Hilary Swank and Philip Schneider welcomed their twins, Aya and Ohm, in early April 2023. She announced her pregnancy while doing press for Hulu’s Alaska Daily, which – side note – I liked and am bummed it was not only canceled but that the remaining episodes after their mid-season break were put behind a paywall. I want to know what happened! Anyway, Hilary had wanted to be a mom for a long time and after years of suffering from ovarian cysts, she was thrilled to finally be able to conceive at 48. The twins are nine-months-old now and Hilary is fully in the thick of it. In fact, she’s currently having twice the fun with sleepless nights.
Hilary Swank is reflecting on the challenges and rewards of being a mom of twins! In April 2023, Swank and her husband Philip Schneider welcomed twins, daughter Aya and son Ohm. Nights are admittedly “hard” with twins, but Swank also knows there will be a time when she’ll look back at this period with a different perspective.
“I think that being a mother of twins, I never have had a singleton, so I don’t know what that’s like,” she explained. “But I know that the sleepless nights are hard and when you have one that might sleep through the night, the other one’s not, so it’s kind of this trade-off every night.”
“But I know this is also a season, and it too will pass, and I try and remind myself that there’s going to be a day when I’m like, ‘Oh, I’d love to wake up right now and just hold you.’ So just trying and hold on to that.”
She’s already looking forward to the next challenge: when the twins are more mobile.
“Well, they’re only crawling, so it’s not like we’re out of control or anything,” she tells PEOPLE.
During an appearance on Today on Monday ahead of the premiere, the new mom revealed the special meaning behind her babies’ names.
“Aya was a Syrian refugee we met in Lebanon. So she was just this courageous, brave young girl full of life going through a really difficult time. My husband and I were like, she’s so beautiful, what a great name,” she shared.
As for son Ohm, Swank said, “Ohm is considered the first universal sound and unites all people, and that sounds very fitting.”
Hilary, girl, I feel you. Those sleepless nights, especially when you aren’t used to them, are brutal. I feel like I aged years during those years that my kids were under two-years-old. Those cuddles and snuggles and morning smiles make it all worth it, though. I’ve never had twins, but went through a period of time when both of my boys, who are almost four years apart, woke up throughout the night. Power to all of you moms of multiples out there! I can’t imagine what it’s like doing those overnights with twin infants, especially if both want to be fed by mom at the same time. Mobile babies (toddlers) on the other hand, now that’s a whole different beast and set of worries! I wish Hilary all of the best when they get to that stage.
Photos credit: IMAGO/Barbara Hine/RW/Avalon and via Instagram