14 Weeks: We've Got More News

So the pregnancy has been going pretty well.  I've been sick like last time, much more tired than last time and I feel bigger than last time.  All sounds very normal.  At my 10 week appointment, the midwife said you're measuring larger but that's pretty normal for a second pregnancy.  At my 14 week appointment on Thursday, the doctor measured me and said, "You're measuring much larger.  Have you felt movements?"  I answered kind of but it's hard to tell. Then she says the words, "Do twins run in your family?"  I answer, "Well actually, yes they do."

My Great Grandma Stevens was a twin and my Grandma May had twins (my aunt Karen and uncle Kevin).  Soooooo skipping a generation, it had been a minor worry of mine but I wasn't really thinking much about it.  She heard the one heartbeat the first time so I thought we were golden.

The doctor quickly squeezed us in for an ultrasound and lo and behold, there were TWO BABIES.  TWO. BABIES. IN. MY. BELLY.  OMG.

Twin A and Twin B

They couldn't keep us long but they wanted us to come back shortly for a more in-depth ultrasound in about a half hour due to other appointments that were already scheduled.  So we waited in the waiting room and excitedly notified our family and friends.  It was completely shocking and overwhelming.

We went back to the room in about a half hour.  She started with what they call Twin A.  Twin A is the one that is closest to the cervix and will come out first.  Twin A was a little showoff.  Posing, waving, kicking, playing.  What a character! Heartbeat was about the 150s.  She said she could tell us her best guess on the sex if we wanted.  We agreed.  She took a close look and guessed Girl.  She moved on to Twin B and Twin A kept popping up in the picture. You could see her hand occasionally like she was saying, "Don't forget about me! Take MY picture!"  Twin B was also in 150s for heartbeat. She took a guess that the way each one was formed, the size and measurements, etc, that they were identical!! TWO GIRLS? Whoa.

Baby Stats

She finished the ultrasound and mentioned something about swelling before leaving the room to go get the doctor.  The doctor came and explained that she was concerned about the swelling around Twin B's brain and spine. Also the baby was a week behind in development compared to A.  She went through a terrible, horrible list of things she thought it could be.  She referred us to the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist that comes to Lafayette once a month.  We will be seeing the specialist in a month to find out what exactly is going on with Baby B.  Shocked and terrified, we left the office and both took the day off to digest this information.

I think I can safely say that we both went through a range of emotions that day while trying to figure out how we were feeling about all of this.  By the end of the day, we decided there was nothing to do but wait and be hopeful.  And try to stay offline (impossible.)

Because seriously, what else can you do? It's scary and all we have to do is WAIT.  A month is an eternity in this situation.  Friends and family have been super supportive which is hugely helpful.
I came home from work today to some beautiful flowers from some beautiful friends.  Damn, you girls are FAST!

 Love the colors! 

My Email Club Girls

So for now until we have reason not to, it's time to celebrate. Twins, ahem, identical twins (if the ultrasound tech wasn't wrong) are pretty much a miracle.  They are not genetic.  They are pure luck and happenstance.  Another miracle (or just plain good luck) is that each twin has its own placenta so it is less likely that there will be TTTS where one takes the blood supply from the other.

So as disappointing as it first was for me to grasp, this pregnancy/labor/delivery is going to be entirely different from the first one.  I think unless you have a horrible experience, most mothers want a similar experience the second time around because familiarity is very comforting.  But I'm embracing it and trying to best prepare myself for the craziness that is ahead.

I have to post a week by week picture too, as much as I've been fighting it.  But you have to see the difference between the two pregnancies.

Here's 14 weeks with Tommy T. Just a LITTLE bigger. Sheesh. 

I used the Wave Cam App that I got from Apps Gone Free to take this picture.  This app was strictly made for selfies.  Too funny.  But hey, it works! 

So Baby T2 is now Baby A and Baby B.  Sorry for the confusion but hey, apparently we don't do anything easy in the Thornburg household.  The thought that keeps running through my head is "You make plans and God laughs."  I had just made the mistake of mentioning to my mom how much I would hate to have a high risk pregnancy.  Welllll, now I'm super mega ultra high risk.  Such is life.  

If you have the time, we could really use good thoughts and prayers for both Baby A and Baby B.  We want them to be healthy!