October 25, 2017 I was sitting in a bathroom floor with my sister crying my eyes out because I just found out I was pregnant and my firstborn was barely four months old and I wasn’t prepared to be pregnant again, not physically or emotionally. I went to my first Dr appt and was told her due date was July 2nd, Just a few days shy of Andrews first birthday. On May 12th Renae graced us with her presence 8 weeks early making Andrew and Renae 10 months apart. This is my experience with Irish twins.
Being pregnant with a baby was very hard for me. I wanted to breastfeed Andrew but my body couldn’t handle it. I got nauseous every time I breast fed Andrew and felt extremely fatigued afterwards. When I was three months into the pregnancy my milk started to dry up and I had to buy formula. That was one of the hardest things for me to do because I knew my body couldn’t handle being pregnant and breastfeeding but I did not want to lose that time and connection with my son. I miss that I wasn’t able to able to breastfeed Andrew till his year mark. The knowledge I was able to gain through this experience allowed me to see the importance of feeding and connecting with your child because in the end that’s what is important, connecting and feeding your child. How you accomplish this is entirely up to you.
I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t like the baby phase. I don’t care to hold babies all day or even for short while. But I do miss that I don’t recall Andrew’s baby phase. I felt like he grew up so fast because I was pregnant. The pregnancy and Andrew’s first year of life are so muddled together that I was not able to fully enjoy Andrew’s first year. Nor was a I able to take care of my body during my second pregnancy because I had a baby that needed me. After this experience I gained a deeper gratitude for Seth. He saw the strain that having a baby, being pregnant, and being a full time student put on my mind and body. When I felt like I was over stretched he took care of me so that I was able to continue to take care of our children.
One of the neatest things of having Irish twins though is seeing how fast children can progress. Biggest take away and lesson I have learned is to start earlier than you think you need too. When Andrew was 18 months and Renae was 8 months and we started getting more into sign language for Andrew, teaching him please and thank you. I swear, Renae picked it up first though we weren’t even trying to teach her. When I see Andrew and Renae interact now I forget that they not the same age because they act so similar. Whether it’s Renae progressing or Andrew regressing. They feed and learn off of each other.
Having Irish twins, have pros and cons like many other things in life. I have found that I am grateful for my Irish twins because I have loved seeing them now. The first year or two were hard but knowing how they are now at 2 and 3 years old and how they help to progress and grow together is truly eye opening on how intelligent children can be. I m excited to see what more joys they bring to our life as they continue to grow. But word to the wise, Irish twins are very difficult but down the road can be very worth it.