..."That Was Easy."

One of the questions that you get asked repeatedly when you tell people that you're pregnant with multiples or that you have multiples is, "When did you find out?"  Since I've been writing about having the twins I may as well write about finding out that we were pregnant with twins.  Cue the cheesy blurring effects....we're going back in time.


(...Eleven months earlier...)

I never liked the phrase "We're trying" when it comes to pregnancy.  To me it always seemed like you were announcing to everyone that you and your partner are having sex like bunnies. What if I need to call you?  I don't want to interrupt you while "you're trying."  Ick! I'm kidding, but I really am not fond of the phrase.  I think I was successful in avoiding it.  My brother and sister-in-law like the phrase "Pull the goalie."  I'll stick with that one.  We pulled the goalie and hoped for the best.

That July we went to Galveston with Scott's family for vacation.  I knew that there was a possibility of scoring an empty netter (to stick with the hockey theme, I guess.) so I brought an early detection test with me.  It was positive.  Scott was still asleep because it was early in the morning.  Gotta use that "strong pee," right?  (Eew.  No one wants to think of their pee as being strong.)  I woke him up to tell him the good news.  His response?  "That was easy."  The he promptly rolled over and went back to sleep.  I, on the other hand, was wide awake.

Telling our families that I was pregnant was fun.  We both started reading about pregnancy online and started to think about registry items.  We even started to plan out the nursery.  Then, about six weeks in, I started to spot.  Half of what I read online was, "Oh, it's fine.  Most women spot."  The other half was, "FREAK OUT AND GET TO THE DOCTOR!"  I went right down the middle and calmly called the doctor.  He said to come in to the office.  That's when I started to get nervous.

My doctor asked what was wrong, and did a brief exam.  He then asked me if I wanted to get an ultrasound done.  Thinking that I had the option, I said no.  I wanted Scott to be there for the first ultrasound, and he was stuck at work.  My doctor clarified by telling me that I really had no choice and what he should have asked me was when could I get to the hospital for the ultrasound.  Crap.  Now I'm really nervous.

I called Scott to tell him what was happening.  I then called my mom and asked her to meet me there.  We walked into the ultrasound room and I got on the table.  By the way, nothing says Mother-Daughter Bonding Moment like having a transvaginal ultrasound...especially when the tech asks you to insert the wand.  The tech started looking around and we saw two dark spots.  She laughed and said that everything was fine.  She then proceeded to tell me that there were two babies.  This is where accounts of the next few minutes differ.

My mom's version:
Tech:  Everything is fine.  There are two sacs.  Here's Baby A and here's Baby B.
Me:  WHAT????????????
Mom:  YES!!!  Haha! 
Tech:  You're having twins.  Let's look closer.
Me:  Are you sure there's only two?
Tech:  You're not going to throw up are you?  I had someone do that last week.
Mom:  HAHAHAHAHAA!
Me:   Holy shit.  Twins?

My version:
Tech:  Everything is fine.  There are two sacs.  Here's Baby A and here's Baby B.
Me:  WHAT?????????????
Mom:  (insert manic laughter)
Tech:  You're having twins.  Let's look closer.
Me:  Omigodomigodomigod.  Seriously?
Tech:  You're not going to throw up are you?  I had someone do that last week.
Mom:  (insert even more manic laughter and a comment about a sweet potato)
Me:  (insert nervous laughter)  Scott's going to lose his mind.

So after seeing both sacs, two little heartbeats, and being told that they would be fraternal twins I was able to get dressed.  The tech printed me out my first pictures of the babies and we were able to leave.  I was shaking.  Now I had to tell Scott.  "That was easy," he had originally said.  He'll never live those words down.

During the whole ultrasound Scott had been sending text messages to my mom trying to find out if everything was okay.  She wasn't responding because we were both staring at two babies on a screen.  As we walked out she told me to call Scott.  Quick decision:  tell him now or make him wait?  If I tell him now he's going to flip out at work.  If I say everything's fine and try to wait he'll know that something is up and pester me.  So I told him.

"Everything is fine," I said.  "But, well, uh...we're having twins."  Dead silence.  Then he said,"Stop it.  Your mother put you up to that.  She's with you, and is screwing around."  I told him that we weren't messing with him and that it was true.  I even had photographic evidence.  He asked me if I was serious.  I said yes.  He said he had to get back to work.  I asked him if he was okay.  We were both trying to remain calm.  Whoever made that famous quote about the best laid plans is a jerk.

When Scott was done working he called to say that he was coming out to my parents' place.  He then called his dad, who was in Rotterdam.  According to Scott the conversation went like this:
Scott:  Dad, Becky's pregnant with twins.
Scott's Dad:  (insert 45 minutes of laughter while Scott tries not to panic)

We obviously botlh calmed down, but we definitely had a hard time wrapping our heads around what was happening to us. The 19 week ultrasound was great, and helped us both feel better about everything.  We saw both babies moving around.  At that point they could show both of them in one shot.  That was the last time it would happen!

One of Scott's co-workers gave him an idea to reveal the genders of the babies.  We would have two cakes made, and the inside icing would be dyed according to the gender of each baby.  The outside would be done in neutral colors so that when we cut into the cakes everyone would find out at once.  That meant that we had to wait to find out with everyone else.

We took the idea to the bakery.  As we were describing what we wanted the baker said, "Oh!  You want sex cakes!"  Naturally I burst out laughing, thinking of how silly the term sex cake sounded.  Since Scott's family was going to be in town for Thanksgiving we planned a little party for the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  I was pretty sure that this was going to be the most highly anticipated cake cutting in the history of the world.

RMH

...The Great Balancing Act Part 1

Going back to work after the birth of any child is difficult for a mother...at least that's what they say on the Internet! My thought is that the level of difficulty depends on the mother and her individual situation. For me, going back wasn't hard, but the timing could have been better. I would be back for the last six weeks of school and I was walking right into spring concert season, which meant three weeks of after school rehearsals and evening performances.

I think that the fact that the twins were in the hospital for so long made it easier for me to go back to work. I had no choice but to get used to leaving them in the NICU every day. Going to work was a piece of cake, emotionally speaking. The work load was nuts, and I had stuff to submit from when I was out, but I had all of the paperwork under control within a week.

Now I just had to get through the 16 hour days that were performance days while taking care of the twins. Naturally, they both decided to start sleeping through the night the week AFTER my concerts were done!

RMH 7/5/12