Wouldn't it be weird if I had two bellies, one for each baby? Draw me a picture of that!
An update: for any curious people.
A month after I found out we are having twins, my OB found out. I usually don't have problems with medical professionals, then again, I haven't had many experiences with them until now, but it seems I've been placed under the care of a very inexperienced OB. After she explained that twins are NEVER the result of double ovulation, and are ALWAYS due to the zygote splitting at random, I really started losing all trust in this provider. I'm pretty sure she is brand new and I'm one of her very first patients. I guess I can't blame her for not having twin experience.*
But I want a doctor that can help me! Is that fair?
Well blessings do come, in the form of referrals. My OB looked at the original ultrasound and told me we needed to look again to know whether this was a di- di-, mono- di, or mono-chorionic mono-amniotic pregnancy and STAT. Apparently the window of opportunity to determine this is small and I needed to go to a Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) specialist or Perinatologist as soon as possible.
I won't get into how I mistrusted my doctor enough to wonder how necessary this is - I'm just grateful for moms to vent to sometimes. Turns out though, this was totally necessary.
At 15 weeks I went to the MFM and had SUCH A FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE!!! A sonographer specialized in MFM took me into the ultrasound room and spent time looking at the babies and explaining every detail to me. She used examples like, "the placenta is like a giant pancake and gets a little thinner on the edges." I love her! Even though I'm fairly well versed in medical language, it was so nice to talk to someone who wants me to understand, obviously loves babies, knows her stuff and loves her job. Happy Day. :)
So... I have one placenta, two amniotic sacs and two identical girls! We know they are identical because it was very clear that there was only one placenta. I've read that with fraternal twins they always start with two placentas, but they can fuse together later on, looking like one. Two sacs is great news, ensuring the babies won't be getting tangled up together.
Because they are sharing one placenta, there's a risk for Twin to Twin Transfusion syndrome. Read about it here. I always thought this was one twin being greedy and getting chunky while the other starved. That part can kind of happen, but TTTS is bad news for both babies. This means check ups every two weeks to monitor the fluid levels.
The other discovery is that Baby A has a velamentous umbilical cord insertion. Currently, the insertion is located right next to the cervix and if it stays there (called vasa previa) I'll have to have a planned, early c-section. This wiki page explains it exactly how my doctor did. It can very likely move though, so we just need to wait and see.
So what do you know, I'm 22 and totally healthy, but my pregnancy is very high risk. It's okay though. I really have completely accepted this fact along with the reality of possible c-section and NICU time. But I can still hope to avoid those! I just want these babies to be okay.
*Note: I didn't know much about twins either, but if you'd like to see some interesting stats go here. For explanation between fraternal and identical go here.
Picture time! The upside of being high risk is that I get to see these babies a lot. This is an attempt at creating a 3D image.
An update: for any curious people.
A month after I found out we are having twins, my OB found out. I usually don't have problems with medical professionals, then again, I haven't had many experiences with them until now, but it seems I've been placed under the care of a very inexperienced OB. After she explained that twins are NEVER the result of double ovulation, and are ALWAYS due to the zygote splitting at random, I really started losing all trust in this provider. I'm pretty sure she is brand new and I'm one of her very first patients. I guess I can't blame her for not having twin experience.*
But I want a doctor that can help me! Is that fair?
Well blessings do come, in the form of referrals. My OB looked at the original ultrasound and told me we needed to look again to know whether this was a di- di-, mono- di, or mono-chorionic mono-amniotic pregnancy and STAT. Apparently the window of opportunity to determine this is small and I needed to go to a Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) specialist or Perinatologist as soon as possible.
I won't get into how I mistrusted my doctor enough to wonder how necessary this is - I'm just grateful for moms to vent to sometimes. Turns out though, this was totally necessary.
At 15 weeks I went to the MFM and had SUCH A FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE!!! A sonographer specialized in MFM took me into the ultrasound room and spent time looking at the babies and explaining every detail to me. She used examples like, "the placenta is like a giant pancake and gets a little thinner on the edges." I love her! Even though I'm fairly well versed in medical language, it was so nice to talk to someone who wants me to understand, obviously loves babies, knows her stuff and loves her job. Happy Day. :)
So... I have one placenta, two amniotic sacs and two identical girls! We know they are identical because it was very clear that there was only one placenta. I've read that with fraternal twins they always start with two placentas, but they can fuse together later on, looking like one. Two sacs is great news, ensuring the babies won't be getting tangled up together.
Because they are sharing one placenta, there's a risk for Twin to Twin Transfusion syndrome. Read about it here. I always thought this was one twin being greedy and getting chunky while the other starved. That part can kind of happen, but TTTS is bad news for both babies. This means check ups every two weeks to monitor the fluid levels.
The other discovery is that Baby A has a velamentous umbilical cord insertion. Currently, the insertion is located right next to the cervix and if it stays there (called vasa previa) I'll have to have a planned, early c-section. This wiki page explains it exactly how my doctor did. It can very likely move though, so we just need to wait and see.
So what do you know, I'm 22 and totally healthy, but my pregnancy is very high risk. It's okay though. I really have completely accepted this fact along with the reality of possible c-section and NICU time. But I can still hope to avoid those! I just want these babies to be okay.
*Note: I didn't know much about twins either, but if you'd like to see some interesting stats go here. For explanation between fraternal and identical go here.
Picture time! The upside of being high risk is that I get to see these babies a lot. This is an attempt at creating a 3D image.
A wave from Baby A and two peas (or brains) in a pod.
We've got some girls on our hands! Loud and proud.
Cute cute cute.
Love,
Lauresa
Love,
Lauresa
Belly Update | Apology: in the attempt to find epic backgrounds, most of these pics are not great shots of my belly, but it is there and growing! |
Mars Chocolate factory! Aaron gets to work here, surrounded by giant M&M statues.
Our backyard pool on 4th of July weekend. I made Aaron join and that's the pose he chose.
And... Jersey Shore!