My wife Leigh has provided the following reviews of her favorite books on twin parenting and breastfeeding. Hope it helps!
Books on Multiples
1) When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets or Quads by Dr. Barbara Luke and Tamara Eberlein
Of the four books I read, this one had the best balance of medical and practical information. The medical aspects are informative without being frightening, and the focus of much of Dr. Luke’s advice is on nutrition for the expectant mom with the goal of maximizing the babies’ birth weights and reducing complications. The “layperson” who coauthors the book is a mom of twins, and her personal insights are helpful as well. I loved reading about how Eberlein napped in the car with her babies because the babies had fallen asleep in their car seats, and she didn’t want to risk waking them up by moving them into the house.
2) Ready or Not…Here We Come! by Elizabeth Lyons
I think of this book as a twins version of Vicki Iovine’s Girlfriend’s Guide to the First Year (and if you haven’t read Iovine’s first book in Girlfriend’s Guide series, The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy, buy it immediately—it’s the best book on pregnancy I’ve read). This book is written from a purely practical twin mom perspective and focuses on the first year of life with twins, with lots of “been there” tips and advice from the author and fellow parents of multiples. It was particularly relevant to me because the author also has an older child who was still a toddler when her twins were born, and that’s the same situation I was in. This is not the place to come for any medical information. It’s also not as witty as the Girlfriend’s Guide, but it’s still a fun and fast read.
3) Twinspiration by Cheryl Lage
This one is also written by a mom who is not a physician, although because Lage takes you through her own pregnancy and delivery, it describes some risk factors associated with multiples pregnancies and births. The author also provides an exhaustive first-person account of her and her husband’s first year with their twins. I found aspects of the book helpful, but Lage tended to get overly detailed at times. For example, I liked reading about how she managed to do grocery shopping with two infants in tow, but two and a half pages on getting in and out of the car was overly tedious. The book contains a helpful list of multiples-related websites at the end.
4) Mothering Multiples: Breastfeeding and Caring for Twins or More! by Karen Kerkhoff Gromada
This is a wonderful book for any expectant mom who is hoping to breastfeed her multiples but isn’t quite sure if she can or should even try. The author is a registered nurse and lactation consultant who has counseled literally thousands of mothers of multiples on breastfeeding. There is a lot of detailed information on the whys and how’s of breastfeeding, but the book also contains general information on pregnancy and the first year of raising multiples. The book is published by La Leche League, but I did not find it overly preachy. Mainly, it gave me the encouragement and confidence to believe I could breastfeed twins successfully.