'It's a blessing,' mother of twins says

A blue and a pink egg sits on the nightstand of the bedroom in Phil Raiford and his wife Gretchen Shelton-Raiford’s Eden home. The ornamental eggs represent the babies the couple prayed for the night the embryos were implanted into Gretchen.

The Lord answered the Raiford’s prayers. Not long after the couple bought the eggs at Cracker Barrel, they found out Gretchen was pregnant with twins – a girl and a boy. Claudia Elivia Raiford and Reid Shelton Raiford were born Oct. 9.

“It’s just a blessing,” said Gretchen. “For me, there’s not words in the dictionary to describe the love you have for these human beings.” Since the babies have been born, they have become the center of Gretchen’s life.

“Everything you do focuses around them and their future,” said the doting mother. When she goes shopping, Gretchen only wants to shop for her babies. And when she thinks about taking a picture, she only wants a picture of the twins. In fact, she and her husband have had the babies’ pictures taken every month since their birth. Gretchen sends all her friends the photos and provides updates on the babies, who even have their own Web site.

“They have really different personalities,” said Gretchen. She said Reid is laid-back, while Claudia is “a little bit feistier.” Even when she fusses, it’s hard to get irritated with Claudia, whom her dad describes as almost flirty.

“She’ll be crying and she’ll look at you and kind of smile and wrinkle her eyes, and she’s just so cute,” said Phil.

Gretchen says people sometimes ask her how she manages to tend to both twins at once.

“In seven months, I’ve never lost my patience,” said Gretchen. Being a mother is an incredible responsibility, but it is also immensely rewarding, she said.
Phil says the babies have “completed” Gretchen’s life because they filled a desire that she has had in her heart for a long time (Phil has a 16-year-old son, Chase, from a previous marriage. But Gretchen is experiencing motherhood for the first time after she and Phil tried to conceive for five years and eventually tried in vitro fertilization). Being a mother has brought out a nurturing side of Gretchen that she didn’t know she had.

“It’s definitely a gift from God to have a maternal instinct, and Gretchen has that,” said Phil.

Gretchen plans her day around Claudia and Reid. She reads to the babies, takes them for a walk around the neighborhood in their double-seat stroller, takes a nap with the babies, feeds the babies and watches them play in their ExerSaucers.

“I try to keep them stimulated throughout the day,” said Gretchen.

With her academic and work experience, Gretchen said she ever pictured herself as a happy stay-at-home mom. In her mid-30’s, Gretchen has received academic degrees, been executive director of the Communities in Schools Program of Rockingham County and has been a member of the Rockingham County Partnership for Children (SmartStart’s) board of directors.

“I love this. I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world,” said Gretchen. “I just didn’t want to miss a second of being with them.”

Her advice for soon-to-be mothers is to enjoy every moment of motherhood.

“I enjoy and love everything -- from the bathings to the feedings to the changings,” she said.

Gretchen loves being a mother so much that she wouldn’t mind having another set of twins.

“We want more if the Lord blesses us,” said Gretchen.

Staff Writer Miranda Baines can be reached at mbaines@reidsvillereview.com or 349-4331, ext. 35.