are some good twins books out there now and I felt it reassuring to read lots even if I have ignored it all since :)

TAMBA are good and have lots of sales for mums of multiples which is really useful when you need to buy all of the stuff twins need!

I will be popping up to the library to see if there is anything I can get reading and have a couple i will order from Amazon. They are not identical, they have their own little home in there :)
There are two twins club in my area so I will be popping nto both once I've had my next scan.
I like the sound of multiples antenatal class and will try do some research into that. My first post on here has been successful so thanks to you mummies already x

Other twin parents are a great resource on and offline I found. People who are expecting twins stop us and ask questions and I've asked parents of older twins lots when I come accross them. I don't think anyone minds ever, and the conversations are easier than the normal questions twin parents get!
I found two books useful - Mothering Multipes and Double Trouble (Emma Mahoney.
Tamba anti natal class was brilliant.
Congratulations. They're hard work but absolutely brilliant

Congratulations! You won't know if your twins are identical until they are born or have been tested, unless of course they are boy\girl twins.

Hey... I hope you don't mind me jumping on your thread. I went for an 8 week scan today to discover two lovely little heartbeats!! Feeling shocked and excited and overwhelmed and lots of other things too! Would love as much advice as poss!!

Hi

My dd was 22 months when my dts were born (they're 3 months now). Give yourself time to get over the shock, I needed at least three weeks. I wouldn't buy anything yet, just give you and dp time to adjust to the idea.

My priorities were: transportation: buggy (including my dd), and had to change our car to have 3 point seat belts in the back three seats, sleeping and then bfeeding. That's the order I did, you might be different, but give yourself time.

FYI: having twins is a delight, and its so lovely to see dd1 with them :)

My dts are 10 months, it was a shock at the 7 week scan for me as I have two older dcs. My one piece of advice is: don't listen to the scare stories. Everyone was quite keen to tell me how tough it was going to be (I may not survive, they may not survive, we would be financially destitute, I would never work again, I would never get my figure back again etc etc), and that very much overshadowed my pregnancy, and took alot of the enjoyment away. I won't lie, there have definitely been 'low moments', but I worked during my pregnancy, had no complications, gave birth naturally in a straightforward labour, was home the next day, breast fed both for 12 months and back to work now, both babies sleeping well. This probably sounds very smug, am sure there will be various blips over the years, but its to reassure you that it can be done, its not scary, and the worst may NOT happen, and its mainly
Lovely and a gift. Enjoy it! X