I am David Zachary John Moore. I am married to Tracy. We have four kids: Andrew, Samuel, and twins Nina and Anna. We have a dog called Lorna, a lurcher we rescued in 2005. She can leap a 9-foot wall in one go. I am tired.
Here are 10 things you might not know about raising twins.
1. Twins get attention.
Look, Dads walking around with babies in buggies or, especially, in a carrier, get attention. Twins in a buggy? Forget it. I'm starting to understand why VB and Angelina give out about the paps!
2. People will ask the same questions.
Are they twins? Yes.
Are they identical? No.
Do you get any sleep? Some.
You've a fairly mad house, I'd say? Indeed and I do.
3. Everyone has an old wives' tale about twins.
They skip a generation on the mother's side, twice a century if you live near an East-flowing river above the line of Capricorn. Apparently.
4. You don't have twins; you have two babies.
I mean, of course, they're twins but, in my experience, it's an exact doubling of what it was like with each of my boys. Two bottles, two burps, two nappies, two babies crying. I'm sure, as they get older, the "twin-ness" will increase but right now, it's less about them finishing each others' sentences and more about one waking the second the other one goes to sleep! It's tough. During the first three months, I didn't get more than 90 minutes shut-eye at once. You just learn to function. All babies are hard work, but twins make for a special kind of tired!
5. More
More nappies. More wipes. More baby milk. More clothes. More spew. More everything. Oh, except sleep.
6. Nobody expects you to be able to do anything again ever.
It's a very convenient excuse for any social event you want to avoid. "I'd love to but, you know, the twins!"
7. Life does go back to "normal".
It is, genuinely, pretty difficult to see it at the start but we're getting there. We've even been out for a meal!
8. People are amazing.
See above. Parents, friends, family. So many have offered to clothe, change, feed, drive and even babysit the twins and, through these kind acts, have really helped to restore that relative normality. I count my blessings every day to be surrounded by wonderfully generous (and brave) humans.
9. I love my wife more than ever.
Witnessing the superhuman effort of carrying twins and giving birth to them was already amazing enough. Watching her be a mother to them, alongside our five-year-old and two-year-old, has made me feel more love and respect for her than I ever thought possible.
10. Double the love.
All the complaining, fatigue and craziness is nothing compared to the surge of love you get when you stare into two sets of adoring eyes, see two smiles, hear two giggles and, yes, go to work with two individual spews down two shoulders. It makes it all fade away. The best "2 for the price of 1" deal ever.
Are you a mama to multiples? Let us know your experiences in the Facebook comments or join the conversation on Twitter @HerFamilydotie
