The discovery

I remember our Weds ultrasound appt on 1/11 like it was yesterday. I was nervous walking in. I suspected I was still pregnant. Sore boobs, 5 lb weight gain in 8 weeks, nausea that was mostly bearable with snacks, and an exorbitant degree of thirst. How could I not be pregnant? I never noticed the bleeding that I presumed would happen if a miscarriage had taken place.

Compared to LL’s symptoms, mine were so much more extreme. Maybe I was even having twins! I briefly entertained the possibility and looked up the signs of having twins. Yep I suppose it was possible. My HCG test was positive on day 8 which is sooner than most people’s are.

Walking into this U/S appt, I just hoped this pregnancy was viable. I made the appt after skiing with Nina and she relayed the story of her friend who had an ectopic pregnancy and hadn’t gotten an initial OB appt until Week 11. And then it turns out treating her ectopic pregnancy was a lot more difficult than it needed to be, had it been caught sooner.

The doctor walked into the room along with his medical student. Pete was in the corner. I had asked Pete what are your thoughts on us being pregnant? He had said he was numb and relayed that he wasn’t convinced that I was pregnant in the first place. The doctor introduced himself and shared tidbits of his experience delivering babies for 22 years in Reno, sometimes mothers and their daughters. He made us feel at ease and then got straight to the ultrasound examination. He put the wand in and immediately noticed a pocket of fluid to the corner in the left. “Here’s the brain, bottom, yolk sac, a beating heart…everything looks good.” I marveled at how there was a baby in there, healthy and alive. So relieved that it wasn’t ectopic! Then Pete said, “only one, right?” The doctor responded…”only one…” and his voice trailed off. He moved the wand to the right and immediately another pocket of black with flashes of an embryo came into view. I immediately knew. There were two! But I didn’t react, waiting for the doctor to say something.

He continued scanning, with the newly found embryo flashing in and out of sight. I marveled at the image before our eyes. I had suspected it, but it was even more crazy to see the premonition come true. “I think there’s more going on…there’s two!” Pete goes “no way!!!”

The rest of the time he spent surveying the landscape. Di-di twins. Twin peak sign. Both with beating heartbeats, with one measuring 8w 2d and the other measuring 8w1d. I was super relieved that both were healthy and also in astonished shock that indeed we were in fact having twins. Pete kept asking “what are the chances that one vanishes or eats the other?” The doctor kept responding that he wasn’t exactly sure what Pete meant, but the chances of a condition he knew about were slim. 

The doctor generously spent another 30 or so mins scanning without seeing much and eventually said alright, let’s make another appt in 4 wks. Pete and I walked out. I was grinning from the actualization of the things I had anticipated now coming true and instantly texted LL. Pete was stunned.