What's Up, Doc?

Monday was our second doctor visit... and knowing that our two little babies have been growing inside, but without seeing any of that growth on the outside, made Jei & I extremely anxious to see and know what exactly was going on in there!  After all, it had been four whole years since our last visit (okay-okay, four weeks, but it certainly felt like four years!), and to tell you the truth... we were beginning to think we had dreamt the whole 'twins' thing up! 

Little did we know... that this visit, along with all other future visits, an ultrasound would be performed!  We were in the same little room as before, so flashbacks & memories of us finding out about the twins for the first time were almost overwhelming!  Jei & I obviously weren't as anxious as last time... but we were still pretty excited.  The doctor turned on the machine and squeezed a ton of transparent goo on Jei's belly while we both waited anxiously to see our twin little babies!

It certainly didn't take very long for a picture to appear.  A couple of tweaks here and there and then all of a sudden... BAM, there they were!  How exciting!!!  You could definitely tell there were two in there, but only one of them really wanted the spotlight.  You could clearly see the profile of the one... it totally looked like "Bing" (We still don't know the sex yet and I have a problem calling them "it", so they're "Ming" & "Bing" for now!) was sitting at the bottom just chillin' out watching TV or something (My twin!).  The other, "Ming", was off in La-La Land (Jei's twin!) and we never really could get a good view.  

It honestly took quite a while for my jaw to lift itself from the floor.  I was just completely amazed at what I was seeing!  Our two little fetuses had grown so much... they looked so much bigger than when we first saw them and could now see so much more detail... it truly was amazing!  Jei & I both thought the most incredible part was being able to clearly see and identify each of the twin's spine and ribcage!

As you may or may not see in the "Bing" sonogram above (the doctor did NOT bring her 'A' game when it came to capturing a good photo!)... where it totally looks like he (she?) is lounging back in a 'La-Z-Boy' recliner enjoying some tacos that Jei had for lunch... a few of the facial features are beginning to appear!  It was so fascinating to see the little nose & eyes taking shape, along with all the other features beginning to appear like the arms & legs... but yet so hard to believe and understand just how small they really are growing inside Jei's unassuming belly!  

As I mentioned earlier... "Ming" (above) did not want to cooperate and never really gave us a good clean shot for a decent picture, hence the illustrated version of the "Ming" photo (below)!

So... Jei & I finally exhaled, breathed a sigh of relief, and were as giddy as could be... for we had just found out the good news: there were in fact two fetuses, they were both alive & well as far as we could tell (we got to hear both their heartbeats!), and there was nothing blatantly abnormal about the pregnancy or the growth of the twins.  Unfortunately, what we weren't expecting was to hear that along with the good news came the proverbial bad news! 

The doctor finished up with the ultrasound machine and we were left with about a thousand questions... so once she cleaned up and turned the lights back on, it was question & answer time!  The doctor first explained that Jei & I would get a lot more information and answers to our questions once we had our appointment with the twins specialist in a couple of weeks. They apparently do a much more thorough and detailed ultrasound with better and more sophisticated equipment.  We'll also be on our 16th week by the time we see the specialist so we should be able to find out the sex by then too.  But nevertheless, our doctor did the best she could with the information she had at explaining to us what was going on with our two little babies. 

First of all... those who participated in the first poll over there on the right and chose "Identical" are absolutely correct!  The doctor explained that since both the babies were in the same "sac" together, the chances of them being anything other than identical twins were extremely slim to none.  The doctor went on to further explain that since the twins are in fact in the same sac and have their own umbilical cord... the chances of them becoming entangled and/or choking themselves (or the other) with their cords in that cramped little sac they're in are somewhat on the high side... and naturally pose a risk to the babies!  

As you might imagine, Jei & I were completely flabbergasted!  We didn't know what to think or how to respond... which of course the doctor picked up on, probably from the looks on our faces, but she was very calm and did a good job trying not to totally freak us out!  She went on to tell us just how rare this situation was and started talking in 'doctor lingo' which obviously went right over our heads.  Apparently, the situation, or our twins rather, are described by the following term:  "Monochorionic Monoamniotic."  It's certainly long and complicated... which is why twins that are described by the term are commonly referred to as "MoMo Twins!"   And in case you are as curious, intrigued, and bewildered as we were... I included a link you can click to help educate yourselves if you so desire.  

http://multiples.about.com/od/medicalissues/a/MoMoTwins.htm

So after hearing everything the doctor had to say and then going home and doing a ton of research... we're really not sure what to expect.  All we know for sure is that Jei is feeling great, we just finished our first trimester, and that we have a pair of crazy little "MoMo Twins" chillin' inside Jei's belly!  I think we'll know a lot more in a couple of weeks (May 7th) when we go and see the specialist... but for now, all we can do is hope for the best and plan for the worst!  And speaking of planning for the worst... the doctor did warn us that with such a rare & risky pregnancy, there would be a good chance that Jei would have to be admitted to the hospital a Hell of lot earlier than expected - like around week 24!!! ...YIKES!  

Like I said, we got a ton of really good news... but a little bit of bad news too.  Certainly nothing to worry about at this point, but it definitely wouldn't hurt to start sending a few prayers our way!  Sorry about ending this on a low note... but just wanted to give everyone a heads up on what went down at our last doctor's visit so their wouldn't be any big or unwanted surprises down the road.  Also sorry about the picture quality... we both forgot our cameras so my trusty iPhone had to step up to the plate!