I don't know if anyone out there is still reading this blog. Things were very busy for a while and now we have started to settle into a routine. Don't get me wrong, things are still very busy, but having a routine helps everything be more manageable! While I will still write about adoption, I have decided to also write about occasional life and mommy of multiples things!
Until I became a mom of twins I never realized how many people are clueless about twins and more specifically fraternal twins. While it is true that we do not have DNA evidence that our twins are fraternal, I think it is obvious from their appearance that they are fraternal twins. Whenever I am out with my twins, people always seem surprised that my children are twins. They will ask multiple times and hubby and I will answer multiple times, "yes, they are twins." I think people expect same gender twins to look alike, but fraternal twins are not the same as identical twins.
I have also been asked the weirdest things. For instance, a few weeks ago a man asked me: "Are they identical or maternal?" Trying not to laugh, I responded: "You mean fraternal?"
Strangers also seem obsessed with knowing who was born first. We don't know for sure since we weren't there. So our response is usually: "we don't know." I have had all kinds of responses after that from: "well, someone had to be born first" to silence and incredulous looks that say I must be a bad parent to not know which child came into the world first. My thoughts are, when we first learned about our children, I did not care who came first. Healthy baby boys with enough food to eat was my prayer.
So what are fraternal twins? Fraternal twins are two individual people conceived at the same time, from two different eggs and two different sperm. Without going into too much detail from middle school health class :), fraternal twins are the ones thought to have a genetic component. The tendency to release two eggs at one time has a basis in genetics, whereas one embryo splitting into two is thought to be a random event.
Our twin boys are very different. One has tight curly hair; the other has looser curly hair. One is 3 inches taller and 3 pounds heavier than the other. The shape of their lips and ears are different (can you tell I have stared at them immensely?). Their body types, skin color and personalities are different. They have gained different developmental skills at different times. The way they eat and their food preferences are different. And on and on and on. In fact, I would have to think really hard to find something that is the same about them.
The one thing that is the same is that we thank God everyday for his double blessing of twin boys!
Until I became a mom of twins I never realized how many people are clueless about twins and more specifically fraternal twins. While it is true that we do not have DNA evidence that our twins are fraternal, I think it is obvious from their appearance that they are fraternal twins. Whenever I am out with my twins, people always seem surprised that my children are twins. They will ask multiple times and hubby and I will answer multiple times, "yes, they are twins." I think people expect same gender twins to look alike, but fraternal twins are not the same as identical twins.
I have also been asked the weirdest things. For instance, a few weeks ago a man asked me: "Are they identical or maternal?" Trying not to laugh, I responded: "You mean fraternal?"
Strangers also seem obsessed with knowing who was born first. We don't know for sure since we weren't there. So our response is usually: "we don't know." I have had all kinds of responses after that from: "well, someone had to be born first" to silence and incredulous looks that say I must be a bad parent to not know which child came into the world first. My thoughts are, when we first learned about our children, I did not care who came first. Healthy baby boys with enough food to eat was my prayer.
So what are fraternal twins? Fraternal twins are two individual people conceived at the same time, from two different eggs and two different sperm. Without going into too much detail from middle school health class :), fraternal twins are the ones thought to have a genetic component. The tendency to release two eggs at one time has a basis in genetics, whereas one embryo splitting into two is thought to be a random event.
Our twin boys are very different. One has tight curly hair; the other has looser curly hair. One is 3 inches taller and 3 pounds heavier than the other. The shape of their lips and ears are different (can you tell I have stared at them immensely?). Their body types, skin color and personalities are different. They have gained different developmental skills at different times. The way they eat and their food preferences are different. And on and on and on. In fact, I would have to think really hard to find something that is the same about them.
The one thing that is the same is that we thank God everyday for his double blessing of twin boys!
