TWO babies

I had a d&c procedure from my miscarriage just a few days before moving across the country. They said everything should be fine but just in case they provided me with all my medical records. On our last day of driving (I believe we took 5 days to drive from Washington to Virginia), I got a call from my doctor explaining that my test results came back and they didn't find any fetal tissue from my d&c. Which could possibly mean I was still pregnant but with an ectopic pregnancy. It was pretty disheartening. Only because I was ready to move on and it just brought all of the emotions back to the surface. We really didn't know what we should do. After consulting with a few people, we decided it was best to head to the closest hospital. We were in West Virginia. We literally found the closest ER and headed there. We found out later, they actually didn't even have a labor and delivery department. But the nurse there was the most kind person I have ever met. She was so wonderful to us during this emotional time. It turned out everything was fine and I was not pregnant. Which was a blessing. And we continued on our way to Virginia.

I went to a doctor a little after I arrived just to wrap things up as there was a lot of unanswered questions from my miscarriage.We were told to wait a few months before trying again. Little did we know, we most likely were already pregnant. Father's day weekend I decided to take a pregnancy test. It had the faintest line on it. I think I ended up taking 5 just to make sure. And the lines got darker every time. I surprised Eric on Father's day with one. He was pretty shocked. I got sick a little earlier this pregnancy and it continued to get worse and worse! Eric kept telling everyone it was because I was having twins. I told him not to get his hopes up. Or that it was ridiculous because every pregnancy is different. But he was pretty convinced it was twins. At one moment, I remember thinking to myself that these babies were making me so sick...and then I thought I mean BABY...this baby is making me sick. 

This is how we told my family. We sent them pictures of Ruby's drawings.

My first ultrasound I was pretty nervous and anxious considering how things went last time. The first thing the tech asked was, "So did you guys do in-vitro? Because there are 2 babies!" Eric just yelled, "I knew it! I told you!" I think I laughed and cried at the same time. I felt overwhelmed but at the same time, I felt so thankful to my Heavenly Father.

First picture together!

Since we have found out, things have not been easy! There are a few "flavors" of twins. Our twins are identical. They are called MODI twins because they have 2 separate sacs but share the same placenta. (top right in the picture). My doctor said to think of it as they are sharing the same feeding trough.

But MoDi twins come with complications. Well identicals in general. So identical means that one fertilized egg split. So they have the exact same DNA. Meaning they both have to be the same gender. (We get this question a lot. But all this twin stuff is confusing. I had to ask the doctors a million and one questions). With MoDi pregnancies, they monitor you every 2 weeks and you should be seeing a specialist called a maternal fetal medicine specialist. Our MFM in Richmond noticed the size of B was much smaller than A. And she asked us to come back the following week (we had already moved, but was unable to get into a new doctor right away). Its about a 2.5 hour drive. We did this 3 times! It made for long days. My appointments are usually 3 hours long. Things stayed fairly stable during this time. Once I was able to see my new MFM, he was pretty concerned about the babies. I have to be monitored weekly for the rest of my pregnancy. And I go to the Fairfax hospital for all of my appointments. Its about an hour drive if traffic isn't too bad. And again we have about 3 hour appointments. Ruby comes with me. And we have learned to pack a lunch and a hospital bag filled with toys and things to keep her entertained. She does pretty well but she is sick of going with me. They are monitoring me for 2 things at this point. Twin to Twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) and Selective Intrauterine Growth Restriction (sIUGR) 

"TTTS there is an imbalance in the blood exchange between the babies sharing a placenta. This unequal blood sharing compromises their health, as these interconnected vessels deliver nutrients to the developing twins. One twin –the donor twin—gives away more blood than it receives in return and runs the risk of malnourishment and organ failure. The recipient twin receives too much blood and is susceptible to overwork of the heart and other cardiac complications."-John Hopkins resource

"sIUGR happens when the placenta is not evenly apportioned between the twins. The placenta provides nourishment necessary for growth and development in the womb. Therefore, if an imbalance is present, one twin may become malnourished. sIUGR complicates 10 percent to 15 percent of monochorionic twin pregnancies."- John Hopkins resource

 I am currently showing signs of both. But not enough to be diagnosed with them yet. Each appointment, some things improve but then others worsen. Because of this, my MFM sent me to the top people in this field over at John Hopkins hospital in Baltimore. My mother-in-law came and watched Ruby for us and Eric took the day off to bring me up there. I was so anxious, all I could do was squeeze Eric's hand and lean on him literally. And I did a lot of praying while I tried not to burst into tears. But the doctors and all the staff were absolutely amazing! They took over 200 ultrasound pictures and went over all of them before discussing them with us. Although they are concerned about baby B as well, they said there is no need to panic as of yet. So what's hard for me is this pregnancy is literally a week by week thing. Each week I get anxious to find out how they are doing. They treat TTTS with a laser surgery and try to separate some of the vessels. They can only do this up to 26 weeks. The babies then have a 60% chance of survival. But it can also lead to preterm labor and other complications. But without the surgery the babies have a 80-90% chance of dying. Anyways, to say this pregnancy is stressful is a understatement. I have my moments but I am so thankful for supportive friends and family! And PRAYER! I am 21 weeks as of today. I just can't wait for these little babes to get here.

Baby B 20 weeks

Baby A 20 weeks