TwinParenthood.com

A mom, dad, and a Utah State Trooper were surprised earlier this week by twins that didn’t quite make it to the hospital and were instead born on the side of the road.

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It’s nearly every parent’s fear that they’ll deliver on the side of the road — and as with many thing “multiple”, when you’re having twins, triplets, (or even more) — that fear can be multiplied.

Utah Highway Patrol sergeant Cade Brenchley is a father of four and called on his own experience in the delivery room as well as training he received as part of his job. When Seargeant Brenchley arrived, one baby had already been delivered — but he was just in time to help with baby #2.

“The mother was a real trooper — for lack of a better word — for holding on to this baby and then getting ready to have the second one,” Brenchley said.

After delivery of the second twin, Brenchley says, “Good job, mom.”

We all suspected we were seeing more twins, and now a new report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) confirms it.  The CDC says that the rate of twin births in the United States continues to rise.  Twin rates had been stable at about 2% of births from about 1915 through the 1970′s.  But beginning in the early 80′s, the rate began to rise. 

One in every 30 infants born in 2009 was a twin.

• The number of twin births more than doubled from 1980 through 2009, rising from 68,339 to more than 137,000 births in each year from 2006 to 2009. In 1980, 1 in every 53 babies born in the United States was a twin, compared with 1 in every 30 births in 2009.

Twinning rates rose by more than 200 percent among women aged 40 and over.

• Twin birth rates increased for women of all ages over the three decades, with the largest increases among women aged 30 and over. From 1980 to 2009, rates increased 76 percent for women aged 30–34, nearly 100 percent for women aged 35–39, and more than 200 percent for women aged 40 and over.
• In 2009, 7 percent of all births to women aged 40 and over were born in a twin delivery compared with 5 percent of births to women aged 35–39, and 2 percent of births to women under age 25. 

Health Implications of Twins

While twin parents everywhere rejoice in their happy but difficult circumstances, the increased rate of twin births does have implications for the health of the mother and the babies.  The rise in the rate of twins, which comprise the majority of multiples (96 percent in 2009), has had an unfavorable impact on key indicators of perinatal health such as rates of preterm birth and low birthweight.

Source:
Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK. Three decades of twin births in the United States, 1980–2009. NCHS data brief, no 80. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2012.

Four sets of twins born in different years

When you’re having twins, it’s always fun to speculate about them being born on separate days. And if your due date is anywhere near the last day of the year or shortly after, it can be even more fun to imagine your twins being born in separate years.  And that is exactly happened this past New Year for not one, not two, not three, but for at least four US families.

Twins Ronan and Rory Rosputni were born in Buffalo, NY at 11:37 p.m. Dec 31, 2011 and 12:10 a.m. on January 1, 2012, according to the Buffalonews.com.  Hundreds of miles away in Minnesota, Beckett Humenny (New Year’s Eve — 6:40 p.m.) and sister Freya (New Year’s Day 12:26 a.m.) were welcomed to the world in separate years as well, as detailed by the StarTribune.com.    In South Dakota, Kylee and John Jr. Anthony were born at 11:59 p.m. Saturday, and at 12:03 a.m. Sunday as report by Azcentral.com.   But not to be outdone, TBO.comreports that Leah and Jenna Bear hold the honors for first baby of 2012 and last baby of 2011 in Hillsborough County (Tampa), Florida. 

At least one of the families speculated about how they would celebrate birthdays and suggested that they will have one combined birthday for their twins.  That is a fantastic idea when they are very little — but when twins are born on separate days, parents should consider having separate celebrations as their twins get older.  When little, combining the celebration is far easier for parents and little ones are happy to celebrate together.  But as they grow older, twins often struggle to be recognized independently of their twin and celebrating a separate birthday, especially when they actually fall on separate days — or years — can go a long way to build that recognition.

The TwinParenthood family would like to congratulate all of these special twin families, and we wish them all the best for a fantastic 2012!  Happy New Year!

Naturally conceived quads in California are getting closer to going home. Life with super twin girls Audrey, Emma, Natalie and Isabelle will be a big change for Samantha Weng and Wayne Wang. After three months in intensive care at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, the multiples’ health has improved enough that they may soon begin to bring them home.

According to The Mercury News, the quads are naturally conceived (quad odds = 1 in 729,000 births). Two of the babies are known to be identical because they shared a placenta (odds = 1 in a million), and it is not yet clear if the other two girls are also identical (odds = 1 in 8 million).

Initially, Samantha and Wayne were “just” expecting twins. As they were adjusting to the news that they were having twins, they were told they were having triplets. Finally, they learned of the quadruplets. Parenting twins (or rather parenting super twins) will be quite a challenge, and Samantha plans to stay home to care for the quads.

One thing is certain, life will never be the same. Welcome to the world of TwinParenthood!

The term ”twiblings” isn’t exactly new, with popular usage defining it as “two under two”, or that is, two siblings being born within two years of each other.  Under this definition, the world is full of “twiblings”.  But I recently read an article in the NYTimes by Melanie Thernstrom, “Meet the Twiblings“,  about a pretty unique family situation.  These siblings were born 5 days apart and did not share a womb.  So, no, they are not twins, and Ms. Thernstrom refers to her children as “twiblings“.

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Not twins, but they might as well be. These kids will be raised together at the same time, in one family. To me, that is the real world definition of a “twin“.  I know this opinion will cause controversy, but I really don’t care how they were conceived. I also don’t really care that they were carried in two different wombs.  I know… technically they are not twins.  But this family will experience typical twin parenthood issues: feeding two babies at once, twin escalation syndrome, two kids entering school at the same time — and the decisions about sharing a classroom.  The list of twin parenthood issues goes on, and this family will face many of these joys and struggles.

I think it is more than okay to want to have twins and to plan to have “twins” in this unique way.  I love how Melanie Thernstrom refers to the egg donor as “the Fairy Goddonor” – now that is a term I just might  have to adopt myself!  And, I have to confess I was pretty surprised at the venom I have seen expressed towards this couple from a few twin parents since sharing this article.  As though only “naturally conceived” twins are acceptable and all others are some kind of second rate citizens.  Having conceived one of my sets of twins only with the help of our own “Fairy Goddonor“, and one of my sets of twins “naturally“, I think I am in a unique position to announce with 100% conviction that my second set of twins are not any more “natural” than my first set of twins.

As to Michael and Melanie’s method of obtaining their “twins” — er, “twiblings“, I must say, “Good for them!  You Go, Twin Parents! You Go!”

copyright 2011 – TwinParenthood / Kathryn Whiteley

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Fisher-Price have announced massive recalls of infant and childrens’ toys and equipment — totalling more than 10 million items.   Hazards cited include choking, lacerations, and falling onto sharp prodruding parts.   Items recalled range from trikes to high chairs to toys.

Products affected by these recalls:

High Chairs

For more information and a complete list of recalled items, parents should visit Mattel’s Consumer Relations Support Center.

Fisher-Price September 2010 Recall

Have you seen this amazing story about a mom that instinctively used Kangaroo Care to say good-bye to the preemie twin son she thought she had lost — and her care brought him back to life. Amazing Story — a must read: http://ow.ly/2wsAb