Breaking the News

While Jason & I had planned on having another baby, we were not exactly thinking right away. You know since we had just moved we planned to get settled and then maybe have another. However, at the same time we were not being overly "careful" since we had miscarried only about 3 months prior to the boys conception and I for one was nervous that the miscarriage might have meant that the next time around might be more difficult. Apparently I was wrong.

Since we had miscarried only a few months before I decided that we would tell NO ONE until we were at the 12 week mark and had seen the Dr. to make sure everything was fine. So we went about our moving and new house prep as usual. We settled on an OB, and my appointment was set for 12 weeks. Since we had been there,done that already with Jason attending just about EVERY pregnancy appointment while I was pregnant with Isabelle we felt that he could forgo the first appointment this time around. However, since we were not telling anyone and we had just moved back home we did not have a babysitter so I would have to bring Isabelle with me... She had just turned 3. So off we went to mommy's doctor.

Upon arriving they did the routine blood work, questions, and measurements. They also tried listening for a heartbeat. This was where things went wrong before so I was nervous. Actually, I had gone over ways in my mind about how I would deal with hearing that they could not find one in front of my new 3 year old. So, the nurse, who was super patient and understanding about my concerns (and the busy 3 year old), began searching for the heartbeat... this seemed to take hours, but I am sure it was only a minute or even less. Finally, the nurse says, "Well, something sounds a little 'strange', but don't worry I will make sure that you feel confident that everything is FINE before you go." If you have never been to this kind of appointment before I will assure you that when a nurse, midwife, ob or other medical professional is listening to your belly for your baby's heartbeat, "something sounds strange" is NOT what you want to hear. I managed to hide my anxiety from my daughter as we made the trek down the hall to see if we could get an ultrasound. Again, since this was supposed to be a routine first appointment Jason was not in attendance and we certainly did not think that we would be having an ultrasound.

So, I get on the table the cold jelly is applied to my belly and my 3 year old is eagerly watching the "TV" as the nurse searches for the baby.She finds it quickly and everything looks fine and then she keeps searching... I thought that was odd, but I was too relieved to read anything into the second search. Then she finds another "something" and says, "do you see what I see?" and I respond that I see the baby there, pointing to the initial spot and something else over there." my mind still was thinking that this other "something" was a problem like a cyst or problem related to the previous miscarriage. She laughs and says, yes, there does seem to be 'something' else over there... it is another BABY!" I still did not get what she was saying until she said the words two babies, TWINS!

I sat there in shock, staring at the screen, and then looking at Isabelle. Finally, I said, "But I don't have twins in my family." Of course that may or may not be true since I was adopted and have no idea what my biological family history is, however, I had no response for such a thing. My second question was, "Are you going to be the one to tell my husband?" She must have said no because somehow, I made it out of the office and scheduled a second ultrasound appointment and got to my car as if on autopilot. I also somehow dialed my cell phone to call Jason as he was just getting out of work and relaxing before class... I somehow uttered that everything was fine, but that there was some news. There were two. Of course he thought I was kidding and then I got mad because how could anyone joke about a thing like that?!?! I mean, sure we had, but would I really do it now? Well, maybe, but nope, not this time!

At this point we felt that it was important to start telling people since I might start to show earlier. What I didn't know until now was that Jason's mother had already asked Jason if I was pregnant. I remember being incensed at this thought! I mean really I was only 12 weeks! I could have hid it a lot longer with Isabelle, but then again I was having twins! People were of course happy for us that I was pregnant, but I made sure my parents and everyone else I told was sitting before we told them there were two... Most people had the same reactions Jason & I did... complete shock!