12 WEEKS OLD

We had our appointment yesterday and I am so happy to say that as of 12 weeks these two babies are identical! Both measure exactly and perfectly 12 weeks of age. Brian and I were thrilled to see them swimming around with very strong heart beats. We thank you all so much for your prayers please continue as I know they are making a difference! We still don't know if they are boys or girls but should find out at our next appt. in two weeks. Dr. Faro said she can usually tell around 14-16 weeks. I think they are girls and Brian thinks they are boys, of course. We shall soon see!

As of this weekend my sister Kendl is engaged!! I am so happy for the both of them and excited about their upcoming wedding in April. What a year!! Twins & a wedding! Good luck mom & dad. Remember just take it one day at a time that's all any of us can do. I have no idea how I'm going to squeeze into my bridesmaid dress 3 months after having twins. So on top of everything else I have that to worry about, lol ;) Oh and Kendl your bling rocks! I love you and am so happy you're getting married!

So to say the least our family will be having a lots of showers, parties, and get togethers in the upcoming months to celebrate all of this good news and we can't wait to celebrate and share it with all of you. Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for all of the baby prayers. They are growing!!

Next Appointment

Our next appointment is Monday the 29th at 8:45 am..it will be the 12 week mark. Please keep us in your prayers! I hope you all have a wonderful and safe weekend. We will be headed to a birthday party & wedding out of town..

Happy Birthday Presley!!
Congratulations Natalie & Michael, Brian and I wish you both the best!

xoxxo

Baby Moses Basket, Lola & Roxy, and Before Pic!

Week 10 is almost over. I wanted to post a pic of one of our first gifts. A minty-lime green moses basket, by tadpole, from my mom (thanks mom so much!) that I am in absolute love with. I hope the twins will love it just as much! Our dogs, Lola & Roxy, are sitting by the basket so sweetly like little angels. We've decided to use the basket to start the baby training process, which we know will take some effort. We leave the basket out in our living room and anytime the dogs get near it we say "no get back"! They are doing great but are still a little mischievous. There has been a few times when I'm not paying attention that they have taken possession of the cute little green teddy bear (see pic) as their own toy. Its only happened about 3x and they haven't messed with it at all the last few days, so I think we are making progress. I'm going to get a baby doll to put in the basket next and add a few more toys they will have to restrain themselves from. My hope is that by the time the babies get here they will be the only "new" in the house I'll have to teach the dogs about! I put a pic of Brian & I with my parents too..from our recent trip to Puerto Rico in March. This is my pre-baby belly pic! I was prego already so the twins are destined to be travel bugs just like us. By the way I do have to say my husband looks pretty hot in the pic too! Lastly, I wanted to mention that Brian's mom sent us some Gevalia coffee, today, for our Tassimo coffee maker just in the nick of time...we were out and had switched to our old coffee pot. Thank you so much!!

~xxoxo Amber

The Membrane

We had our 2nd appt. today at 3:00 and we got some very good news! The ultrasound shows a thin membrane separating baby A & baby B. This means that our twins are not MoMo Twins (which I previously posted) they are actually Monochrionic (one placenta) Diamnionic (2 amniotic sacs). For short.. MoDi and they are still Monozygotic twins meaning identical. The appointment was wonderful we don't have to worry about the umbilical cords getting tangled up anymore or fight club in my placenta. Please still keep them in your prayers, as they still have to be highly monitored for TTS (Twin-to-Twin Transfusion). But even if TTS does occur there are treatment options and the babies could still make it. TTS happens in about 20% of MoDi twins. So for all of you who have been praying for all of us our prayers are being heard. Below are some pics from our ultrasound and some stats on Identical twins. 

• Identical Twins are not hereditary they are an anomaly
• Their DNA is nearly identical
• They have different fingerprints 
• The twins are always the same sex
• Physical traits and appearance is very similar but not exactly the same
• After birth physical and environmental elements can change their appearance
• There are 10 million triplets and Monozygotic twins worldwide this amounts to roughly .14% of the world population if not less

Surpise X2!

Well we have our 2nd appointment on Wednesday of this week at 3:00... Since finding out the wonderful, but very surprising news on Monday, last week was quite a roller coaster of emotions to say the least! Having a baby at all was a big surprise for us, as we were not planning on taking the plunge into parenthood until next year sometime. I'll never forget the moment when Dr. Farro was looking at the ultrasound screen and said the words, "I think I see two babies...No, never mind there's just one...(and about 20 seconds later confirming)...OH YES there are definitely two babies." The feeling at that moment is unexplainable, mostly a combination of disbelief and shock that this was happening to us and excitement that we were being given a blessed gift from God of identical twins. Moments later on top of that big shocker the Dr. proceeded to tell us that their heartbeats were strong but they were a rare form of twins. First, they are identical which constitutes only about 8% of the world wide population of twins (that number comes in at a GIANT 1.9% of our population). Then of that tiny percentage of 8%, our twins are MoMo Twins (Monochorionic and Monoamniotic) meaning they are sharing the same embryonic sac & amniotic fluid. Only 1-2% of identical twin births are this type. The Doctor stated that this pregnancy is high-risk & will be highly monitored. I will be going in for weekly ultra-sounds with a possible "extended hospital stay" beginning at 24 weeks. Ugh!! Thank goodness all I need is my laptop to keep working if that happens! The Dr.'s will be watching for umbilical cord entanglement and the disposition of the twins...pray for calm loving babies. No rowdy behavior until they make it here happy & healthy. :) After 24 weeks (although that would be super early) they can technically live outside of the womb so if anything critical arrises while they are being monitored they would be able to deliver the babies. Brian & I know we are in the right place and being taken care of by the right Dr. as she delivered a beautiful healthy baby girl to our best friends Beka & Slade Johnson. They as well faced a high-risk pregnancy as Beka was diagnosed with cancer during her 9 months and had to undergo surgery to remove her tumor while pregnant. Dr. Farro's team did an exceptional job throughout and I am thankful to be under her care.

So after finding out all of that in one day, as you may can imagine, it really took us the rest of the week to absorb everything and face our new reality. We are very excited as we turn the page from an anxious week 8 to an optimistic week 9! I'll be writing when I feel like it to keep anyone who is interested updated on our journey. Please keep them in your prayers.