Heredity of twin births and different twin types

“Do twins run in your family?” This has probably been one of the most asked questions – by friends as well as strangers – since the very moment we learned we were expecting twins. What follows is usually me giving a brief explanation of why it doesn’t really matter if there are twins in our families or not, as identical twins (like our girls) are never hereditary. People then usually stop asking, but most of the times I can see by the look on their face that either they didn’t quite understand or they just don’t (want to) believe it. So I’ll take a moment here to explain a bit more about the heredity of twins and the differences between identical and fraternal twins.

Why “GiraZonneFlower”?

Yes, why this blog name? And what does it mean, anyway? Let’s start with that, as it’s the easiest part. “Gira” comes from “girasol” (sunflower in Spanish), “Zonne” from “zonnebloem” (sunflower in Dutch) and “Flower”, well… could be any flower of course, but in this case, definitely refers to sunflower.  So one beautiful flower reflected in a mixture of the three important languages in my life. The three languages, also, that I will use to write this blog. You’ll probably ask: why writing in multiple languages, wouldn’t that be too much work? Maybe it will be, and only time will tell. In an ideal world, I would do this to be able to reach out to a much larger audience. Just imagine how many people in the world speak English as their first (or second) language. And Spanish. And… well, Dutch maybe not that many, but it’s still quite a few potential readers on that tiny piece of earth I still call home even though I haven’t lived there for almost ten years now. But even if the audience would remain small. Let’s say, my Mom, a couple of good friends and stop counting. Even then, chances are still high the blog would be read in at least two, possibly all three languages. So yes, certainly worth it to give it a try at least.

Welcome to my blog GiraZonneFlower!

This is my first of hopefully many posts to come and before taking a deep plunge into the world of blogging and starting to develop the many ideas whirling around in my head, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for stepping by and reading this – hopefully I’ll be able to convince you to join me on this new journey and keep visiting, reading and – why not – commenting my posts now and then. I’ll be more than happy to receive your comments, ideas for new posts or some of your own experiences you would like to share!

What can you expect to find on this blog in the time to come? If you’ve already visited my profile in the “About Me” section, you’ll know that my name is Anouk and I’m a busy but happy Mom of identical twin girls – two little but fast growing toddlers who have put my life upside down (in a good way) and have become the center of my existence. You will also have seen that some of my interests and favorite activities include running, cooking & baking, crafts and travelling. I hope to be able to share information, thoughts and experiences with you on these activities, as well as on the wonders and challenges of raising twins, twin pregnancy, raising bilingual children and other things I encounter in my daily life. Some posts will include information from various sources while other will be based mainly on my own experience.

So keep on the lookout for tips for (expecting) parents of twins, step-by-step picture recipes, ideas for creative projects, advice and inspiration for runners (and of course, for running moms!), information on places to visit, advantages and challenges of raising bilingual children, and more! Don’t want to miss any new posts from GiraZonneFlower? Make sure to submit your email address in the “Follow by Email” section on the right side of this page – you will then automatically receive an e-mail every time something new is published.

Hope to see you soon :)

Anouk / GiraZonneFlower

(P.S. Check out my next blog post for an explanation on the blog name!)