It took a few seconds for the truth to sink in when the Kotjanes' gynaecologist asked about a family history of twins. Their doctor was, at the time, carrying out their first ultrasound scan after a home pregnancy test showed Mahalia was pregnant.
Husband Lehlohonolo Kotjane's eyes widened in shock, according to his wife, Mahalia. "Yoh, yoh," was all he said as they heard two heartbeats through the monitor.
Lehlohonolo works as a finance manager for the Foschini Group in Cape Town. Mahalia works as an assistant winemaker at a Stellenbosch winery.
"There are two sets of twins in my extended family, so it wasn't such a surprise to me. Two of my brothers are twins, and my aunt also had a set of twins," says Mahalia.
"We had planned to have kids, but not so soon. And, as much as we had a family history of twins, nobody can predict that they will have twins, so the news caused a bit of anxiety for us, especially at the beginning. We had mixed emotions, and felt both a bit scared and also excited. Then, there was also the financial side of having twins, which requires some planning towards. All in all, we quickly got used to the idea of having two babies, and then just adapted our lives accordingly. It is all you can do."
Lehlohonolo and Mahalia had financial concerns (they use the phrase 'double trouble'), because they realised Mahalia would have to stop working to be home with the children, for a while at least. Mahalia took off several months from work after her pregnancy, which went completely smoothly. She had expected complications, because she was carrying twins, but there were none.
Mahalia had hoped for a natural birth but the gynaecologist advised against it and said a C-section would be safer for her and the babies. Her pregnancy lasted 38 weeks, so was pretty close to being full-term. On 28 October 2017, Mahalia gave birth to Letlotlo, a boy, and Rebonebotle, a girl. They are now two years and five months old and doing well.
Twins, Rebonebotle and Letlotlo Kotjane. The twins are two years and five months old.
Our medical cover, the pregnancy and the birth
"Our medical scheme (TFG Medical Scheme) was very supportive and covered the cost for most of the initial doctors' consultations," says Lehlohonolo, who is the main member on the scheme. "As having twins is regarded as a high-risk pregnancy, we needed more frequent consultations, and we had to make co-payments once our savings account had run out.”
"As far as the hospital bill went, we were completely covered, and they paid for the caesarean section, as well as all associated hospital costs for the three days Mahalia was in the maternity ward. We were very grateful for that. The babies were born with a bit of jaundice, but that is not unusual. They were otherwise healthy,” he adds.
Dad, Lehlohonolo, holds Letlotlo, while mom, Mahalia, holds Rebonebotle in a Kotjane family photo
Getting to grips with being parents of twins
The Kotjanes say they were lucky in that they work well together as a team to deal with their twins and that their babies were not very demanding.
"He is very hands-on and extremely supportive, which has made all the difference," Mahalia says of Lehlohonolo.
"One thing that was tough initially was that the babies had to learn to share our attention and wait their turn, especially when it came to breastfeeding. It took a while for them to realise that we could not give them both everything at the same time.”
The Kotjanes have no family nearby, which has been a challenge, especially when Mahalia returned to work in January 2019.
"When I went back to work after a year, it was harvest time and my family in Johannesburg looked after my kids until mid-April when the harvest was over. We were so grateful to them for that.”
Mahalia stresses that it is important to treat the twins as individuals, because each child has a different personality and therefore also has different needs. Boni, as they call Rebonebotle, is an attentive observer and loves to sing. She also loves playing outdoors. Tlotlo, as they call Letlotlo, is a risk-taker and an explorer. He is such as boy, according to this mother.
She mentions the obvious love they have for each other, which is seen in how protective they are of each other.
She adds: "With any baby, new parents have to lean on their support structures and on one another, but with twins this is doubly important. You really do have to work as a team. I am happy to say that we really manage to do that and for that I am extremely grateful."