flashback friday, twins part III

Click here to read twins, part I
Click here to read twins, part II

We had been waiting to tell everyone that we were expecting, but in light of this new development, we decided that now was the time. Everyone was shocked and some people were sympathetic. Although people were excited, there was also the tone of, "Oh, wow! This is gonna be hard for you guys." We called our parents and told them on the phone that day. They all shared our joy/shock/concern (but mostly joy, I think).

The weeks and months that followed were a blur. I remember lying in bed at night thinking, "Is this really happening to me? Am I just imagining this?" When I was wide awake, I knew that it was real, but still couldn't believe it. We read everything we could about twins on the internet and learned a lot about twinning. We learned that fraternal is more common than identical and that the most common type is boy/girl fraternal. We figured that our odds were probably boy/girl fraternal twins. Then we had our ultrasound a week or so later and found out that they were identical, since there was only one placenta. So, then we figured they were girls, since girl/girl identical twins are more common than boy/boy (wrong again!). We also learned about how genetics play into twinning. Fraternal twinning can be genetic since it occurs when a woman's body produces two eggs. Although, sometimes fraternal twinning is affected by a woman's age or fertility drugs. Identical twinning occurs when a woman produces one egg that splits shortly after fertilization. It is not genetic, and, in fact, there are no factors that contribute to identical twinning. Identical twinning seems to happen across the board in equal cases to women of all ages, races, and circumstances. Totally random. We were struck by lightning.

I was prepared for a miscarriage the day I went into the doctor's office, and instead, I got twins. Two healthy babies. I was worried and anxious about everything that might go wrong during a multiple pregnancy, but as promised, they did keep an eye on me and the babies. There were lots of ultrasounds, and NST's (2-3 appointments a week by the end), and even some bed rest the last few weeks. I ate more than one human being should be allowed to eat. I read books about how to "grow" big, healthy twins (by eating a lot, they said! Check & check!). I gained about 60 pounds. I grew extremely uncomfortable and had contractions like crazy during the last few months of the pregnancy. When I got to about 34 weeks, I checked into labor and delivery twice when I was having a few too many/too frequent contractions, but was sent home with medication to relax the uterus, and put on moderate bed rest.

On February 10, I was exactly 36 weeks (considered full-term for twins). I woke up around 5 am and had that funny not-so-good feeling and I just knew it wouldn't be long. Sure enough, within an hour I was ready for the drugs, so we arranged for our neighbor to watch Pete and then went to the hospital. It all went so amazingly smooth. I progressed without incident and was ever so grateful to get that epidural! At 12:57 that afternoon, the babies were born without c-section only four minutes apart. As soon as they were delivered, I felt comfortable again (It was so instant and dramatic I remember- like I just had two large babies removed from my abdomen!). They were healthy at 5lbs. 8 oz. each. It was my normal, uneventful, delivery after all, and I couldn't believe how easy it was! I feel so blessed that everything worked out the way it did. The hard part was bringing them home two days later! Thank goodness for our amazing family, friends, and neighbors. They all took great care of me and our family.

I remember the first time they slept in their cribs and woke up in the morning making those happy baby noises. I thought, "Wow, how lucky am I! I get to wake up in the morning to not one adorable, cute, happy baby, but two!" How did I get so lucky?