Baby updates

Yesterday was my third ultrasound. It was the first one where we weren't surprised by twins.

The babies are getting bigger and moving around a lot. As a result we really didn't get that many cute pictures. But here is one of Baby A's profile. I'm a little concerned about the size of her nose. It seems rather large for a baby, but I love her anyway.

We found out that we will be having an ultrasound every two weeks to make sure the twins are sharing their placenta nicely. (They aren't even born yet and they have to learn to share)

I'd be excited about the extra ultrasounds except the novelty is starting to wear off. They are incredibly tedious to sit through. Still it is pretty cool to see the babies. I'm always surprised that there really are two babies in me.

In other baby news I've started to feel the babies kick. At first they were just little flicks, but now they are stronger. I guess the girls' muscles and bones are developing.

A lot of you have asked about names. Right now we are thinking Charlotte and Lydia. We are getting more and more set on these names. I think it is weird to officially name babies before they are born so to me the girls are still Baby A and Baby B. Baby A is the one developing lower in my body and Baby B is up higher. We'll figure out who is Charlotte and who is Lydia when they are born.

Pioneer Day

One of the best things about being married is sharing things you love with each other. Over the past 3 years Brandon and I have introduced each other to our favorite foods, tv shows, vacation places, and other fun things. This weekend I talked Brandon into doing something I did 4 years ago. We went and slept out on the parade route for the Days of 47 Parade.

4 years ago my friend talked me into doing this and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. This year Brandon's parents worked on one of the floats so that was a good reason to go to the parade. Also the parade was on a Saturday so we could go it and not worry about work (not that we are working right now anyway - but we were when we originally planned this adventure)

So on Friday we went to my Dr's appointment (the twins are doing well) and then headed over to get a great spot. I wanted the same spot I had 4 years ago at 200 East and 300 South. People were already saving spots when we got there about 4:00 pm, but there was still plenty of room. While we were there a big flat bed came by and dropped off some port-o-potties. I thought it was pretty funny.

We hung out and played cards. More and more people started showing up. We made friends with two ladies that set up camp right next to us. We were about to start a card game with them when the sprinklers came on. Everyone ran off the hill and dragged their stuff with them. We sat on the sidewalk and waited for the grass to dry off. We played cards with our new friends Carrie and Tawny and my friend Lindsey and her husband Ben.
We played the card games and sat and talked until 2 AM. It was fun being there with people that I didn't know very well. We were able to share stories and get to know them better.
At 2:00 AM we headed to bed. For some reason I thought that the grass would be comfortable enough for me. I forgot the fact that last time I slept on the grass I was 21 and not pregnant with twins. Still I made it through the night. There were teenagers all around us and some of them talked all night long. Between the ground, the noise, and the cold I think I got an hour and a half of sleep. Here is a pic of what our hill looked like in the morning.
About 6:00 AM I got up and set up our chairs in the front row of the parade route. Soon the marathon runners came down the street.
Then Brandon and I waited and waited for the parade to start.
The only downside to our spot was the fact that it is on the West side of the street which means we got cooked by the sun. I knew this would happen so I didn't complain. I just lathered on the sun block.
Here's what the area behind our chairs looked like. We probably should have stayed on the hill in the shade, but we'd been there for 18 hours so I felt like we deserved the front row.
It was worth it to see the floats. This one was about the seagulls who ate the grasshoppers. It was so cute.
Here is Brandon's parents float. It looked better than it did in the Taylorsville days parade.
Brandon's mom worked really hard on these bobble head kids.
Brandon liked this one because of the airplane.
After the parade we headed home to a cold shower and a four hour nap. Brandon said he had fun and so had I. We are even considering doing it again next year - but with some twin friendly modifications.

The big announcement & a science lesson

Okay here is the big announcement.

Baby A is a girl.

And Baby B is also a girl.

I thought from the very beginning that I was pregnant with a girl and then when I found out I was having twins I kept thinking they were both girls. Brandon was the same way. We are very excited to know that we were right. (Especially since we have been wrong about so many other things during this pregnancy)

I know that you are now all wondering whether the girls are fraternal or identical. I'll tell you, but first I'm going to give you all a quick science lesson about the difference. A lot of this stuff I didn't know until a few weeks ago, and I think it is pretty cool. So while I have your undivided attention I will educate you as well.

FRATERNAL TWINS (dizygotic)

Fraternal Twins are the more common type of twin. Roughly 2/3 of all twins are fraternal. Here is how they develop.

A woman's body is supposed to release 1 egg a month, but it can produce more than 1. If that happens and each egg is fertilized by the father's sperm then two babies will develop.

Fraternal twins can be 2 girls, 2 boys, or one of each. I like how one book I read puts it, “they are essentially siblings born at the same time.” Brandon and his twin brother Bryan are fraternal twins.
You may have heard that twins come from the mother's side and skip generations. That can be the case with fraternal twins. The mother may have a genetic disposition that allows her to release more than one egg at a time. The father's genes have nothing to do with it. So even though Brandon is a twin he has no influence on whether or not I release extra eggs.

One other thing about fraternal twins; since they develop from separate eggs and sperm they develop separate placentas. This will be important in a second.

IDENTICAL TWINS (monochorionic)

The other 1/3 of all twins are identical twins. Here is how they develop:
1 egg is fertilized by 1 sperm- just like with a normal single birth baby. After fertilization the now fertilized egg (called a zygote) splits into two zygotes. Each of these will develop into a baby.

I used to think that the split happened in the moments right after fertilization, but it actually can happen anytime during the first 8 days. Pay attention to this because this is important too.

If the split happens:
• Within 3 days of conception the twins will have 2 separate placentas. (They will also have two chorions (the outer layer of the sac that contains the fetus) and two amnions (the inner membrane of the sac containing amniotic fluid))
• Between 4-7 days the twins will have a shared placenta. (They will also share the chorion, but have separate amnions)
• After the 8th day the twins will share a placenta. (They will also share the chorion and amnion)

About 68% of all identical twins are they type where the split happens between days 4 and 7. By the way, no one really knows what causes the zygote to split. It has not been linked to heredity, nor can any other theory successfully explain what triggers the split. It just happens.

WHAT WE ARE HAVING:

Now I'll tell you what our girls are. The answer is . . . they appear to be sharing a placenta. If you've been paying attention then you know that means they are probablty identical! (I should add that it is possible they are fraternal and their placentas developed close together. However, there is only a slim chance of that.)

I think the only people who guessed right were my friends Alicia and Heather, my cousin Melissa, my brother in law David, my sister in law Shannon, and my sister Lindsey (I accidentally slipped and told her I am planning on painting the babies toenails to tell them apart when they are first born).

Thanks for playing along with my family's little guessing game. Later when we get closer to the due date we will have the second round of guessing for what day the babies will be born, what they will weigh and how long they will be.

Most of this info was gathered from The Everthing Twins, Triplets, and More book by Pamela Ferrro. And When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads by Dr Barbara Luke and Tamara Eberlein. The diagrams are mine :)

Inverted

Over the past few months my life has been flipped over. Here is how I have described my life on my blog for the past two years:

Just what is a girl to do when she is a college graduate, a wife to an aviation student, a full time worker, and not a mother yet? I'm not sure, but I am trying to figure it out. Read along as I find out where I fit in the world.

Just about every single one of those descriptions has changed in the last 3 months. Here's how:

College graduate: Okay, this one hasn't changed. I'm still have my BS degree in Economics, and no one can ever take it away from me.

Wife to an aviation student: Brandon is still a flight student but he is no longer with Utah State University (thank goodness). All he has to do now is earn his Commercial Pilot Rating and his Multi-Engine Rating. These two ratings should be pretty easy to earn now that we are with a competent flight school. There were times over that past few years that I thought Brandon would never graduate. I'm so happy that he was able to accomplish that. I am very grateful for the advisers who helped him discover a way to get away from Utah State.

Full time worker: I am not dealing with this change very well. Three weeks ago I quit a job I loved so Brandon and I could move out of Logan for the new flight school. I figured that I would find a new job quickly. Instead I found out I was pregnant with twins that are due in less than 5 months. Since they are twins they will come earlier than full term. Also twins are a high risk pregnancy which means my chances of going on bed rest are higher. I don't want to go on bed rest, but I have to accept the fact that it might happen.

I know that employers can't discriminate against me because I am pregnant, but ethically I can't apply for jobs that expect a long term commitment (or even a 6 month commitment). So now I'm looking for customer service and data entry jobs with companies that are used to employees coming and going.

Since I'm having twins it was really easy to make the decision to be a stay at home mom. Still it is not an easy decision to live with. I really really really identify myself as a skilled employee. I've loved being the breadwinner in our family. And now that is all over. I'm slowly adjusting to the idea that I may have worked my last 8 hour shift - but it doesn't mean I love the idea.

Not a mother: Ironically, I have wanted to get pregnant so I could be a stay at home mom for a long time. I've watched in envy as friends and family have all had children. Now it's my turn, and I'm going all out and having twins. This is a huge change - thank goodness I still have a few months to prepare for it.

So now I have to change my blog description. Here's what it is now:

Just what is a girl to do when she is a college graduate in Economics, a wife to a pilot earning flight ratings, no longer working, and expecting twins? I'm not sure, but I am trying to figure it out. Read along as I find out where I fit in the world.

20 weeks

Wow, I'm halfway through my pregnancy and this is the first prego belly picture I have taken yet.

This isn't the best picture since I'm in a skirt and so my belly looks flatter than it really is. Also my hair cut is really a lot cuter than it looks in this pic.

But for a first pic I guess it will have to do.

This is why I am not a doctor

Last Wednesday I had an experience that proved why I will never be a doctor. It's a great story so I want all of you to hear it. First though I have to do a quick recap of my medical situation for those of you who are new/stopped paying attention. If you are in a hurry you can skip down to the part labeled June 30^th.

April 23: 60 days after my last period I finally take a pregnancy test. It comes out positive.

May 6-9: Brandon and I start telling family and friends that we are pregnant.

May 13: Brandon and I go meet with my Ob/Gyn and have the ten week ultrasound. Two babies show up on the monitor. We are thrilled and immediately tell family, friends, random strangers, etc.

May 16: I start spotting

May 19: I have several signs of a miscarriage; sudden heavy bleeding and passing tissue (two fetus sized round lumps) among other things. I conclude that it was a full miscarriage. Brandon and I are on vacation. I don't see any point in going to the hospital. They wouldn't be able to put the babies back in. Plus I feel fine physically so I figure I can just follow up with my doctor when we get back to Logan.

May 28: After calling my doctor's office and letting them know that I had a miscarriage all I am told is to come in for a blood test and we can go from there. I go in for the blood test which I get billed for but no one ever calls me about the results. I figure it showed that I didn't have any infection or anything like that and that everything is fine.

First two weeks of June: All of my pregnancy symptoms, except throwing up, go away. Brandon no longer smells like yucky food to me, I enjoy eating, I'm not as ornery or tired.

June 18: I go to the doctor for what I think is a miscarriage follow up exam. Instead we had the whole bizarre experience I already blogged about. He looks at my earlier blood test from May 28^th and tells me that my HCG (pregnancy hormone) levels are very high. I ask him why no one ever called me and told me. He recommends an ultrasound but I can't see the point since it is so obvious to me that I am no longer pregnant. I agree to another blood test just to get out of the office.

June 21: The blood test comes back with high HCG levels again. The doctors office starts hounding me to get an ultrasound. We are in the middle of moving from Logan to Bountiful so even if I wanted to have the ultrasound I really don't have the time.

Okay now for the story.

June 30: I'm slightly settled in Bountiful and curiosity starts to get the better of me. Also I've been hearing stories of people who had miscarriages where the placenta didn't quite detach and it kept growing or got infected. I'm a little bit of a hypochondriac so as soon as I start thinking about those stories I notice that my stomach is sometimes hard and I feel pressure there. I also have heard about cases where women were pregnant with twins and only miscarried one twin. I think this is slightly possible, but I'm not willing to think about it much. I call around and get scheduled for an ultrasound at the LDS hospital radiology department that day.

As we drive the 10 minutes to Salt Lake I am mentally preparing myself for bad news and surgery. Brandon tries to lighten the mood by telling me about the ultrasound that a nurse gave him when he was 7. This distracts me a little because neither of us can figure out why he was given an ultrasound – he was in the hospital for a stroke which shouldn't have any impact on the abdomen. We conclude it was to keep him entertained.

We get to the radiology department and get all checked in. The ultrasound technician comes out and takes us back to the examining room. I explain to her that I miscarried twins six weeks before, but that my HCG levels are still high and we'd like to know what is in me that is causing that.

She starts moving the sensor around on my belly and is quiet for a few minutes. I can see the monitor but I have no idea what I am looking at. To me it all looks like overgrown placenta, and I'm just waiting for her to tell me that she's found something bad.

Finally I can't stand the suspense and I ask her what she sees. She says, “well here is a baby with a heart beat.” I'm shocked, and I can't keep myself from asking, “what about the other one?” She tells me that she is still trying to get oriented, but seconds later she says, “and here is another baby with a heartbeat.”

And so for the second time in two months Brandon and I are staring at a monitor in shock as an ultrasound reveals that we are having twins. The size of the babies indicates that these are the same twins that I thought I had lost 6 weeks ago. Humor is my go to emotion in situations like this so I start saying things like, “poor little neglected babies.” and “wow these kids like to trick us. We are going to have to watch them extra carefully.”

The technician steps out for a moment to change the ultrasound order from a routine pelvic ultrasound to a whole body scan of the twins. Here are some pics from the ultrasound. (You can tell which baby is which by the number in the left hand side. They are designated Baby A and Baby B.

Brandon and I look at each other and just start to laugh – we can't believe what is going on. She comes back in and starts measuring everything on the babies. This is the most boring exciting thing to ever happen to me. On the one had it is really cool to see my babies, on the other hand it is incredibly tedious to sit through as she takes picture after picture of things such as the backs of their necks and their brains. Also I am mostly in shock. I keep trying to figure out how I am going to tell everyone that I am still pregnant – with twins. I keep thinking, “I am going to look like a moron. I really thought I had a miscarriage, but instead my twins are doing fine.”

The babies are far enough along that the technician says we should be able to determine the gender. She asks if we want to know. Back when we found out we were pregnant with twins the first time Brandon and I decided that we would want to know the genders. With one baby we could handle the surprise and suspense of not knowing until the baby was born, but with two babies we would need to know so we could prepare ahead of time. We tell the technician that we do want to know. (We are keeping the genders a secret for a couple weeks. My family has a tradition of holding an informal contest to guess the gender of any baby. So add a comment to the bottom of this post with what you think the genders are. In a week or so I'll post the genders.)

So that is why I will never be a doctor. Obviously I have no idea what is going on medically, though I shouldn't feel too bad. Yesterday we met with my new Ob-gyn (who I love) I asked her what she thought happened and her answer was, "I don't know, maybe you had triplets."
We've spent the last week and a half wrapping our heads around this news. Yesterday we told our parents and today we told our siblings. And now we are telling all of you. I am so excited for this unexpected miracle. And guess what. On Monday I'll be 20 weeks. Yeah that's right I'm halfway through a 40 week pregnancy. Thank you all for your love and support the last 20 weeks. Hopefully the next 20 will be a lot less eventful.

What to do with cards

I've been married for 3 years now, and I still have a collection of most of the cards I received at my wedding reception. I've never been able to throw them away. They are just too meaningful and pretty. I finally figured out what to do with them so they can be meaningful and pretty outside of this napkin holder box.

First I cut them all apart. I saved the pictures, sayings, quotations, and signatures that meant the most to me and Brandon.
Then I got Brandon to help me cut out cardboard to make the matting for a frame that we bought at the DI.
Then I glued all the sayings onto the cardboard as one giant card collage.
I still need to go through my wedding day pictures and pick out one for the middle of the frame. But I'm so glad that I've been able to do something with the cards that I have saved for so long.

Lost and Found

Random things that we thought were lost have been falling out of our couch lately. First it was my jump drive which had been lost for about a month. It fell out when Brandon moved the couch to vacuum before we moved.

Then Brandon's palm pilot fell out. It had been in there for at least 3 months. It fell out when we moved the couch to put it into the moving van.

Then Sunday night I couldn't find the palm pilot again. I thought it might have gone down the couch again so I reached down into the couch. Instead I pulled out Brandon's pocket knife which has been missing for about 5 months. I can't believe it didn't fall out while we were moving the couch.

The only explanation is that our couch is a time portal. So if anyone wants a trip to another dimension come on over and climb down our couch.