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Does anyone else resent the fact they had twins?

64 replies

groovychick2 · 23/09/2008 16:29

I feel really awful admitting this but I sometimes wish I had only had one. I know how lucky I am. It took me 4 years to get pregnant and after a stressful pregnancy I have two beautiful intelligent handsome boys. Its just that sometimes when the going gets tough I think how much easier it would have been and how I had no choice in the matter. Does anyone else ever feel this way?

OP posts:
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GodzillasBumcheek · 26/09/2008 22:04

In very blunt terms;

In a way i was lucky to have twins because with PCOS i found it really hard to conceive at all when (they were 6) we finally tried again. But i had only ever wanted two children, and DD3 would never have happened if i hadn't felt resentful of having two babies to bring up at once. Basically there are two sides to it!

kristatwin · 28/09/2008 17:04

No not really, i would of always had 2 babies(hopefully) so this way it is out of the way, they are a joy, still only 1 though, but they do seem to get along (apart from occosional hair pulling) i have one of each so hopefully there will be not much competion, just a question though, at what stage does it get easier.

coochybottom · 28/09/2008 17:42

Mine [2 id boys] are turning 6 next month and I am just finding them a bit easier to manage. They were great babies, it was 2.5-3.5 &4.5-now that I have found the hardest. I think because I wanted 2 children & ended up with 3, I sometimes feel like, well this wasnt planned was it? However, it is lovely for them to have the companionship of being a twin, but sometimes they use this against their brother who feels he has missed out on the close relationship he could have had with one.

neverknowinglyunderdressed · 29/09/2008 17:18

You sound like you are having a nightmare with them at the mo?

Maybe its becoz as coochy says you only wanted 2 and ended up with 3 and dare i say it, 3 boys! Enough to try the patience of a saint.

I did seriously resent having twins at the beginning for myself and for them as you feel they miss out on so much.

But now they are at school i feel I can appreciate it. Getting thru the baby stages so much quicker. Some of my frends recently had their second children and i looked at the babies and just thought 'i couldnt go back to that now'.

I think what also kept me in check, not to say i didnt feel sorry for myself, I really did. But some freinds from Uni had DT's about 6 months after I had mine and they had TTTT and were born at 29 weeks. They didnt get them both home from the hospital til they were one. Both still have serious issues one with health and the other mental. They still cannot sleep thru the night, have to go out with an oxygen tank etc. How they do it i do not know. But they still exude love and patience. Its very humbling.

Ps in case your interested mine had good week at school last week. Hopefully are settling down. However one seems to have regressed on the toilet training! Never a dull moment.

neverknowinglyunderdressed · 29/09/2008 17:22

Other thing is it still makes me crazy when people go on about 2 under 2 or whatever 'being just as much work or worse than twins'

Er no it isnt.

Mind you those out there with triplets prob wish us lucky twin mums would shut up with all the whineing!!

Did once turn up to a twins club in Edinburgh wanting a good old moan and who should come in ....a mum of triplets! Didnt really feel i could moan to her !!

Tortington · 29/09/2008 17:24

no, but i already had a singleton and i did try for a secondpregnancy.

i didn't resent them - i certainly resented the life i had created for myself - so i set about changing it - and went to college

rubyloopy · 07/10/2008 11:37

Message withdrawn

Litchick · 16/10/2008 21:00

As soon as I had the twins I craved a singleton - or my fantasy of what it would have been like.
I still feel a bit...well...robbed 'cos it's so hard when they're babies.
But let me tell you, you will be thanking your lucky stars when they get a bit older. They will play together far better than ordinary siblings and the bond between them will be magical to behold.
Mine are 9, different sex and different classes at school yet they still religioulsy put each other as their best friend when asked.

penona · 23/10/2008 22:11

Been having a really bad few days with the DTs not sleeping at the same time, and feeling v envious of my friends with one baby. thought I'd come on here and see if anyone can make me feel less alone.... so thanks for this thread, even though it's rather old now!

twinmam · 10/11/2008 23:01

This is an old thread now so not sure if anyone will read this but thank you!!! My girls (non ID)are 9 months now and I love them more than anything but there have been times (lots of them) when I've resented having twins. It's not my girls that I resent just the situation and how hard it is - even getting out the door is such a struggle and as they've got heavier and more mobile it's been harder when my friends with singletons just seem to be getting their lives back. I loved some of your comments and your honesty which was so refreshing. I always feel like I have to stress the positive side of twins (and there IS an awful lot of positive) but some days I have sat with two crying babies trying to soothe them totally ineffectively and just sobbed myself as it makes me feel so useless. I feel like they lose out because each baby should have A mummy and not have to share. Does that make sense? Anyway, it helped to know that I am not evil for having a sense of unfairness sometimes and that others have felt the same. I also loved the comments about those people who compare having 2 children who are close together in age to having twins - that really winds me up - but also the comments about triplet mums - I really can't imagine how they cope!

StudentMadwife · 10/11/2008 23:09

NKUD Ive actually been told by a firend with twins "rather you than me" when i had my dcs 20 months apart.

i think that its at least equally hard as having twins-at least with twins theyre roughly at the same developmental stage eg both walking or whatever whereas two children or differing ages have very different needs.

twinmam · 11/11/2008 11:17

That's the WHOLE point - they have the same needs and I can't fulfil them - ie they both need to be carried everywhere as not walking yet, both need feeding at same time and cant hold bottle, both wake at night - but at different times. It's just so hard and sometimes I feel like I'm just not coping and not doing a good enough job. Anyway, I didnt come on here for a competition about who has the hardest time - I just hoped that I would get some support or kind words

twinmam · 11/11/2008 11:21

Have just re-read my last post and realised it sounds really petulant - sorry, just struggling at the moment and feel so oversensitive and defensive. PND? Or just not coping with having twins? I really don't know any more. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this parenting thing

twinmam · 11/11/2008 11:38

PS Had anyone else felt this way? How do you know it's PND or just having too many kids (twins or not)and too much stress! Even saying that makes me feel awful because of COURSE I'd never change it and I love them so much - the comment about accepting them as twins because you wouldn't want to be without them was lovely and so exactly right. I seem to be up and down from one moment to the next at the mo - either gazing at them in awe and wonderment as they are so incredible and sweet and funny or sobbing my heart out because I feel as if I just can't manage and I just want some help (even just physically - my back is killing me all the time now - and logistically - that where do you put one baby whilst you put the other one in the car/ pushchair thing!!)Surely my hormones should be back to normal now the girls are 9 months old? Or is this it now?! Am sure it will get better and so much of the time it is wonderful but so often I end up feeling guilty as I feel like I'm not good enough at this and therefore they lose out

bellabelly · 11/11/2008 11:45

twinmam
2 things - your post did NOT sound petulant, you are absolutely right, that is exactly what is hard about twins. Am sure having 2 under 2 or 3 under 3 is also difficult but in a very different (and I imagine, more manageable way)

secondly, about your back, please do keep nagging your GP about it - I had terrible backache almost from the moment I got pg with my twins. Kept being told it was almost certainly due to preg hormones but it didn't go away after birth and endless physio, hydrotherapy etc didn't help at all. Eventually the doc prescribed anti-inflammatory tablets and I cannot tell you what a HUGE difference it has made. Still a bit of pain but NOTHING comapred to before. Am now in middle of seeing if there's anything surgical and permanent that they can do to help but it really makes you feel very low to have daily pain like that (and of course having 2 non-walking babies is very tough on your back as well. If you haven't been prescribed anything yet, please do make an appt - I couldn't believe the difference the tablets made to my life and my mood within a coup;e of days of starting them.

kitstwins · 11/11/2008 12:22

Twinmam, this is all so common. HOw you are feeling is totally normal. I could have written your post; every part of it. I love my daughters fiercely and would never want to be without them - I'd chose twins over and over not because it's easypeasy and no bother but because it's the only way I know and the only way to have them both. I'm not an idiot though. I know that one baby at a time would be much, much easier and I know that I would have been a totally different mother had I just had one baby - I'd have been able to get out and about a lot more, I wouldn't have struggled so much.

But it does get better. The first year is really hard as they aren't mobile, you have to do EVERYTHING physical twice and deal with lugging two babies around. So normal things that mothers of singletons take for granted (taking them out in the pram, taking them to the car in the rain, nipping into a coffee shop or cafe for lunch/coffee, etc. are all SO much harder with two babies. I found it incredibly isolating and I struggled with the guilt. They got half of a frazzled mother all the time and we didn't do as much as other babies. We went out and I dragged myself to playgroups and baby classes but it was a struggle and we certainly didn't get out as much as friends with one baby did.

All you have to remind yourself is that THIS is the tough part. The first year is really tough and everyone finds it this way - you are no different or worse than any other twin mother. In fact, you're totally normal. You also need to remember that your babies know no other life and no other mother. They've never known what it is like to be a single baby and have 100% of your attention so they don't miss it. As far as they are concerned, you are their mother, you are the BIGGEST love of their life and that's all they need. Someone once told me that 'no baby is born patient but twins have to learn it and that's no bad thing' which I found really comforting. My daughters got less of me than they might otherwise have done and they sometimes had to wait for a feed or a cuddle or a nappy change but they're patient for it and very chilled as a result. It has done them no harm and in fact I think has made them much better at sharing and patience, which is great in the long run.

Honestly, you sound a bit raw and I totally empathise as I found the first year a real struggle, especially as my daughters got bigger and heavier. THey were late to sit up, move and walk so I really bore the brunt of that. But you just grit your teeth and remember that after a year, when they start to play together you'll begin to reap the rewards and mothers of singletons will start to envy you; because you'll have children with instant playmates who'll be happy to play together rather than demanding all your time (my friends are green with envy at me about this). Plus, as it gets easier the harder days will get fewer and you'll be able to relax into it a bit more.

I'd chat to your GP. I can't say if you've got PND but it might be worth having a chat with him/her as there is no timetable for this - it's not always something that pops up straight after the birth (8 months post can be quite a common time) and there is help available. Also, on the days it is all hopeless just treat it as a day to get through. I always found no two days were the same and if I had a really crap day the next one was always better. So treating each day as individual rather than 'oh my god I've got months of this...' can help. As can forcing yourself to go out. It sounds stupid but I found the more I got out the better I felt about myself. It was sometimes a huge struggle to get out of the front door but even walking to the supermarket made me feel a bit better. I used to have to force myself to do it sometimes and, although it sounds stupid, I used to imagine that I was an 'ambassador' for other twin mothers. THat by getting out of the front door I might be seen by another struggling twin Mum who would take heart from someone else getting out there and getting through a difficult day. It sounds a bit mad, but it did help - thinking that I had to do it for other people.

Finally, and this has been an epic of waffle, you are allowed to have rough days and to struggle. It is really, really hard and the rest of the world doesn't get what it's like. Until you're there, struggling and juggling twin babies not even the best and sympathetic imagination can grasp the slog that can be involved. But you belong to the BEST club in the world. Twins are the stuff of magic and you WILL reap the rewards of that. You're doing it and you're doing really, really well so just remind yourself of that. You've got through the first nine months of twins which makes you, officially, superhuman and supermummy.

Hang in there and remember, we've all been there and you will come out the other side. It does get easier.

twinmam · 11/11/2008 13:25

Thank you SO much bellabelly and kitstwins - you can't imagine how much reading all of that has helped me, especially to know that others have and do feel the same. I really do feel less isolated and more inclined to be kinder to myself and give myself a break. Am going to make an appointment with my GP about my back and may possibly talk to him about the other stuff although am more inclined to think that tablets are not the answer (tho maybe a nanny or another pair of arms would be) You're so right about hard days being followed by good days and I'm going to get through this one day at a time - making sure that I enjoy most of it (they ARE a blessing) and that I grit my teeth and tell myself it will get better when it's a struggle. Thankyou - you're superstars x

tkband3 · 11/11/2008 13:40

Twinmam, kitstwins and bellabelly have said everything way more eloquently than I ever could. But I just wanted to add more confirmation that you are in no way petulant and the first year of having twins is really hard. I already had one child (who was 20 months when my DTs were born) so I got to experience the 'one baby, one mother' thing, but I don't think that meant I found it any easier to have 2 babies at once!

When I was having a really bad day, I just had to get out of the house - having a dog that needed a walk was a good reason . Although quite often I would go to my local tesco, even if I only needed a pint of milk. Many twin mums moan about the extra attention you get when you go to the supermarket, but I try not to, as the comments I would get, mainly from older people, as I walked around tescos would remind me how lucky and blessed I am .

And on the DT's first birthday, we had a small tea party for them, with cake and then once they were in bed, we had some more friends over and celebrated with champagne - it was their birthday, but more importantly, we had survived the first year and it was only going to get easier from this point .

Do you go to a local twins club? I used to go to one and it was an invaluable source of support, because only another multiple mum can truly understand how you are feeling. Have a look on the TAMBA website to see if there's one near you.

Egg · 11/11/2008 13:42

Hi twinmam, I feel very much like you at the mo and get very resentful sometimes, then feel guilty when I know some people have been trying for a baby for years etc. It's just such bldy hard work and sometimes it just seems relentless with them crying all the time. Mine are 10 months. I keep holding out hope for that magical ONE YEAR when they can switch to cows milk instead of formula, hopefully hold their own milk (am sure they could if they really tried, the little blighters!), and move to cups instead of bottles hopefully so we can ditch the steriliser...

Just feel stuck in the house a lot now, esp as it is dark about 4pm, and by the time DS1 is up from his nap it's too late to go out .

Some days I feel fine and lucky...others I dont!

twinmam · 11/11/2008 14:59

We'll get there Egg I'm sure - especially with lots of lovely people supporting us. I can't believe how much it helps. Thanks guys - really looking forward to that champagne on Feb 11th 2009!!!

Know what you mean tkband3 about the twin attention - I do really enjoy it most of the time and it does help me to feel blessed. Also the getting out of the house thing tho know what you mean about it getting dark so early Egg - certainly doesn't help either, does it, when feeling not so cheery Relentless is exactly the right word. I'm not pleased you're struggling too as that really would make me a crazy person but I AM pleased that I'm not alone and that this is a normal and acceptable way to feel. I know someone who lost her baby after she was born at 22 weeks recently and I just felt so guilty for all the times I've felt negative about being a twin mummy. I feel so thankful for my girls. I can look at my situation now though and realise it is still OK to find it tough and often relentless - that doesnt mean we love our little ones any less or are bad mothers. Next time I feel those negative thoughts I will remind myself that it wont always be this way and I will remember I'm not alone in this

Take care all of you. For the first time since I had my babies I feel part of a community - as lovely as my other mummy friends are I always felt a bit like I was on the outside as our experiences were just so different (and yes the swimming thing, the popping out for coffee, etc etc!!) xx

coochybottom · 11/11/2008 18:46

I feel that the difference between having twins and having DCs close together is that with the latter you have a choice. When you have twins there is no choice in the matter. You have to cope with two children as close in age as they ever could be! I always said my SIL was mad to have a 14month gap then I had twins. I was right!!!

Egg · 11/11/2008 19:15

I do remember (foolishly) saying when my twins were a couple of weeks old that I thought it would be easier having triplets than having a 23 month old and newborn twins but I don't think that is true at all (I must have been drunk ).

Having children close together is of course hard, but having twins is a different kind of hard. Someone said that at least they want the same thing at the same time (or words to that effect) but it took me 6 months to get mine to be in the same routine as each other (despite trying very hard) which meant that I forever feeding one or other of them, they rarely napped at same time etc etc.

twinmam · 13/11/2008 17:05

Poor you, Egg - it sounds so tough. I can't imagine having another child to cope with too. How are things going? I had a wonderful day yesterday but then a horrid one today Am hoping the bad day followed by good day rule will apply to tomorrow and am looking forward to the weekend when DH can have some quality time with his daughters and maybe, just maybe, I can have some quality time with myself!! Hang in there

TheNewsMonger · 13/11/2008 17:09

I'm not the mum of twins, but you don't sound dreadful to me.

both my children are so demanding with such strong personalities that if I'd had them both at the same time I'd have been so overwhelmed. Luckily I only have the younger one in the morning, If I had TWO of him wrecking the house and tantruming I'd need to go to play school myself.

Egg · 14/11/2008 15:02

twinmam we have the same here, good days (this morning was lovely, made the effort and went out for 2.5 hrs and it was worth it, DS1 was very happy), but some days are shite.

All in all I know we have a great life . Just some days you want to get up and walk out of the door and leave it all behind for a few hours.

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