Twins 101: 50 Must–Have Tips for Pregnancy through Early Childhood From Doctor M.O.M.

Still can read the book but the printing company should do better. Just a heads up.

I'm a homeschooling Mama of 4 children and am expecting identical twin girls just after Christmas or New Year's 2010. When my husband and I found that we were expecting twins, the first thing we did was try to find as much information about twins and multiple pregnancy as we could. I've purchased 2 other books about twins, and I must say Dr. Khanh-Van Le-Bucklin's book is THE BEST!! The information she presents is straightforward and easy to read and understand. She touches on the most important topics and has wonderful little "tips" and fun facts throughout the book. The fact that Dr. Khanh-Van Le-Bucklin is a mother of identical twins herself (not to mention a pediatrician!)made me 100% comfortable and enthusiastic to read the book. There are special considerations for identical twins such as TTTS, and the author included lots of information on this topic as well as valuable resources.The thing that really struck a chord with me was the genuine warmth and caring that you feel coming from "Dr. M.O.M". You really get a sense that you're listening to a friend who really cares and who wants the best for you and your babies! Some of the other books I've read lacked this key element compeltely and actuallyleft me with feelings of fear and insecurity about having these babies! The encouragement yet honesty Dr. Khanh-Van Le-Bucklin delivers in Twins 101 was such an encouragement! I'll have this book on hand for years to come and will happily recommend it to anyone expecting twins!

As a first-time mom, I was not overly impressed with this book. When people say it's well organized, I just don't see it. Some of the information is good, but not everything is included. Each piece of information is presented with a "Tip" and followed by a very short explanation. Actual example? "Tip #6--Get the Results of Every Test You Undergo." I thought that was just given- why wouldn't you try to get all the test results? And then following the tip- after the short explanation, which I thought is kind of self-explanatory, they tell you about possible tests you could take. This part is useful, but there were tests I've taken that aren't on their list.The pregnancy section was only 45 pages long. Then you get to the delivery section, which is all of about 10 pages. With more pointless tips like "#19- Take lots of pictures." I say pointless because--who wouldn't want to take lots of pictures? It's not really an informative piece, it's not telling me something I wouldn't think of myself. I expected to get something out of each tip.Other sections include, the NCIU, Sensible Shopping, Staying Organized, Feeding and Dressing Twins, Sleep, and Crucial Survival Tips. And in each section, most of them no longer than the delivery section, there are more pointless tips- tips that any mother would naturally think of and doesn't need an explanation for. Don't get me wrong, there are good tips too, but I also don't think enough is dedicated to explaining those tips. Those explanations are just as short as the useless tips and they just touch on the subjects. I expected more. The book also advertises from "50 must-have tips for pregnancy through early childhood" Well it barely touches on pregnancy, and as far as early childhood goes, it stops right after birth, and really doesn't cover much on childhood at all. Plus, just think, out of those "50 tips," how many of them are really useful? I would say a handful?I might pick this book up at the library, but I wouldn't waste my money on it. I much prefer the "Twins! Pregnancy, Birth and the First Year of Life" book, and would recommend that instead to first-time mothers.

Twins 101, by a pediatrician and mother of twins, is an odd book, sometimes drawing on her experiences and other times on research. This makes it hard to tell which tips are based on universal experiences and which are mere anecdotes from Dr. Le-Bucklin's own life.There's a lot of useful stuff in here, such as shopping lists and health advice but other times the tips are trivial. One recommends dressing twins alike in increase a mother's 'bragging rights'. Another recommends buying a ball for the twins to play with. There's a section with advice on videoing the birth, an idea I find utterly distasteful.I got some good nuggets from this book but generally found it a lot less useful than Raising Twins: From Pregnancy to Preschool by Dr. Shelly Vaziri Flais. Unlike Twins 101, Raising Twins focuses on general advice of use to all families and shys away from presenting individual anecdotes as data.

What's nice about this book is it's broken down into 50 separate tips that you can easily search and read quick and come back to. You don't necessarily have to read the book in order; you can flip through and come back to sections. It's also a small book that fits in my purse so I can carry it around for a quick read when needed.