MO-DI Twins / Thank you God! Week 17.3

 We had our OB appointment this morning.  I am so thrilled to share our good news.  The doctor is certain that he saw a membrane between the two babies.  He is no longer worried about them being MO-MO twins.  J and I are so thrilled.  He still could not find a second placenta.  We are pretty confident that we have our hands on a set of identical twins that are monochorionic-diamniotic.  That is the fancy way of saying one placenta - two sacs.  The danger of sharing a placenta is not nearly as dangerous as if they shared both. 

 That is about all we know.  The doctor did look to find the sex of the babies.  He is fairly confident of what he saw but J doesn't want us to share that information until we are certain.  That will be after the intense ultrasound in 4 weeks. 

The doctor plans to get good information on each twin at the next appointment.  He will then keep track of their weight gain and growth.  If it looks like one is not getting the same nourishment as the other the doctor will refer us to a specialist.  As things look now we might even still be able to have a natural delivery.   

I type this feeling like the weight of the world has been lifted. Our babies looked fantastic today. They were moving all around and pushing toward each other and away. I asked the doctor to give me some kind of picture to show the older ones when we got home. This is what he gave us. The pointer is showing some one's toes pushing against the sac that we so hoped to see. To me that is a precious picture.

So here I am with the twins getting bigger and bigger at week 17.3.  Not a pretty shot of me but I am so  happy to share that the babies are doing great on the inside.  Our next ultrasound will be in 4 weeks and then we can focus on what type of babies are growing so that we can get ready for their arrival.  Thank you so much for your prayers and support.  I beg you to join me in continued prayers for their healthy growth and delivery.

More of a Neen Update Week 14.5

Still do not like posting pictures of my ugly self but I promised I would. I don't feel that big yet except when trying to get out of one couch that needs to be replaced.

I have had a very bad few days. I had been operating on the notion that the second placenta and two sacs were hard to see during the first few ultrasounds but would get easier to see as time when on. I read yesterday that the opposite is true. This broke my heart just a little. I am still holing that we find the two sacs at least. Babies that share both are very rare, like only 1% of all identical twins. A friend tied to encourage me by saying that they were rare yesterday and my response was that so was Possible's "1 in two billion"  heart condition. God likes to send me rare.

The term is MO-MO babies and these are identical twins that split later, maybe as much as 8 days after conception. Any later and they could be conjoined twins, and we know ours are not Siamese by the ultrasounds. MO-Mo comes from the two words monochorionic-monoamniotic, one placenta - one sac. I am the type of person that must know what I am up against. I admit that if they are true MO-MO's I am very scared for them. I read that they have a 60% survival rate. Honestly that is better than Possibles was so we might be just fine in the end. Getting there might be difficult. They will require lots of monitoring. I read one woman was put into the hospital for observation around week 23 and then they did a c-section at week 27. That is a long time for a healthy person to be in the hospital. We will do what we need for the babies for sure. I am taken back by what all this could mean.

J is ignoring it all until the doctor tells him to deal with it. I am not way. I must know all I can up front. He will keep me balanced. Thanks for all my friends that listened to me worry today and prayed with me and for me. Let me just say that I know nothing more than I did at last week's update about our twins. I feel movement every now and then and look forward to feeling more of it. I can feel a cold coming on but it won't hurt any of us. I will do all I can for the twins with my diet and behavior and I will again practice my trust in God. Not easy for me but He loves me enough to continue to give me chances.


I am asking that our dear ones in Heaven will watch over these babies and help me to take care of them. Declan and David please pray for us and help us to keep these babies safe.

Twins Update 13.4

When you see the word  "Twins" what comes to mind first?

Yep for me it used to be the baseball team.  The Texas T's uncle Resto played for the Twins years ago. 

Growing up I loved the cartoon about the Wonder Twins.  My kids still wonder why every now and then J and I will pump fists and say "Wonder Twins Activate!"

I admit that another set of Twins often comes to mind as they grew up before my eyes and the rest of the worlds .  .  . Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.

  They are truly beautiful girls!  Now another image comes to mind right off the bat.

This is what I was looking at when the doctor talked about the second baby.  My twins.  I also think of my expanding belly.  This is the Belly shot from today   Week 13.4

I am feeling great.  I don't fall asleep all the time anymore.  I am now going to try to take the next few months to prepare my home for either a move or for the twins.  I am always hopeful we will move from Houston although it still doesn't look probable.  We will also be pushing school work with lots of organization.  I will need to update the plan for this year and create one for next year.  I know it will likely change but if I have something in mind the kids won't go without after the Twins are born.  I don't want to think that we could have health issues but I will feel better being prepared for the worst. 

The official update is NO NEW NEWS.  I was very disappointed in some ways after yesterday's  uneventful doctors appointment and ultrasound.  The great news is that J and I got to see two babies moving constantly.  It looked like the two were jumping on competing trampolines.  The down side of that is no pictures to remember or share.  They moved so much it prevented a close enough look to determine sexes.  The doctor was also unable to find the answers to my worries.   He thought he saw a second placenta but then didn't think so.  He really felt that when I go back in 4 weeks we will be able to determine a lot more.  He is a little concerned that he didn't see a membrane between the two.  Then he also noted that the placenta looked close to the cervix.  I have read too much to know that a shared sack with a shared placenta that is placed too close to the cervix can mean lots of things that can go wrong.  He mentioned that I might need to see some specialist later on.  For now we will just wait and see.  The good news to walk away with was what the doctor did see, "I saw two very active, very healthy babies that looked just like any other healthy baby at 13 weeks gestation." 

12.4 Belly Shot

I have never liked pictures of me, especially as I have gained more and more weight over the years.   It is a very popular thing to take belly pictures of an expanding belly when mom is pregnant.  This is something that I have never allowed to be done.  This pregnancy is so different and everyone is so curious about twins that I decided I would take a week by week shot.  I have pulled some from before I knew I was expecting, some just after the positive test, and then since that doctors appointment I have taken a shot every few days.  I have still been way too prideful to post these shots.  I didn't save them anywhere else but in that folder.  Much to my surprise, as I went to add this weeks shot, I made a grisly discovery.  The folder is gone.  I must have erased it the other day as I was organizing pictures.   So I guess I will go ahead and post this one right away so I don't loose it again. 

The good news is that the babies are growing.  I feel huge already.  We go to the doctor next week with a 15 minute ultrasound check up on their growth and to check their placenta.  If they do share one placenta their weight gain will be closely monitored to make sure one twin is taking all the nutrients from the other.  If the sexes can be determined at 13 weeks we will find out.  I have lost 6 pounds since learning I was pregnant.  J says I am loosing fat from around the back end and the belly is taking it all.  I am not trying to loose just eating better so I look forward to seeing two growing babies.

I am feeling a little more energy this week.  I say a little more but actually I feel like it is night and day difference.  I still need to rest during the day but it isn't an all day long nap.  As I end the first trimester I am getting over the shock of it all.  I had gone so long thinking no more babies, then I was pregnant, and then it was with twins.   I have given up all my cokes and coffees for plain water with one decaf every few days.  This was hard at first but not anymore.  I have tried to make it a point to move more, walk a little farther and not just sit all the time.  This is getting better as I get more and more energy back.  I see twins everywhere now.  I notice how the moms dress them, how they act and just how different it will be with two.   I am most thankful that God is trusting J and I with the formation, care and joy of two more souls.   I long to hold them and kiss them and I pray that is His Will.  We will update you all after the appointment next week.