Excuse me, what?
August 2020, I went to Mass General Hospital for an ultrasound. Because of Covid, I had to go by myself. I sat in the waiting room, so nauseous that breathing into a mask made me want to vomit more. I had started carrying the blue emesis bags with me at all times. I kept looking at it in my purse. Every time the door opened to the exam rooms; I hoped the person called my name. I was slightly lightheaded from not eating and being anxious for the first ultrasound. I started throwing up daily, multiple times daily, at 5 weeks. Would I make it through this appointment without vomiting?
I was called back by the ultrasound tech and brought to the exam room with the lights already dimmed. The tech was my mother's age I would guess, her eyes were warm. I remember them vividly. She started her scan. Typing away. Taking measurements. I remember her removing the probe from my abdomen and putting it back down more so than the techs did with my appointments with my son, but nothing worth mentioning. We had the usual ultrasound chit chat. "How long have you been married? How is your son doing? Is he excited to be a big brother?" Then she paused. She told me to look at the screen and began to tell me that there was a healthy heartbeat and that the baby looked exactly as it should for its gestation age. I let that first ultrasound exhale out, my shoulders relaxed. She removed the probe and put it back on my lower abdomen but on my right side and pushed down a little harder. "...and THIS baby is a little jumping bean...".
It happened so fast, I didn't mean to, but I grabbed her forearm. What do you mean, AND THIS baby? I could see her smiling beneath her mask just by looking at her eyes. "You're having twins! - Congratulations!". I thought I was going to puke.
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Two for one
The Maternal-Fetal Medicine physician came in to do a more in-depth scan. He confirmed there was indeed, two babies. Two healthy babies. 20 fingers, 20 toes.
"They're identical."
"Oh my god! You already know?" I replied with a shocked, confused and excited/holy sh*t tone in my voice.
Monochorionic Diamniotic (Mo-Di) twins are what we were having. One placenta, two separate sacs. He told me I was about to be tossed down a rabbit hole of twins, types of twins and all of the complications of twins. I was told directly to stay away from Dr. Google. Nothing in that New Mom/What To Expect packet that you get at your first visit was going to apply to this pregnancy. The appointment schedule and frequency, the biweekly ultrasounds - all was going to be an undertaking. Most pregnancies start bi-weekly appointments at the beginning of the third trimester, I was starting at week 14. Growth scans, ultrasounds, fluid measurements, again and again. By the early 20s weeks I felt like I lived at Mass General.
You can do this!
It's a lot. As a Mom that has had both a singleton and then a twin pregnancy, they are not the same. Whichever type of twins you may be having, Di-Di, Mo-Di, Mo-Mo, you can do it. If my Type - A, planning everything in advance, not great with deviating from the plan, type self can, I am very confident you can as well. Feel all the feels. Cry if you need to. Cry with excitement, with worry, with fear, for no reason at all because pregnancy hormones are absolutely bananas.
More To Come
I will be doing a series of blog posts on twins and all that come with them! Stay tuned!
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