So ~ over at Multiples and More they are celebrating their First Blogiversary. To commemorate the ending of this week long event, they put up a MckLinky for all sites to link up on. That’s where I found this. Which has inspired me to elaborate on this – the day we found out we were having TWINS!
I think my original post about finding out we were having twins wasn’t a very good one. Mainly because I wrote it the day AFTER we found out. The excitement/fun had worn off and I had already started to worry.
It was the Wednesday before Easter – I remember because I had my Easter Party with my preschool class the day before and had promised to call the school and tell them if I found out the sex of the baby at the ultrasound the next day.
Jerry wasn’t excited. He was more annoyed than anything else because he was “skipping” work to come to the ultrasound. We had set it up so that he would still make it to work in time to have his weekly conference call with one of his higher ups, who knew where he was going and approved it and all, but Jerry likes routine and this was messing with his routine. It didn’t help that we waited in the waiting room for a good 25 minutes after our scheduled appointment time had come and gone. My mom had come to sit with the “big” kids and he was nervous we were keeping her from doing something, too.
When we finally got back there, the ultrasound tech looked at me like I had 6 heads. She just couldn’t understand why I was coming in at 18 weeks and not a few weeks later. She sounded very pessimistic about being able to determine the gender. I explained that the OB said I was measuring a little bit big and that she just wanted to check the size of the baby to make sure everything was ok. The ultrasound tech didn’t even turn the screen so I could see as she started. I wasn’t happy at all – I was actually feeling really disappointed. Then I saw Jerry make a funny face from the bottom of the table. I felt the ultrasound tech move from one spot to the other. Jerry turned his head sideways.
“Well, honey, I know why you are measuring big.” I think I held my breath here – waiting for some horrible news. “You are having twins!”
The next 30 seconds were a blur. I remember Jerry’s initial reaction perfectly. “Oh shit.” he said as he kind of crouched down and covered his face with his hands. Then he rushed over to me…and the roller coaster ride began at the top again.
We learned from that visit that the twins had separate sacs and separate placentas. Baby B was most likely a boy (she was 75% sure) They were most likely fraternal – not identical, but we were told that didn’t mean they wouldn’t look alike (they look NOTHING alike).
We spent the next 40 minutes getting measured and measured again – everything looked great. I remember the lady doing the ultrasound was the mother of twins. She was showing an intern the “ropes” and that intern was a twin herself! What are the chances? We spent the car ride home trying to decide how to tell people.
Telling people was a lot of fun, actually. We used pretty much the same approach with everyone. They asked how the ultrasound went…we showed them one set of pictures. They gushed over them – asking if we knew the sex. We said no. Then we would ask them to look up in the corner – they would then say, “Why does it say Baby A?” We would then whip out the second set of pics and say, “Because they are pretty sure that Baby B is a boy.” This approach made both my parents cry and Jerry’s mom decide she needed a drink! (she almost NEVER drinks!)
I did tell my brother and sister-in-law over the phone. My brother-in-law was first and I just blurted it out because he sounded concerned about why I was calling him at work on a Wednesday. My sister-in-law thought she didn’t hear me right when I said “they couldn’t tell on the first one”. She said something about that being too bad but we would probably be able to find out next time. So then I said something about how big Baby A was and that made her pause…and then ask me what the heck I was talking about.
Looking back, this was really a great day! It was so much fun letting everyone know! It was so much fun sharing that with other people. The months that followed were rocky. We had moments when we were sure we wouldn’t be able to do this. Moments when we were in awe that there were 2 babies fighting it out in my belly. Moments when we were scared. Moments when we were excited. It’s funny how all of that seems kind of silly now – now that we’ve been doing this for almost 7 months. I wonder what we worried so much about. It’s hard to imagine life any different than it is right now. It’s hard to imagine life before I found out I was having twins.
That was almost a year ago – but I think I will always think about that day around Easter. We were really celebrating new life that Easter – not only 1 new life, which were were expecting, but a second new life that was an amazing blessing!
