The Beginning of the Twins

On October 30, my sweet babies will be turning two years old. I am having a hard time with this fact, a very hard time. Ok, not really. I just miss the tiny baby stage. I adore the tiny baby stage. It is the reason I worked in childcare for several years before having my own tiny babies. To make this transition easier for me, I have decided to post a memory about their babyhood every day until their birthday. And what a better place to start than the beginning.

We wanted a second baby, I wanted one desperately. I was simply not created to be the mother of just one child. The second baby did not come easily to E and I, just as the first had taken so long to find its way to my womb. In February, I was late. Just a few days but when you are trying to get pregnant, those days are torture. I got my hopes up and had them crushed. So when I was late in March, I didn’t think about it. I didn’t tell E. After a week of silently torturing myself, I told him. He did a little flip when I told him just how late I was. He was thrilled! I love him. I agreed to take a test in the morning and he woke me at the crack of dawn to take it. I was so scared. That test turned positive, very positive, very fast. Our little family of three went out to breakfast to celebrate. I told the waitress that I was pregnant.

A month later we were finally at our first OB appointment, it had been a hard month with constant spotting that I had only shared with the nurse at the OB’s office and E. I was scared, E was anxious. For some reason I had prepared myself for the worst. This pregnancy felt so different than my first. I was spotting, my belly already felt like it was beginning to grow and I was so sick that I had already lost fifteen pounds. As we left my parents house the night before the appointment, my Mom told us that it was going to be twins. E told her that if it was, she could have one. At the end of that first appointment, Dr.D did a quick ultrasound to find a heartbeat. There is no more terrifying of a sound than an OB saying “Uh…. Hmmmm…..well…”. E and I both froze, staring at the monitor. We both had seen a heartbeat, why the need for the “Uh…. Hmmmm…..well…”!?! Dr. D put the ultrasound thingy on one side of my already swollen belly. “Well,” He said “There is a very strong heartbeat right here.” He ran the thingy to the other side of my belly, “and a really strong heartbeat over here.” We gave him a very blank stare. “It’s twins”. I laughed. E was silent for a moment, staring at the screen where Dr.D continued to flip back and forth between heartbeats. “Crap” He finally said, “I’ve got to call your Mom!”

This is not THE ultrasound; this one was taken at 18 weeks.

We wanted to tell everyone in person. When my Mom called minutes after we left the appointment, she asked if it was twins. I lied through my teeth. Nope, just one healthy baby. She was disappointed. That night we went to my parent’s house to show them the pictures of the "baby". E and I did such a good job of concealing out excitement. I’ll never forget this moment. My Mom was sitting at the dinner table, she asked for the pictures the second we walked through the door. I handed the picture to her, so excited to share this with her that I could burst. She looked at it for such a long time that I thought she couldn't see it. Finally, finally she spoke. “We’ll Emmi” (That’s what most of the world calls me!) “This looks like two babies?” “That’s because it is”. Honestly that was the greatest moment of my life.

This is E and I that night. We look so young and excited. I love it!

I was only 25 weeks along here. Wow!

This was taken at my baby shower. I was almost 29 weeks here.

I got big. Fast! These two were taken at the pumpkin patch about a week before the twins were born (a month early!). Check out that belly button, I don’t remember it being that big!

Wow, that turned into a massive post! Sorry! Thanks if you made it through the entire thing.