'You've got your hands full'

BBC Coventry and Warwickshire radio interview about twins

A FEW weeks back I was interviewed by Mark Powlett on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire about twins.

Our chat touched on the following among other things and I hope you enjoy it:

• A unique bond between twins
• Sibling rivalry
• Do you dress twins the same?
• Should they be in the same class at school?
• How does a twin pregnancy compare to a singleton one?
• My crap maths

I know I sound a bit "eccentric" which is of course a polite way of saying well, a bit strange, but then I always do on the radio. I don't care as I've got used to it!

Press on the button below to hear the interview.

Massive thanks to producer Kate for sending me the MP3.

Multiple mayhem -- a carnival of posts about twins and more

PHEW. Thank you so much for all your support of this special week on You've Got Your Hands Full which has reminded me why I set this blog up in the first place and put me in touch with some fabulous blogs, some already familiar, others new to me.

If you can say one thing that unites all parents of multiples, well it's that they're busy.

Forgive me for stating the obvious. So I didn't know what to expect with my planned carnival. I've ended up with a dozen or so entries and so I'm delighted.

In all honesty this was very short notice so if anyone wants to make this a more regular feature, with us taking turns to host a monthly carnival, then please shout up and we can kick off an on-going Multiples Mayhem carnival?

The guest posts this week and the carnival entries have made me laugh and made me cry. I hope our small but perfectly formed carnival informs and entertains. 

The loss of a twin by Emily Carlisle

AS a mum and a journalist, overuse of the words "every parent's nightmare" are bound to wind me up. Every parent's nightmare is not that they can't afford the latest trainers or worry over whether their little girl should have a mobile phone. Every parent's nightmare is quite simply that they should lose their precious child. Here, in the latest guest post for our Twins, Triplets & More week, the amazing blogger More than Just a Mother shares what that nightmare is really like.

I have read this post with tears running down my face and would like to say a massive thank you to Emily for sharing her story. She describes how she wishes she had been able to 'open up'' more and I hope by the simple act of doing that here, other parents searching for help in their darkest hour may find some and know at least, they are not alone.

FROM mythical Romulus and Remus to pop-duo The Cheeky Girls, the world is fascinated by twins and their unique bond. 

Parenting twins is hard work but an incredibly rewarding experience. 

Mothers of multiples, such as Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie, are part of an elite club many women would love to join.  But what happens when you are unceremoniously thrown out of that club?  When celebrations for the birth of your newborn are overshadowed by the funeral of their sibling? 

Twenty-six weeks into my twin pregnancy my waters broke and I was admitted to hospital.  The babies held on until the milestone marker of 28 weeks. 

Having twins? Relax and enjoy it by Young Mummy

Photo by Pat Austin on Flickr.

THANKS to the awesome Young Mummy for our latest guest post all about the trials and tribulations of having twins. Her post has made me smile -- I' definitely became a chilled out mum as soon as was humanly possible after having my girls. There just weren't enough hours in the day to be anything else!

MY mum commented the other day that I’m more like a second-time mum, rather than the first-time mum I really am, writes Young Mummy.

She doesn’t mean I’m some kind of parenting genius, just that I’m quite laid-back as a mother. And she puts this down to having twins.

Two is a magic number by Four down, mum to go

HERE's a guest post from the wonderful blogger Fourdownmumtogo, who previously shared this wisdom on her own site. if you haven't yet discovered this blog, I hope you can check it out as it's one of the best out there.

THIS week is Twins, Triplets and More week. The idea is to raise awareness about the challenges that can face the parents of twins or more. This is a laudable aim, but I think that perhaps one of the best ways to get parents ready for twins is to bolster them up with some of the good news about having two at once.

Rosie Scribble and LivingwithKids welcome Twins, Triplets & More blog tour

THANKS to Rosie Scribble for letting me set up my stall today where I focus on a mum of twins and her story of post natal depression. I hope by spreading the word about the new free/subsidised help on offer from Tamba, word can reach those expectant mums who could most benefit so they can learn that support is out there.

Thanks also to Liz at LivingwithKids who published a guest post from me yesterday, with some facts and figures about twins. I know when I was expecting, I had my eyes opened and a "learning curve" has continued ever since.

Coming tomorrow is another pit-stop in the "tour" and a guest post here from the brilliant Fourdownmumtogo.

So you think you know about twins?

 

THIS is the first guest post in a special week of multiple birth inspired topics. So it's a big welcome to Harriet from the much admired Is there a Plan B? blog which charts the trials and tribulations of shifting from being a London lawyer to a stay at home mum of three in Scotland.  

Her post made me laugh out loud. When I read about some of the questions she has been asked, it takes me back a bit. So, thank you very much Harriet and now it's over to her...

“Goodness, you’ve got your hands full!”
Thank you to Linda for hosting this week of multiple birth inspired posts and for her support of Tamba,

This is a post about about twins. And more precisely about the stuff everyone thinks they know about twins. 

And the stuff everyone says to mothers of twins (I’ve got A and S, who are eighteen months old and identical as well as 3-year-old L). 

And  about the stuff, that sometimes we wish they wouldn’t.

Twins, Triplets and More week 2010: Guest posts, blog tour and carnival

I SET up this blog to offer information and support for parents and carers of twins, triplets and more. Years on, people searching for help with post natal depression still find us and I'm touched that I can be of help.

I've also a longstanding association with Tamba, the Twins and Multiple Births Association, being a member and former magazine editor and PR helper.

That's why when the hardworking people at the charity got in touch to tell me about their annual awareness bid, Twins, Triplets & More week, and the fact that they want to publicise free help for multiple mums, I thought it would be great to spread the word.

It runs from Monday, June 28.

The Greatest Pregnancy and Birth Tips in the World, author wants yours...

FELLOW freelance journalist Kelly Rose Bradford is compiling The Greatest Pregnancy and Birth tips for publication next year and is looking for all mums' and expectant mums' hints and tips and wise and witty words.

The book is going to be light-hearted but relevant, covering everything from conception through to the day you take your new born home (or deliver him/her at home - home birth will be covered.)

A boy and a girl? Please just let them live...

ELEVEN years on, the moment I was told I had lost my babies remains a heart wrenching memory.

April Fool’s Day 1998 was one hell of a day. Just 24 hours after a home pregnancy test revealed I was expecting, I was having a scan to find out if I had an ectopic pregnancy. I had gone to my GP to get the pregnancy confirmed but instead she sent me to hospital to discover more about stomach pains.

Thankfully the pregnancy was not ectopic, and the resulting scan showed not one but two tiny heartbeats. At that moment, I was ecstatic. Little did I know that just seven days later I would be having another scan, in more sombre circumstances.

That weekend my partner Neil and I sat down for a serious talk. There was no question of us not keeping the babies but money was tight. How on earth were we going to manage? We weren't even living together. We had twins on the way. Whoah.