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Preparing for Twins
Practical Advice Every Parent Should Know
By Teri Brown
Joy. Surprise. Amazement. These are just a few of the adjectives parents use to describe their feelings when they receive the news they're carrying twins.
Although parents often start with delight, they can be quickly overwhelmed once they contemplate the extra work involved in preparing for two babies. Lynn Clary, of Portland, Ore., recalls feeling ecstatic when she first learned she was having twins. Though that never changed, she also felt trepidation over the many preparations required for the new additions to her family.
"We had been trying to get pregnant for a while, so this news made us feel doubly blessed," says Clary, whose twins are now almost 1 year old. While she feels that educating oneself about twins is important, she also believes that too much knowledge is not always beneficial.
"The more I learned, the more I felt I had to do," says Clary. "Of course, after a while I got tired of reading about all that could go wrong, so I put all the books away about 7 months into my pregnancy."
"There are two extremes," says Bowers. "If a woman buries her head in the sand and doesn't learn anything about multiple pregnancy, she is not only missing out on opportunities to have a healthier pregnancy, but is possibly increasing her risks when she ignores a symptom of a problem because she doesn't know about it."
On the flip side, some go overboard and develop such an obsession with the potential problems that the overwhelming stress and anxiety make it impossible to enjoy the pregnancy. Bowers feels this is just as harmful as not knowing enough.
"I am a firm believer in realism with a positive attitude," says Bowers. "It's important to know what you're up against – and then do everything you can to improve your odds. There are risks and complications that you have no control over, and you need to know the warning signs and how they will be treated. There are other risks you can do something about, and it's important to know the difference."
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