In late June Matt and I got some unexpected news... I found out I was pregnant! We were planning on waiting until the up coming Fall before attempting to add to our family. But these things happen and we were very excited about this little surprise. Little did we know...
Beginning of August I went in for my first prenatal appointment. Oscar was with me for his check-up but no Matt. I assumed it would be a pretty standard appointment and he wouldn't miss anything -HA! The doctor offered to do a quick, informal ultrasound just to see the heartbeat, because it was probably too early to hear it. I could immediately tell that something looked a little different... and when he zoomed out a bit I could see TWO LITTLE BABIES! Not that I'm an ultrasound technician, but even I could see what I was looking at! "You''re joking" came out of my mouth probably 100 times while the doctor was doing the US. My mind was spinning, I was in disbelief, and I so wished that Matt had been there with Oscar and I to share in the excitement (and shock).
I called him right away to break the news. He was just leaving work... me: "you should sit down." Matt: "why?" me: "um, well..." Matt:"what are you telling me?" me:"there's 2, I saw them with my own eyes!". We could not believe it, Matt more than I since I had actually seem them. But I had scheduled an official US for the next evening so that he could join me.
The next evening we went in for the official ultrasound. It was right there for Matt to see... he had no choice but to believe it!!
Introducing "Baby A"... ("A" because it's closest to the "exit")
and "Baby B"!!
Group shot!
We immediately had some Google-ing to do in an attempt to self educate ourselves on the subject of twins. So much to learn.
Here are some interesting facts:
- There are basically five common variations of twinning. The most common type of twinning is fraternal, male-female twins. This particular combination makes up approximately 40 percent of all twins born, followed by fraternal girls, then fraternal boys. After that, there's identical girls, then identical boys. (twin-pregnancy-and-beyond.com)
- Identical twins (monozygotic) occur when a single egg, fertilized by a single sperm, splits into two identical halves. Two separate babies with identical DNA are formed. Identical twins are always the same sex and blood type. They almost always share the same placenta but may also have two separate placentas. Depending on when the egg splits usually determines if identical twins will share the same placenta, and/or chorions and amnions. Twins are always identical when they share the same amnion (sac) and chorion. (twin-pregnancy-and-beyond.com)
- Fraternal twins (dizygotic) occur when two separate eggs are fertilized by two separate sperm. Two separate babies with no more in common than siblings born at different times are formed. Fraternal twins can be the same sex and/or blood type. They always have separate placentas, but their placentas may fuse together during the course of pregnancy and appear as one at birth. Fraternal twins will never share the same amnion and chorion. Twins that are male and female and or have different blood types can easily be determined as fraternal. Lastly, fraternal twins may be due to hereditary influences. (twin-pregnancy-and-beyond.com)
- These days, about one in 32 births are twin births. This rate has gone up 65 percent since 1980, and it's more than double the rate among women who conceive without medical assistance — one in 89. Meanwhile, the likelihood of having identical twins (when one fertilized egg divides in half) is about one in 250. This rate hasn't changed over the decades and is remarkably constant all over the world. (babycenter.com)
At this point we have no idea what we are having. They can see that the babies are in there own amniotic sac... which is good (no possibility of conjoined twins). But the US that we have had so far are too early to see if they are sharing a placenta or not. From most of the research we've done there is really no way to tell for sure if they are identical or fraternal (unless they are boy/girl) with out genetic testing. So we will just have to wait and see. It might be obvious or maybe we wont feel the need to know. We are however planning to find out the sexes this time. We left Oscar gender to be discovered upon delivery. But after all the surprises we've had so far so planning is going to be required. I am 17+ weeks at this point and we are really looking forward to our next doctors appointment and "the big" ultrasound in just a few weeks!
I am feeling good at this point, starting to feel stronger baby kicks as the days go on, my energy levels are good and I am doing my best to stay happy and healthy. My belly is growing and growing and I'm sure my belly is a lot larger than it was at this point in my last pregnancy. I am planning to continue using the blog to update everyone on Oscar's busy routine but also for the twins.
5th Anniversary in the Northwoods
16+ weeks
Outside the Hazen Inn (where we had our wedding reception)
