birth
BY ROBYN BARDGETT
Birthing
Twins
Being pregnant with twins
could be a daunting experi-
ence, but knowing early on in
the pregnancy that they were
expecting multiplies helped
Melissa and Oren Smith pre-
pare for their sons’ arrival.
“We had a feeling that we were
going to have twins so finding out
was not much of a surprise as it runs
in both our families,” says Melissa,
whose twin boys – Zayden and Toren
– were born on September 6.
“Mentally, we just took it one day
at a time and lived our lives as we
did before. Once I started to show
around the fourth month, that’s
when we started to prepare mentally.
Knowing that you are going to have
twins early in pregnancy gives you
time to adjust and prepare.”
While the couple prepared they
tried to avoid any “friendly” advice
that other people feel necessary to
dole out to unsuspecting pregnant
women.
“I did not tell many people that
I was having twins because I didn’t
want any advice, personal experiences
or constant questions about what it
was like,” says Melissa.
“People gave me advice when I
asked and respected my wishes on not
being bombarded with advice when I
didn’t want it.
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“In the back of my mind I was
always worried about complications
since I was a high risk pregnancy and
I wanted to keep my mind focused on
other things.”
One of the hardest parts of Me-
lissa’s pregnancy came later on when
she had to slow down due to her
size. As a personal trainer,
the 27-year-old found the
physical restraints hard
to adjust to.
“Physically was the
biggest adjustment,”
Melissa explains.
“With my job and
being active, slowing
down was very challeng-
ing. If you ask anyone, I
like to keep busy. Thankfully
my clients were understanding
and it made my job easier knowing
that they were willing to adjust as well.
It was hard not to be more hands-on
and at time it was frustrating just sit-
ting while my clients trained because
it felt like I was not giving my 100
percent, but I had to keep reminding
myself that I was carrying twins and
it was okay to take it easy and that my
clients understood my limitations.
One of the benefits of slowing
down during her pregnancy
was how it prepared her
for relying on help while
she recovered from a
c-section.
Melissa had a
scheduled c-section at
37 weeks.
While she was
able to prepare men-
tally for the date of the
twins’ birth, when the day
came and she was wheeled
into the operating room it all
became very surreal.
“Once in the operating room, it
was very busy,” Melissa remembers.
“There were people constantly coming
in and out preparing the room and I