In Like Twin

The reality that I was pregnant was setting in. I knew there were so many steps to that had to be taken now. Calling the doctor’s office, scheduling my first appointment, getting blood test done, seeing the ultrasound, it was all just slightly overwhelming. Leading up to my first doctors appointment, the excitement of being pregnant really started to kick in. The thought of a baby growing inside of my tummy made me smile. I felt in my heart that I was meant to be a mommy as far back as I could remember, but it was finally becoming a reality. In just a few short weeks I was going to be able to see my baby on a little black screen, and I knew that was when things were going to start getting serious. As I was just trying to get through the next few weeks, I started to browse the internet for necessities I might need for my baby. To me, this was one of the most exciting parts of having a baby, shopping for the cute little one! I knew there was no way I was going to ever feel fully prepared for our new baby, but I thought the earlier I started on planning, the better the chance. Pinterest has always been my go-to place for ideas. There are so many choices of swings, pac n plays, bottles, pacifiers, you name it. How would I ever know which to buy, or which is best, or how many would I need? Needless to say, I was getting a tad ahead of myself.

Two weeks before my doctors appointment, I was instructed to go to my local hospital to get my blood drawn. Typically, every doctor does this to determine how far along you are with your pregnancy based on your HCG levels. If Oakley and I had to guess, at the time we thought I was about three weeks pregnant. When we got the results back from my blood tests, the nurse said that my HCG levels were rather high. After noting that the levels were high, she estimated that I was around six weeks pregnant. Oakley and I were a bit surprised. Looking back to when I had my last period and up to the time we found out I was pregnant, six weeks seemed to be much further along than what we had expected. Little did we know, our minds were about to be blown.

The day had finally arrived. The day I got to see my beautiful little one. Little did I know, I was in for quite the surprise. Walking into the doctors office I felt so many emotions. As soon as I stepped into the office time started to slow down. I gave my name to the receptionist, then I was given some paper work to fill out while Oakley and I waited. In the waiting room Oakley and I had spoke about how excited we were to see our baby and hear his or her little heartbeat. All we wanted to know was that our baby was happy and healthy.

After what felt like an hour of waiting, we were finally called back. As we followed the nurse back to the ultrasound room, I felt my heart racing as my anxiety kicked in. We walked into the room and I saw the ultrasound gel and the little black screen I had envisioned for so long. I was instructed to undress from the waist down and lay on my back. Before the doctor started the ultra sound, Oakley jokingly said, ” What if we see four babies when you look in there?” I nervously laughed. As the doctor looked at the monitor and verbalized what he saw, he pointed out that he was seeing not one, but two gestational sacs. He pointed to the screen to show Oakley and I. We had no clue what he was talking about. Two sacs? What do you mean? My doctor said, “You might be having twins”. I said, “Wait, I might be having twins or I am having twins?” After he made sure there were two heart beats, he responded with a smile on his face, “You are having twins.” I felt my body go numb. I was at a loss for words as tears rolled down my face. I’m still not sure if those were happy tears or terrified tears, because I was definitely feeling a bit of both. Me, I’m having twins? Is this real? These were the thoughts racing through my mind. I looked over to Oakley sitting in the chair next to me, and I remember his face looking so pale. He looked like he was going to pass out. I remember him standing up and taking a deep long breath and saying, “Oh my gosh.”

SH** JUST GOT REAL.

The thought that I had two babies inside of me was crazy. Two beating hearts, four hands, and four feet. I couldn’t believe it. Our doctor goes on to explain that my HCG levels were so high because there were two babies growing in my tummy. At that point, I was five and a half weeks pregnant and both babies heart beats were perfect. As soon as the doctor left the room, Oakley and I looked at each other and we both started crying. We were so surprised and happy and scared all at once. It was just so hard to believe. I felt as if it were all some crazy dream. Oakley came over to me, grabbed my hands and looked me in the eyes and said, “Everything is going to be alright. We are going to be okay.” He must’ve sensed how nervous and overwhelmed I was, or maybe he was trying to calm himself down a little as well. Either way, we both knew our lives were about to change is the biggest way possible. We weren’t going to just be new and young parents, but new and young parents to two. Instantly, every thought you could imagine went through my brain. How can we afford this? Our house is too small. Oakley is in school and I just started my career. How are we going to do this?

You might be wondering, what did I do next? Well, what would anyone do? I called my mom. She was in disbelief. Not only was she in disbelief, she actually thought we were lying. While Oakley and I sat in our car with the phone on speaker, we just laughed as she said, “You guys are joking.” We had to explain that we weren’t joking at all actually. By the end of the conversation she had tons of encouraging words and was so happy that she was going to be a grandma to two. The next thing we had to do was share the news with Oakley’s mom. Once again, she didn’t believe us. She had been so encouraging since we had first told her we got a positive pregnancy test and she calmed our nerves by saying everything was going to be just fine. Looking back now, Oakley and I also remember his mom telling us how easy one baby is and how we would be just fine. Which is funny because when she found out we were having the twins, she literally said, “One baby is easy. But for two, we need a new game plan!” We all shared a laugh and talked about how exciting and hard it was going to be to have two. Both of our moms were going to be first time grandparents and that filled them with so much joy. From the very beginning, having them in our support system was so helpful and gave me a sense of comfort.

We shared the news with the rest of our close family members, but were still careful not to get too excited about it or to let the word get out to everyone else. We knew there were more risks with twin pregnancies and a higher chance of miscarriage, so we were so hesitant to get our hopes to high. After the initial excitement of finding out we were having two had finally wore off, the not so fun parts started. Yes, morning sickness, or in my case, ALL DAY SICKNESS.

It’s best we save those not-so-fun details for next time on In Like Twin!

-Annalissa ❤