by Melissa Strong

Created on: September 28, 2008

Most of the articles I have seen regarding preparing for multiples assume the mother has ultrasounds that diagnose twins or more. Occasionally, the ultrasound may not find them, or perhaps the mother chooses not to have one. While there are some instances where one can discover twins or more without it, it happens that multiples remain undiagnosed, as was my case.

I knew exactly when I conceived, so my due date was very accurate. Throughout my pregnancy, only one heartbeat was heard at a time. Measuring the uterus, as is a common obstetrical practice, gave no clues, either. Therefore, I went through my pregnancy feeling one baby, or not feeling very many parts externally at all. However, visually, many comments were made as to the size of my belly, which I chalked up to just being a big baby, in relation to everything else.

Commonly, twins and higher multiples arrive earlier than a single baby does. Having a personal history of earlier than normal, when I started labor a month early, I thought nothing much of it. Through the course of their home birth, I discovered there were two babies. Expecting to be pregnant at least a couple more weeks, I was not really even prepared for one at that time. I had some clothes, due to the fact they were numbers four and five.

After their exciting appearance into this world, shortly before the Christmas holiday, we had to scramble to get a bed big enough for the two of them, car seats, and baby swings. In addition, we had to get preemie diapers, as twins are often smaller than singletons. Fortunately, family and friends, upon hearing the news of twins, provided us with many preemie size clothes and diapers. Everyone supplied blankets for their comfort. Family took the older children so we could have some time with just the babies and relaxing some.

One of my twins had to be rushed off to the emergency room for not being strong enough to suckle the day after birth. The more babies you carry, the earlier and smaller they tend to be, and the chance they will be more in need of immediate medical care goes up. Part of preparing for multiples must include preparing yourself emotionally for one or all the babies to spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit. Of course, this is not something a family wants to look forward to, but being emotionally prepared may make it a little less traumatic. If a family knows to expect multiples, finding a pediatrician beforehand that is very experienced with neonatal medicine will do a lot in easing some of the fear and uncertainty that accompanies that.

After having undiagnosed twins, it was very easy to find household help after they were born. All you have to do is ask and someone or several will volunteer. Family and friends may ask what they can do to help at which time you suggest laundry and meals. If you are a family that wishes to babymoon', you can set laundry outside the door or have a set time for visitors to bring meals and snacks. This is a good thing to prepare for after any birth, regardless of how many babies enter the family. Discovering there are groups such as Moms of Multiples was a handy discovery as well.

In closing, if you are prepared for one baby, you can make do for more than one with the supplies on hand. Babies do not wear every single piece of clothing at one time, they can usually fit in the same bed (even a bassinette or cradle), and if you choose to use a sling, you can even snug them into the same one for a short time.

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