They have had two sets of twins

KAMPALA TWINS FESTIVAL

On August 20, Sunday Vision will hold a festival for twins dubbed Kampala Twins Festival at Kyadondo Rugby in Kampala. Ahead of that much anticipated day, we will publish stories on twins.

Today, we feature Nicholas Twinamasiko and Molly Katusiime, who tell us about their two sets of twins.

"We missed out on last year's Kampala Twin's Festival, so this time Naloongo (a mother of twins) insisted we come. The twins were so frail and I guess they could probably have been the youngest pair at the festival," says the rather apologetic Saloongo (a father of twins) Twinamasiko.

Their first pair of identical twins Elisha Kakuru and Elijah Kato are now in Senior Three at Crested Crane High School in Makindye.

From left, Elisha Kakuru and Elijah Kato

Down the road, after that first set of twins, the couple was blessed with yet another set of twins. This time, it was identical girls whom they named Shiana Ankunda Nyangoma and Shieila Akunda Nyakato.

They are now 16 months old.

Katusiime only discovered she was carrying twins at seven months. "I would feel heavy and tired, with my bump about to drop," she recounts.

Sometimes, she felt a lot of discomfort and had difficulty in sleeping to the extent that she would wake up between 2am and 4am and move about the house.

The mother-of-four says while she felt restless, her husband teasingly told her that she could be carrying twins. She never took it seriously.

With time, the discomfort forced Katusiime to go to Mulago Hospital where her gynecologist requested that an ultra-sound scan be done. The report revealed that she was indeed carrying twins.

Katusiime was excited by the news as she had always wanted to give birth to twins.

She was able to carry the pregnancy to term (up to nine months) but unfortunately failed to get contractions (labor). She was induced and the babies were delivered through Caesarean section.

No, it's not an optical illusion. Your eyesight is just fine. It's actually two different children. On the left is Nyangoma and right is Nyakato

Nyangoma weighed 2.5 kilograms and Nyakato two kilograms.  The doctors suggested putting Nyakato in a special care unit but Katusiime refused.

'I love seeing them play together'

Katushabe says she is not yet used to the whole idea of being a naloongo and cannot help her eyes off the babies.

"I love to see my twins play together. When I call one, they both turn and move towards me," she says, beaming with happiness.

However, the couple had difficulty telling the twins apart as they have a striking resemblance. They have a light complexion and almost the same size.

To help tell the babies apart, immediately they were born, the midwives put different coloured labels on their wrists.

Besides, Nyangoma has a birthmark in her palm.

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