In this one year of blogging, there are many new concepts which I have explored. But there is one thing which makes me feel ecstatic and overjoyed. Yes! I am talking about Meet the Twin Moms series. After featuring two wonderful twin mamas I am extremely glad I commenced this interview series. I am getting to know about more and more twin moms and their incredible journey of twin pregnancy and parenting. Their experience and knowledge are very resourceful. And certainly, I am feeling proud to feature all these wonderful ladies. Today we are meeting up one such exuberant Twin Mama Ms. Parkhi Awasthi Hukku (Pakhi) from Gujarat, India. She will be conversing about her life with her charming and adorable 3-year-old twin boys.
If you are a Twin Mom and would like to share your parenting expertise with our readers, Please contact us. We will be happy to feature you.
Over to Parkhi.
Parkhi Awasthi Hukku, a Multitalented Mom
Hi, I am Parkhi Awasthi Hukku (Pakhi), mother of 3-year-old twin boys ‘Aaditya & Hridaan’. My husband is a Chemical Engineer and we live in Reliance Greens Jamnagar (Gujarat). Basically, I am from Delhi-Meerut. Though I’m a Science Graduate later I chose Economics for my Masters. I have completed my MBA – HR after getting married. So I must say that I got full support from my in-laws and my husband.
Presently I am working part time as a content writer. Apart from my studies I’m an NCC (C certificate holder- Army Wing ) and have played pistol & rifle shooting Nationals under NCC. My recent passion is photography on which I am really working hard. I have joined a photography club as well to pursue this passion.
Parkhi shares her experience and cognizance about Raising Twins
What was your first reaction when you found that you were carrying twins?
I and my husband were really surprised when we came to know about twins. When my reports came positive we went for our first scan: “I was told by my pleasingly surprised Gynaecologist (Dr. Sonal Khambholja) that she had just found two heartbeats “. I asked her to call my husband in and still remember the tremor in my voice from nervous excitement when I shared the news with him and he got to see those two little embryos.
But to be very honest I always had this in my mind and had this intuition about twins. My doctor also asked that whether I had any fertility medicine before or do we have any twins in our family or not. But the answer was no. Our family was thrilled but also stunned with the news since neither of us have a family history of twins. I had been secretly wishing for this news so to hear this was literally a dream came true.
Did you take any special care to cope up with your twin pregnancy?
As suggested by my gynecologist, I had stitches in my fourth month of pregnancy to avoid any premature delivery.
Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? If so, can you share your experience?
I would say it was not a complication but yes during my pregnancy my husband had to go abroad on an official tour. Those days were the toughest but I must mention here that my mother in law took real good care of me. She helped me in every other way like my own mother.
Other than that I was perfectly healthy during my pregnancy. I just faced common issues like morning sickness, swollen ankles, stretch marks, vomiting etc. Rest everything was perfect. Even my Hemoglobin was 12 at the time of my delivery.
Was there any difficulty during your delivery?
My Twins were born at 38th week weighing 2.3 Kg (Aaditya) and 2.4 Kg (Hridaan).
By the grace of God, we didn’t have any difficulty. After the final scan, the doctor suggested going for a c-section as my kids’ position was not favorable for a normal delivery. So it was all planned well in advance.
But yes I still remember that I was really afraid when I entered the operating room. It was very big and four five doctors were surrounding me asking different questions. ‘’Great experience that was’’.
Were your twins born Premature? Did they stay in NICU? How did you handle the Prematurity and NICU journey?
No. I had been petrified that they would need time in the NICU as is the case with most sets of twins and was ecstatic that they had no need for this.
How did you handle their infant stage (0-1 yr) and save your sanity? Can you share some tips?
I would say 0-6 month’s period was the toughest as I was not well enough to care for my infants. But still exhausting with the joy of new parent and the pain of the C-section, I had to be very active in terms of trying to feed one baby after the other almost continuously through the day.
I got a maximum of just 1-2 hours of sleep in a day. However, my family members really helped me at that point in time. My younger brother, my father, mother and last but not least my mother in law was all time there to support me and my kids.
Are there days when you were overwhelmed with the mommy guilt and felt that you couldn’t do justice to your twin mom role? If so, how did you overcome this?
I was lucky enough that my elders were there to guide me and support me at that time. They even took care of me and my kids when I was feeling that I couldn’t do justice to my kids. But as they say when the going gets tough the tough gets going.
Do you have any tips for breastfeeding twins? Did you feed them formula? What routine did you follow to feed your babies during the first year?
After the second month, I discovered that I had very little breast milk. I had to adjust to the reality that twins would require to be supplemented with formula since they needed to gain weight. I took this really hard, as excitedly we even bought a twin breastfeeding pillow and planned to tandem feed them at the same time.
I had bought a breast pump so I pumped and would give it to them with spoon or bottle. I started storing my breast milk in the fridge in case they didn’t latch or were too hungry and crying. Also, I would alternately feed them formula and BM.
How did you handle their sleeping pattern?
Well from the beginning itself we kept this in our mind to keep their sleeping pattern aligned. It not only helped us to manage their other activities but also gave us some time to keep our stamina up to the mark.
What was the toughest challenge that you faced during their toddlerhood and how did you handle it?
To be honest, there were several challenges starting from their bath, oil massage, hair cutting and the biggest among all is to make them sit and feed them food.
Both my kids have different choices and it is really difficult to feed them till date. But as the time goes you develop methods to deal with it. Like one of my kid love curd and the other one don’t. So I always have curd in backup to tackle the situation.
How did you potty train your twins?
I started with the sketch pens. I used to make them sit on the toilet seat with sketch pen and they would draw on the back side of the seat. Now they not only enjoy it but they have also learned to be patient while doing potty.
What is the one thing that you admire from their twin bond?
They really love and enjoy each other company and that is the most admirable thing I must say. To give an example they never learn things alone. If one gets to know something or other the first thing he will do is to tell his brother about how it has been done or what is that or what you call it etc.
Learning together and playing together is the most loving and admirable thing I have seen in my twins and it shows their ultimate bond.
Do they fall sick together? How do you handle their sick days?
As such, I always made sure to get each and every vaccine on their vaccination card whether it is mandatory or not. But nowadays you can’t prevent them 100% from falling ill as there are lots of diseases.
However, if it is a communicable disease I separate things. Normally they sleep together but during sickness we have, to separate them. They also have separate medicine boxes to avoid any interchange of used medicine.
Twin Moms have to be different but are often judged for their varied parenting style. What are the unique challenges that you encounter in your society as a twin mom and how do u deal with them?
Twin moms are totally different and they have varied parenting style which is often misunderstood. Like I have been questioned, “Why do you always purchase same clothes for your babies?” It may look awkward when they both wear same clothes. But I still do it. The simple reason is that you just can’t make them wear different clothes as they both want the same thing. Even if one is getting medicine the other one wants it too.
Did you separate your twins in school or did you have them in the same class? Which worked for you and why?
No, I want them to be in same class and same school as they love each other’s company. And also it is easier for me to get the information as they always tell me about their partner’s activity.
How do you describe your life with twins?
To this, I will say “There is nothing in my life without my twins”.
What will be your supporting words for new twin moms?
To all ladies out there, I must say that we are lucky to have twins as there are many people in this world who don’t have a single child. So always keep this in your mind that you are blessed. However, as they say with great power comes great responsibility. Love your kids and take great care of them.
However, as they say with great power comes great responsibility. Love your kids and take great care of them.
Be in touch with Parkhi
You can follow Parkhi on Facebook and Instagram.
Thank you, Parkhi, for expending your precious time and sharing us about your enthralling journey with your twins.