Twins 101/ Pregnancy Update

 Man, blogging to me has never felt like such a chore until these last few months. I am usually way passed exhausted to allow myself to type on my computer and let my brain spill out all my thoughts. One day... {maybe not for another year or so} I might have more energy to spend on the computer or to journal out my thoughts.

But... I wanted to give an update about the pregnancy and what we have been going through. 

In a lot of ways time has moved so fast. I am 24 weeks/6 months pregnant. I am thrilled, yet scared shiz-less about being close to the finish line. For the first time I would just like to stay this pregnant forever! I like having the babies in my tummy knowing they are sleeping and eating well without a whole lot of restless/sleepless nights, but then again, I am already uncomfortable! My doctor told me I am measuring about 29 weeks which makes me feel less crazy for all the discomfort I have. It's nice to hear a confirmation of, "It's not just you, its reality!" 

So around 16 weeks I was sent to a high risk specialist to determine what kind of twins we were expecting. Depending on the kind of twins, you can be considered high risk. If they are identical twins you are at risk of them having Twin-to-Twin Transfusion, which means, since there is only one placenta, one twin can hog the nutrients and fluid leaving the other twin fighting for their life. Apparently this is more common in female identical twins. This can be a very serious condition causing one twin to die before full term which means the other twin would be born too early to live. With all the modern and western medicine, they are able to catch these things and can even perform a laser treatment during pregnancy, if needed, to help distribute the nutrients more evenly. 

Depending on when the egg split, you can have three different types of identical twin pregnancies - (1) the egg splits but appears to have two placentas {but even after birth they can't determine if it is two placentas or one since they begin to fuse} (2) one placenta and two sacks, or (3) one placenta and one sack {a sack is really more like a thin membrane that separates the two babies but they can still touch one another, unlike fraternal twins who have a thicker wall because of the two placentas}. I am carrying twins who have one placenta, two sacks, and this is how we know they are identical. This is a good and bad thing. It is good because it means their cords will not get tangled and cause other complications, but it is bad because it means they share the same fluid which means one can have more or less, in which case if it becomes too severe they have a laser process that can help resolve the problem. The most ideal scenario is to have twins in two placentas, like fraternal twins or identical twins that appear to be fraternal through ultra sounds {in these cases they would have to do a DNA test to determine the kind of twin}. See picture below to help give you a better understanding of what I am saying.

Our twins are the ones in the middle. The doctor suspects that our egg split around day 3-5 after fertilization and then attached to the uterine wall. The image on the far left means the egg splits around day 1-2 after fertilization and the image on the far right means the egg split 5-7 days after fertilization. Our doctor also mentioned that any time the egg splits after day 7 is when you would have conjoined twins.   

Once a week, I get an ultra sound where they measure the fluids of each twin. So far these ladies are doing so great. They have a great amount of fluid and they are the same weight. The doctor said every week we go without seeing any changes in their fluid or growth the better the chances of not having Twin-to-Twin Transfusion!!! This was music to my ears! While I am getting ultra sounds, they also check the length of my cervix to make sure I don't have to go on bed rest and every three weeks they check the measurements of the growth of the twins. It is fun to see them on the big ultrasound screen so often! They have the most beautiful noses I have ever seen... their noses look just like their big brother's nose. Sometimes we even get the pleasure of having the 3D ultrasound because their little bodies make it hard to see what it is the doctor is looking for.

The other night, when I was about 21 weeks, I woke up with contractions. My doctor believes they were most likely Braxton Hicks which is totally fine with me!! As long as it isn't actual labor signs!! He expects the twins will come around 35-36 weeks. Twins are considered full term at 36 weeks, but I just want them to be healthy and if they want to extend their stay, I am ok with that!! No need to make them come too early if there aren't any complications. 

Another crazy thing that I learned is, when having twins, they have you deliver {at least here in California} in the OR even if you are planing to have a vaginal birth because complications can arise really fast and they don't want to waste anytime. This makes me sad in a small way. The people I have always planned on having in the delivery room are my husband and my mom!!! These two people are the reason I am even having a child and I want so badly to have their support and excitement in the room, but when you deliver in the OR you only get one person and Gian obviously will be the one there... but my OB is pretty freaking awesome and he has had two sets of twins so he understands and I think he might make an exception for my mom!! I THINK!

The hardest thing for me about this pregnancy is not knowing what the outcome will be. There are so many scenarios. Will I have to have a C-section? Will they come early and how early? Will they be born healthy? So many concerns run through my mind and for the first time I feel completely out of control and useless. I know that is something I have to learn and be okay with because this is just how life is. With Ekemona I knew everything would be okay and he would be healthy, I knew he would come vaginally and not through a C-section... it was just that comfort I always felt in my heart and gut. This time, even though I feel it in my heart that the twins will be okay and healthy I still have my gut exploring every possible scenario and every possible outcome and that's where I try to keep "fixing" the problem. I am learning that life is just life, you can't fix or control 100% of your outcomes, which is how I have always based my decision making and planning. I believe so much in personal responsibility that I feel like if I don't do something right it will be my fault.  

All in all things are going really well and really smooth. I don't have the same physical abilities as I did when I was pregnant with Eke. I have to take things about 2x slower and simple tasks become exhausting chores. Some days I can't even stand longer then ten minutes, but if that is what it takes to stay healthy then I will listen to my body every single time! 

Now for some "belly time" hahahahah.

11 weeks

15 weeks

17 weeks

23.5 weeks

PS All my clothes are fitting weird and this is me trying to hold my maternity shirt from the strange fit. I don't know why my clothes are fitting weird. I think my belly just has a different shape to it or something.