Twins: FAQ

Do twins run in either of your families?
There is a set of twins (pretty far back) on Andy's side, but apparently it only matters if there are twins on the mom's side...and none on my side of the family (that we know of).

Are they fraternal or identical?
It's hard to tell in-utero. Identical twins happen by complete chance and begin with both babies sharing a sac and placenta. However, they often separate into two sacs and two placentas later on. We didn't have an ultrasound before this one, so it is possible that they used to be in one sac and we just didn't know it. Fraternal twins tend to run in families (on mom's side), but not always (and remember, pre-ultrasounds, it is possible that I do have family that were pregnant with twins but they lost one and didn't know it, etc.). At this point the only way we will know ahead of time is if they are a boy/girl (then they would be fraternal). If they are girl/girl or boy/boy, we'll just have to wait until they come out!

Are you guys going to find out the sexes?
Absolutely! I think that with singletons (ha! there's a whole other language out there!), you find out around five months...but I think that with twins, you find out a little earlier otherwise they get too big and you can't see anything. So maybe in the next month or so?

Do you guys have a preference?
Not really. It would be nice if we had one of each, but any combination is fine. (Although the chatter of twin girls does seem a bit overwhelming!)

You said in one post that one baby measured 12 weeks and 1 day and the other measured 11 weeks and 4 days. Does that mean they were conceived on different days?
No. It can happen, but it is very rare. Because most women would have no idea whether 11 centimeters was good, bad, big, small...doctors took the average sizes of babies at each week and day and use that for measuring. It's just easier for moms to understand the size of their babies in the very beginning. So, if you think you are 12 weeks pregnant, but the baby is measuring 7 weeks...either you are way off or there is something is wrong with the babe.

Do you guys refer to them as Twin A and Twin B?
No. In fact, the whole Twin A/B thing kinda bugs me. It sounds so...clinical. Kind of like when the doctor refers to the baby as a fetus. No, it's a baby. My baby. So, for now, Twin A will be Peanut and Twin B will be Jelly Bean. I know it's kind of lame and borderline dorky, but it's better than the A/B thing to me.

Does this mean you have to have a c-section?
Not really. My risk of c-section is significantly higher, but it's not an automatic either. It's usually because one or both babies are breech. But, my friend Joy told me that her friend delivered twins and the doctor let her deliver the first baby (that was head down) naturally and then he reached in and turned the second baby around (!!!) and she delivered that one. While that sounds absolutely painful, a co-worker of mine (who's wife had twins) said that if she could give me any advice, it would be to avoid a c-section (if possible) at all costs. The recovery was long and painful and trying to care for her babies was almost impossible. (She had elected to do a c-section without even trying to deliver naturally). She said that was the biggest mistake...and their first son was 2 when the twins were born...so it's just like us! We'll see what happens, but if I can avoid it, I'm gonna try!

Are you guys still in shock?
Yeah, but it's wearing off. We're kind of moving into logistics mode now. What are we going to do, what do we need, etc. It's still really weird to say things like "them" and "they" and "babIES". But you wanna know a cool thing? I can feel them moving...and while I don't know which one is which at this point, the movement is in totally different places! And that makes me happy.