Twinspiration: Real-Life Advice From Pregnancy Through the First Year (for Parents of Twins and Multiples)

by Cheryl Lage

A hybrid of prescriptive "how-to" guidebook and intimate diary, Twinspiration recounts with unabashed personal detail the tribulations and triumphs of a twin pregnancy and first year of life with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1589792807
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.9" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Guide for New Parents!

My wife and I found out we were expecting twins late in the game... at nearly 20 weeks along. We were both shocked! After reading many of the reviews of different twin books, I blindly selected this one to give my wife as a gift for Xmas. I opened it and started skimming the pages before wrapping it... but three days later, ended up finishing the entire book! Now, my wife is wondering why I've gained confidence in knowing the items we'd need to buy, and how to respond to people who say "Double Trouble" or ask, "Do twins run in your family?"--'No, but they do now!'. She wonders why I suddenly flipped on the idea of getting a food processor to make our own baby food, and our parents have admired and are amazed my sudden knowledge of raising twins and what to expect in the first year. Some of my burning questions that were helped by this book are... get two cribs from day one? How much clothing to buy? How many diapers to expect? What to expect during the first year? What kind of stroller? How to deal with the soon to be annoying comments and questions from strangers (if you've heard "double trouble" enough to explode, just wait until your twins are born.) Fathers-to-be, the humor in this book will keep you reading -- I liked how the medical stuff was embedded, though. There's even a chapter on intimacy and what to realistically expect. Throughout the chapters, there is a "daddy perspective" that I liked reading, and although the book is probably aimed more towards moms, you'll impress your wife! This book does not cover the deep scientific nature of twins (e.g., twin language), the birthing process (just read the message boards for data on that...the book appropriately skips something that too many other books already cover), nor the step-by-step on how to breastfeed twins (which I felt was appropriate--the book recommends how to go about breastfeeding, such as hiring a lactation consultant), though it discusses the techniques that worked for the author, which might help a person to get a start on things. It certainly remained within scope of the whole twin-experience that answers the most immediate fears that newly expectant parents are looking for (at least for me). The reason I'm writing this review was because we're currently looking at strollers and have been swamped with the features out there. I found the author's website and posed a question to her...and she responded, with the same sort of writing style that she wrote the book in (informative, touched with humor, and realistic). I've never emailed an author before, and wouldn't expect a quick response from any, but feel like the author is in it for helping people in this situation. The twin message boards have been helpful, but I feel like this book was a "primer" to start with and then extend with the message boards and support groups. The true "test" of this book will come after the twins are born. But let me say, this book has certainly answered a lot of my concerns

FANTASTIC!

Cheryl Lage's "Twinspiration: Real-Life Advice From Pregnancy Through the First Year for Parents of Twins and Multiples" is an outstanding resource for expectant parents of twins. She covers all the stages of pregnancy and what to expect, pre-natal testing, birth, and all the real life scenarios that come after the babies arrive. Cheryl writes from real-life experience with wit and humour. She does include cautions about things that can go wrong, but what I really love about it is that she does this in a NON-alarmist way. I had ZERO panic attacks while reading this book, but at the same time, I feel that I have gained INVALUABLE information from Twinspiration. The writing style in this book reminds me of a big sister telling it all how it is. Let's just say that I was freaking out when I found out there are two in there, but now I am ready to face it all head on and I can credit a lot of that to this book. Thanks Cheryl, you have done a great thing with this book! I STRONGLY recommend Twinspiration to any expectant parents of twins.

Not a scary thought in it

Too many books about pregnancy and in particular, multiple births, have scary facts and issues that really make you not want to read them. This book is funny, amusing, and very informative. Some of the things mentioned in her book worth looking forward to... "Turn the computer off", "Baby's first bloodshed (daddy did it!)" and all the oops' and laughs along the way. It makes up for all those horror stories that seem to pervade the pregnancy shelves of every book store.

Must-have for parents of twins

As a new parent of twins, I could not read this book fast enough - flipping pages while nursing, and even sacrificing much needed sleep to read the informative chapters. Lage writes from the heart, making you feel like she is with you through your own twin trials and tribulations. It is so refreshing to read the true-to-life account of her experiences in the early days - the good, the bad, and the ugly. She shares the mistakes and triumphs of motherhood with twins with honesty and a level head. While drawing from her personal experiences, she does not give too much information as to exclude those with different circumstances, i.e. not telling you the exact time her babies started sleeping through the night! I have a five year old, but like so many others upon coming home with newborn twins, I too wished I had a manual for my beautiful boys. If you are expecting twins, this book is a must-have to put you in a positive, yet realistic frame of mind. My only regret is that I was so obsessed with labor and delivery, I did not read this book sooner. However, the great insight into the logistics, emotions, and wonder of twin parenting will have me revisiting this book frequently throughout the first year.

EXCELLENT--- A MUST READ!!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed Twinspiration! Cheryl's honesty, humor and helpful advice was great. She covered sooo many topics. As a mother of sixteen month old twin boys, I read and kept thinking to myself, "yes...i agree there...and that is sooo true...yep, I've been through that!". It was a true joy to read even with my boys being past that one year mark. As I read, I fondly reminisced of the joys of pregnancy and those difficult first couple months with our wee ones home. It was interesting to read Cheryl's perspective, and how she got through some of those early months. I enjoyed the guidebook of helpful advice as well as her personal added touches. I also liked how she was very openminded on what works for twins. She didn't try to push her advice on others (like so many books do). If something works...great, but if not...You're not a failure. I appreciate hearing words similar to those because every family is different..and some things work for some, and some things don't. It's just a fact of life. Cheryl Lage's book was very encouraging, enlightening, and truly a joy. Thank you! Jessica St. Louis, Missouri