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
I wish her all the best in the world. I’m also praying for my own bundle of joy. Believe me all the mid night cries will be worth it
Ohm has to be on the list of worst celeb baby names ever.
Came here to say this.
I absolutely did read the article but I didn’t need to in order to have this comment at the ready: WOMAN, I FEEL THIS. I remember my amazement while walking and gently bouncing all through the night while my daughter had THE WORST COLIC that there were SO MANY HOURS in the night. Out the windows of our home I saw so many animals…I am a night owl so it actually wasn’t bad physically (emotionally, hearing her wail and feeling her contract with pain was horrible). What WAS bad was the looooong day that followed, day after day, when I felt half-dead, and she was still suffering. Later, when the colic was gone but Little Girl never wanted to sleep…It’s no joke…it really sucks the joy out of life and it was just my overwhelming love, gratitude, and yes, anxiety, that kept me going.
Oof. She’s got a great attitude about it, is what I’m saying. Because it is no fun. Godspeed, Ms. Swank. You are a shero, times two.
I feel her. We have twin boys almost 3 months old and are in the thick of it. The sleep deprivation is no joke and it’s SO hard getting back into work mode. Maternity leave should be twice as long with twins.
Being the mom of grown-up twins (g/b) – been there, done that.
It was difficult, and fun, and tiring, and totally worth all the sleepless nights. The good thing: the kids always had someone to play with, the “bad” thing: the terrible twos × 2.
While I, like others here, think ‘Aya’ is a beautiful name, ‘Ohm’… well, it’ll be an acquired taste.
And: The ohm (symbol: Ω, the uppercase Greek letter omega) is the unit of electrical resistance in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after German physicist Georg Ohm.
Poor kid, whenever they’ll start physics in school.