Having Twins: A Parents' Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and Early Childhood (Paperback)

I tended to follow its advice and found it very reassuring. Its dietary recommendations were sound. I followed them, as they were not inconsistent with my doctor's own. I felt good throughout my pregnancy and was very happy to be having twins. When they were born, my son weighed in at 7 lbs. 2 oz., and my daughter weighed in at 6 lbs. 6 oz.

The book really gives one all the information about having twins that one could ever want: the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is a reality based book. Were my daughter having twins, I would give her a copy of this book.

At 28 weeks I read the book "Having Twins". It filled the void dissolved the fears and finally put my mind to rest, it is legendary for information on twin and higher order pregnancy. The book is so positive. "Having Twins" covers:

1) Public fascination with twins and supertwins.

Famous twins and twin parents, twins in Greek mythology and biblical twins, how twin births are perceived in other cultures and twin studies and organisations (Northern Territory Multiple Birth Club, example).

2)Formation of multiples.

Identical and fraternal twins, larger multiples, twinning rates and susceptibility to multiple birth.

3)How to tell if it's twins.

Signs, symptoms and confirmation, parents feelings, positive and negative, photo's of a seven and nine month pregnant belly (twins and triplets) and support.

4)Twinship in Utero.

Prenatal Psychology and twin loss.

5)Potential hazards of multiple pregnancy.

Fetal complications, maternal complications, complications unique to multiples (twin transfusion syndrome), fetal disability and loss in the childbearing year.

6)Prenatal care and screening tests.

7)How to give your babies the best chance with optimal nutrition.

Including nutritional content charts and what kind of an appetite is needed for big healthy babies. 8-pound is the average birth weight of the babies of the mothers interviewed in the book:).

8)How to prepare yourself for a multiple birth.

Prenatal exercises, physical considerations and capabilities, relaxation techniques and preparation for childbirth.

9)Preventing prematurity.

"Prematurity is the single most important problem with multiple births, occurring ten times more often than with singletons."(P174).

10)Labour and birth of twins and supertwins.

Natural childbirth of twins and triplets, medical interventions, comfort measures, care of the babies.

11)Caesarean section.

VBAC, combined vaginal-c section, exercises following a c-section.

12)Bonding with multiples.

Prenatal and postnatal, after complications.

13)How to cope when you get home.

Family stress, fathering multiples, breastfeeding, bottle feeding and older siblings.

14)Dealing with prematurity and multiples with special needs.

Emotional reactions, intensive care, complications, feeding, and infants with special needs.

15)Emotional consequences of twin loss.

The stages at which loss can occur, emotional consequences of loss.

16)Special features of Twinship.

17)And a large chapter on Supertwins.

I thoroughly enjoyed taking another look at this book and finding out more about my stage (how to cope when you get home) that I had only glanced at before. -- by steph75@bigpond.com.au