Tiger Twins In The Bayou - Weathering It All

by Angelice
(Baton Rouge, LA)

Snow and sleet were threatening south Louisiana, however all I was concerned with was my positive home pregnancy test. After months of trying to get pregnant, my husband and I felt enormously blessed on Christmas Eve to learn we were expecting. At the turn of the year, dark clouds rolled in, as we learned my dad’s brain cancer had returned. It is said that every dark cloud has a silver lining, and ours was that we were expecting two, not just one baby that year. This was a nice distraction especially for my mom and I, as we watched my dad fade away to a bed-ridden, yet still witty middle-aged man we both loved. Only six weeks prior to the twins birth, my dad lost his fight and slipped away peacefully with my mom and I by his side.

No one could ever have prepared me for the emotions I would experience the day my boys arrived. As a first time mom, I was so excited, proud, happy and in love with these two tiny beings. Okay, so they weren’t so tiny…Jackson weighed in at 6 lbs 10 oz and Nicholas at 5lbs 14oz. I was relieved they arrived four weeks early. I don’t know how much larger my tummy could have grown, not to mention, I don’t know what hospital would have had room for us. The boys’ actual due date was September 4th, one week after Hurricane Katrina swept through south Louisiana and Mississippi.

Weeks turned into months, and my husband and I found ourselves becoming more confident in managing two babies at time. Change one diaper, change another; feed one, feed another; bathe one, bathe the other; you get the picture. I like to call it the “assembly line affect.” Managing work, daycare, babies and household chores was exhausting on both of us. By the time the twins were eight months old, I felt lost and tired. After much thought and budget crunching, my husband and I agreed that I would stay home with the twins. It was only a day after I resigned from my job, that I found out I was expecting, again!

Our baby girl arrived nine months later, just before Christmas of that year. The twins were so excited and loving to their baby sister. I was dealing with the differences of having a singleton versus two babies at one time. I hardly put her down the first month of her life. I didn’t have to worry about another baby. The twins were walking, beginning to talk and quite independent at such a young age. After being home for ten months, I was ready to go back to work, so I thought. I lasted a whole six months and the anxiety took over, basically disabling me from functioning at work, going through the motions of being a mom, a wife, but not truly living it with a true sense of vitality and life.

It took a couple of months before I listened to my family and friends before I would seek help from a professional. Very quickly I was diagnosed with major depression. What? I just thought I was a little overwhelmed. Who wouldn’t be with three kids ages two and under, a full-time job and a husband. I left the best for last, because if it weren’t for my loving and supportive husband, I don’t know that I would be writing this today. He stepped up when I couldn’t manage the children, from preparing meals, bathing all three kids to playing and entertaining them.

With the help of a therapist, psychiatrist and my loving family & friends, I have regained a passion for living each day to the fullest and make the most of the time I have with those who are most important to me. As I worked through my depression, and continue to do so, it was through the understanding of other moms, especially twin moms, who had experienced the same issues and challenges that made me realize I was not alone.

Gemini Greetings was a distant dream and with the resurgence of energy, I decided to make this dream a reality. It was only in September that I began my search for an illustrator. I envisioned warm & cheerful characters on greeting cards for families with multiples, from twins to quads and possibly more! I just knew that if I had a hard time finding cards for my twins, it has to be even more difficult for those with triplets and quads. Ideally, these cards will be suited for first time parents with no other children ages four and younger. Of course, I place no restrictions on my work, I just hope that my creations bring smiles to many faces and happiness to many homes.