Oh the wonderful world of twins. One baby is a blast. Two babies is a party. Honestly, could you imagine what it must be like growing up in the womb together? It’s even said that twins form an intrauterine bond and often reach out to each other while in your tummy. How magical! If you find yourself expecting multiples, these Fun Facts About Twins are sure to get you excited.
10 Fun Facts About Twins
1. You Can Tell Twins Apart By Checking Out Their Bellybuttons
This happens to be one of my favorite fun facts about twins. Who knew their little bellybutton would be so helpful. Many parents happen to leave on their babies hospital anklets for several weeks after their multiples come home. However, you can easily distinguish who is who as soon as their naval stump falls off!
As unique as their fingerprints, each twin has their naval shape. It is one of few ways to tell your twins apart. It would probably be a bad idea to walk up to adult twins and raise their shirts to see the differences between their bellybuttons. However, this fun fact about twins could be a lifesaver for new parents.
2. Your Diet May Influence the Outcome Of Multiples
Yep, that’s right, what you eat may increase your chances of twins and multiples. Another one of those fun facts about twins is all about food! Oh yeah preggers, we love food too. In this case the focus is in the garden rather than the cookie jar.
White Yams contain nutrients that promote the release of hormones that increase ovulation. Increased ovulation means more eggs. Therefore, eating these veggies increases the chances of multiples while trying to conceive. If you’re ready for a full house and double the fun, head to the farmers market and purchase your produce!
3. Its Unknown Which Baby Will Be Born First
The order of your babies births are a mystery until delivery day. Your little ones will wiggle and squirm all over the place before they are born. An ultrasound cannot determine which baby is to be born before the other. Twins change position frequently in-utero before and during labor. Therefore, number one is left to chance, which makes for an exciting surprise on delivery day!
4. Twins Have Different Fingerprints
The same in almost every way, twins do favor all the rest of us. Identical twins have the same DNA, which is the makeup for our looks, eye color and fingerprints.
However, the fingerprints between the two are completely different. There is nothing to state why this happens. Just one of nature’s many mysteries. At least you can rest assured that if one was in the cookie jar, a finger print check can determine the culprit.
5. Mirror Image Identical Twins Have Reverse Features
Imagine your babies have curly hair. However, one child’s hair spirals to the right and the other to the left. These are mirror image Identical twins.
About 25 percent of identical twins develop directly facing each other, meaning they become exact reflections of one another. This can result in one child being right-handed and the other left-handed. Some twins have birthmarks on opposite sides of their body, or like the example above, have curls that swirl in opposite directions. This occurs when the twins split from one fertilized egg more than a week after conception. One of the many interesting facts about twins!
6. The Care Of Triplets Takes Over 197 Hours a Week.
That’s over 28 hours a day! Talk about a full time job and don’t forget to shower every once in a while. If you’re expecting multiples, be sure to recruit as much help from friends and family as possible. Plan ahead and prepare several frozen dinners for the week.
It’s much easier to pop a meal in the oven than tackle the task of feedings, changing’s, cuddles and pot of the stove.
7. Twins Arrive Early
Don’t panic. However, you may want to make note that the cribs should be assembled soon. Those hasty babies are ready to enter the world a little sooner than a singleton. Something to consider when planning and scheduling the baby fun to come.
The average length of a twin pregnancy is around 37 weeks. However, it’s not uncommon for twins to arrive around the 35 week mark. That’s a whopping 5 weeks earlier than a single infant pregnancy. Moral of the story is, prepare in advance. Plan that baby shower a little earlier just to be safe.
8. You Said What
Around 40% of twins will develop their own language. This allows them communicate easily when they are young and also means that they can talk to each other without people knowing what they are saying. Have you seen this video of two twins have a full blown conversation? Its mind blowing! It also shows the close bond that the two have together.
9. Twins Can Have Different Dads
This is one of those facts about twins that is pretty unbelievable. However, it’s a fact. The term twin specifically refers to babies that are born at the same time. There is no mention of paternal traits. It is possible for them to have different dads. This occurs when two eggs are released at the same time but are fertilized with different sperm.
Between one and two percent of twins will have different fathers and they can be different races.
10. Male Twins Do Not Have The Ability To Produce Twin Children
Yes, it has always been said that twins run in the family. However, it is really only in the female side of the family that carry the trait to do so.
Two eggs (or one egg that splits) must occur for twins and if a woman doesn’t have the genetic predisposition to have twins then they won’t happen. Plain and simple.
