Why us?

Okay, I have been meaning to write about this for quite some time... From the time when we realised that we were having twins, actually...

Those of you who read my earlier posts would know that it was only at the 2nd gynae visit that we realised we were carrying twins. Thus is was really quite a surprise for us. It was a pleasant surprise though, for it has always been a dream of mine to have twins.

Even back then before we were pregnant with Isaac, hubbs and I would talk about kids, and we would fantasize "If only we can have twins, then pop pop two babies at one go! steady!" Then we became pregnant with Isaac. No, we weren't disappointed that it was a singleton and not twins, we were just happy to be pregnant at all - we had been trying for some time.

And when Isaac was born, boy were we glad we only had one baby! It's no joke being first time parents - we can't imagine how tough it must be for first time mums to have twins! (Kudos to Clarine!!!)

This dream of having twins is a dream many couples have. But it's like an "impossible dream", a "it'd never happen to me dream". One talks about having twins and triplets "if only I can have twins!" in the same way they'd say "If only I can strike 1st prize lottery this weekend!" or "If only I can marry a handsome and rich prince and live happily ever after" or "If only I can marry the prettiest and sexiest woman in the world!" It's like "yeah, right, it'd never happen to me!"

But it DID happen to us! The twins that is. Woah, what a rush it gave us when we first found out we were carrying twins. It was even better than striking 1st prize in lottery! hubbs and I would sometimes just daze and gaze off into the distance just thinking about it.

We had conceived the twins naturally, so the chances of it happening was pretty slim. So I kept thinking: "Why us?" It's like, why were WE, out of so many other couples, chosen to be parents of twins? We felt very very blessed indeed.

So in true pammie fashion, I started thinking of all the possible reasons of why WE were chosen to be parents of twins...

WE HAVE GOOD KARMA!
You know the song Something Good from the Sound of Music. There's this stanza that goes:

Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever could
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good

So maybe we had good karma, so good begets good, so here we get a double dosage of good - twins! Seriously, during my first trimester, I was constantly subconsciously singing this song in my head!

WE'RE GOOD PARENTS TO ISAAC!
Then I thought, maybe God thinks that we're doing a pretty good job with Isaac, and so he decided to we could handle twins!

DELAYED RESPONSE FROM GOD
Another frequently asked question we always get is "How did you do it?!" - well the person/people who asked were obviously not asking about how the sex act was done, but how did we get twins? Which I thought was quite a silly question coz, wah liao, how I know?! Chance lah! But then, I can't be rude, right? (So rude!) So, I usually reply "Oh, pray lor. Hahahaha..."

Then someone asked "Really? You prayed for twins and you got it?" Frankly, I can't recall who it was who said this, but I recall the expression on the person's face - like it was the model answer to a very tough exam question - like, all you had to do is pray for twins and you'd get it.

Then I thought about it. "Actually, no, we didn't pray for twins." (The person's face fell, when I said this.) Yeah, well, we didn't. Not before this 2nd pregnancy anyway. We were just praying very hard to get pregnant, but we didn't pray to have twins.

But I do recall that before we got pregnant with Isaac, we may have frivolously prayed to have twins. So, that could be another reason why we have twins... God was behind in clearing his prayer-emails and answered our prayer a tad late... :p

FOUR KIDS BY 35
Or perhaps it was this other prayer! We had always wanted to have 4 kids - eventually, not all at once! And I had always hoped that I can deliver all 4 kids by the time I hit the age of 35. Ambitious, I know, but since I got married at age 27, it technically is possible to have all 4 kids by age 35.

But by the time we had Isaac, I was 29. By the time Isaac hit 2, we were frantically (almost!) trying to get pregnant coz we didn't want the age gap between the kids to be too big. I had almost resigned myself to the fact that it would be quite improbable for me to have all 4 kids by 35 years old. 3 kids perhaps, but certainly not 4.

But then, with the twins, we now already have 3 kids - with me turning 31 this year. So, technically, even if we wait 3 or 4 years, I could have the 4th kid on my 35th year! Wow! Just in time!

SAVE MONEY
Then again, maybe it was this OTHER prayer... (hahaha yes we pray for everything!) It was becoming apparent to us that bringing up kids was very costly. Not just with gynae and delivery fees, cot/stroller and other baby-fixtures, clothes, diapers, food, but also child care or school fees, enrichment/tuition classes, university fees... endless!

We were starting to think that maybe we couldn't afford to have as many as 4 kids. So, we thought to ourselves, we'd have one at a time, and see how it goes. With each additional kid, we'd see if we can handle them and afford them, before deciding whether to have the next kid. We were especially thinking about the finances, and so started to pray (frivolously again) to God for us to strike 1st prize lottery. hahaha...

Of course, we know, it is not impossible to afford 4 kids, it's just the standard of living that we have to adjust that's all. But I'm sure everyone prays the "4D/Toto prayer" at some point in time. "Let me strike, please! Let me strike! 1st prize! One time can already! Strike big big! Please please!"

So, my theory is... God had too many of such "Let me strike 1st prize!" prayers on his hand already. There's only so many he can grant, right? But being the great being He is, instead of giving us money to spend, He decided to help us save money! He gave us twins!!!

You see, with twins, there kinda is economy of scales. Like our gynae didn't charge more - we only paid for the elective c-section. Even if there was an increase in fees - like the 5th month detailed scan by the hospital sonographer, it wasn't double the price, but only like 20% more than the scan costs for singleton. Only certain things we had to pay double, like for 2 beds in the nursery, and the paediatrician charges for each kid separately.

For future costs, I figured, assuming that inflation exists, cost of everything is alwasy increasing. Thus, even paying double for something now, would definitely still be cheaper than paying for 1 kid now and MORE for the next kid a few years down the road (assuming it was one kid after the other instead of twins - two at the same time).

Thus, by giving us twins, God didn't have to grant us the 1st prize prayer... He very smart ah!!!

SLIM SLIM ME!
Though lately, I am thinking it's this fervent prayer of mine! I have been praying to God to please let me slim down after this pregnancy. With Isaac's pregnancy, I never got back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, much less my idea weight level which happens to be the weight I was on my wedding day - 50kg. HAHAHAHA... This time, I am aiming to be a svelte 49kg by the time I go back to work.

Don't know if it'd happen, but it can't hurt to try, eh! hahaha...

I was 60 kg just before I got pregnant with Isaac. I gained 21 kg and was a whopping 81kg just as I entered the delivery ward. After that, I hovered around 66 to 67kg post-pregnancy... Just before I got pregnant with the twins, I gained a bit of weight and was about 70kg when we made our first gynae visit. This time round, I only gained about 13 to 15kg - think I was about 84kg just before I delivered. So, even though I gained less than with Isaac, I was heavier to start out with, so I ended up at about the same weight when I delivered.

Just went to weigh myself... now, at about 7 weeks after delivery... I'm tipping the scales at 65kg! yay! Not too bad eh!? Family and friends who saw me recently also commented that this time round I dropped the kilos much faster.

Wait, before you start to 'scold' me, I must first qualify that I haven't been starving myself, nor going on any fad diet. I've been eating pretty normally. In fact, have been eating quite a few new year tarts and kueh kueh in the past week :p Must cut down on that after this week... kekeke...

So, it seems like it's taking care of the twins, and breastfeeding them both fully, that's making the kilos drop off faster this time round, I suppose. kekeke... fine with me!!! So I figured, God must have been so sick and tired of hearing me nag him about losing weight, that he sent me a pair of twins! Like "There you go! Twins for you! Now stop nagging me about your weight loss!" hahahaha...

Oh wait, I have to tell you about this friend of mine - Yin Horng. She's one steady mother. She was 42kg before being pregnant. 55kg at full term. Delivered a 4.20kg baby, and 2 weeks later, she was 44kgand could still fit into XS tops! Steady, right?!

PamMI Pte Ltd (PamMI - Pamela Milk Industries)
Speaking of milk... As you guys might already know, I have lotsa milk. kekeke... yes, my supply is plentiful (Thank God!!!) but even with Isaac it was so. Back then, I recall even saying it, that coz I fed Isaac and pumped the other side at the same time, I was technically able to feed twins. I actually said that.

And now I have twins to feed!!! It is most gratifying to see my milk being drunk, rather than being frozen. I still have surplus to freeze now, but it not a lot, perhaps a pack of 150ml a day to freeze. Most of the rest of the EBM (expressed breast milk) is being drunk by the twins. I say "most" coz, not all is drunk. Sometimes they are too full from drinking from me (they latch on), that we can't "top them up" any further. So the milk gets wasted - coz we can't warm it and keep it out for too long.

Last week, we brought the kidzes to the paediatrician, and guess what are ther weights?
Isaac - 13 kg @ 2 years 7 and a half months (3.220kg at birth)
Asher - 5.1kg @ 6 weeks (2.770kg at birth)
Shawna - 4.6kg @ 6 weeks (2.815kg at birth)

Not bad eh?! :)

CONCLUSION
So... what is the conclusion? I dunno. Maybe it's really just chance. Probability. We kenna twins. That's just it. No reason. But nah, I think it's probably ALL OF THE ABOVE!!! hahahhahaa... But whatever the case is, we're really thankful for this great blessing. Thanks for choosing us, God!!!