For this house, multiple birth awareness week is every week of the year! Our twins are just two and still look so similar that it's a common occurence to talk to people about their twinness, their birth experience, their NICU experience, their current status of development and everything else related to the twin life. The fact that I have taken on two recent formal roles to raise awareness and help families of multiples and families of preterm birth multiples only adds to the fact that I pretty much live and breathe "multiples."
For those that aren't in the know I have taken on a role to work as a peer health worker for my local POMBA. The role officially kicks in January 2012, but I'm taking some heavy duty training for certification, on top of my full time job and full time mommy duties. It's been exhausting, but a very rewarding and exciting time! In addition to that I am now co-chairing the Multiple Births Canada Preterm Birth Support Network (PBSN,) which is brand spanking new and being developed right from scratch. As a mom of preterm children-my tiny singleton and my teeny tiny twins-I know how challenging it was to get the right kind of support for my family in the early days and even after we all came home together. It was a lot of late nights up researching at my computer, looking for answers and guidance. With determination and many cups of coffee and tea, I did find leads to great things for our twins beyond the standard referrals to occupational therapy, speech and physio. There are many services and agencies available to provide support if you know where to look...which I know from talking to moms and dads, we don't know where to look. We don't necessarily know the questions to ask. I credit my background in social services and research for finding things, but had I been able to refer quickly to one source of support and get the information right away, we would have saved a lot of time. The fact I had 3 little boys to manage during the day meant my research really could only be done when everyone was fast asleep. So we hope the MBC Preterm Birth Support Network will be the go to for Canadian parents of preterm multiples for support, guidance, advice and referrals. So if you are Canadian and are preterm multiples parents or know of a family that is in need of support or even just needs a few questions answered, please refer them to Multiple Births Canada's website, linked above. There are many great benefits to becoming a member of Multiple Births Canada, the PBSN being just one of them.
Now on to Movember. I live in a house with 4 males, thus Movember is definitely important to me! So here are my 3 sons saluting this important month of awareness for men's health...
This past sunny, unusually warm Sunday, November 11, we made our way to one of the local cenotaphs to remember those who have fought to keep Canada strong and free, including a certain great-grandpa and great-great-uncle. Their WWII stories will continue to be passed on from generation to generation.
So it's been a very busy month and it's only half over!
And coming up in 2 more days this page will turn purple...
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