Sonogram Photos and Results

I haven't had the chance to post any of our ultrasound pics, so I sat down over the weekend and scanned them all (so far) to put up.  We have a quick ultrasound every time we see any doctor, and from here on out, we'll go over to St. Joes for a more in depth, and much longer, ultrasound where they check all the plumbing and the growth every 4 weeks.

Here's our first one from our 9 week appt.  Congratulations!  It's two blobs!  (Me: You're kidding me!)

Here's from our 13 week appointment.  This is one of the babies straight on. 

(I know, I don't see it either).
The babies were laying with their heads next to each other 

and their bodies laying on either side.
Here are the latest pictures from April 16th, 20 weeks 5 days.  This was the first of the long ultrasounds that we will now have every 4 weeks.

Here's baby A's profile of his head (see his cute little nose) and part of his torso.

He's definitely a boy!  Those are his legs on either side and his 

"manhood" in the middle, right under the word BOY.

This is his brother, Baby B, from the side profile as well.  This one's from a little further out. You can see his head, body and part of his leg.

Definitely another boy! His "manhood" is just above and 

to the left of the word TWIN in the picture.

Both boys look GREAT!  They were already a pound each, Baby A was 15 ounces and Baby B was 16 ounces.  That's great news because the doctors would be worried if one was much bigger than the other.  That could be a sign on Twin-to-Twin Transfusion, where one baby is getting more blood and nutrients than the other.  The technician agrees with the doctor that they might be identical, but she couldn't tell whether the placenta was one long one with two umbilical cords or if they each had their own that met in the middle.  I guess we won't know for sure until they're born and they can study everything.

Also, all of their organs look good; hearts, livers, kidneys, bladders, upper lips, etc.

Another part of the exam was to check my cervix which apparently the shortening thereof can be a major problem and cause premature labor in multiple pregnancies.  I'd like to report that mine apparently was "the best of the day."  Way to go me!  No worries of premature labor yet!

When we left, Scott said to the technician 

"Ok, so I'm just throwing this out there, but it sounds like things are going pretty much as well as they can, right?"  

To which the technician said,

"The only thing that could make this better is... (I held my breath) 

if one was a girl!"

We'll take that for our only complication!  Let's hope that's the worst problem we have!

Big Brother Update

When people ask him "What's in mommy's tummy?" Seth holds up four fingers and says "TWO babies!"  Also, when asked "Who's going to be a big brother?" he emphatically claims "SETH!" I'm sure he doesn't really understand yet, but I think he's starting to get the idea. 

Last weekend, he wanted me to get down on the floor to play "tracks" with him. When I explained it was too hard for mommy to get up and down off the floor right now, he did the next best thing and brought the tracks to me!  Always resourceful!

Half-way there!

Friday marked the half-way point, 20 weeks.  About half of all twin sets are born early, but the longer they "cook" the better, so we are aiming to be part of the other half, so, 20 weeks to go...

Part of me thinks "Wow, we're already half-way there!" then, I look at my huge belly and feel my back pain and think "Wow, we're only half-way there!"

Here's a photo of 19 weeks 5 days, I swear I've grown 2 inches in the last few days since this photo was taken:

In other news, I can really feel the babies moving now.  I've been able to feel flutters for the past several weeks, but now they're really kicking and I can definitely tell them apart.  Baby A is very low, so I can feel him several inches below my belly button and Baby B is on top, so he's just below my ribcage and very busy.  Scott actually felt Baby B kicking yesterday during the loud music at church, so they are obviously a lot stronger now.  It's been fun getting to know them individually.

Identical vs. Fraternal?

A lot of people have asked how we know that our twin boys are identical.  The short answer is that we don't know for sure, and probably won't until they're born.  But, that being said, the Dr. is pretty convinced that they're identical.  Here's the long answer:

The "amniotic sac" that everyone refers to is actually made up of two layers.  There is an outer layer called the Chorion and an inner layer called the Amnio layer.

Most twins, be they identical or fraternal, will have their own Amnio layer or membrane.

Fraternal twins will have their own outer, Chorion layer as well because they developed from two separate eggs.

Identical twins could be in their own Chorion layers too, if the egg split very early on.

But, most often, identicals split a little later and share that Chorion layer while they still develop their own inner Amnio layer.  Our Dr. explained it as they are sharing an apartment, but still have their own bedrooms.

Occasionally, identical twins who split much later, end up sharing both the Chorion AND the Amnio layer.  This isn't ideal and can lead to complications such as conjoined twins.  

So, our Dr. thinks the boys are identical because the membranes separating them are so thin that she struggles to see it on the ultrasound.  This means that they have their own Amnio layer, but probably share a Chorion layer.  If they each had both, the membrane would be thicker and easier to see on the monitor. So, for all you med. students out there, our twins are probably Diamnionic Monochorionic (two Amnios, one Chorion).  

Hope this clears up confusion and doesn't add to it!!

SURPRISE!!

Scott and I had talked in detail about when we should expand our family.  Our son, Seth, is 2 and a half and we were thinking we'd like the kids to be about 3 years apart.  We had decided to stop trying to "not" have a baby back in September and October.  Then in November, I started doing some calculations, I realized that if I got pregnant right away, I would be ridiculously pregnant in the hottest part of the summer, so instead, we decided to wait to try to conceive until this summer and shoot for a spring 2010 baby.  

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!