Want to Be a M.o.M. that’s Fit?! You Can Do It!

 

Jennifer M. Burgess meets Shaun T at the 'Beachbody Summit'

Jennifer Morgan Burgess didn’t always love to exercise. It took a trip to study abroad in college, and coming home with an extra 15-20 lbs., for her to realize that she was suffering from some minor health issues due to weight gain and from her low self esteem.

“Growing up I always hated exercise and wasn’t into sports, or dance, or anything you would consider overly physical.”

It wasn’t until six years later, that she decided to pursue a career in the fitness field, and to study for her personal training certification.

Super M.O.M. – November 2012 – Kristen

This months Super Mother M.O.M. is Kristen. Kristen is from Kentucky USA and has been married to her husband David for 5 years. Kristen and David welcomed boy/girl twins this past May. It’s been hectic and Kirsten had to make adjustments from working in the mortgage industry to being full time stay at home mom to preemie twins. The twins were born weighing 2lb 9 oz and 1lb 9 oz. She says “It’s been hectic, but what a blessing.”

How do you balance your time? I’m still trying to figure that one out.

What is the biggest challenge of being mommy of twins? Double of everything!  I don’t think my house has room for everything!

What is the best thing about being a mom of twins? I love having the best of both worlds, boy and a girl.

What is the best advice you have received? Enjoy the time you have with them because they grow up so fast.

What tips/advice do you have for other moms? If anyone offers to help, let them help.  You can always use the extra set of hands.  Also, you can never have too many burp cloths.

And seaking of burp cloths, Bebe au lait makes the softest, most absorbent burp cloths on the market! Made from 100% cotton terry and featuring their signature patterns, their burp cloths are a fashionable and functional accessory to their popular nursing covers. These make GREAT baby shower gifts and they now even offer monogramming! Our friends at Bebe au Lait make it possible for us to provide gifts to our Super Moms. We giving Kristen a spa gift certificate so she can get a bit of pampering. Keep up the great work Kristen!

Super M.O.M.- October 2012 – Amy

Amy

Rachelle nominated her sister-in-law Amy to be our Super M.OM. of the month. Not only is Amy a mother single mother of twins, she mother to 2 sets of twins plus one!! Now is that super or what!? We think she is and we would love to honor her as our super mom of the month. Amy give us some tips about being a single mother of five and what family really means.

Tell us a little bit about yourself Amy-

I had my first child at a very young age. Then I got married at the age of 18, had my first set of twins at the age of 19 and 16 months later I had my second set. A few years later at age 24 I went through a divorce. There were some difficult times and I was separated from some of my kids for awhile. But God brought us back together. I am now a single mom of 5 amazing kids, but I couldn’t do it without the help of my extended family. Especially my sister-in-law Rachelle. Not only did she step in and take care of the kids through the hard times, she is also my biggest supporter. It just proves a united family can get through any situation as long as they stick together.

How do you balance your time?

July 2012 Super M.O.M.- Single Mom To 2 Sets Of Twins

Twiniversity’s July 2012 Super Mom has an incredible story!

Meet Jennifer Lehmann. Single mother to 2 sets of twins ages 7 and 3.

Jennifer and her husband Trevor had been married four years when they decided to start a family. With difficulty conceiving they started infertility testing. Shortly after that they got the sad news that her husband had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” He was given a 3 year prognosis so they decided to go ahead and start a family so that he would be able to meet his child before his untimely death.

A short time later they were ecstatic to learn that they were expecting a child! Then came the news they were expecting twins! Jennifer relates “After coming down from cloud nine I started to panic. How was I going to take care of an ailing husband and two babies?  Once again my husband assured me that we could do this.”

Dating While Being a Single MoM

Should you feel guilty about having adult time away from your twins? The answer is NO! You have to take care of yourself mentally and emotionally  to  be a good rounded person and parent. But make sure you choose to be in good healthy relationship, one that is worthy of you and your children. But is it even  possible to date while being a single parent to twins? These single MoM’s have some tips!!

 

 

Ashlie (23)- single mother to 3 year old twins.

• Have you been back on the dating scene as a single parent or left the door open for a relationship in the future?

Yes! I started dating when the twins were about 10 months old.  I was 20 years old and wanted to find someone to share my life with that would also want to be a father to the twins.  I’ve been in a few relationships trying to find someone worthy of my children. I am currently in a relationship with a man who is a widower and who has a son two weeks older than my own twins.  He has shown me that real men do exist out there.  We have not been dating too long, but I hope that this is THE one because it is nice to have someone to share your life with — twins and all.

• How is dating while being a single parent of twins?

Q&A With Single Mom/Miss Connecticut

Today we have a Q&A with Ashlie Ruggiero. Ashlie is a single mom to 3 year old boy/girl twins. Ashie continued to get her education while raising them as a single mother with the aid of her loving family. She was recently crowned Ms. Connecticut in the U.S. of America Pageant as well as New England’s Outstanding Mom. Let’s get to know her.

• How did you feel when you first realized you would be raising your twins as a single parent?

It was very difficult for me to make the decision to raise them as a single mother. I had always had this perception of the perfect family being a mother, father, and children, and I did not want to raise my children out of that vision. But throughout my pregnancy my relationship with my fiancé, their father, deteriorated. I first had to realize that my children would never be happy if  I was not happy. By the time my twins were 4 months old I made the decision to stand up for my family. Although I was brave enough to do so, I was scared of how I could cope and if I could ever give my children all that they deserved. Once the initial shock of what I had done wore off, I realized I had one less “child” to take care of.  I had always done everything on my own even when their father was around (baths, feedings, changing, etc) so it wasn’t anything out of my norm other than a lack of arguments over why I was doing everything alone.

• What sacrifices have you had to make being a single parent?

Being A Single Mother With The Added Challenge of A Disability

 

Contributed by Nicole Ratliff, 26. Mother of 2 year old boy/girl twins. Nicole is striving to raise her twins as a single mother while coping with Spina Bifida.

-My childhood was filled with what seemed like endless trips to the hospitals for spinal cord surgeries. In my lifetime, I have had 7 spinal cord surgeries, 1 surgery to realign my left foot, a surgery to correct my toes on my right foot.  I became partially disabled after my last spinal cord surgery and lost the feeling and muscle control in my left leg from the knee down and I suffer from chronic pain throughout my entire left leg. I now have to wear a leg brace for the rest of my life and use a cane. I had to relearn how to do every day simple things again, such as taking a bath, getting in/out of the car, getting dressed and walking up/down stairs. I was only 16. I felt like my life was over and fell into a terrible depression and my life started to spiral out of control. I went to college for a few years but I spent most of my early college days partying and drinking to drown out the pain and depression. I slept with a slew of guys, until I found a guy I actually started to care about. He was a military guy. It was a whirlwind romance and after 5 weeks we were engaged. He PCSed to Colorado and I started working on transferring and moving my stuff.  Shortly after he left I realized my period was late… sure enough I was pregnant. My fiancé was excited about our expected arrival, but our happiness didn’t last long. He revealed to me he was married but was getting a divorce soon.  I broke things off with him at that moment. I thought “if he could cheat on his current wife with me, who’s to say he won’t do the same to me?”

Because of my Spinia Bifida I was already considered a high risk pregnancy. Then I found out at nine weeks that I was carrying twins. My pregnancy was taxing mentally and physically. As the babies grew they pressed on my sciatic nerve causing me to have frequent fainting spells. Mentally I couldn’t believe I was pregnant… and all alone.  This wasn’t how I pictured I would bring my kids in the world, without a father, just like how I grew up. I was scared and I didn’t know how I would provide for me and my kids.

The first year with the twins is a blur because of the lack of sleep. At times I thought I was going to lose my mind from the exhaustion and trying to care for two screaming babies. I tried online school while taking care of them but I found it too much to handle so I took a year off.

Super Mom of the Month- July

Super Mom Shawnna Pomeroy and her twinnies

This July 4th, Shawnna Pomeroy has plans to take her twinnies, Max & Alex, to see the fireworks. But for Shawnna, the true celebration of independence is being a single parent of multiples, whom she has nicknamed “2x.”

“The best part of being a single parent, is that I don’t have to “share” my boys!” she says, “They are ALL MINE!” 

In honor of her many courageous efforts, Twiniversity would like to ‘share’ the ‘Supermom of the Month’ award for July 2011, with one of our very own independent mothers, Shawnna Pomeroy!

To help her celebrate with her twinnies this Fourth of July; Shawnna will receive a $25 giftcard of her choice from either Target, Toys ‘R Us, Bath & Body Works or iTunes.

Congratulations Shawnna! Here’s more about this brave single mom of not one or two, but 2x: