I've finished my book.

But now as well as being more excitable than ever for them to get here, I am also scared shitless. The book I read really hit home just how amazingly rewarding but difficult the whole twin process can be.
I ordered 'Double Trouble: Twins and How to Survive Them' from Amazon as I heard it was informative and a good read. It really was, if a tad scary. I found myself at one point staring at the ceiling, eyes wide open, wondering why on earth my body had decided to release 2 eggs and not just the one like a 'normal' person!

So let's just have a look at the twin vital statistics:
1. The chances of having twins rises as you get older, the peak age is 35 to 39 (I conceived them at 26, I don't think that would be considered 'old'!)
2. Women are more likely to have twins the more children they have (I have none others that i'm aware of.)
3. Fraternal twins are more common if there is a presence on the mothers side of the family, not the fathers (I have no twins in my family. None. Anywhere.)
4. IVF increases the chance of multiples. (No IVF used here)

So in conclusion, I am a freak of nature.

I died with laughter when I read the section about the mens involvement with conceiving twins; 'I haven't met a single father of twins who hasn't puffed up his chest when remembering his own important walk-on part in the twin drama. Of course all women know that this Woody Allen view of sperm is ridiculous, and that all sorts of complicated factors are involved in making conception possible. However there is no harm in encouraging this virile fantasy because a swaggering partner in the early days is more likely to be a helpful one later on'.

Each chapter is very useful and full of the basic but important information (and the fact that the writer wrote the book after having her own boy/girl fraternal twins was definitely a plus for me!)

The book begins stating the most beautiful facts about twins and goes into the basic scientifics of different kinds of twins, eating and exercising, shopping, and when the babies get here. And that's when the book turns itself into another genre altogether: a horror. The first 3 months of the babies lives are considered your 'fourth trimester'. I have much to look forward to here:
* Postpartum dementia (forgetting everything, including even maybe my own name)
* More difficulty getting any sort of your figure back
* The golden rule of 'sleep when your baby sleeps' kind of going out the window with twins.
* Figuring out whether feeding them together/separately/wake one/let them sleep is best... Pros such as getting it done in half the time, getting them into a routine when doing together, but impossibility to burp them at the same time, one may be a faster feeder than the other, amongst many other factors to take into account... Apparently only after those first 3 months does it become easier 'when baby can feed in a few minutes and you can wander around the house, barely noticing you have a child swinging happily from your boob'.
* Settling them when crying which is physically only possible to do one at a time and choosing which to comfort first.
* A holiday never really being a holiday - ' A truer phrase would be same work, different location'

Hmmm... You'd kind of have to be a robot to not get a little worried if you will be able to do it. Especially as I'm a perfectionist, am completely anal and an utter control freak. Of course i'm ecstatic, i'm excited, I feel SO blessed, but i'm also quite anxious about what's to come and feeling quite overwhelmed.

But as Emma Mahoney ends the book, her last sentence sticks like glue in my brain;
'Your twins are a miracle. Enjoy them while they are still yours'.
And that really is exactly what I plan on doing :-)