Double Trouble: Twins and How to Survive Them. Emma Mahony
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Название: Double Trouble: Twins and How to Survive Them

Автор: Emma Mahony

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Воспитание детей

Серия:

isbn: 9780007374120

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ b-5398-9073-5005de8ca4c4">

      Double Trouble

      Twins and How to Survive Them

      EMMA MAHONY

      (with chapter cartoon illustrations by Jonathan Pugh)

       For my twin brother and Olympic hero, Dominic

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Chapter 5: Help! I Need Help!

       Chapter 6: Positive Prem Baby Talk

       Chapter 7: Everything You Want to Know about Twin Birth (and Are Too Afraid to Ask)

       Chapter 8: Ready for D-Day

       Chapter 9: Happy Birth Days

       Chapter 10: Congratulations! Congratulations! The Babies Are Here!

       Chapter 11: The Gentlewomanly Art of Breastfeeding Twins

       Chapter 12: The Fourth Trimester

       Chapter 13: Milestones in the First Year

       References

       Further Reading

       Index

       Acknowledgements

       Copyright

       About the Publisher

       Footnote

       Ten Great Things About Twins

      1. You have an instant family – just add milk.

      2. If you get fed up with one, you always have the other.

      3. Nobody asks you whether you are going to have any more children (for a year, at least).

      4. You never feel guilty about getting more help.

      5. You get to eat 4,000 calories a day when breastfeeding (that’s a tub of Häagen-Dazs and a pint of Guinness for lunch).

      6. Twins start giggling at each other as soon as they can smile.

      7. You make proper use of ‘buy one get one free’ offers at the supermarket.

      8. You only have one birthday party to organize every year.

      9. You become a local celebrity in the park and playground.

      10. Your twins will turn out to be more confident, supportive, innovative, substantial, self-knowing, sought-after and giving than the average singleton.*

       Introduction

      Welcome to the club. If you are reading this because you have just learnt that you are expecting twins, sit down. It may be your last chance. Whether you got to this point through good old genetic probability or, like a growing number, via the magic of IVF, congratulations! You are one of the most blessed people on the planet. Twins are the greatest gift in the world. I should know, because I am one. And I’ve never once had to worry about being the only person at my birthday party, because I’ve always had my brother there. And now I am doubly blessed, a twin who’s had twins. What more could a woman want (okay, a career, a little more money, a husband who thinks you’re Kylie, a flatter stomach – oops, sorry).

      If you’re reading this and you’ve already got twins, well done! You’ve made it back into the real world. You’ve made it into a shop, fully dressed (or did you buy this online, like most twin mothers?) And there’s more good news. Like it or not, you have just become a lifetime member of the most inclusive club in the world. The twins club is a club where you will never again be stuck for conversation. From now on, you will have enough stories to entertain the oldest of grannies and the youngest of Teletubbies fans. You will discover the universal truth that everyone, old and young, loves twins. And the worse the stories are, the more they love them.

      This is useful information to absorb now, because there will come a day when you feel like ‘putting the twins out with the rubbish’ (to paraphrase a comment from a three-year-old sibling). At that moment, you know you can load the babies into the double buggy and someone, somewhere, will stop you and say ‘Are they twins? Aren’t they gorgeous! Well, you have got your hands full.’ And as you nod back in agreement, you will find all СКАЧАТЬ