Twin boys baffle parents and nurses

When we found out we were having twins, my husband and I were excited and delighted. We were both from families with twins and were fairly certain that they would be fraternal. We were really shocked when they looked so much alike when they were born. You really could not tell they were not the same baby, but we still believed that they were going to be quite different looking, eventually … NOT!

The first connection that we really saw was in the NICU, very early on. They would cry to each other from the isolettes. The first born, Ethan, would cry first, then Eric, and then back to Ethan, and then they would sleep. It was kind of cute and they did this religiously when they went to sleep. We think that they had to hear each others voices.

That was different but the really strange things happened about three days after they were born. Ethan was terrible about removing his IV, so it had to be put back in several times. The last time they put it in his head. We all gathered to watch this being done. Ethan was on the table in the regular baby nursery (separated by a thick glass wall from the NICU) and Eric was in his isolette in the room with us and the other nurses. They cleaned Ethan’s head and found a vein - as soon as they stuck him with the needle - Eric burst into a pained wail and cried uncontrollably for several minutes. We all got the chills. Ethan never even cried. The nurses were freaked, I was freaked and my husband just laughed and said, “OH NO! We’re in trouble!”

This has happened so many times now, that I cannot count and we have gotten used to it. There is definitely something there. They are almost five years old now and are so strangely in sync. They still get me sometimes … they will walk in a room, say Eric first, ask me a random question and then go to his room. Ethan will come in (from somewhere else) and ask the same question and then go to his room. It is just little things like that most of the time.

They had girlfriends in Preschool for the first time, just like little kids do. They are in separate classes and still picked “girlfriends” with the same name that could easily have been sisters.

They have nightmares on the same night, too. If one wakes up with a nightmare, within an hour or two the other will be up with a nightmare, too.

So many strange things that they do, I cannot even put them all down. They can tell you when the other is hurt and how. They can tell you what they other is thinking or why they are crying or upset, even if they were not there for what happened. It actually worked out good when they were toddlers because I could get the story from either one most of the time, even if he was not there.

Our friends sometimes get freaked out, but I just have gotten used to it and don’t even think about it much now.

Joyce Davis
Tyler, Texas