The end of summer brought Zach and I the baby itch. My mind was screaming "No! Are you kidding me?! Not again!" My pregnancy with Brod had been rough and post partum was a struggle, to say the least. I was finally starting to feel like myself again when the constant thought that we need to have another baby began. I really feel that Heavenly Father changed my heart and I began to be excited about having another baby. In my head would pop all the reasons why another one was crazy right now: lack of sleep, morning sickness, stretch marks, working off more baby weight, bottles, binkies, and more diapers. Not to mention the terror at having to go through another emotional roller coaster after the baby comes. In the end, my heart won out. There was no denying it, it was time.
We were blessed to get pregnant almost immediately. Zach and I knew I was pregnant pretty much right away. I had been following a diet of mainly fruit, veggies, and lean meats strictly. I knew something was up when after weeks of no sugars, I HAD to have a cookie dough blizzard. I started getting slightly sick almost immediately as well. When it came time, I took a test and sure enough, it was positive. My due date was June 6, 2014.
The excitement I had before started to fade once the sickness and major fatigue set in. Those first few weeks I would just whine to Zach about what a wimp I was. I was literally just surviving. I barely left the couch and had a hard time eating. I tried to stay active, exercising and getting out of the house as often as I felt up to it, which was not much.
We were hoping to wait for a while to start telling people, but being that I was so sick we knew it best to tell those closest to us (friends and family). My initial prenatal appointment was at twelve weeks and we decided to wait until then to "make it public."
As we were driving to our appointment I remember having a sort of heavy-something-significant-was-about-to-happen kind of feeling. I pushed it out of my mind thinking I was just being paranoid. We got to the office and waited for what seemed like ages. The office was running behind as it was, and the "feeling" I was having wasn't helping my patience level.
Finally, we were seen by the Nurse Practitioner, Lisa (my 2nd favorite care-giver, after Dr. Lunt). She went through the regular questions: pregnancy symptoms, official due date, etc.
"Ok let's check the baby's heartbeat!"
This was the moment I had been waiting for. My heart started pounding.
Zach asked,"Is there any way we can tell if there are two this early?"
For a couple of weeks before our appointment he had been telling me he, "just had this feeling there were two in there." Yeah right! I wasn't even sure I could handle one more let alone two! I just knew Heavenly Father wouldn't put that on my plate because I was sure I couldn't handle it.
My first thought when he asked about finding out if there were two was, "Yes please! Then he can shut up about the whole twin thing!"
Lisa was great and said that since we had waited so long, she would give us an ultrasound using the portable machine.
Zach came and stood next to me to get a better view.
As soon as the wand was placed on my stomach Lisa said, "Oh! Dad's right!"
"Are you kidding?" My voice began shaking.
She turned the screen toward me and I saw two little peanuts moving around. One was going crazy, rolling around and kicking. The other seemed to be waving, "here I am mom and dad!"
She immediately told us the heartbeats looked great, and everything else seemed fine, though we'd have to have an official ultrasound to check for sure.
I was glad I was laying down at that point because I started shaking and sweating. This is a joke. That can't be my ultrasound. I was having an out of body experience.
Once the ultrasound was done, Lisa began giving us the rundown on how our appointments and ultrasounds would go from here. I was in too much in shock to really listen. She wrapped up the appointment and went to go grab Dr. Lunt (my OB). I just remember looking at Zach and both of us laughing nervously. It was like a dream.
While we waited for Dr. Lunt, we scheduled our ultrasound and next appointment. When he came out to meet with us I think the look on his face mirrored my own. He had delivered my twin sisters fourteen years previous and remembered them and my parents well. After a brief discussion and assurances from us that I wasn't on any fertility medication, he congratulated us and sent us on our way.
As soon as we were in our car big tears started welling up in my eyes. Just when they were about to spill over I started laughing. I kept laugh-crying every 15 minutes or so for the rest of the day. I almost lost it while waiting in the pharmacy line and at Deseret Book, and I couldn't touch my Cafe Rio steak salad let alone anything else for the rest of the day.
Once we got home we spent the rest of the day telling family and close friends. We gave our parents packs of double mint gum. Tori cried and was so excited, John was shocked, my mom couldn't believe it, Grandma Gary and Grandma Jill swore happily, and my Dad gave us his congratulations along with, "May God have mercy on your soul." Everyone was so happy and excited for us.
We waited until our ultrasound a couple of days later to make it "official" just to make sure all was well. Everything looked great. Both babies were right on track for growth, and each had their own sacks and placenta, the best case scenario for twins.
Even though it still didn't seem real, we began announcing the news we were adding two more to our family. We have been so blessed with such love, support, and kindness from those around us. It's been one heck of a ride so far!
