Caught a little off guard.
It's hard to believe that it was one year ago this last weekend that we were spreading our deliciously exciting news to family to let them know of our impending parenthood. I have to laugh at how really clueless we were. Clueless that we were having twins. Because if I had done any research AT ALL, it would have been very obvious. And looking back, I think we were probably in denial...I remember the first two weeks after we found out I was pregnant- how I was giddy with excitement, cautious with anticipation and envisioning our near future: how it would be being pregnant, taking care of our ONE FIRST kid with my FIRST pregnancy. The difference between what I imagined before we found out and AFTER we found out is so distinctly different in flavor and taste. My envisions AFTER we found out were so clearly muddled with the feeling of "We are having TWINS", that the feelings and envisions don't even resemble each other. As one parent put it "Whereas friends with their first singleton babies seemed to recover from the initial disruption, and with baby on hip could more or less get back to normal, this is never the reality with twins." Or a twin pregnancy for that matter...
Clue # 1: Enlarged Uterus: About two weeks after we found out I was pregnant, I began having strange sharp pains in my stomach area and occasionally my back. Unbeknownst to me, my long ligaments were already starting to stretch out much earlier and already causing me pain. Since the strange pain wasn't going away, we made a trip to our health providers Emergicare on Sat morning. "Are you sure of the date you got pregnant?. Your uterus is measuring larger for the date." the nurse said after the exam. We were of course sure, my husband and I discussed later as we walked to the car. "Unless there is something I don't know about" he stated jokingly. "Yeah of course we're sure of the date....There can be other reasons I'm sure for an enlarged uterus.-like cysts or ovary issues or twins" I stated matter-a-factly trying to make some sense of why she seemed adamant that the date could be wrong. I'd had some larger cysts before anyway. We brushed off the twin comment like bread crumbs off of a nice shirt and the subject never even came up again til THE DAY.
Clue # 2: Excessive morning sickness: The weekend of Halloween, nausea hit me like I'd been run over by a Mac truck. It was so bad that I spent several days seriously wondering if I was ever going to be able to do "this pregnancy thing" again for our second kid, though I never said that to Hubby. It was the same morning we went to the emergicare that my nausea began. "It's a little early to be having morning sickness." the nurse stated matter-a-factly. It usually doesn't start until 7-8 weeks along." Oh?' I replied. Well I was DEFINITELY having it. The date was still right in OUR heads. What was this nurse talking about anyway..."Was your morning sickness really bad?" I asked my sister-in-law, who was due soon, as I implored her eyes for understanding and questioned my "wimpness factor." Maybe I HAD misjudged pregnancy and tolerance for differing levels of pain. I didn't consider myself a wimp after years of training for heptathlons. But maybe there was something I didn't know.
Clue # 3: Above average weight gain: By the time I had my first real appointment with the doctor at 8 weeks, I had gained 10 pounds already.(3-5 is normal during the first trimester). We took a trip to NY city at about week two of pregnancy. I scarfed delicious hors d'oeuvres at Jean Lucs wedding every time the plate came around (except for sushi, of course) and we tasted delicious tiramisu at those luscious bakeries-several times. It was only because of the trip, right?
Clue # 4: The rate of twins pregnancies is higher in African (Americans). I KNEW this stat. (Yes I am part African American. What, you can't tell from the pics? Trust me on this one. I may not have gotten the dark skin gene but I DEFINITELY have the hair gene. I straighten my hair, by the way, or should I say relax...). Anyway. It really COULDn't happen to me, right?
Clue # 5: Fraternal twins run in families. Yeah, I know . You THINK if I knew this, I would have figured out, or at least suspected it and not had the bejesus shocked out of me at the Dr.s office after that ultrasound. But alas, I am adopted. So maybe if I HAD known it, all of the above would have made perfect sense. So if we decide to tempt fate again and go for round two, at least we'll be much more in the know...
posted by Andrea @ 11:09 PM
Comments: 5
