Sixteen years ago, Chris Lemmon went to the delivery room expecting to have an eight-pound baby. She surprised everyone — herself, her family and the Toledo Hospital staff — by giving birth to two 4 1/4-pound babies.

        Hospital staff saw her shock and distress over having two premature babies, so they got her connected with the Toledo Mother of Twins Club. Mrs. Lemmon will never forget her first meeting in 1984 when she entered a room filled with mothers of multiples.

        “This was a room filled with compassionate women laughing, showing off photos of their children and grandchildren, and congratulating the new moms who got away one night to join this camaraderie,” says Mrs. Lemmon, now of Milford and a member of Northeastern Mothers of Twins Club.

        “Even though I had bags under my eyes from pure exhaustion, these women told me I looked great.”

        Marge Ainsworth started the Toledo club in 1953. When the national organization was founded in 1960, it was based out of her home for 10 years. There are now 475 local Mothers of Twins clubs across the country with more than 21,000 members. Mrs. Ainsworth's twins are 47, but she rarely misses a meeting. It's the camaraderie that keeps her and other moms coming back for more.

        “These mothers will come up with a little question, and there's always somebody who has an answer,” she says. “They'll get seven or eight different ways to solve the problem, sometimes, and they'll see which one works best for them.”

        Dr. Eileen Pearlman, an identi cal twin and licensed marriage, family and child therapist, sees value in Mothers of Twins Clubs because of this support. Moms of twins face issues that moms of singletons don't.

        “It's hard enough to meet one baby's needs when they're small,” says Dr. Pearlman, co-author of Raising Twins (HarperResource; $16). “With twins, you have to meet two babies' needs. A lot of parents feel a little guilty they can't meet all their babies' needs.”

        Mothers of Twins Clubs also help stave off the isolation some moms of twins feel.

        “They're so busy caring for the babies, it's hard to get out and meet people,” Dr. Pearlman says. “When they go to the park, they see singleton parents. They feel a little separated even from a singleton parent. They tend to isolate themselves.”

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