On with the Tale

So we had been enjoying the week after finding out about having twins, waiting for our routine appointment for the high level ultrasound. I dreamt of being the super earth mom that delivered my twins naturally...We played the all the name games, I still was convinced the babies were both girls, and we decided on one name, Lily. I liked Kate, or Catharine for the other one, and Luke liked Isabel, or Izzy. The kids were lobbying to see who got the babies in their rooms. And planning showers, since I had gotten rid of all of our baby stuff after having Travis. My family was still processing the idea of twins, and Luke's was thrilled.

On March 27, 2007, the day of our appointment, I dropped Travis off at school, and went for coffee with some friends. I met Luke at home and we went to the perinatologist's office...so excited to see the babies and know that they were girls.

With our other babies these appointments have been pretty jolly, we are excited, and the tech is chatty, but this time the tech was very quiet, and turned the screen so I couldn't see it. Luke was a little quiet as well. As the appointment went on I, of course was talking a lot and the tech warmed up. He mentioned that this was his third set of twins that day, and it was harder to take the babies measurements because the twins were mono-mono, and that made it harder to keep track of them. When we asked what mono-mono meant, he told us that they shared an amniotic sac, I thought,"don't all twins???" I never knew that much about them to be honest...and he said it wasn't really a problem till later in the pregnancy because they had a high risk of cord compression. Hmmmm. Doesn't sound so bad does it?

So we had a break...and I said, "So I'm right they have to both be girls, because if they share a sac they must be identical." And Luke says..."I was checking really carefully to see if they were conjoined." Ha, I thought. He is so dramatic...and La-di-da...we went back to finish the scan. I was right!!! They are both girls!!!

At the end, these two people come in and Ali, the tech, moves to the side. The man stars talking..."I'm Dr.Traynor, and this is my partner Dr. Won. I guess the first question we have to ask is that if one or both of these babies has down syndrome do you plan to terminate this pregnancy?". Who is this person and what the $%#@ is he talking about? He start drawing this picture showing me how twins develop, and how fraternal twins are different from identical twins, and how an embryo splits after the amniotic sac formed. So rare...only a day or two later and the babies would have been conjoined. This is a dangerous situation he tells us...there is a 50% chance I would lose one or both babies to a cord accident, and the best way to prevent this happening is to be admitted to the hospital for 24/7 monitoring by 27 weeks, and have the babies early, by 34 weeks, delivered via c-section. Because there are two things that could happen. One, the babies could catch each other up trying to be delivered and get stuck, and the biggie again. Cord compression. Practically all in one breath.

So I burst in to tears and he exclaims, "But look on the bright side!! You have two healthy babies in there!!!".....and I am bawling and wail..."I just found out I was having twins a week ago!!". At this point Dr.Won finally speaks and says, " This is a lot to process and I would be worried if you weren't upset." Love her. This calms me immediately. A little bit anyway. So it's decided we will be released by my OB, and I will be the patient of the high risk variety. A new experience for me.

What do I do now??? I go home and just sit there...I still don't remember where Travis was at time, or how he got home...and man did I dread that phone ringing. And holy CRAP!!! Now I have to call my mom again.

We now enter a world of many doctors appointments...glucose testing...arrangements making. I only have seven weeks until I go in the hospital, and there is soooo much to do.

She looks a little like the Terminator doesn't she?

And a little alien...how cute they are!