How To Prepare For The Birth Of Twins

The first impression for those who do not live in this situation is that love and happiness will be double. The truth is that it is undoubtedly unexpected news. Here’s how to prepare for the birth of twins.

Tips to assimilate the news

The first tip is to cultivate patience, you will need it for two. The second is to seek help to care for the home and children, and the third is to inform and educate you for the future.

Twin pregnancies are less and less rare, according to the experience of doctors Ana Llorente de la Fuente and Carmen Rosa Pallás Alonso, who work in the Pediatric ward of the Doce de Octubre hospital in Madrid.

When you hear the news, it is natural to feel joy, but also fear and worry. Don’t feel guilty about this mix of feelings, it’s normal, as your plans and patterns have probably changed dramatically.

This feeling will be overcome as you discover the experience of having twin children.

Over time, specialists say, new doubts will emerge.  Will there be economic problems? Will our relationship change? Will I be able to continue to give both of my children the attention they will need?

This is why it is important to use the months of pregnancy to prepare the necessary for when the twins will be born.

Symptoms during a twin pregnancy

Ana Llorente de la Fuente and Carmen Rosa Pallás Alonso have written a guide in which they explain that some symptoms and signs occur more markedly in twin gestations.

One of these is called hyperemesis gravidarum, that is to say the classic morning sickness of the pregnant woman, which in this case can be more frequent, numerous and prolonged.

This happens because the hormone that creates the placenta, having to create two, can give more pronounced symptoms.

Another problem that occurs more frequently, explain the two specialists, is preeclampsia.

With preeclampsia, the fetus affects the mother’s blood pressure to the point of endangering the lives of both. Many times it is checked with medical treatment, but in rare cases it forces to terminate the pregnancy prematurely.

There are also anomalous presentations, ie the fetuses are not positioned vertically and “head”, but sideways, oblique or in the breech position.  All these positions can hinder the extraction and force to change the way of delivery as well.

Furthermore, for the second twin, birth is usually more difficult, because for him it is longer.

These are all reasons why midwives sometimes have to opt for a cesarean and therefore cesareans are more frequent in twin pregnancies than in simple ones.

But surely what worries parents most is the threat of premature birth, as they may have heard of a few cases where this has happened.

A gestation comes to an end when the delivery occurs between the 37 ^to week accomplished and 41 ^to week. Any birth that occurs before 37 ^a week is premature.

Although these symptoms are indicated by the two specialists, this does not mean that you must necessarily warn them.

Feeding the twins

Breast milk is the best nourishment for a newborn, the most complete, hygienic and economical.

It is perfect for the complete development of the baby and provides him with defenses that he cannot produce and which protect him from certain infections.

You are probably worried that not enough milk can be produced for both of you. In general, the problem with feeding breast milk is time, not the amount of milk produced by the mother.

If you are in good health, you will produce enough milk for both of you. Keep this in mind: the better the sucking, the greater the milk production.

To save time, the best thing to do is learn how to breastfeed them together. At first you can attach them separately, until they suck properly, then try to sit with the babies propped up on pillows on your lap or lap, and give each one a breast.

There are many positions in which you can breastfeed both babies: you will have to find the most comfortable one. Generally, with patience and experimenting with different ones, the goal is achieved.