This pregnancy did feel different from my other two. I felt great for the first trimester, much better than I did when I was pregnant with Elijah or Eva. I would just get extremely exhausted at completely random times in the day. However, as the second trimester started, the trimester when you are supposed to feel great, with a burst of energy, I started feeling sicker. I started getting migraines, and I was still exhausted. Even more exhausted, it seemed, than before. I was having digestive issues, and was already struggling with insomnia. When I felt the baby move at 12 weeks, I started to get a little nervous. I had been to two midwife visits and heard a healthy heartbeat, but I still was concerned. Elijah had a similar due date, and I felt him for the first time on Christmas Eve. This was way early.
The day before my first ultrasound, on a trip to the Zoo with our MOPS group, I asked the other mothers if any of them had felt their babies as early as 12 weeks. No, they all said. That was very early. One woman said, "I did. But there were TWO babies." I went over and talked to her, told her about my symptoms, and she said, "I wonder if you have two babies in there."
David was traveling. He was gone for a week in DC at a NASA proposal review. We decided I should go ahead with my ultrasound without him. Because he was gone, I was alone at night when I put the kids to bed, and I had time to worry. Two babies? Oh my. I paid attention to the movement in my belly. Could be. But maybe just an active baby? When we had first told Elijah we were expecting, he announced, "With TWO babies!" We had laughed, and told this story to many of our friends and joked so often that maybe he was right, and there were two babies in there, that now when that seemed a more real possibility, I needed to spend some time praying about it. I grabbed my Bible and my journal and spent some time talking with God. By the time I went to my ultrasound the next morning, I was calm, prayed up, and trusting God.
As I sat down in the chair, I told the technician that I was feeling the baby move. "Is that early?" I asked. She gave me a strange look and nodded. The moment she put the wand on my belly, this is what I saw:
Two babies on the screen in perfectly clear 3-D ultrasound. Two heads. Two bodies. Stacked like bunk beds.
"Well, that's why you were feeling the baby," the ultrasound tech announced. "There are two babies!"
I didn't hear another word for at least five minutes, just stared at the screen as she took the measurements of baby A and baby B.
"They are identical," she announced. "They are sharing a placenta, but not a sac, so that does make this higher risk. I can't get them to turn to tell if they are boys or girls, but when you come in two weeks..."
"Two weeks? Another ultrasound in two weeks?"
"Because they are sharing a placenta, they are sharing a nutrition source, and there is a chance they are giving each other blood transfusions. To make sure they are both growing equally, we need to see you every two weeks. Right now they seem active, and right about the same size, both excellent signs."
I nodded. This was definitely going to be a different type of pregnancy. I started to cry, and got a hug from the ultrasound technician, and the midwife who came in to talk to me about carrying multiples. Surprise twins were big news, and I was congratulated by everyone in the office, which was actually just what I needed. I was handed a book (a BOOK!) to give me the information I needed to know, and walked out the door to the car where I sat and dialed David.
I had told him of my conversation at the Zoo, and he told me to call him if it was twins, but if otherwise things were fine, we'd talk when he came home. "Hello?" he answered, a little out of breath from running from the room to answer the phone.
"It is twins." I told him.
David is great. He was the perfect blend of calm and optimism. "Well, we thought we wanted four kids, and now that's what we'll have!" he said. I laughed and cried, and he had to get back to his meeting. He later told me the news had rapidly spread, with other reviewers congratulating him and making jokes about another dual rocket being launched (our babies.) At lunch, they had a champagne toast for David, celebrating the twins. I was so glad he was able to have a moment, in the midst of his busy days of work. So NASA celebrated our babies.
I went to pick up my kids, who, ironically, were being watched by our friend Wendy, who is currently expecting her second set of twins! A perfect person to catch me when I came down. I texted her the news so I wouldn't have to tell her in person. I wasn't sure if I could do that yet. When I walked in the door, I said "Well, you know exactly what I'm feeling, times two!" Wendy was so supportive. Her twins have both been fraternal, so she was interested to compare my ultrasound pictures with her own. Just hearing her talk gave me confidence.
I told Elijah and Eva right away, "Mommy doesn't just have one baby in her tummy, there are TWO babies!"
"Yay!" Elijah shouted. "Two babies!"
Eva cheered, "BABY!"
Later Elijah prayed with me on his own initiative that God would help keep the babies safe, and growing well in Mommy's tummy. It was so sweet.
By the time I got home, Mom Voss already called. David had a break and had called her. She was so excited she was shouting. She gave me some precious words, "May God multiply your grace." That is exactly what I needed. When I called my parents, my Dad was out, but my Mom knew instantly. "It's twins," she said, no surprise in her voice. She totally called it!
The kids got to watch a lot of shows that afternoon while I was on the phone. They thought it was great fun.
That night we went to dinner at our friends' Jason and Katie's house. We had planned that I would do that on Wednesday when David was gone, and it turned out to be such perfect timing by God. I needed friends then. Katie reminded me that David and I had joked with them on Sunday about how since he was gone for the ultrasound, we'd probably find out it was twins. We actually said "We'll be fine with it, if it is twins." She said she thought we were crazy for joking about it, "It's not going to be twins!" but when she found out we were having twins, couldn't stop thinking how God had prepared our hearts for the possibility. Since then 6 or 7 friends and family have commented that they joked with us about this being twins... It must have been in the back of our minds!
Wednesday night also happened to be the last game of the World Series, at Fenway Park, with the Boston Red Sox potentially winning! Elijah and Eva played with Merek and Kennedy, while Jason and Katie kept me laughing, didn't mind if I teared up, and watched the World Series with me. What a perfect distraction. The Red Sox WON the World Series on the day we found out we were having twins. What a day!
F.A.Q.s:
1. Do twins run in your family?
Well, yes, there are fraternal twins on my Mom's side of the family, which can be hereditary, but these babies are identical, which are not hereditary, as far as research shows. I found it interesting that though the rate of multiples has increased in recent years, the percentage of identical twins has not. There is also the same likelihood of having twins worldwide (same percentage in Africa as in Asia, as in the Americas...)
2. How are you feeling?
Ok. Exhausted a lot of the time, and I have digestive issues. I've been getting migraines, but so far, I feel better than I did with Eva's pregnancy, which is such a blessing!
3. How are your emotions?
We are still reeling... happy, excited, scared... I feel my emotions are in a swirl. I cried all day one day, and laughed all day the next. Actually, though it was very hard to face these emotions without David, it actually made me rise above it. Now that he is home, I feel so much better that we can talk these things through!
4. What do the kids think?
Elijah is thrilled. He says he will be happy with boys or girls. Eva loves babies, and I think she will be great.
5. Will you name the babies both with E's like Elijah and Evangeline?
We haven't really talked names yet. I think we'll wait a week or so til we find out if they are boys or girls before we start brainstorming names. The names I happen to love seem to start with E's. I'd have no trouble naming quite a few children with E names. As these are identical twins, though, we are thinking of giving them distinct names. We'll take any input on that!
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