Handling Twins- A mother's account

Well, I’m a mommy of twins, age 5. If you ask me how have the past five years have been, I would describe it as lots of tears, followed by lots of happiness- of the real kind. Indeed, from the moment my ultrasound test told me I was carrying not one, but two babies, I felt incredibly blessed. There’s no denying that.
At the risk of sounding all moralistic, I used to wonder at other moms in my shoes when they were shocked to hear the same news, or considered aborting one baby. I mean, I wished I could tell them, “Hey, isn’t it better to finish the nine months of waddling around in one go? All the morning nausea and the restriction on movement and the labour pains – doing it just once instead of twice?”
Then, even if the mommies had shot back, “What about waking up in the wee hours to feed not one but two newborns?” I would have replied, “Imagine starting to do it all over again, two years later!”
Well, to each her own, but back to my story!
Agreed, the first six months were tough, real tough. Waking every two hours to breastfeed (later bottle-feed) two very hungry babies is nothing short of a Herculean task! Especially, if you don’t have the help of an “ayah” as in my case, because I was at my mother’s place in monsoon-time Kerala. Gosh, I can never forget those dark rainy nights and days, attending to my newborns’ needs, literally on my own!
Those thousands of cloth nappies (because I chose not to go with diapers in the initial months when babies poop as much as they pee) I had change, wash and dry (and throw), while maintaining my inner Hygiene Nazi’s high standards! On the hindsight, I must have washed millions of nappies, not just thousands.
The weight loss as a result of breastfeeding was a silver lining to the dark (monsoon) clouds in my life but when nursing ended, came hunger pangs, the likes of which I never experienced before. Despite my mother  (Mothers! Sometimes, you have to wonder if mothers are any better than mothers-in-laws!) warning me to “watch it” , there was no way I could stay away from those fatty foods.
Of course, I put it all back, leading to greater depression. There was no way I could work out either, after attending to my babies’ needs.
Then came the five-month milestone. Now, the worst seemed behind me, and the “cry babies” were now angelic and smiling and gifting me the best photo-ops ever! In fact, I wish I could have enjoyed those days better. They were at their cuddliest and cutest, as every mommy would agree.
From five months to five years, the journey has had its ups and downs, but worth every bit of it.
For instance, when I went for school admissions, I was told the school owner had twins, so my entry was guaranteed. But the downside was that my twins would be in different classes.
Then, birthday parties! I go to birthday parties for one, with two in tow, raising some eyebrows. Well, they asked for it! Sometimes, I even warn them I’m coming with two (and two means two return gifts even if they bring just one gift between themselves). I must confess I have not been invited a second time in some cases. But I take it philosophically!
When it comes to playtime, twins means both wanting to do the same thing at the same time, and bringing down the roof to get what they want. But it also means they have each other to play with, and I don’t have to find a friend for them in today’s largely anti-social world.
Finally, when I go to buy clothes, I try to make sure I choose different colours and styles, because I DO NOT want to be asked for the nth time, “Are they twins?” Oh, did I mention, they are not identical?