Finding out we’re having TWINS!
After finding out we were pregnant we continued to do blood work every 3-4 days to make sure that the pregnancy was progressing normally. My first blood test taken 11 days post 5 day transfer (11dp5dt) showed my HCG levels were at 513. This is a pretty high number, so I already was getting my hopes up that both of the peeps had implanted. Another indicator was that when I took the home pregnancy test only 7 days after the transfer (7dp5dt) the line showed up right away and it was pretty dark. I took this as a hopeful sign that both of the embryos were doing well. My second blood test at 14dp5dt showed HCG levels at 1,976! Again I was getting more hopeful for 2 babies! The third blood test at 17dp5dt showed that my HCG levels were over 5,000. At this point all we could do was wait for the ultrasound at 6 weeks to determine whether or not we would be having twins.
Our 6 week ultrasound: Seeing Double!
The day of our first ultrasound finally arrived. We were going on a trip to visit my family the next day and we were hoping to find out how many babies we were having so we could share the news with my whole family in person! Basically I was a nervous wreck. I kept telling my husband that I would be happy and thankful no matter if there was one or two babies. Honestly, though I knew I would be upset if I didn’t see two heartbeats. I had been praying for both of these little ones since before they were even transferred into me, and I desperately hoped that they would both be growing into strong and healthy babies.
When the ultrasound began I was so anxious I could barely breathe. I found myself silently thanking the Lord repeatedly for giving us however many babies He intended for us to have. This was the only way I could keep myself from hyperventilating. The doctor started out with the ultrasound monitor facing away from me, so I couldn’t see anything. He then started asking questions like, “so when was your transfer?”, “was it a frozen transfer?” “three or five day transfer?” I couldn’t understand why he was asking all of these questions, so naturally I assumed there was something wrong and he probably couldn’t see any babies. Finally he turned the screen toward me and showed me a little black sac. I knew this was a baby. One baby. My heart was torn between rejoicing for this little life and also grieving that there were not two. I was trying to enjoy seeing the tiny flickering heart beat- which was so amazing- but I kept thinking, “but there should be two, where is my other baby?” The doctor then went to another screen on the monitor so he could enter the measurements of the baby. I thought the ultrasound was over and I was trying to be okay with our results.
Then the doctor switched the monitor back to the ultrasound screen and he said “and right next to it is baby #2” my heart stopped and then I began to cry. I know I should have been overjoyed to have one baby, but for some reason I just knew that there had to be two. I felt like I already loved both of them. So here they are, snuggled right next to each other the two tiny peeps comfortably situated in my womb:
Revealing the news to my family: We’re having TWINS!
The next day we flew up to Washington to see my family. They all knew that we had been going through IVF and they knew that we had transferred two embryos. However, they didn’t know that I was able to schedule the ultrasound before our trip- they thought I wouldn’t find out till week 7 or 8 (which is what I originally thought too).
I talked my sister and her husband who live about an hour away from my parents to drive up for dinner so we could have the whole family together when we shared the news. It was excruciating to wait till after diner, but finally we had the opportunity to reveal our secret. My husband had recorded the entire ultrasound on our little video camera, so we could let my family find out the same way we did. We gathered around the TV and I had my brother hook up the camera to the big screen. We told them that we made a video for them, and my mom thought it was of my husband’s graduation, my brother thought it was a video of our frozen embryo transfer, but no one had any idea that they would be finding out how many babies we were expecting!
I started the video by announcing that we were about to find out how many babies we were having. The shocked looks on my mom and sister’s faces was so worth the wait. We all watched together and as soon as the second yolk sac came into view we were all in tears. It was so special to be able to share our news with my family in this way. I feel like they have been such a big part of our process and I don’t think we could have gone through our second round of IVF without both of our families and friends. There were so many people praying for us throughout the entire process and we know that these little peeps are a result of all of the prayers.
Thank you all. We love you.
growing peeps 
Omg…. I’m crying. I can just see your entire family and imagine that emotional scene. So special!! Love it. Two little peeps. (BTW, peep – cicles made me laugh! You’re too cute Amy)
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Yes, it was very special to be able to share our news with the family that way. I do feel that through this process (although it’s been hard) it has also been sweet to be able to know that we were pregnant so early and to be able to see our babies earlier than most people get to. I’m very thankful!
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