To say that this has been an interesting journey so far would be an understatement.  I still have to pinch myself at the thought of “mummy-ing” again especially to TWINS!  But one of the strangest things is the fact that I am now part of the “Older” mum group…the late  30’s mum.

Being a young mum meant plenty of interesting and flattering comments such as “wow, you must of been 12 when you started having kids,” “I can’t believe you have children that age, you don’t look old enough.”  However now I am 39 (I’m still trying to come to terms with that number) and have 8 month old babies.  When I go out with my older children I have some people assume that the babies belong to them, which wouldn’t be that unusual considering when I was as old as my eldest child I had 2 children.

I think going into this stage again in my life I expected to see a lot of older mums.  It’s not uncommon for women to have children later in life after travelling and focusing on careers, right?  Being a twin mum also led me to believe that the majority of twin mums would be older as I had the misconception that a lot would have gone through the IVF journey to get to the point of having multiples.

Just recently I went on a girls night out with other ‘multi mums’ and was absolutely blown away with the amount of energy they all had.  By 11.30pm they were ready to hit the clubs and dance until the early hours of the morning.  Although I actually considered going for a dance I was just soooo tired and bed was more inviting.  Miss Scarlett has been waking up at least once a night for weeks now and I needed that sleep.  All I could think of was not getting home until 3am and then being woken up by the girls and trying to function running on empty.

I remember being in my 20’s and early 30’s, where catching up on sleep was easy and really not that important.  I remember struggling to sleep at times because my mind was busy and my body wanted to go out and party.  Now as soon as my head hits the pillow I almost crash as fast as my husband (5 minutes and he’s snoring…10 minutes on a bad night).

Going to the gym used to be an activity that I could take or leave but now it feels like its a necessity.  I need to try and stay fit to have the energy needed to take care of babies.

Then there’s the over thinking…..so when my twins turn 18 I will be 56, eeekkkk!!

It certainly isn’t a bad thing being an older mum, just very different.  I feel way more ‘grounded’ and emotionally stable (not all the time of course) than I did in my 20’s.  I recognize the importance of not taking time with my babies for granted, that they are going to grow so quickly.  Patience also seems more readily available than when I was younger and not feeling so concerned about whether or not I am parenting correctly (as if there is such a thing).

Being an older mum does come with its challenges but I wouldn’t change a thing. Xxx