Articles

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More has arrived! People have been asking for a Chicken Soup book about twins and multiples for many years, and it has finally been delivered. I am honored to have coauthored this book with the Chicken Soup for the Soul series founders, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. This newest book is a collection of heartwarming and hilarious stories from parents of "twins and more," and from multiples themselves, filled with time-tested advice from those who have "been there, done that." Twins mom and CNN journalist Soledad O'Brien lends her hearty recommendation to this book, saying "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More is funny and moving, insightful and inspiring. Life with twins is a chaotic, wonderful, joyful experience - and this book captures it perfectly! Click to read the rest of this entry

I laughed out loud at the following video about twins and their superpowers! If you've always wondered whether twins really have their own language or feel each other's pain, this clip will answer your questions. This video was created by Eric Ruhalter, author of The KidDictionary: A Book of Words Parents Need but Don't Have. If Eric's book is as entertaining as his video, I highly recommend it! Click to read the rest of this entry

By Susan M. Heim

Twin boys from Madagascar, who were joined at the thorax and abdomen and shared a liver, were successfully separated at a Parisian hospital. Born on June 16, 2008, Imahagaga and Imahalatsa endured a four-hour operation by a team of 20 people from France and Madagascar. According to an Associated Press article, conjoined male twins occur in 1 in 150,000 births. The boys will stay in Paris with their single mother until the summer of 2009.

by Cheryl Maguire

Kids and babies require everything from clothes to car seats and much more.  As a parent of multiples, you will have to buy two or more of everything, which can add up quickly.  Most of these items are expensive and are only used for a short period of time.  Here are some ways to find free or frugal kid or baby items. Click to read the rest of this entry

by Susan M. Heim

            A 33-year-old woman in Southern California gave birth to six boys and two girls on January 26, 2009. They are only the world's second set of live-born octuplets. The babies weighed between 1.8 and 3.4 pounds and were in stable condition. The unidentified mother, who lives with her parents, already has six children between the ages of 2 and 7. Doctors were surprised to find octuplets during the Caesarean section as only seven babies had been detected.

            In 1998, the first live-born octuplets were born in Houston, Texas. One child died a week later, but 5 girls and 2 boys survived and are now healthy ten-year-olds.

How to Plan a Baby Shower for Twins
By Caroline Miller

Planning a shower for a single baby can seem full of a million things to take care of; add another baby to the list, and you can add another million things that you have to take care of before the shower to make sure the party is a grand success. From baby gift baskets to baby shower favors, from the venue to the timings, everything has to be planned well in advance to reflect the theme of the shower. Click to read the rest of this entry

Ten Parenting Tips For New Twins
By P. Banas

A new baby in the house means a whole lot of fun. On the flipside, it also means a whole lot of work. In the case of twins, this means not just double the fun but also double the work.

Here are some tips especially meant for parents of twins:

• Work as a pair: Generally, one of the parents-typically the mom, but it could be the dad-takes over the majority of parenting chores. With twins however, it often becomes necessary for both parents to share duties more or less equally.

• Alternate between both: Do not go in for an arrangement where each spouse looks after chores related to only one of the twins. Alternate, so both parents get to handle both of the twins. Click to read the rest of this entry

by Susan M. Heim

In 2001, Alison Spooner of Britain gave birth to fraternal twin girls who were strikingly dissimilar. One daughter had fair skin, blue eyes and red hair like her mother, while the other daughter had dark skin and hair like her black father, Dean Durrant. This is an extremely rare phenomenon, but the couple did it twice! Alison recently gave birth to a second set of fraternal twin girls. Miya is dark like her father; Leah is fair like her mother. Scientists say there's no way to know the probability of this occurring as there are so few known cases.

By Lisa Cartolano

It is simply amazing! From the moment you lay eyes on your newborn bundle(s) of joy, your life suddenly changes. How could someone so tiny and helpless make such an incredible impact so quickly? Babies have the unique ability to steal your heart, challenge your abilities, and can turn your world upside down if you let them. Having a baby (or two or three) is an absolutely wonderful change that will necessitate some changes in your way of doing things. As many seasoned parents have probably already informed you, your lifestyle will need quite a few modifications. Here are some suggestions that will make your adjustment a little bit easier.
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by Susan M. Heim

            If you’re on the social networking site, Twitter, and have twins, triplets or more, we’d like to invite you to join our Twitter Group: Parents of Twins and Multiples!

            Just go to http://twittgroups.com/group/twins and click on Join Group.

            Once you’re a member, be sure to Follow all the members of the group so you can all tweet about parenting twins and multiples.

            And please visit my Twitter page and follow me at http://www.twitter.com/ParentingAuthor. Don’t forget to DM me to say hello! Click to read the rest of this entry