Tuesday, 12 June 2012

Acclaimed 'Mummy' Blogger Susie McBeth talks about the genesis of her blog 'A Twin Adventure'...



I became a mummy blogger kind of by accident and mostly because of my phone bill. I didn’t wake up one morning pregnant and nauseous with a burning need to join the ranks of mum and dad bloggers out there. I woke up (pregnant and nauseous) logged on to my mobile account and felt my stomach clench at the size of my phone bill.

Whilst working out how I was going to cover it, I realised that having very chatty friends in lots of different countries is not fiscally good, especially when you are also a bit of a talker (marathon conversations that involve short toilet breaks are not unheard of for me) and, when you have news that you are pregnant with twins, those conversations make marathons look like a 100 metre sprint.  After hyperventilating and knocking back my decaffeinated Earl Grey like a whiskey shot, I knew I needed to come up with a plan that would keep me out of debt and my phone still switched on.  I needed an outlet to talk about everything that would be happening to me over the coming months as I have a tendency to fall into ‘interesting’ situations and my twin pregnancy was no exception. The solution to my problem  was to blog about it. I knew that this would allow me plenty of space to vent, air my fears, tell tales of my escapades and get much needed advice and that is how my blog ‘A Twin Adventure’ was born. My blog posts ranged from the ick of bodily changes, hormonal rants at taxi operators, scary Chucky-like dolls used as breast-feeding props at the hospital and the mortifying day when I found out I could no longer fit into a booth at Pizza Hut (not a good moment).


Blogging about my adventures in pregnancy was perfect. My friends could visit my page and keep up to date.  After a couple of months I noticed my page stats rising and I started to get emails from readers other than my friends. This was something that surprised me, and, I am not going to lie, I thought it was awesome . With this extra interaction I was spurred on to post more frequently and on topics that people asked me about. As cheesy as it sounds (and I am guilty of a little cheese here and there )I felt like my blog was evolving along with the twins inside of me.

After the twins were born and we escaped our overly long stay in hospital I really got to find out what my twin adventures were all about. Every day  has been different, more wonderful, frustrating and unexpected than I ever imagined it would be. I have learned that mangoes are a very dangerous fruit and have unanticipated instant hair-dreading effects; babies can throw food better than most baseball pitchers throw balls; teething is my worst nightmare made real; I can operate on tiny amounts of sleep and I have developed the power of changing nappies at superhuman speed (I would make an excellent tire changer for a Formula 1 or Nascar team). Best of all though, I have learned that when my babies smile, giggle or gurgle at me, I melt. Their cuteness is my Kryptonite.


Before I had my twins I was a little worried that I would lose who I was at the core of me, basically a very (emphasis on the very) geeky girl who loves comic books, Batman, and anime. But I have found that one of the most fun things about being a mummy and writing my blog is that I am able to constantly get my geek on. The geek and the mum are a perfect mix. From dressing my twins in whatever superhero outfits I can get my hands on to peppering my stories with Star Wars and Batman references. If anything, since I have had the babies, I have got worse and my geekdom has reached new spheres.

It is weird, I started this blog for my friends, then it became more about sharing my experience with a wider audience, and recently I have discovered that the best thing about this blog is that it is a constant record of how my twins and I develop. It has remained as personal to me as the day I started writing it and I can’t wait for the time to come when my twins are able to read through this chronicle of our lives. 

To read Susie's blog A Twin Adventure simply click here.

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