The Gibson Girls: Looking back...

I got the idea to blog our family from another multiple mom who has done the same. I thought to myself "wow, what a great way to keep everyone updated with our busy girls". So, rather than send out updated emails to everyone, I can post new blogs and everyone can read them.

Plus, it will be a good keepsake for the girls and myself. We can look back at this "online diary" and reminisce.

The problem is that I have to go way back to get everyone up to speed. Good news is I have a bit of time on my hands so I should be able to get it all done. Where should I start? How about the pregnancy? That seems appropriate.

Back in March 2008 we discovered we were pregnant after taking two home pregnancy tests. Yes, two. You can't just take one...it might be wrong!! It was confirmed by the doctor and we were given our due date of November 18th (Grandpa Brown's birthday)

We then took a trip to Costa Rica only a few weeks later where our friends were getting married. We had it planned before our pregancy so we decided to go. It was hot and I sure wasn't feeling well for most of the holiday. It didn't help that my hubby was taking advantage of the
"all-inclusive" and I couldn't...but that's a whole different story. That's me at the amazing resort. I look at this picture and notice I still have a bikini figure (sadly, that's gone now).Then in May we took another trip to California with Kelly. It was a great time and this time I felt great. We toured Disneyland and hit the beach. Two trips while pregnant. These babies have already traveled more than some people!!

Upon our return there was one day I wasn't feeling so good. I decided to head to the doctor just to get it checked out. I went to my family doctor and she was concerned that I may have had appendicitis. She instructed me to head to City Hospital (it was right across the street). Off I go trying to get a hold of Chris to let him know what was going on. I get right into the ER and off I go to my very first ultrasound. I was only 11 weeks pregnant. The ultrasound tech took her sweet time to check everything out. I laid patiently. She turned the screen and for the first time I saw my baby and it's heart beat. I cried.

The then said she wanted to do an internal ultrasound. After about another 45 minutes she tells me that she won't be much longer but has something she wants to show me. I think to myself "oh good, I get to see my baby again". She turns the screen and says "so the reason I was taking so long is because right here (she points) is baby one and right here (pointing to a different spot) is baby two". Two heart beats. My head starts buzzing and my eyes only see black. I start to bawl. I called Chris and informed him that our "one bean magically turned into two"!! It seemed that everyone was thrilled except for us. We had only planned for one baby - how'd we get two? But soon enough our fear and shock turned into happiness and excitement. Two babies...wow!!

The pregnancy was interesting (thats the only word I can use to accurately describe it). We were considered "high risk" as the babies were identical. This meant that each baby was in it's own sac but shared the same placenta. Because of this there is the fear of TTTS (Twin to Twin Tranfusion Syndrome) where one of the babies takes the other's blood supply. One baby somehow gets too much blood and the other too little. This syndrome sometimes occurs in twins that are sharing a single placenta (known as a monochorionic placenta). In TTTS, abnormal blood vessels form inside of the placenta, disrupting the proper flow of blood, oxygen, and nutrients. As a result, one twin can become severely undernourished while the other becomes over-nourished. TTTS is a very dangerous syndrome that requires immediate medical attention. We'd go for an appointment and ultrasound weekly to monitor the babies. It wasn't until July that I found out we were having two girls. We were ecstatic! I was off work the end of August and we took possession of our new home September 1st. We celebrated our first wedding anniversary on September 8th (what a year it was!!).