Two for the Price of One

scroll down to skip the long story & see the ultrasounds

I'd been having a feeling for a while that I was having twins and couldn't wait for my ultrasound to get a ya or a nay. Joel and I even went car window shopping just in case we need to fit 4 carseats in the car rather than 3. I don't know why I had the feeling. It was strange to say the least. Maybe it's because Joel and I have the 2 boys and I can only associate 2 kids with him but either way, it was definitely on my mind. (And it never was with Miles.) So we get to our appointment with Dr Judd and everyone starts telling me the ultrasound tech is out cause she just had a baby and her husband is the sub and he's out with her so no go. I told them my concern and that I just needed a little peace of mind. Everyone was like, "it's so unlikely" and the Dr even said, "if i had a nickel for every woman who 'had a feeling' she was having twins and ended up not..." you know the story. So they schedule me to come back the following week for an ultrasound but I left feeling like I was doing it for no reason. All week long I talked myself out of feeling like I was having twins. I decided I just had a wild imagination and that it was going to be so easy to have one kid after having both the boys all the time, etc. Well yesterday we go in for our appointment. I get on the table and the tech immediately locates our beautiful baby.

I'm 11 weeks now and it really looked like a baby and so cute. I remember my first ultrasound with Miles. I was only 7 weeks along and he just looked like a little peanut. So this time I was just in awe of the beauty of our child. After about 4 minutes and tons of measurements, it seemed like we were wrapping things up. I was relieved and sad. Joel seemed a little disappointed but I couldn't feel disappointment. I was grateful that our baby looked so amazing and really I was more confused than anything. (What were all those feelings about?) I asked if the baby looked okay and if everything was normal. He affirmed that everything was great and then I said, "and there's just one". He ran the ultrasound across my tummy and said, "actually..." and there it was clear as day, another little beauty. I start crying immediately. I asked, "Are you serious?" Joel is beaming now. No question how he felt about it. The tech says, "looks like twins." Again, "Are you serious?" I couldn't believe it. It was like there were only 2 because I had asked. I was in shock. I asked again and again if he was serious or if this was some weird joke ultrasound techs like to play and finally the tech said, "are you seeing what I'm seeing? There are two!" Clearly there were two. There was no denying it. It seemed like once we found both of them we couldn't get just one on the screen and I wondered where the other one was hiding during the first 4 minutes. Then the tech said he thought he saw something but didn't want to say anything until he was positive. So then of course I had to ask, "there're just 2 right?" Yes. Just 2. So now I had a million questions, well, 3 really. I wanted to know how big I was gonna get. He said 25-30 lbs for the pregnancy + the weight of the second baby. What a relief! I thought I was doomed to gain 50 lbs just because I was having twins. 2nd I wanted to know when they would be born. Dr Judd said general rule with twins is you deliver 3 weeks earlier than you typically deliver. Miles was a week early so I'm looking at a 36 week pregnancy. (Roughly the first week in February.) Another relief! 3rd I wanted to know if I was doomed for a c-section. (Yeah, yeah. I know all you c-section moms loved having c-sections but it still scares me.) Good news is as long as the first one is head down we're good to go. My only concern with a single pregnancy was gone as well now that I knew I was having twins (and about a month early at that). Miles was a whopping 7 lbs with a tiny head and I was more than fine with that. Landyn was a scary 8 lb 2 oz with a huge head and I was really worried. (I know, I know. Some of you are thinking "Try having a 9 or 10 lb baby" no thanks!) Although Landyn's mom did gain 15+ more lbs than me in her pregnancy (which is mostly likely the contributing factor) I still worried. But with babies coming as early as these I am home free!
All in all, we're really excited. I know there's a lot ahead of us but at the same time I can't help but think that we have a loving Heavenly Father who doesn't give us more than we can handle so I just have to have faith that this is something we can handle. As well I can't help but think that if Joel and I had stayed married to our first spouses that we'd each probably have another child by now and I just feel grateful that maybe we still get to have those children in our family.