TWINS!

Paul and I found out at our 9 week ultrasound that we were expecting twins!  What a surprise!  We could not believe it!  We were already worrying about how we were going to handle Ella and an infant so close in age (about 18mo's apart)...but now Ella and 2 infants?!  People think it's hard to have 2 under 2...what about 3 under 2??  We just grew out of our car and almost our house!  Even with all of the shock, we were still extatic!

Our families were very excited too!  I think my mom almost fainted when I told her!  People kept asking if we planned twins or if they ran in our family.  Um...no...definitely didn't plan for twins!  I didn't know there was a special "twin position" you could try while trying to have a baby!  Ha!  Twins do not run in our family until about the 3rd generation down.  I believe my grandpa had twin aunts maybe?  The best (actually not) comment I kept getting was "Wow, what are you going to do?"  Me: "Well, we are going to have the babies!"  Along with lots and lots of prayers that we can handle it!  I really don't know what those few people were expecting me to respond with! 

We found out at about the 17 week appointment that the babies were identical.  They were sharing the same placenta.  This too was a shock, but made more sense because identical twins don't have anything to do with family history.  Most twins (about 90%) are fraternal due to family history or IVF treatments.  Identical twins are simply one egg splitting into two, hence why they look the same!  Sharing the same placenta also has added risks to the babies.  Unfortunately, we will have to experience some of those down the road ahead...

We didn't find out until about 21 weeks that the babies were GIRLS!  Neither Paul or I was shocked at all.  For some reason Paul had thought they were girls the whole time.  I think he was mentally preparing himself for a house filled with 5 girls (including Chloe:)  and himself.  We were both excited to say the least!  Ella would have 2 best friends forever!  We were excited about the closeness in age that they would all be. 

We also found out at this appointment that the babies were measuring a little bit different in size.  They had different amounts of fluid in each of their sacs as well.  Note:  Our twins had the same placenta, but separate sacs, called Mono-Di twins.  This was a risk of TTTS, Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome.  The babies weren't diagnosed at this time, but Doc told me to read up a little on it because the babies may be headed in that direction.  He did tell me not to get all bent out of shape on what I read on the internet though.  Boy was the internet all bad news!

I pulled this from the TTTS Foundation Homepage:
-Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) is a disease of the placenta (or afterbirth) that affects identical twin pregnancies.
-TTTS affects identical twins (or higher multiple gestations) who share a common monochorionic placenta.
-The shared placenta contains abnormal blood vessels which connect the umbilical cord and circulations of the twins.
-The common placenta may also be shared unequally by the twins

-The events in pregnancy that lead to TTTS are all random.

-TTTS is not hereditary or genetic, nor caused by anything the parents did or did not do.

-TTTS can happen to anyone.

Basically with TTTS, the small baby (the donor) is giving away all of her nutrients and blood to the big baby (the recipient).  In result, the small baby could be underdeveloped and the big baby overdeveloped resulting in birth defects or death of one or both babies.  It is a scary, scary diagnosis.  I now know WAY more about TTTS than I had ever wished to!

Paul and I did find out two weeks later at a follow up appointment that the babies were definitely headed towards TTTS.  They did not look horrible, were still viable with good heartbeats and movement.  However, one was bigger than the other and the amounts of fluid in each sac differed a lot!  I was about 23 weeks at this time.  I was sent to a specialist at OSU Medical Hospital for further testing and to review my options for treatment. 

You may be thinking "I know a set of twins that were different in size when born".  Yes, but they were fraternal.  TTTS only affects identical twins because they are sharing the nutrients, unlike fraternal twins that have separate placentas.  I have heard this comment many times!

17 Weeks along!