Photos from babies-1Any mother could perform the job of several air-traffic controllers with ease. ~Lisa Alther

When you multiply birth by 2 or 3 or more– multiple birth babies are like no other relationship.

My experience is that of being an identical twin. I have a wombmate, a double, a best friend who will be with me forever.

“Imagine waking up every day from the day you are born and opening your eyes to see two brown eyes like yours looking back at you. The eyes are placed on a face with the same shaped nose that tickled and had to sneeze when you took too big a blob of peppermint toothpaste, a thin-lipped mouth that seemed to burst into song just when yours did– “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…” All this is attached to this wonderful best friend who is always ready to play, hug you, talk, or just sit and be with you. This is what it’s like for me being a twin… It’s not just the looking alike, it’s the feeling of having a double–double the feeling of being alive, double the courage, double the fun, building a rock solid foundation of who I will be, so rock solid that even when we are apart, I still have the courage, vitality, the love of fun.

Mom says we had our own language and signals even when we were in the playpen. We have this twin connection. We know when the other is sad or in trouble, even when we’re not in the same place.”  Thinking of Miller Place: A Memoir of Summer Comfort (iUniverse 2007)

Are you a twin? Know a twin? Have twins? What is it like for you?