Prego Update

Here are some things I've learned in the past week or so (or things that lots of people are asking):

Are the babies Identical or Fraternal Twins?
Identical.  There seems to be only one placenta, which is the indicator that they are identical.  They have a thin dividing line between them, so they do have their own amniotic sacs.  (so I think the tech term is that they are Mono/Di twins).

Identical twins are more risky than fraternal-- just because they are sharing more.   I'm trying to not borrow trouble by thinking too much about it.

Only 1/3 of all twins are identical.

Do Twins Run in your Family?
Well, sort of, but it's back a ways, and I think it's on my Dad's side (I've heard that twins really only transfer through the maternal line, but I haven't looked into it much).

BUT Identical twins are not thought to have anything to do with genetics.  Or Fertility treatments (which I wasn't doing anyhow), or maternal age (so it is NOT because I'm getting OLD).  It's just a fluke.  A totally random case of the egg deciding to split.

I had planned to stop at four, so maybe Heavenly Father wanted to sneak in that extra one.  I'll take that as a vote of confidence that he thinks I can handle it : )

Why was I bleeding?
 I have a low-lying placenta.  So right now I'm on "pelvic rest" until we know more.

A low-lying placenta could become problematic later in the pregnancy.  HOWEVER seeing it at this stage is not a big deal.  In fact, there's a 99% chance that as the uterus gets bigger the placenta will rise higher.

I haven't bled since the day of the ultrasound, and it's another hypothesis of mine that Heavenly Father wanted to give me an early heads up that there were two...since I don't usually get ultrasounds and I had no reason to believe that there were twins.  We might not have known for a while.

How am I doing?
I'm exhausted, but I always am for the first trimester.  Hopefully it'll pass in the next week or two.  I get insomnia during pregnancy, so that doesn't help.  But I try to take a nap each day.

I've also been having a lot of cramping--most likely due to the low placenta.  But my midwife suggested taking magnesium, which has helped tremendously.

I am a little bit of a worry-wart, so I'm trying to focus on the positive aspects. 
The ultrasound showed two active, equally sized peanuts. 
At my midwife appt we heard two healthy heartbeats. 
I haven't gained any weight yet....

I think I'm still in shock a lot of the time.  I keep expecting someone to say, "nevermind, we made a mistake...there's just one baby after all."

Will we find out the gender?

Yes!  We never have before, because we like the surprise, and also because we don't do ultrasounds unless medically necessary (which was only once at 6 weeks to find out a duedate).  This time there is more preparation, less freetime after they arrive, and already plenty of surprise!  The more that I can know for sure, the better.  And besides, we'll be getting a lot of ultrasounds, so it'll probably be obvious at some point.

The next midwife appt is in two weeks, and the next ultrasound will be in three weeks...at 15 wks, too early to find out yet probably.......

Will we have a home birth?
No.  My midwife doesn't deliver twins,  to begin with.  We'll see her for most of our routine checkups.  She's suggested a very twin-savvy Certified Nurse Midwife for the hospital birth.  I hope that the births can still be vaginal, but I'm not really going into this with preconceived expectations...whatever it takes to have everyone make it out healthy.  I know that things will already be drastically different in a hospital, and I'm a little sad to not get to have another wonderful birth at home...but at least I got three of them.  I could find another midwife who would deliver twins at home, but I'm not comfortable with that.  (and if the placenta doesn't move, then it's an automatic c-section anyhow).

Am I excited?
Sort of.  I was excited to be pregnant, and since this is my last time I was excited to go through this last one appreciating it (I actually like to be pregnant for the most part).  Then this happened, and it's suddenly not a "last time" experience but a "first time" one.  I feel like a total newbie, and I have extra risks...so I hope to enjoy it, but I mostly am hoping that I will be healthy and have two healthy babies at the end of it all.

I can't even get far enough ahead to think a lot about having two babies!  It'll be total chaos and I'll likely never leave the house : )  But I do love babies, so when I can wrap my head around the idea, then I like it.

It's been easiest to focus on the concrete details: names are in the process of being picked, dinners are starting to be stashed in the freezer, and I've found some fun things on pinterest etc.  Some of my favorites are:

funny onesies--
  
  


and baby cocoons!  (and I know how to Knifty Knit now!)
 

Guess that's all that I have to say about that.