My name is Tasneem Almuhanna and I’m a mom of three-year-old identical twin boys and a two-year-old girl. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and have been working as a newspaper journalist for the last seven years. I always wanted to be a mom and thought it would be an easy ride. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. When I was around 18 weeks pregnant with my twin boys, baby E was diagnosed with intrauterine restriction growth (IUGR), meaning he was not growing at a normal rate; which puts the unborn baby at risk for many health problems. After meeting with many local doctors, and hearing different opinions of what may happen to baby E and baby A. My husband and I decided to travel to London and made an appointment with a well-known doctor, who has monitored and delivered many babies with similar conditions. Thankfully, on February 23, 2016, at 34 weeks pregnant, I delivered my twin boys. Both babies seemed healthy, although baby E was only 1.7 kilos and baby A was 2.4 kilos. No doctor would confirm exactly what health effects IUGR would have on my sons after being born. We left the hospital after 10 days and settled into our new apartment in London. I was the first in my family to have kids, so I wasn’t exactly sure of how to handle babies. I would love to say that motherhood came naturally to me, but that wasn’t the case at all. I was at home most of the time changing diapers, feeding (every hour and a half), bathing, and rocking the twins to sleep. I barely had time to shower or even get an hour of shut eye. When I managed to make one twin sleep the other twin would want to feed or needed a diaper change. It’s safe to say that my once selfish world was rocked to the core. I was exhausted and felt like I had lost myself. I can definitely see how postpartum depression can rear its ugly head. When the boys were around four months old, my husband and I decided that we needed a nanny especially since, I had decided to go back to work.
Going back to work and leaving the boys for a short while was bittersweet. Waking up and getting dressed in the morning and going to a job that I loved made me feel like my old self again; although I didn’t look exactly like I did pre-babies, it was an important step for me mentally. I needed to have “me” time, but “mom guilt” began to emerge when I noticed how attached my boys started to be with my nanny. However, I had to accept that along with having “me” time, my children would love someone else besides me.
On April 12, 2017 I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, baby N. Caring for baby N was nothing like caring for A and E. She would nap for around three to four hours and easily feed with no difficulty. There was no constant crying. She was a dream.
I decided to start this parenting blog because I wanted to share an uplifting perspective about making the most of life and what you have been blessed with.