Our guest blogger today, Jennifer, wrote Cribsheet earlier this week with big news and lots of questions to pose to our readers. She and her husband seemingly had everything in order for planning and having their first baby. That is until last week when they had their first ultrasound…

A Late-First-Trimester Surprise

My husband and I got pregnant last fall, planning it so that the baby would come in the summertime when he is off work (he’s a teacher).  The pregnancy was pretty normal at first – even easy – except for the usual worries that there was going to be something wrong with the baby—a birth defect of some sort, or who knows what else.

So we decided to go in for nuchal fold translucency screening, which they do between 11 and 14 weeks.  It’s an ultrasound which measures something near the back of the baby’s neck and it tests for Down Syndrome and some other defects.

We were excited to see the baby for the first time.  When it came up on the screen, however, I thought: Wow, I have a line right down the middle of my stomach and there are two blobs there.  Are those my kidneys?  Then I saw one move and I knew.  The technician confirmed it: TWINS!

We have twins on both sides of our families, but it had just not occurred to us that it could happen.  We had planned, financially, mentally, and in every other way, for one.  So now everything has changed and we are scrambling to come up with plans B, C, etc. for work schedules and daycare for our “insta-family”.  I have been having trouble sleeping and my husband had a minor panic attack, but slowly we are adjusting to the news.

Here are a just a few of the questions currently occupying my mind:

• I read on a website that some mothers have convinced their workplace to give them double paid maternity leave (6 weeks for each baby).  Does this seem even remotely possible?  Do I dare hold a tiny flicker of hope? (I have a meeting with HR this week so I should find out then.)
• What are some resources for finding good in-home daycares in my neighborhood?  (We’ve already ruled out centers due to their expense.)  I live in South  Minneapolis near Lake Nokomis.
• How in the hell do you keep up with breastfeeding twins and working full-time?
• I am a runner and had planned on running as long as I was able—at least a couple more months.  I know lots of women run with normal pregnancies, but is there anyone out there who has run with multiples?  The perinatal specialist recommended not running anymore (apparently with twins you are automatically classified as high-risk).  I’m looking for a second opinion here.
• The stroller question.  How many danged strollers does a person need?  I want a jogging one for sure.  Will that one also be practical for things like walks and going to the mall?  Double strollers are huge so I don’t want to have to get 4 of them.  Naturally, expense is a consideration at this point too.
• How do you tell them apart if they are identical?  What if I get them mixed up a bunch of times when they are newborns?  Would it be wrong to put a permanent marker “X” on one of their feet?
• Will we be able to take them on any kind of vacation whatsoever before they are five?   

On a related note: The premiere of National Geographic’s   “In the Womb: Multiples”  is this Sunday night at 7 pm on the National Geographic channel. I was an “In the Womb” addict when I was pregnant, glued to the television whenever it came on. The footage, CGI animation, and information is fascinating.     

(Yet another related note: McDreamy and Wife on the cover of Life in today’s Star Tribune newspaper - also expecting twins…)              

We plan on having Jennifer post periodically with us throughout her pregnancy to keep us up to date on her progress. Keep checking back for more.

So how about it Cribsheet commentors, does anyone have twice the advice for Jennifer and her Minnesota twins?                     �

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 11th, 2007 at 11:55 pm and is filed under Guest Bloggers, Main, Solicited Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.