A
ny expectant parent who has been given the
thrilling news of a healthy baby at their first scan will
experience an avalanche of emotions. Excitement,
relief and joy mingle with worry and nervous
anticipation. But when the news is that you are expecting
twins, triplets, or even quadruplets, it can be an even more
complex proposition to get your head around.
With multiple births, there are potential extra health
concerns for both mother and babies; practicalities such as
feeding, sleeping and squeezing everyone into Hong Kong’s
already squeezed apartments to consider; the logistics of
getting out and about with two (or more) babes plus all their
attendant paraphernalia; worries about ever getting back to
work, all topped off with the headache of how you are going
to afford to buy double (or triple) of everything.
But more families than ever are receiving the news that
they are expecting not just one, but two – or even three or
more – precious bundles of joy. The incidence of multiple
births is on the rise, and this increase is due, in part, to
factors such as older maternal age, increased use of fertility
drugs, and more assisted pregnancies. Worldwide, there are
at least 125 million living multiples.
36
The baby days can be hard enough when there is just one little
bubba to look after, so what is life like for the ever-increasing
number of mothers of multiples?
Rachel Kenney
finds out
Or Twice as Nice?
Double Trouble
Mixed emotions
So what does it feel like to find out that you are expecting
twins? Mandy Jones, mum to Jessie, 11, and five-year-old
twins Ben and Polly, says, “I was delighted, but also worried.
Worried about them not being healthy, about complications,
about premature labour.”
Nicola Buswell, who is mum to two-year-old twins
Maxwell (a girl) and Harley (a boy), echoes this worry. “My
first reaction was panic, mainly about how I would physically
carry two babies inside me,” she says. “I hadn’t even
considered that I would actually have two babies to look
after. Being my first and second, I was blissfully unaware
about what was in store.”
For mum-of-five Fiona Destexhe Lodge, from Discovery
Bay, the news was overwhelmingly exciting. “I was just
grateful to see one beating heartbeat, never mind two,” she
says. “That was a blessing after a previous miscarriage.” And
for Meg McGrath, who is mum to Tia, 10, and seven-year-old
boy/girl twins Joshua and Jordan, the news that she was
expecting twins was no surprise as there are lots of twins,
and even triplets, in her family. She says, “We were relieved
when we found out there were only two!”
