Not quite twins

Monday, April 15, 2013

 
Cecilia at 4 months.
 
 
Mary Claire at 5 months.
 
I'm definitely seeing more differences as Mary Claire gets older - not quite Cecilia's clone, but the face shape and build (and lack of hair) are definitely identical!
 
Now we just need to put Elizabeth in that dress and do a 3-way comparison!
 
Seriously, people get so confused when they see us with both babies, because they're never dressed alike and look TOTALLY different.  And they finally get it when we tell them they're twins, but it usually takes them a while to figure it out. 
 
I think twins are pretty uncommon in Catholic circles because Catholic women are generally not going to be using fertility treatments that produce twins, and twins are a lot more likely to be conceived when women have just gone off hormonal birth control, so that's another strike against Catholics in the twin game.  Statistically, I guess you must see fewer Catholic twins (and we only really see other people at church...)!  We certainly never see any, although I know there are some in the blogging world :)

14 comments:

  1. Wow, that's a pretty close comparison! I love how chubby your little babies are :) All that breastmilk is doing them good. I can't wait to come see your kids again this summer. The twins are going to be so big compared to when I saw them back at 2 months! Oh, also, we have a Baby Einstein jumperoo that Emmeline has outgrown - you can totally borrow it post June 16 if you will use it. I'm guessing you don't already have two and would use another. Just let me know!

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  2. I know three pro-life Catholic women who each had twins within a year of each other. We have a lot of twins popping up over here in the Catholic communities. :)

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    1. I don't know where all the twins around here are! Maybe they go to a different mass... I think I've only ever seen 1 set of twins at a Catholic church, and that was 3 years ago in a different parish!

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  3. People say my two boys look identical, even though they are three years apart. I say they look like brothers, but I wouldn't call them identical.

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    1. They do look SUPER similar - but that's how brothers are made sometimes!

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  4. They are so adorable! Whenever we go to the store people always ask if my girls are twins, and Maggie is a whole head taller than Clare. People are just so fascinated with twins! I would love to see the 3 way side by side!

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  5. Add me to the "people fascinated by twins" category. :))

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  6. So adorable! I actually know quite a few Catholic friends with twins. There were 3 sets of twins of good friends of mine in less than a year's time when my oldest was born. And all of them found out later in pregnancy. Two were approaching their due dates and planning a home birth! I also have a friend who is older and figured she was past childbearing but had twin girls (#s 10 and 11) about a year ago! Seems like most of the very big families I know (10+) have a set of twins. Maybe you'll have another set one day ;)

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    1. It's frighteningly likely that we'll have another set - the chances are 1 in 12 now that I've had one set, and chances increase as you get older... And it's 8 or 9 times more likely if I conceive while nursing! We're pretty much resigned to the fact that we'll probably have another set one of these days :P

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    2. Rosie, as you know, your paternal grandmother had ten kids with one set of twins—in the #3 and #4 slot, just like yours. Some people would love to have that problem. Just saying.

      Blair, I'm just pointing that out to agree with you.

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    3. Rosie, you are killing me. This is NOT what a mother 24 wks pregnant with twins wants to hear! This pregnancy is gonna kill me!!! ;) I couldn't possibly do it again!

      Of course, them I see your scrumptious twins and.... (Happy sigh).

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  7. Oh my goodness....there is a lady on twitter...I suck because I can't remember her name right now (so why am I still telling you this story? Yet I go on). Anyway, she recently went in for her gender ultrasound and discovered, SURPRISE, secret twin had been hiding in there all along. Thought of you when I read her story :)

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  8. We're Catholic with identical twins. And the possibility of another twin pregnancy is scary, much has I love ours- complications and bedrest and NICU. I remember the part in the beginning of Anne of Green Gables with a shudder; "She had three sets of twins. I like twins myself in moderation, but three times in succession is too much, and I told her so firmly when the last set arrived. I used to get awfully tired carrying them around." That's Anne to Marilla, quoting from memory so the wording might be a little off.

    They are neat creatures- ours are just over a year and both walking, and they're so aware of each other, and play together instead of side by side, which is very cool. One of them also follows the other around and hits her on the head, which is terrible but funny.

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    1. From what I've read, identical twins are a statistical anomaly - there's no research that can find any trend in conception of identical twins, since they're monozygotic and spontaneously split. So you're probably only at as much risk as the regular population, thank goodness!

      Three sets of twins. Oh goodness! My grandmother has twins in her third pregnancy and then 6 more kids after that with no twins, so hopefully I'll follow in her footsteps! Not necessarily 10 kids, but no subsequent twins :P

      I'm so excited for when they start actually playing together! Right now they mostly grab at each others hands and Elizabeth tries to suck on whatever body part of Mary Claire's she can find...

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