Yellowknife (Aug 31/01) - After Tara Gilchrist found out she was pregnant with twins, she drove home from the hospital. But she drove to the wrong house and parked in the wrong driveway.

"When you find out you're having twins, it's such a shock and a sense of panic sets in," said Gilchrist who has two other children. "You think, how am I ever going to handle this?"

Gilchrist and three other mothers of twins have recently formed The Yellowknife Twins Club.

It's a support group of sorts and it's part of a national organization called Multiple Births Canada. Not only can parents get information from the group on just about any twin-related problem, but the Yellowknife Twins Club will help expectant mothers take a deep breath and relax.

"When I was pregnant, just talking to someone who'd had twins really calmed me down," said Gilchrist.

So far, they know of eight sets of twins in Yellowknife at the preschool age and are hoping to recruit even more.

According to the women, there are many issues parents of twins face that twinless parents don't have to worry about.

"We thought we were prepared for a third child," says Gilchrist. "But all of a sudden we were having twins and we had to get a new vehicle, a second crib, a second car seat, I even wondered whether we would all fit in our house."

Then there are the questions that arise when the twins are born. Do you put twins in the same crib? How do you nurse them?

And as twins get older, they sometimes have trouble being treated as individuals at school. Also, parents moms can't take their kids anywhere, without people lining up to pinch their cheeks. "My older child says he wishes we didn't have twins because they attract attention that he's not part of," said Gilchrist.

The group will also serve as an equipment swap. "We have double everything and we have stuff we could pass on. We're going to set up a list."

The Yellowknife Twins Club will hold their first informal meeting on September 9 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Museum.

Both moms and dads are welcome.