Double Trouble

"Well I think I'm seeing two here..." are very exciting, scary words to hear at a first ultrasound. I hadn't brought Doug with me because I thought it would be a quick, non-eventful appointment. Boy, was I wrong. I was barely 6 weeks along but my doctor had decided to do an early ultrasound because of my miscarriage history. I was so nervous that one baby would be looking good that the thought of twins hadn't crossed my mind. I left the office that day with a million different feelings and it just felt like a blur. I was excited but nervous and terrified... The first thing I did was drive straight to Doug's work, and I don't promise that I followed traffic rules on the way there. I set the ultrasound photo in front of him. He said "Oh yeah, I forgot you had your appointment. How did it go?" I told him to look really good at the ultrasound picture. He did, and still didn't get what I getting at. I said "There are TWO in there." He looked at me in shock and said "Well that's good... or bad?" He probably had seen that I had been crying and couldn't tell if it was a bad cry or a good cry. Which at that point it was probably both. I then drove to my mom's and gave the ultrasound to her (she didn't know we were expecting yet - my poor mom had to find out this way) and crying I told her about my appointment. Along with the news that I was having identical twins also came the news that it was looking like a very high risk pregnancy called monochorionic monoamniotic (MoMo) twins. Basically, they are in the same sac and same placenta which can cause a lot of problems, and I would need to be in the hospital from about 26 weeks-32 weeks when they deliver. They needed to have me back for a follow-up ultrasound about 2 weeks later to have a better idea.

6 Weeks

I was too early at the 6 week ultrasound to see heartbeats, so when I saw two fluttering hearts at the 8 week ultrasound, I felt so much relief. And reality hit me that much more. They looked for a membrane, indicating a less risky monochorionic diamniotic (MoDi) twins, between the babies but saw no sign of it. My doctor referred me to a specialist to have another ultrasound to see if their higher-resolution machines could pick it up.

8 Weeks

Here's a photo that helps put it into perspective for me! The top is least risky; bottom is most risky.

 

 

 

That leads to today. I am 10 weeks and had my appointment this morning. I was super nervous as I have done a lot of reading about MoMo and MoDi twins and knew how much better the prognosis would be if a membrane was found. As Doug held my hand, the ultrasound tech started the ultrasound and right away I could see the membrane!! My prayers had been answered and my eyes filled with happy tears. We then found that our MoDi babies are measuring perfectly and have strong heartbeats. We saw them wiggling on the screen, and I even think that Baby B was waving to us! I felt so much relief, and just so happy. Although we are far out of the woods and there are still many different complications that can arise with this type of pregnancy, I felt like we have a good start.

Twin A

 



Twin B

 

Being only 10 weeks, some people may think I'm crazy for spreading the news this early, but honestly, I want to share the news while it's HAPPY. Having miscarriages before has made me realize that it can be lonely to face a loss while the world has no idea what you are going through. I want to record my journey and have it be out there just in case anyone else might happen to get MoDi twins themselves. Plus, I'm just too excited to hold it in any longer!

So we are in for double trouble. Come July 2016, we will have 4 kids ages 4 and under. It will be super crazy but this is Heavenly Father's plan for us and with him we will be able to handle it!

{P.S. Please pray for us that we have girls haha ;)