Twins

I get a lot of questions on a daily basis regarding the twins.  Are the identical?  Are they boys? Are the girls?  When are you due?  Do twins run in your family?  Are you scared?  The answers get exhausting but I can't be anything but blessed.  So I figured to answer some of these questions, I would just blog about them.  Here is a little information about the kind of twins we have.  Monochorionic/Diamniotic Twins.

Monochorionic twins are monozygotic (identical) twins that share the same placenta. If the placenta is shared by more than two twins, these are monochorionic multiples. Monochorionic twins occur in 0.3% of all pregnancies. 75% of monozygotic twin pregnancies are monochorionic; the remaining 25% are dichorionic diamniotic. If the placenta divides, this takes place after the third day after fertilization.

Monochorionic twins generally have two amniotic sacs (called Monochorionic-Diamniotic "MoDi")  Monochorionic-Diamniotic twins are almost always monozygotic (or identical), with a few exceptions where the blastocysts have fused. - Wikipedia

These ultrasounds were from my appointment with Dr. Moore in December 11th.  This ultrasound was quick.  They just wanted to measure the heartbeat of them both.  They ultrasound tech let us take a quick picture of them before we left.

 Here is the pretty picture that Dr. Moore drew us.  It shows the 3 types of twins that form.  Ours is the one in the middle that I talked about in the beginning of the blog.  One placenta, 2 separate sacs.  She moved my due date back this appointment.  My original due date was on June 21 but now the plan is if they do not come before June 7th then they will induce me.  I will be delivered in an operating room with double the staff just in case there were complications with the delivery and/or the babies.  

After we talked to Dr. Moore I had to get my blood drawn.  I believe I was 11-12 weeks at this appointment and she had me do my glucose test early to see if I was gestational diabetic.  I was with Liam so they are keeping a close eye on my glucose.  I had to drink this nasty stuff on the was to the office.  I took my glucometer with me so that I could check it myself.  According to my meter I was not diabetic at this time.  I got a call about 3 weeks later saying that I had passed my glucose test but she wants me to repeat it around my 24-28 week due to the increase in insulin needed for the twins.  So it looks like that wont be the last bottle I have to drink :( 

  

As for complications in my pregnancy, I see Dr. Richardson, the high risk OBGYN at St Thomas Rutherford.  We had our first consultation on January 2nd.  Thinking it was just a consultation, I wasn't expecting to have an ultrasound.  The ultrasound took about an hour and in that hour we found out the sex of the twins.  BOYS!!!!  After the ultrasound we sat down with him and he talked about all the risks to look for and to answer any questions we had.  I have to see him every 2 weeks for the next 8 weeks to have an ultrasound and monitor for specific complications. Once those 8 weeks are up and no complications are seen then I no longer have to see him again.  Here is some information about the type of complications they are monitoring me for. 

In addition to a shared placenta, monochorionic twins also have their circulatory systems intermingled in random and unpredictable circulatory anastomoses. This can cause disproportionate blood supply, resulting in twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) in 20% of MoDi pregnancies. This is the main complication of monochorionic twins.

The 80% that of MoDi pregnancies without TTTS still have high rates of birth weight discordance, fetal growth restriction, prematurity and resultant cesarean section deliveries. One twin may also fail to develop a proper heart and become dependent on the pumping activity of the other twin's heart, resulting in twin reversed arterial perfusion. If one twin dies in utero, blood accumulates in that twin's body, causing exsanguination of the remaining twin. - Wikipedia

This is the picture that we sent all of our family and friends to announce that they were boys.  We had stopped at Babies R Us to look around and I saw these hershey kisses and thought that would be perfect.  

Both boys weighed around 6oz but were measuring 1 week bigger than my "due date."  I was 16 weeks at my appointment but they were measuring 17 weeks.  Twin A was slightly bigger that B but not by very much.  In terms of days, Twin A was 3 days bigger.  Dr Richardson said that on the next ultrasound they will be able to give me a more accurate due date.  

Here are some pictures of Twin A. 

 His heart rate was 148bpm

No question here!

His handsome face.  He was more cooperative than his brother!

Here is Twin B.  His heart rate was 150bpm. 

We were expecting this once we saw the first one! He just confirmed it!

These are the best pictures we could get of this stubborn one.  The first one is his face and its pretty creepy!  I have a picture of Liam just like it too!  The last one is the best profile we would get. 

As of right now we do not have names picked out.  We are throwing names around but I will update everyone once its official! 

Oh and for those who ask if twins run in our family, here is your answer thanks to Wikipedia...

Women who have a family history of fraternal twins have a higher chance of producing fraternal twins themselves, as there is a genetically linked tendency to hyper-ovulate. There is no known genetic link for identical twinning. Other factors that increase the odds of having fraternal twins include maternal age, fertility drugs and other fertility treatments, nutrition, and prior births. - Wikipedia

So NO, there is no genetic link.  Dr. Richardson says that this was a spontaneous separation of one egg and one sperm.  We just got lucky!