I'm a Pregnant Single Mom of Twin Toddlers—This Is What My Week Looks Like

Nicasha Martin

February 21, 2023 at 9:00 AM·20 min read

I'm the parent of twin toddlers and I have a baby on the way. Life is busy—I'm grateful for the love and support of my village.

Fact checked by Elizabeth Brownfield

Editor's Note

In the United States, nearly a quarter of families are headed by single parents. They are a growing group, diverse in age, culture, and economic status and united by this common thread.

Our country does not support single parents in many ways—they are more likely to live in poverty, for example. Single mothers, specifically, are more likely to be food insecure, spend large chunks of their income on childcare, and lack basic resources like paid time off. They face the childcare crisis all American parents face alone and head-on.

And 64% of Black families are headed by single mothers.

But there is truth in the widely recognized African proverb, "It takes a village," that isn't illustrated by statistics. Many Black families live in multigenerational households where every member is responsible for childrearing, everyone contributes to the well-being of each other. So, though there may be a single parent at home, there are a number of caregivers there and an abundance of love and support.

In 2020, at 29, I became a first-time mom to identical twin girls, Nuri-Symone and Zuri-Selene. As if my first pregnancy wasn’t wild enough, not only was I having surprise twins—they don’t run in the family—I was having them in the middle of a pandemic. Thankfully, we survived the rocky intro to motherhood, started a mini Instagram influencer journey, and have been thriving ever since. The twins are 2 and a half years old now and amaze me every day.

2023 will be another big year for us as I am now expecting baby number three who is due in April. I will soon be a single mom of three under 3. I’ll have twin toddlers in the middle of “the terrible twos” phase and a newborn. Needless to say, I am excited about the extra bundle of love and blessings headed our way but equally nervous about the immense change we’ll all be going through.

I was born and raised in Jamaica and my family eventually moved to upstate New York where I pursued my undergraduate degree at Syracuse University. I went to Liberty University for my M.S. in public health. Now I work in healthcare and Florida is my home state. Working is hard with two little ones and one on the way, but I’m able to pull it off with support.

The strongest factor in my ability to stay calm, however, is my source of support. I would not be the mother I am today without the help and care from my little village which includes my family, my twin mom support group of eight twin moms who I met on Instagram, close friends, and daycare staff.

Here’s a 7-day look at my life as a single mom, who works full-time, with twins in daycare, and is currently 8 months pregnant.

Monday

6 a.m.

I wake up and try my best to roll my 8-months-pregnant belly out of bed without waking the twins. I’m successful. They are still fast asleep.

I take care of my personal hygiene, mentally prepare for the day, take my prenatal vitamins, and—of course—sneak in a quick social media scroll since I’ve woken up on time.

The strangest thing about being a single mom and content creator is receiving criticism from strangers about the path my life is taking. I send a quick text to my support group (Thank you Roopam, Nora, Falana, Shannon, Sara, Carly, Jen, and Linds!) to vent and then it’s back to our routine.

6:30 a.m.

I head to the twins' room to pick out their outfits for the day. I grab a few hair accessories if I need them but I style their hair for the week on Sundays so I just need to spruce it up a little bit so it looks fresh.

I try to change diapers and dress them without waking them. That works best for all of us because no one is fussing and I can move faster.

6:50 a.m.

We head to the kitchen. I pack my lunch box and their snacks for car rides to school and back home. They get their vitamin gummies and medicine since they’re a little under the weather. After gummies and meds, they head to Nana and Papa’s room to get their teeth brushed. Sometimes it’s Papa and sometimes it’s Nana who takes care of this. Today it’s Papa.

7 a.m.

Titi Patrece does final hair checks and adds clips. Nana is also up getting ready for work. She has to remind me that on Mondays I have to pack fresh sheets, blankets, and diapers in the twins’ school bag—and not to forget it. Lol. She puts them in a sweater because it’s a little cold outside.

7:20 a.m.

All of the final checks for snacks, cups, bags, and food are complete and we are heading to the car. I am 8 months pregnant now and can no longer carry the twins but Papa is always up and carries them outside for me. They spend a couple of minutes trying to catch glimpses of the remaining moon and counting the birds that have decided to perch nearby.

7:30 a.m.

I buckle the twins into their car seats because no one else in the family seems to be able to figure these car seats out. Lol. The twins are all set with their water and fruit for the ride and we are off for our hour-long traffic-filled commute to daycare and work.

8:20 a.m.

We finally get to daycare. I clean their faces, apply some lotion, put on lip gloss, and walk them in for breakfast time. I wait until they’re served, give them kisses, and say “I’ll see you later!” In the beginning, it was all tears but now they are well-adjusted and sometimes they even say bye and wave back to me!

8:30 a.m.

I make it to work and spend the rest of the day looking forward to picking the twins back up.

4:30 p.m.

I make my way to the break room to prep the twins’ cups for the ride back home. I wash out whatever beverage they were drinking in the morning, put in fresh juice and ice, and get their chips and snacks ready, as well.

4:55 p.m.

I leave work and drive about 10 minutes to pick the twins up.

5:10 p.m.

I get to daycare, sign them out, and walk to their classroom. I’m greeted with big smiles, laughs, and lots of high-speed running. They are big girls now so they open the door for me. I’m on high alert since they want to run their little hearts out as soon as we get to the parking lot.

They climb into their seats. I buckle them in and get them their snacks/ beverages and toys for the car ride. Get myself buckled in and then we start our hour-long rush-hour commute back home.

6:30 p.m.

We get home, unload ourselves and all our baggage, and head inside! We are greeted by Nana who is in the middle of finishing work on her laptop. The twins love hanging out with her while she’s doing so. I take advantage of them being occupied with Nana to shower and put away our bags.

7 p.m.

I make dinner for us—usually something on the quicker side so we can get to bed on time! It’s always rice and meat or pasta of some kind. About a half an hour later, we settle down for dinner in front of the TV.

8 p.m.

We start to wind down for bed. That means getting our teeth brushed and dancing out our sillies! We are still cosleeping so we all pile into my bed to get rest for another day of work and daycare.

Tuesday

6:30 a.m.

As much as I try my hardest to wake up on time so we don’t have to rush, sometimes I hit that snooze button and it’s a chaotic morning. No time for social media scrolling today! We definitely wouldn’t make it without help from Nana, Papa, and Titi on these kinds of mornings.

7:30 a.m.

After the rush, we make it to the car and we are off. The twins tend to nap on these mornings and that means no morning chats with mama but I’m happy to look back and see them fast asleep.

8:25 a.m.

Of course, the traffic is killer on the morning we’re already running behind, but as long as we make it to daycare before 8:30 a.m. when breakfast ends I am happy. Drop-off is a bit slower when they’re sleepy but I know they’ll perk up after eating and seeing their friends.

8:45 a.m.

I make it to work and start my day. Today I’m having breakfast at my desk since mama needs to eat, even when she doesn’t feel like it!

4:55 p.m.

Leaving work at exactly this time is a must. A minute later turns a 10-minute drive into 15 or 20 minutes with traffic.

5:15 p.m.

I have the twins, they have their snacks, and we’re all strapped in and ready to start the journey! Some days they’re in such great moods, we have dance parties and jam to tunes in the middle of the traffic.

6:30 p.m.

We make it back home and all is right again! We head straight to the bathroom for their evening poop on the potty. Potty training is in full effect and we’re almost there but not quite finished with diapers yet. Since they are halfway undressed, we get in the tub for bath time!

7:30 p.m.

Nana isn’t working on her laptop anymore and Papa is finishing dinner so that means snuggles and TV time with Nana before we eat!

8:45 p.m.

It’s bedtime once again and they’ll most likely fall asleep fast tonight, so I catch up on emails and missed texts from my BFF Anna before I fall asleep. I stay grounded by keeping in touch with everyone, even if I’m a little tired the next day.