Babies galore

Here are the twins during last weeks ultrasound. They were 10 weeks 3 days in the pictures below...


The technician has changed the "names" of the twins because Twin A (formerly known as Twin B) is presenting first (closest to the cervix). I could not believe how much the babies had moved since the last ultrasound 4 weeks prior. Another thing that blew my mind was that the babies had grown so much to the point where they looked like little babies!


I felt so lucky to have this glimpse into their private little lives, so early on. With Owen I only had two ultrasounds- one at 16 weeks (the all exciting reveal of sex) and one more at 34 weeks when the doctor thought Owen was breech (Owen was indeed head down and ready to go). So I really do enjoy each of these ultrasounds, and every moment seeing my babies on the screen. During this particular ultrasound, I saw the babies moving around for the duration of the ultrasound exam. They would arch their backs every time the technician would rub the doppler over my stomach, along with many leg kicks and hand motions that almost mimicked them rubbing their eyes or sucking their thumbs.


The technician just kept telling me how adorable they are, and how they have cute little profiles (It was very reminiscent of my ultrasound with Owen when the ultrasound tech said those exact words and his cute profile).


The sweetest words to my ears though, were that there was a membrane (seen above, dividing the twins). Brian and I had been praying about that for weeks, ever since my last ultrasound. Four long months of hoping and praying that our babies had a separating membrane. Thank God, there is a membrane. Without a membrane, the babies can become entangled their cords, which is often deadly. The twins that share a placenta and an amniotic sac (no membrane) are called Monochorionic-Monoamniotic twins (always identical). Our twins thankfully are Monochorionic-Diamniotic, which means they share a placenta but have separate amniotic sacs (because of the membrane separating them, they are in separate thin sacs. Also, always identical. Unless there is a rare case that the placentas of fraternal twins fuse together to look like one single placenta.)

I read a description of this that seems helpful in understanding all of this. Think of fraternal twins (from two separate eggs) as being in two hard shell eggs. They have separate hard outer layers, plus an inside thin membrane layer. With identical twins, they are essentially in one hard shell. They share the hard outer shell. My twins have separate thin inner sacs that divide them in their one "egg".

What a learning experience this all has been. I can't believe how different it is having two babies in my womb instead of one. I know that theme will continue long after they're born, and I'm welcoming that difference as a really fulfilling and heartwarming experience. Yes, double the time and work, but double the blessings!