I was born for this....

As the boys' first birthday approaches, I'd like to take a minute to give a quick run down on my pregnancy. Many have wondered, so if I get long winded - my apologizes.

A quick summary of reactions when we found there were two...
Tucker, laughed --- Kim, said nothing. Simple as that.

A few quick things to know about having identicals that we learned along the way:
-- Identical twins have nothing to do with genetics (yep, that was all my egg's fault)
-- You do have the option to have them naturally, but it is up to the mother
-- 0.33% of all babies born in a year are identical boys...
(our doctor said that for some reason most twins are boy/girl or girl/girl)
-- Oh, and any one who can carry full term with twins is a rockstar... you just don't find it much... (okay, so maybe I added that one....)


The next few weeks went REALLY fast. Lots of doctor appointments, and a referral to a perinatologist in the city. I began to see the regular doctor every two weeks, and once a month I went out to see my specialist. The amazing thing about carrying two at once, we got to see our babies every single appointment! My diet was a low sodium diet, to decrease the risk of me retaining water... the goal in the beginning was to get me to 32 weeks. That's the magic number! 36 weeks is perfect, and 38 weeks is considered full term.

Identical twins (1 placenta) run many risks, but the big one is the risk of one growing faster than the other. So the plan was, get as far along as possible -- and just pray that the boys grow at the same rate. Month after month, we drove to the city every month to hear that our boys were doing great! Perfect pregnancy! Time and time again I went in for that nasty horrible orange drink diabetes test, and time and time again it came back just fine!

32 weeks came really fast. I finally was able to breathe a breath of fresh air. The doctor reminded me that we didn't want them yet, but if they came... they'd most likely be okay. 34 weeks came, and I began to have some strong pains... simple fix at that time was to put me on a low dose of medicine to stop any contractions I may have been having. 36 weeks... I was more than ready for those babies to be OUT! I went to the doctor in Omaha all excited, and nope-- he sent me home! At 36 and on I spent a lot of time hooked up to the monitors at the local hospital, just to be sure nothing was happening... Nothing! At 37 weeks, they took me off all medicine --- and yep, they were going to let the boys come any time------ YEAH RIGHT! 38 weeks came around...... and this is how it all went down that day...

I had some strong pains in my back, and after talking to Tucker, decided to call the doctor. After much discussion with my local doctor, I was to call my specialist. They told me to come out to be checked, AND I QUOTE (the nurse) "don't worry... no rush... if you were in labor, you would know..."

I waited for my other half to shower, we relaxed for a bit, loaded the truck... got to the city, got a bit to eat (Milkshake and Double Cheeseburger)...... got to the hospital at 3:00pm. They checked me in, opps! Off to the O.R. we went! (Side note: all twins are delivered in the operating room, just in case of complication) Yes, I had a C-section. That was my personal preference, that way if anything were to happen, they could get my boys the help they needed immediately. Wham Bam...The boys were born at 4:34 & 4:35!

The next morning my doctor made me feel like a million bucks... I'll never forget when he came in and said to me... "Honey, you were born for this!" I had carried identical to exactly 38 weeks on the dot. That was the happiest and proudest day of my life. 4 days later, we were released to come home.

Each and every day I think of what he said, and I tell myself over and over again. I got this... because I was born for it!