Seeing Double!!!!

This past Friday morning Scott and I (well more I) had our 20 week ultrasound. Well, we found out that we are going to have TWINS!!!! WHAT??!!???

For me, it started at the beginning of July. For some reason I was interested in reading about being pregnant with twins. I don't know what led me to start looking into it or what held my "feeling" that I was having twins. There were many signs or symptoms that I did not have and I did not think there was any family history on both our sides (I was wrong). When I went in for my 17 week appointment I found out I was measuring ahead by 3 weeks...sign number 1. I also mentioned to my midwife that I had felt the babies since week 12 which she thought was interesting...sign number 2 (even though I didn't know at the time that was a sign as well). I even asked if measuring ahead could be a sign of having more than one baby and she said not necessarily. She kind of searched for a second heartbeat and I thought she maybe had found one but she did not say anything but "We'll see what the ultrasound tells us."

It was at this point, when I was updating Scott on how the appointment went, that I decided I would clue him in on my "feeling." He didn't really put much thought into it. After all, at this point we didn't think twins were in either one of our families and I did not have many signs so the chances we thought were pretty low. As we got closer to the ultrasound I told a couple more people about what I thought and Scott just thought I was crazy and setting myself up for disappointment. I should mention that a lot of websites say that the mother's intuition is another sign of a multiple pregnancy...sign number 3.

So now comes the ultrasound. I went in first so that one of the techs could start the measurements and Scott was going to join me a little later. I told the tech right away that I was showing some signs of multiples and wanted that to be determined right away. I laid there as she started and saw a half smile come across the tech's face. I should mention that I could not see the screen at this point. I waited "patiently" for about 5 minutes before I asked the tech if there was one baby. She replied "do you want me to tell you or wait for your husband?" I told her to tell me....sorry Scott but I just could not wait any longer. She told me "no, you have two." WHAT!!!! I could not believe after thinking, hoping and day dreaming about having twins that I actually was going to have twins!!! I was preparing myself for disappointment and fortunately I got the opposite :)

So about 15 minutes later Scott came in the room and I just held up two fingers. He was shocked but with a huge smile on his face. There was definitely more emotions going through Scott that day because not only did we find out we are having twins but this is when the pregnancy became real to him since he was able to see the babies.

Both babies are doing very well right now. They are measuring 4 days a part and both around 19 weeks which is good to only be a week behind. I was told that they are fraternal but the tech did not seem the most confident with knowing the difference between fraternal and identical twins. They have their own amniotic sacs but share a placenta which depending on what you read is definitely identical. Scott did find an article that said fraternal twins can share a placenta too but I am not convinced. We'll see what my midwife says. I also found out that twins are on my mom's side. Who knew! Turns our my great Grandma was a twin and her twin sister had twins as well. There were 2 sets of girls so we might keep up the girl trend in both our families. We are still not going to find out the sex though :)

It has been a roller coaster of emotions all based in happiness since Friday morning. We have both had trouble sleeping since we found out. My mind keeps running wild thinking of the reality of having 2 instead of 1 and what that really means. We are very fortunate to have lots of family in the area to help us out and many friends. Several people have already been a big support to me by saying I will be a great mother of twins and that I will definitely be able to handle it. We feel so fortunate that God has decided to bless us with twins. We know it will be a lot of work and we may be walking zombies for a while but we are both really happy and excited!!

We were already planning on going to my favorite restaurant (Ron of Japan) to celebrate being half way through the pregnancy but then it really became a celebration!

Now finally some ultrasound pictures!!

Baby B's head is on the left and baby A's head is on the right. All in between are the legs and arms.

The tech said that it is hard to get a picture of 2 feet so we were lucky baby B gave us one!

This one is my favorite...You can see baby A's body, butt and legs in the center/right side and going right into baby B's head/face on the left. Great, already kicking each other. There were a couple times I was waving my finger telling them to be nice to each other.

This picture is basically the same as the one above but with labels.

The side by side shot of both their faces.

Well this is my 20 week growing belly picture with twins! For those who saw it already on facebook I made a comment about how tired I looked. Well no wonder!!!

I feel very fortunate that I have not really experienced the multiple symptoms that many feel when expecting multiples. So far it has not been too bad except for being a little more tired than normal in my second trimester but I have been very fortunate. So now come extra Dr. appointments and an extra large belly. While we will be blessed at the end with 2 babies we first need to get through the pregnancy which is now open to more possible complications. Twin pregnancies are not automatically considered "high risk" but there is definitely the potential so we ask for your prayers for the health of the babies as well as myself.

I have a Dr. appointment on Wednesday so I am sure I will have more to say.
Stay tuned...