Finding out you're pregnant with one baby is really exciting and often sends us on a quest for more information. Until recently, the mother who found she was blessed with twins, triplets, or other higher order multiples was out of luck. Here are some of my favorite books relating to having multiple babies.
1. Having Twins or More
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Elizabeth Noble wrote this childbirth and pregnancy classic. It's currently getting ready for it's third edition. This book is probably one of my favorites because it's very realistic and down-to-earth. It discusses pregnancy and birth in normal terms and also discusses potential complications. It was a breath of fresh air from some of the books with scare tactics.
2. When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, Quads or More
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Barbara Luke wrote this book on multiples pregnancy and it's definitely one to check out. It addresses many of the details you need about a twin or other higher order multiple pregnancy and looking at the reality of it all.
3. The Multiple Pregnancy Source Book
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This nurse, childbirth educator and mother of twins wrote this resource guide. It really gave you a view of all of your options and stressed a good support system, including how to find that support. A handy resource for the quick answer to a question as well.
4. Mothering Multiples
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This book is a handy look at pregnancy, broken down by trimester, as well as an excellent resource for breastfeeding your multiples from a mom who has been there. She even discusses making nursing successful when your babies are sick or require special care.
5. The Baby Bump: Twins and Triplets Edition
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The Bump book is a very basic book on twins and triplets, heavier on the twins. I personally found it very generic in terms of multiples. I liked the sprinkled quotes from parents but found it a bit light on the evidence and more on the personal opinion. This can be good or bad depending on your point of view. It's laid out nicely, has some nice photos and a couple of great organizing tips. One thing that I feel I must correct is that it says if one of your babies is breech you should have a cesarean birth, this is against the guidelines put out by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which says that baby A needs to be head down, baby B can be in almost any other position for a vaginal birth.
6. Twins
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This book was not my favorite, but it did have a handy drawing section for parts of pregnancy and some of the round table discussion with parents were handy. They discussed issues like finding out it was twins, telling people, traveling with twins, money issues and more children. I found the obstetrician to be rather preachy with her advice, which was the biggest turn off for me.
