MOTHERS OF MULTIPLES: MOMS REALIZE JOYS IN RAISING MULTIPLES

Cynthia New worried she wouldn't be able to tell her twin girls apart when she first brought them home from the hospital.

"Here were two little bundles that looked exactly alike," she recalled. Initially, she kept the hospital bands on Marissa Marie and Alexia Ashlin.

Later, she put finger nail polish on Marissa's big toes to distinguish the two. But after a month, she could tell the identical twins apart.

Today, the blonde-haired girls are 3 1/2 years old. While they look alike, each has her own personality.

"I know them because their facial expressions are different," said New.

But for others, it's difficult to tell the identical twins apart. "My dad can't tell them apart," she said.

New has become somewhat of an expert on twins as have other mothers who are members of Southeastern Mothers of Multiples, a support group for moms of twins, triplets and other multiples.

The group currently has about eight to 10 members. It meets monthly at Southeast Missouri Hospital. New is vice president of the group.

Multiple children are more common than people realize, New said.

There are more than 125 million twins in the world. In the United States, almost 82,000 twins and other multiples were born in 1987 alone.

New and other mothers in the area say that raising multiples can be challenging.

As infants, New's daughters were on different feeding schedules. "Every hour I was feeding one," she said.

Both New and her husband, Kenny, helped care for the girls. "We were both up. We took shifts," she said.

New said they went through a lot of formula and diapers.

The girls had colic and cried constantly. "We had both of them and it was miserable. We went through six formulas in 7 1/2 weeks," said New.

One of the biggest challenges is trying to take care of two or more children who are going through the same development stage, such as learning to walk or potty training.

Twins often get sick at the same time too, adding to the parenting pressures.

The girls are inseparable these days. "If you want to go to the store, you can't take just one," said New. "You have to take them both.

"You pretty much have to do everything in twos," said New, who has always been fascinated with twins. A former newspaper reporter, she once did a series on twins.

New's daughters like to dress alike. But New said she doesn't force them to do so.

"One of the problems with the outside world is that people want to lump them together," said New.

The Cape Girardeau mother said she tries to spend an equal amount of time with each twin.

Both girls are good at sharing, which is common for twins, New said.

Even with the challenges that raising twins brings, New couldn't be happier. "I always say it is double the blessing.

"They do such cute things. They do it together," she said.

Lori Reinagel of Kelso helped found the local Mothers of Multiples group in 1992 after giving birth to triplets in 1990.

Today, the triplets Matthew, Nicholas and Erika are 9 years old. Reinagel is no longer involved with the support group.

But she is glad the organization continues to exist.

Parents who don't have multiples can't truly understand the situation. "They think they understand it. They really don't," she said.

Reinagel and her husband, Ron, have plenty to keep them busy. They also have a 12-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter.

Multiples run in the Reinagel family. Ron Reinagel has a twin brother.

Although raising triplets has made for a busy life, Lori Reinagel isn't complaining.

She has a bumper sticker that reads, "Triplets are terrific."

Tricia Friess of Fruitland has twins. Friess' has two 16-month-old sons, Jonathan and Jacob. She also has a 4-year-old, Joshua.

Friess' dad is a twin. "It's all been kind of a running joke in our family that I would have twins," she said while playing at home with her children.

Friess breast fed the twins. "They were up every two hours," she remembered.

"In the beginning, we changed probably 25 diapers a day."

She was in a constant state of exhaustion for the first year.

Friess had worried that she wouldn't have enough love to go around for her children. She said that worry proved unfounded.

"Double strollers are a necessity with twins," she observed. She prefers double-wide strollers, but they're difficult to push through many store doors.

The twins share well. "Even now, they want to eat at the same time," said Friess.

"The affection they give each other is really neat."

The support group has been a help to her, she said.

She said she has enjoyed talking to other mothers who have experienced both the joys and challenges of raising multiples.

SOUTHEASTERN MOTHERS OF MULTIPLES

*The organization offers support to families of twins, triplets and other multiples.

*The group meets the third Saturday of each month at 9 a.m. at southeast Missouri Hospital.

*The organization belongs to the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs Inc.

*The local group charges a $15 membership fee, which includes dues to the national organization and a subscription to the national organization's newsletter.

*Interested in becoming a member? Call the Generations Family Resource Center at (573) 651-5825.