- Author draws on experience as an M.D. and M.O.M. - as a pediatrician and a mother of multiples.
- Positive, upbeat tone provides encouragement and support for parents of twins.
- Advice categorized into fifty well-developed tips, intermixed with facts and personal stories.
- Comprehensive collection of recommended books, web sites and other resources.
- Interspersed facts, hints and stories sometimes disrupt flow of text.
- Medically conservative; mothers who desire less medical intervention may prefer other books.
- Focus is primarily on twins, with little coverage about higher order multiples.
- Author's dual experience as an M.D. and M.O.M. gives a broad foundation for the book.
- A good choice for expectant parents who want support and advice without a harsh dose of the negative aspects of having twins.
- Fifty tips are organized into sections addressing pregnancy, delivery, postpartum and managing with infant twins.
- Author is a proponent of organic foods and earth-friendly living, and incorporates this philosophy throughout the book.
- Don't miss the excellent guide to prenatal testing and monitoring details each test in the context of a twin pregnancy.
- The medical perspectives are conservative, for example, the author advocates a self-imposed regimen of rest.
- Don't miss tips: #14 "Keep a Pregnancy Journal": #22 "Learn Some NICU Lingo"; and #45 "Aim for Fairness, Not Equality".
- A comprehensive collection of books, websites, organizations and services directs readers to further resources.
Twins 101 opens with the author's description of a trip to a local department store. She's left her seven-month-old twins at home with their father and is relishing this opportunity to run an errand on her own. Along the way, she runs into another mother of twins and strikes up a conversation, instantly bonding over their shared experience. Later, she meets an expectant mom of twins and share some advice and words of encouragement.
Most moms of multiples can relate to this scenario, the unspoken sisterhood that exists between fellow mothers of twins. That sense of sharing and support is infused throughout the book. Dr. Le-Bucklin welcomes new mothers into the sisterhood with wisdom and words of encouragement. She doesn't sugarcoat the facts; to the contrary, her own complicated pregnancy experience and her background as a physician mean that she is all too aware of the risks and ravages. But the downsides are kept in perspective, delivered gently with comforting suggestions and strategies for coping.
Fifty well-developed tips are grouped chronologically, from pregnancy through delivery to crucial survival tips. Amidst the numbered tips are personal stories, hints and facts. Sometimes these side trips felt like an interruption, but for the most part they companionably accompany the text or conclude a section.
The medical advice falls on the conservative side, not unexpected or unusual given that the author is a doctor. For example, she advocates stopping work at the thirty-two-week point of pregnancy and encourages a self-imposed regiment of bed rest even if it's not prescribed by a doctor. Regardless, the book concludes with a well-researched, comprehensive list of books, websites and resources for parents who might desire a second opinion.
Twins 101 is a welcome addition to any library of books about twins and multiples.
