Twins Shocker

Congratulations Jenn!  I have an identical twin sister and can only give you the view from growing up a twin.  I’m close with all my siblings but my twin is my best friend – we just got back from attending a Charlotte Mason retreat together and it was so much fun.  

Now, I don’t know if this is my mom’s rose-colored glasses but she is the mom of six and always says the twins were the easiest 🙂

All my best to you and all your blessings!

Richele

Jenn, similar thing happened to us – my identical boys just turned 4 🙂 I hadn’t gone to the dr. for a while b/c I had been preg. before, but when I finally got around to it, boy were we surprised! Just a quick FYI in case you or anyone else didn’t know – identical twins are NOT hereditary, and fraternals are only hereditary up the maternal side (the hereditary tendency to release more than one egg/mo.) at lest from everything I’ve read and studied, this is what I’ve learned – but from the sounds of it, yours may be fraternal. I do have some good book reccomendations and such, but will have to come back to you on that one, it’s busy right now at our house. I will PM you my contact info though, feel free to call/write any time! And CONGRATULATIONS!!!! The days ahead will be tough, but it is a wonderful and exciting blessing from the Lord 🙂

Lesley

Congratulations! What a dream come true.  

My identical twin and I are best friends. She lives on the East Coast and I am on the West Coast. And even today the movers are packing my twin’s house up, as she and her family make a move to Germany on Sunday. For sixteen years, my twin and I have never lived in the same city, state, (or country: she lived in Italy for four years and now moving to Germany)…even though…nothing gets in the way of our love for each other. We send a lot of letters to each other, and with the time difference, I am usually on the phone with her for a little bit in the early morning hours (twins connected at the ear).

My one advice that I can give from personal experience is that you should NOT worry about the sameness of twins and how to cultivate individual identities. I encourage you to stand back and allow that natural twinship to blossom. By the Lord’s hand, my twin and I deeply bonded in infancy…and by His hand, we have had our world expanded and stretched through separation. God will work His way in and grow each twin individually in time.

My mom was given advice to separate my twin and me during elementary school, putting us in different classes, fearing that we would compete with each other. We eventually would hide at the tree in the school yard because we felt compelled to be with each other and was teased about being best friends. Eventually we had every class together as much as possible in middle and high school, and we sat together in the front row to drive our teachers bonkers.

We competed in track and cross country running together, and being of the same ability, we would hold hands going into the finish line to win the race as a tie. My sister would rejoice when I succeeded, and I would rejoice when she was on top of the game. I always had an accountability partner in my twin, and we rarely got into mischief because we would have to reckon with the other twin. We both had individual personalities and interests…but there has always been a special samesness between us. It was okay to have the same birthday gifts, and it was okay NOT to have the same birthday gifts. Jealousy was never a factor in my relationship with my twin. Siblings, twins or not, make the best of friends…as we homeschooler know.

Cultivate the twinship of your twins reguardless of what the experts say. 

For now, just eat double the protein and get double the rest…and the double jogger stroller…

Double blessings to you and your family,

Janell Suzanne (and my twin, Julie Anne)

Janell – how beautifully put – and I couldn’t agree more, or have stated it better! There is a very unique, God-given bond that twins (especially identicals) share. Yes, my boys are individuals as God gave them individual souls – but they were also the same person for about a week! That thought never ceases to amaze me when I look at my boys – it makes me marvel at God’s awesome power in His creation. It also makes me chuckle that He has seemed to keep that a mystery from all the “experts” as they have not yet been able to figure out exactly what causes an egg to split as it does with identical twins. I love my boys’ individuality, but I also love and am amazed by their sameness and the special bond they share – why in the world would I want to try to stifle that?! It is tough for my older son (the only singleton in the house – for now) at times, but he also has times where he thinks it is really neat. 

Congratulations to you!  I always wanted twins.  God saw fit to bless me with 5 great kiddos, though none are twins.  Either way it works, it’s a blessing, and He will guide your path. 🙂