Carrying a baby for nine months is tough. But carrying two, three, four or five babies at one time is well, utterly amazing.

And now the mothers of multiple births have joined together to form the Bermuda Mothers of Multiples organisation which offers support and information to other mothers of multiples. Four of them spoke this week to Community about having twins.

Cheryl Green is the mother of 19-month-old fraternal twins Ben and Amy.

"I was shocked when I found out that I was pregnant with twins, it adds a whole new dimension to what is about to happen,'' she said. Mrs. Green added: "No one can prepare you for one baby let alone two, and the reaction between people who didn't have children and people who had them was very different.

"Those that didn't thought the idea of me having twins was great, they thought I was lucky. But those who had children pitied me.

"The first three months were hell, and I don't remember a lot of it until after they were six months. Now I think it's a real joy. It's hard work but I find it really rewarding. I also find it very interesting to see how they relate to each other.'' Valerie Cheape is a mom to six-year-old fraternal twins Mark and David.

"I was in total shock when I found out. The one thing that constantly went through my mind after finding out that I was carrying twins was the fear that I would not know how to love both babies, that I would favour one more than the other.'' She added: "But nature has a great way of helping you out. My boys were born six weeks premature and like Cheryl the first few months were an absolute blur due to sleep depravation.

"You learn to do things in two's and you do them quickly. And as time went on they start developing their own personalities.

"I feel that having twins is a wonderful privilege because so easily something could have gone wrong.'' Kathy Steele has 21-month-old fraternal twin girls Emma and Kate.

"There is a history of twins in the family but it had jumped every generation so I never thought having twins was a possibility.

"I was very happy when I found out and shocked. The first few months after their birth were crazy.'' Mrs. Steele, who is now dealing with the full-blown toddler stage, said that having twins has also brought a lot of attention with people constantly stopping to admire them.

"Having twins makes you really appreciate things. People still lop twins into a single package but they are very individual.'' She added: "The girls have times when they are really close and then there are times when they fight. They egg each other on and then they play together or fight when they want the same thing.

"The hard part is when they both want your attention.'' Mrs. Steele said twins seem to learn to share and cooperate sooner than single kids.

Patty Bechter is the mother of seven-year-old fraternal twin sons Eric and Andrew but unlike the other moms, when they were born she already had a 20 month-old son.

"There were twins on my mother's side but I still didn't think about having them myself,'' Mrs. Bechter said.

She added: "It was such a shock when I found out that I was carrying two babies because I was very tiny and very sick and I thought I had a major health problem. It was wild, I was overwhelmed.

"I walked around on a cloud until they were born,'' she says with a smile.

"And then there was chaos. I was a little scared because I already knew how to be a mother with one child but two babies was different.

"I had a lot of help from my family (Mrs. Bechter's babies were born in Texas) and I don't know what I would have done without them.'' Mrs. Bechter also said that having dealt with the birth of one child first and being able to give everything to one baby made her realise what twins were missing, which was the one-on-one attention an individual baby can get. "I tried to make up it up to them.

"The boys are wonderful and very different. The happiest moment after they were born was when I put them down and they walked away. I felt a sense of freedom. They learned to walk on their first birthday.'' All four ladies said having a multiple birth felt like a miracle and "without our husbands it would have been really hard,'' they all said.

Mrs. Cheape added that what's important is having individual time with each child and they all agreed that it is important to separate twins in school.

BMOM caters to all mothers of multiples. "We are continuing on with a group started by Kathy Ann White,'' Mrs. Cheape said. "Kathy was a mother of multiples.'' The group, which is affiliated with US Twins and Multiple Birth Association (TAMBA), has access to information on multiples, discounts at local stores, equipment `loan outs', a `for sale sheet' and much more.

"We are full of ideas for January,'' Mrs. Bechter said.

BERMUDA MULTIPLES -- These parents are `twice as busy'! In fact they have started their own support group, the Bermuda Mothers of Multiples (BMOM) and recently met as the first annual tea and social afternoon at the Botanical Gardens.