We are having twins! I know, it is so crazy! We were definitely surprised when we found out. We knew we wanted to at least have one more baby so that Madison could have a sibling. Tommy is oldest of 5 kids and I am the oldest of 4. So we both grew up with a lot of siblings!
We were supposed to go to Italy in May but because of COVID, our trip was cancelled. Since we weren’t going to Italy anymore, I thought it would be a good time to have a baby because we were originally thinking of planning for a baby after our trip.
I took the pregnancy test in the beginning of April about a week before my missed period and it turned positive right away. I was so surprised because with Madison the lines were super faint at first. I didn’t know if the line coloring meant anything – but I thought maybe it could be from more hormones and could possibly be twins. However I didn’t think that was very realistic.
A couple weeks later, around 5 weeks pregnant, I was bleeding. I called my OB because I had not been to the OB yet but knew I was pregnant and bleeding is not considered normal. They sent me to the ER to be checked out…I really didn’t want to go because I didn’t want to take up a hospital bed. And the same thing happened with my pregnancy with Madison. With Madison, they couldn’t explain why I was bleeding and everything was fine. Since I am RH negative, I do have to receive the RhoGam shot whenever there is bleeding in pregnancy. So I went to the ER, they did some tests and they thought I had a subchorionic hemorrhage – a bleed in my uterus like a blood clot. They said everything else looked fine and just to continue what I am doing and that they thought the baby was fine but it was too early to see a heartbeat.
A few hours later, the radiologist looked at my ultrasound and realized that it was not a subchorionic hemorrhage but was actually another gestational sac! Meaning twins! They still don’t know why there was bleeding but after a few weeks it stopped.
I called my OB to let them know about the twins. They said I had to switch OBs because the OB I had with Madison doesn’t deliver twins. This is due to the fact that they deliver at a hospital, Baptist Beaches, which does not have a NICU. So I started trying to find a new OB that took my insurance and delivers twins and has good reviews lol. I found one and started seeing a new practice which I like a lot!
I went to my first appointment and they confirmed two babies and two heartbeats! A few weeks later, I went back for another appointment, that is when they told me the twins are fraternal and are in separate sacs – known as DIDI twins. DIDI twins are the best kind to have because they don’t have as many risks associated with them since they have separate sacs and separate placentas.
At 9 weeks, my OB told me I could find out the genders with a blood sample (the test is called Natera). This is the only test that works for twin pregnancies. The lab looks at my blood sample and differentiates my DNA from baby A and baby B’s DNA and differentiates the babies DNA too!
About a week later the nurse called to let me know they had the babies gender(s) results back. The nurse asked if I had a guess and I said a boy and a girl and she said you guessed right!
At my next appointment, my OB told me I would also go to a group of high-risk pregnancy doctors known as ROC (Regional Obstetrical Consultants). Twins are considered high-risk because there are two babies and they are more likely to end up in the NICU, etc. I go to my regular OB and then to ROC too! So I have a lot more doctor appointments with this pregnancy than with my pregnancy with Madison.
Once we found out the genders, we basically already had the names picked out. We both loved the name Palmer for a girl! And we picked her middle name – Lucina, which is Tommy’s mom’s name and his sister’s middle name! Madison has my mom’s first name, Lynn, as her middle name and that is also my middle name. We also knew the boy’s first name would be Thomas. We knew we wouldn’t call him Thomas though because Tommy goes by Tommy. So the little boy can’t be Thomas and the dad be Tommy lol. Thomas is a family name for Tommy’s side of the family but they all have different middle names! I love the name Miller for a boy and Tommy likes it too so we decided that would be the boy’s middle name. We are going to call him by his middle name, Miller.
So far everything is going well with the pregnancy! Not much to complain about. I am already larger with this pregnancy. I bought a pregnancy pillow which helps me get comfortable at night – I should have boughten one with my pregnancy with Madison. I just ordered this ONE on Amazon.
FAQs that I have been receiving:
Q: How far along are you?
I’m 21 weeks today!
Q: What is your due date?
December 6 is 38 weeks! My OB said I won’t go past 38 weeks.
Q: Are they identical or fraternal?
Fraternal
Q: What are the genders?
Boy and Girl!
Q: Do twins run in your family?
Yes! I never thought I would have twins though because no living in my family has twins. My grandma (dad’s mom) was a twin but her twin didn’t survive birth. Her mom was also a twin!
Q: Did you do IVF?
No
Q: Do twins run on my side or Tommy’s side?
Mine! Twins that are hereditary only come from the female’s side of the family. Women either produce and release one or two eggs every month. Twins happen naturally either when a woman ovulates two eggs or has one egg that splits. I ovulated two eggs since the babies are fraternal and male/female. They have separate sacs and separate placentas – DIDI twins.
Q: Can you feel the babies move?
Yes! They move all the time now!
XO, Danielle
