We went along with our lives as normal and put the "baby" thing out of our mind.
In late December, my friend Heather emailed her friends and family to announce that she was pregnant with their third child. When I called to congratulate her, I started doing some math in my head and joked that maybe I was pregnant too! She insisted that I use her "spare" pregnancy test, so the next morning at 4 am, when I awoke for the third time to use the restroom (shoulda been my first clue) I took the test and sure enough, it was as clear as could be. Oops!
Ok, so we're going to have a baby a little sooner than we had planned. I'm due in August. AUGUST!? IN TUCSON!?! Oh well, the best laid plans... I'll just lounge in the pool all summer. Seth will be almost 3, he's starting preschool in the Fall. The baby will go to the same babysitter, whom we absolutely love, we'll get a sibling discount. This will work out fine. No worries.
In early February, we went for our first OB appointment at 9 weeks with our new OB, Dr. Weisert. Here's the conversation as I remember it (granted it's all a little fuzzy):
Dr. W: We do an early ultrasound to make sure that everything is going well and to make sure that your dates match our dates... oh... and for this reason... (pause)
Dad? Are you sitting down?
Me: What? Why?
(I knew it couldn't be too bad because she was smiling, but I just figured
we were further along than we had thought or something...)
Scott: Yes, why?
Dr. W: This is another reason we do an early ultrasound... it's twins!
(She turns the monitor towards us and I bolt upright)
Me: You're kidding!
Dr. W: Nope, there are two!
Me: You're kidding!
Dr. W: See here's baby A and here's baby B
Me: You're joking!
Dr. W: They both look great! Strong, healthy heartbeats!
Me: You're kidding!
Dr. W: I'll try to see if I can get a clear picture of both of them for you.
Me: You're kidding!
Dr. W: Oh, look how cute they are! They are so stinkin' cute!
Me: You're kidding! Twins?
Dr. W: No, sweetheart. I'm really not kidding. There are two in there.
Scott: (speaking for the first time) Well, I guess we know how to make babies.
Me: You're kidding!
So, here we are 10 weeks later and we are starting to get used to the idea. We are expecting twins this August. Since our first appointment, we have found out a little more, so here are the answers to some of the most popular questions:
Right now, the doctor is pretty sure they're boys, and is convinced that they are identical due to the thin membranes of the amniotic sacs that separate them.
No, twins don't really run in our family (although soon they'll be running all over our house!). Scott has some distant relatives that were twins, but identical twins don't run in families. They are kind of a fluke that nobody really understands. Somewhere along the line, the egg split in half.
Even if they were fraternal, that would mean they were from two separate eggs, which would be all me and not have anything to do with Scott's family anyway.
Identical twins account for about 1 out of every 250 births which is 0.04% chance.
Yes, we are excited! How can we not be excited? We are also pretty terrified! How can we not be terrified?
Many people have said to us "God never gives us more than we can handle." I sure hope that's true!
We will use this blog to keep our friends and family posted on how things are going. We'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to comment... especially if you have some extra baby things lying around!
