Twin Tips: Daddy Duties

This installment of Twin Tips is for the dads. I'm sure the moment you announced your twin pregnancy, friends and family started lavishing your wife with attention. But this doesn't mean that your role is less important. While it's true that the physical aspect of pregnancy is only experienced by mom, both mom and dad still share equal responsibility in preparing for the arrival of their babies. So to guide you in this nine-month roller coaster ride, I interviewed my husband to get some suggestions on how to prepare to welcome your two bundles of joy. Here's what he said:

Be present in all medical checkups, tests and scans. 

Thanks to modern medicine, majority of twin pregnancies result in healthy babies but twin pregnancies can still carry greater risks than singleton pregnancies. Attending all the checkups, tests and scans with my wife helped me understand what she was going through. It also allowed me to stay informed about possible complications, what I can do and how her OB will address them. It was also exciting to hear the twins' heartbeats during checkups. It made me feel more involved since I wasn't the one who was pregnant and feeling their kicks.

Attend a prenatal class. 

This will help you learn the basics of pregnancy and infant care. This was something we weren't able to do because my wife was on bed rest for most of her pregnancy. To make up for it, we read as much books as we could to give us an idea about pregnancy and early parenting.

Keep your car in good shape. 

Aside from driving carefully, I saw to it that our car was up-to-date on all the necessary maintenance so we wouldn't have have car trouble on the way to the hospital or worse, on our way home with our newborn twins.

Always have your camera and video equipment ready. 

I got into the habit of bringing a camera to all our hospital visits. I took photos and videos of my wife's first ultrasound, the twins' heartbeats and all other scans. For delivery day, I also made sure to pack backup batteries. A word to the wise - make sure to talk to your wife in advance about what she wants filmed or not during delivery.

Communicate with each other. 

Pregnancy is a happy time but it also brings plenty of concerns. Through regular communication, my wife and I were able to identify our worries and fears and provide support to each other in dealing with them.

Tour hospital facilities. 

Since twins tend to come early, we requested to tour the hospital facilities in my wife's first trimester. During the tour, we were able to see the rooms and clarify the hospital's basic policies like where to park, where to go, visiting hours and special services available for high risk pregnancies. One thing I wish we had done was request to visit the NICU so we would have known what to expect in case we had premature babies - which was what happened.

Assemble gear. 

I don't mean to stereotype roles with this one but most of the time, doctors may want women pregnant with twins to take it easy when it comes to physical activities in order to help reduce any possible complications. Since my wife was on bed rest, heavy work such as crib assembly and car seat installation fell under daddy duties. My advice is to assemble your twins' cribs ahead of time as it can take longer than expected. Remember to conduct an inspection once you're done to make sure that all screws are tight and nothing is poking out that can hurt your babies.

Get help. 

Of course we did not have the budget for six nannies like Jay-Z and Beyonce but taking care of twins is a lot of work so my wife and I both knew we would be needing a helping hand or two. We learned the hard way that it's really difficult to find nannies. Because of this, I would suggest looking for nanny referrals when your wife is in her second trimester so you can start interviewing and hiring nannies by the time the third trimester rolls in. If possible, choose a start date that will ensure that the nanny/nannies will be there when you bring your twins home.

So there you have it, straight from a twin dad himself. If you ask me, our twin pregnancy was our first real test of the "for better, for worse" wedding vow. It was a stressful time for both of us because of some complications and my prolonged bed rest. But we made it through because both of us were actively involved in the whole pregnancy process which made our bond with each other and the twins stronger.