Surprise! I'm pregnant!!

Ha ha! Old news by now I know. I just kept putting this post off because I wanted to include 2 belly pics (since my stomach has grown significantly since the first pic) but the second pic has yet to happen, so I thought I'd better post this now and stop putting it off!

So here's the long and short of this pregnancy! I got a positive pregnancy home test on March 15.  This was a few dates before my missed period and the early detection tests have never worked on me but I tried again just in case and was surprised to see a very distinct line 2 days early. And two days later when I was 4 weeks along, I started getting sick.  I thought that I'd have at least until 6 weeks before that happened, so I was surprised. I wasn't terribly sick, but definitely had nausea off and on. Then at 6 weeks on the dot, I was so sick and miserable that I couldn't wait any longer to go to the doctor.  I had had slight spotting (also different from my other pregnancies) so I made an appointment 2 days earlier than my initial appointment that was scheduled.  

Joe came with me to the appointment.  We ended up seeing the nurse practitioner since my doc had to go and deliver a baby. She gave us the good news that there was a good heartbeat, but had us get a big ultrasound to double check.  All was good! I was sent home with a prescription for Zofran.  I was already feeling better!

Here's a pic of our first ultrasound:

Two days later when it was time for my actual initial appointment, I told Joe not to bother coming. We knew everything was good and it would just be paperwork and blood work.  I sat down with my doctor and we discussed tying my tubes since I would have another c-section. I told her that I was hesitant about it and she told me then it probably wasn't the right thing to do. We proceeded to the exam room and she began the ultrasound.  She immediately finds a heartbeat and prints a picture for me. As I am looking at the sweet little nothing of a baby, the doc blurts out, "Carla, you have twins."  I told her to shut up a few times and she just repeated herself.  She wanted me to go get a big ultrasound just to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, and she was right! Definitely two babies in there! Baby B was hiding! But since it was so early we were told that there wasn't a visible membrane separating the two but they would get a better look next time. Until then we just had to pray that God would take care of us all. I found out all of this by myself and had to tell Joe over the phone.  He pretty much had the same reaction that I did.  I remember telling my mom over the phone and telling her to sit down because I had some more news.  I was so afraid that I was going to give her a heart attack. She was in shock :) And Lisa had jokingly predicted twins when I was so sick- never thought she'd be right! Aside from family, we also told close friends. We really needed their support. Every time I told someone new, I had to sit down because I literally got weak in the knees and light headed.

Here are the babies at 6 weeks

At the next appointment, we had another big ultrasound to see if we could see a membrane separating the babies, and after a month of stress and tears and worry, we got the best news :) Two sacs! It felt so wonderful to hear the sonographer say the words I had prayed to hear her say. We had two sacs, but only one placenta. Because of the risk of one baby taking more nutrition than the other, we found out that we would be seeing a specialist. While the idea of this made me very nervous, I was glad that my OB was wanting me to take the extra step to stay ahead of any complications.

Here they are together at about 10 1/2 weeks.  Starting to resemble babies!

Baby A

Baby B

A few weeks later we had our first appointment with the specialist.  It came at a good time because the night prior I had to go to the ER because of some scary bleeding.  Turns out I had a hematoma. The babies were okay, but it did a number on me emotionally and physically for a few days. So I was very glad to see the doc the next day.  The appointment went well. And my mom and Brenda took such good care of me for the next few days since Joe had to go out of town for work.  The doc took measurements and we got some great pics!

12 1/2 weeks

 At our next appointment with the specialist, we were surprised to find out that we were having girls! It was so early, and I thought there was a possibility to find out but wasn't counting on it. Never in my life did I think identical twin girls were in the cards for us. We are blessed times 4 :)

One day shy of 15 weeks

Baby A with fist up!

Baby B

LOVE this pic of Baby B.  Doesn't look like she is praying with her hands on her forehead?!

And my last appointment was at 18 weeks. My one request was to reaffirm that the babies were still girls! And that they are :)The routine is just to measure the babies and check out all the organs, which is exactly what happened. One baby weighed an ounce bigger than the other, but that's it.  The doctor explained that it's okay for them to be different weights so long as they are both healthy weights and have healthy amounts of fluid around them. I'm anxious to see what they weigh when I go in again on Thursday.

I had to have a picture of that tiny foot!

And here I am posing for a belly pic with my buddy at 14 weeks. Someone is very excited to have TWO babies to help me take care of  :) That's a pretty big belly for 14 weeks, but it's gotten even bigger. I don't mind so much as it means those little girls are growing!!

I'll be 20 weeks on Saturday- half way! And I am feeling it! I feel like I am at least a month ahead of where I really am.  The babies move like crazy now. And I am all done needing Zofran (yea!). I am exhausted all the time. Like EXhausted! I've already started getting Braxton Hicks contractions and breathing is already pretty difficult at times. I'm basically a mess! It's gonna be a long trek, but it will be so worth it :)