Twins and triplets are extra work, but they are also extra fun that was the word from parents of multiples who are trying to form a new support group called 'Bermuda Amazing Multiples' (BAM).

Lifestyle reporter JESSIE MONIZ talks to members of the new group about what they are hoping to achieve.

BAM is exactly what you feel when you find out you are having twins.

"The new name just captures it," said Marlo Santiago. "It was like BAM! You're having twins. It has been good and challenging."

Mrs. Santiago and her husband Pythagoras James Santiago, have twins Joanna and Maximilian, aged four.

The Royal Gazette spoke to Mrs. Santiago and other parents of multiples during a trip to the Bermuda Aquarium Museum & Zoo.

Michelle Campbell, mother of Seth and Kayla, aged 13 months, said after finding out they were having twins, their shock soon turned to excitement.

"We couldn't imagine it any other way," she said.

"My husband, Colin, and I often say to each other how 'boring' and 'easy' it would be just to have one baby in the house. While it's very busy, it's a lot of fun."

She said the biggest challenge in their lives is trying to keep order.

"You want to have the babies sleeping at the same time, and eating at the same time, but hopefully not having meltdowns at the same time," she said.

The previous group, BMOM assigned Mrs. Santiago and her husband, a mentor mother who also had twins who were older.

"She helped me with scheduling them, and breastfeeding issues. She was good support. She highlighted the difference between having multiples and singletons."

BAM also hopes to eventually start a similar mentor programme.

Mrs. Santiago said the main difference between having singletons and having multiples was that with singletons, parents could afford to deviate from a set schedule.

"With more than one baby though, it is disastrous," she said. "Mothers with one baby can also go out.

"They can take swimming lessons with their little babies. I would have had to have my husband with me."

Mrs. Santiago said that twins or triplets doesn't mean that the pair are exactly alike in interests or personality.

"Mine are opposites," she said. "I find that challenging. One can sit and be focused. The other is very social.

"Their sleep patterns are different. One wakes up at 5.30 a.m. and the other wakes up at 5.30 a.m. and goes back to sleep."

And she said they don't necessarily go through the different development stages at the same time.

"A mother of a single child may go through a stage for six months, but I go through it for a year," she said.

Mrs. Santiago was previously a Sergeant in the Bermuda Police Service. She has not been able to go back to work because she was unable to find a sitter who would take two children at once.

Often parents of multiples struggle with the logistics of raising twins, sometimes feeling as though they are literally juggling babies.

The new group is a reincarnation of a previous group called 'Bermuda Mothers of Multiples' (BMOM), an informal group started several years ago by pharmacist the late Dr. Kathy-Ann White, a mother of twins, which fell away in 2007.

The new group hopes to be more inclusive, focusing not just on mothers but also fathers and the entire family.

And with the incidence of multiple births on the rise due to improvements in fertility treatments, there is more need than ever for the group.

Group organiser Sara Adams, mother of William and Callum, 18 months, said that just grocery shopping with twins could be a nightmare.

"You have to take two people grocery shopping," said Mrs. Adams who is married to Paul Adams. "There are no double seater trollies in grocery stores in Bermuda. There are in some grocery stores in the United States.

"I tried putting one of my twins in the actual trolley, but everything I put in he threw out. That was a disaster.

"I tried one in the trolley and one in the backpack but I was aching by the end. It is just the logistics of it. That is one of my challenges."

Town is also an obstacle course for parents of multiples. Bermuda stores are often too narrow for a double stroller to turn around in, and although a store may offer an elevator, the elevator door frame itself doesn't always accommodate the width of an extra-large stroller.

Karen Garnett, the mother of triplets Skye, Paige and Jasmine, four, said depression can be a problem for parents of multiples.

"That is why a support group is so important," she said.

And many parents of multiples go through difficult or early deliveries. On average, twins are born 22 days premature, and the average twin baby is about two pounds lighter than the average singleton baby at birth.

Ethan and Mark Henderson, the twins of Rachel and Damion Henderson, came five and a half weeks early after she developed pre-eclampsia. This is characterised by a sharp rise in blood pressure in the mother and swelling, among other things. The Henderson twins were 4 lbs 5 oz and 4 lbs 3 oz at birth.

Ethan and Mark are now a year old.

"I'm sure the rewards are much the same as having a single baby, but I would say specifically for my twins it was seeing them go from very tiny low birthweight babies in the hospital to seeing them grow healthy and reach milestones," said Mrs. Henderson.

Mrs. Garnett reached 36 weeks with her triplets.

"Sometimes you feel a bit cheated because you can't give birth normally," she said. "They have to be delivered by c-section. And you can't deliver triplets in Bermuda. You have to go abroad."

Mrs. Santiago said her twins were delivered by c-section ten days early.

"I wanted to go through the whole natural experience," she said. "But I didn't have a choice. I was upset, but in the end I had two live children."

Adding to the potential for the blues is the extra financial stresses that parents of multiples face.

That is why BAM is working to get its members discounts at restaurants, stores and spas around the island.

"We are trying to get things that families would enjoy," said Mrs. Adams. "People have been very helpful."

So far, companies that have agreed to give discounts to BAM members are: Peoples Pharmacy, Flanagan's Irish Pub & Restaurant, Party Plus, W.J. Boyles & Son Ltd. shoe store, English Sports Shop, Contours Health & Fitness, Samadhi Spa at Newstead Belmont Hills Golf Resort & Spa and La Trattoria Restaurant & Pizzeria.

Mrs. Campbell said that one of the biggest rewards to having twins is seeing them interact with one another.

"You know that they have a constant playmate by their side,' she said.

"Sometimes I feel like an accessory," said Mrs. Garnett with a laugh. "They entertain each other. The other day I went into their room at bedtime and the three of them had fallen asleep holding hands. It was so sweet."

Jane Mooney and her husband Alan have twin girls, Ella and Leah, 2, and a son, Kian, 5 years-old.

"My advice to new mothers would be to take one day at a time and also to accept any offers of help as it can be very overwhelming," she said.

Val Cheape, mother of Mark and David Selley, 18 said raising older twins comes with its own challenges.

"I wouldn't say it gets easier when they reach the teenage years," she said. "I have the same and similar worries parents have with all teenagers.

We hope that common sense will prevail, and that they will make informed choices, by not giving into 'peer pressure' and or engaging in 'high risk' anti-social behaviours."

And she said that while most parents only have to worry about one 16-year-old getting a cycle, she has to worry about two.

To celebrate the new group, and to recruit new members, BAM is holding a special summer party for families with multiples, on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Somersfield Academy, Middle Road, Devonshire.

Membership to BAM will be $25. For more information telephone 232-1192 or email www.amazingmultiples@gmail.com">www.amazingmultiples@gmail.com .

Some statistics about twins:

● Ninety-percent of triplets are born early.

● BAM estimated that there were around seven sets of triplets on the island of various ages.

● The rate of twin births increased by 70 percent between 1980 and 2004, and the rate of higher-order multiples (triplets or more) increased four-fold between 1980 and 1998.

● About 25 percent of identical twins are mirror image twins. Their hair falls in opposite directions, they have mirror image fingerprints and if one is right handed, the other is left handed.

● According to website http://www.pregnancy-info.net/facts_about_twins.html woman who are above average in height, African American women over age 30, and women who’ve taken fertility drugs or been on birth control for several years are more likely to have twins. If you are a woman who is a fraternal twin the chances of having twins increase five-fold. Fraternal twins happen when two eggs are fertilised as opposed to identical twins, where one egg is fertilised and then splits into two.