Is dad sitting down?

Bryce and I had decided shortly after having Peyton that we wanted more kids and that 2 years was a good gap.  After several months of trying, we were excited to learn at the end of February that we were pregnant! It made those months of waiting worth it!

Over the next few weeks we shared with family that we were excited to make Peyton a big sister in November. A few weeks after learning we were pregnant I had a trip planned to visit my sister and niece, with Peyton and my mom...I knew I had to take advantage of the opportunity to get to tell my sister in person.  So the plan was to put Peyton in a big sister shirt and wait for them to notice! 

My sister was the first to notice, even though my mom was the first to see her at the hotel and even commented on her cute outfit. (apparently she didn't actually read the shirt!) Everyone was super excited....and I was glad to have the cat out of the bag, as I was already feeling blah, horrible, like CRAP!  

Fast forward 2 weeks to our ultrasound......The day of the ultrasound I had told Bryce I was anxious for our appointment to see baby and he informed me that he forgot about our 2:30 appointment and he had a meeting from 1:00-2:00.  I was PISSED!! On my way to the appointment Bryce called to let me know that he was on his way.  Our ultrasound tech was AWESOME and said she would wait until he arrived.  

So 20 minutes later Bryce showed up and I was changing for the ultrasound.  In the office there are ultrasound pictures all over the walls, including pictures of twin ultrasounds.  Naturally we joked about what we would do if we saw two (clearly having no clue that we would!).  Bryce joked, it would be time to get snipped.  We both laughed and then the tech came in to get started. 

Not long into the ultrasound the tech says "Well, is dad sitting down?"  

Bryce instantly said  "Is that 2?"

    Babies at 7 weeks 2 days

    Babies at 9 weeks 4 days

And for me the rest is a blur!

Needless to say, Bryce clearly processed the news quicker than I did! 

Now, several weeks later we are still processing what all of this means for us, our family and for the growing babies.  I never really knew a lot about twins....I do now! Yay google and awesome Drs and nurses!

So here are some of the many questions we had and others have asked us:

1. Do twins run in your family?

Actually yes! On both mine and Bryce's side.  However, it doesn't matter that it runs of Bryce's side of the family because the woman is the one releasing the egg.  There is a gene that causes hyper-ovulation...the release of multiple eggs.  However, identical twins has nothing to do with genetics.  It can happen to anyone and is simply the egg splitting in 2 in early fertilization.  

2. Are they identical twins?

We don't know....and may never know unless we do a DNA test.  This is a little confusing but I'll do my best.  The only way to tell if you definitely have identical twins without DNA is if both babies are sharing EVERYTHING (sac and placenta).  My babies have their own sac and we cannot tell yet if they have their own placenta.  If the babies are opposite sex....they are clearly fraternal twins.  In fact, identical twins are quite rare.  So all in all, we may NEVER know if these babies are identical (even fraternal twins can look almost exactly alike).

3. Are they natural?

These babies are all natural! No fertility drugs used.

4. Did you have any idea you were pregnant with twins?

Nope! Not a clue...otherwise we probably wouldn't have joked about it.  I suppose I did have signs...I experienced symptoms almost right away!  Nausea hit before I even had a positive test and extreme exhaustion hit right after.  I assumed it was all normal....I had heard you can experience things sooner with your second pregnancy...so I thought nothing of it.