Twins

One question I get A LOT is "do twins run in your family?" The answer is "oh yeah". My sister had fraternal twins 8 years ago. My mom's dad was a fraternal twin. My grandma's dad was a fraternal twin. And my other grandpa's grandmother was an identical twin. It's not one of those things that "skips a generation" for us. In fact some studies say that there are no genetic markers for twins, all cases may be simply random. But I kind of like to think that my family is more likely predisposed to have twins instead of just randomly having them.

It's been interesting also to field so many questions about fertility assistance when people find out it's twins. Medically speaking, if you have had fertility assistance then your pregnancy is automatically considered high risk. I only learned this after I found out I was pregnant and called to schedule with my OBGYN. I made all the arrangements then added in that my records from the fertility clinic should be there soon. We had to change some of the details for my upcoming appointment because that made me high risk.

Not many know this yet, but we were trying to get pregnant for over a year. After having 2 pregnancies happen soo easily and quickly, this was alarming. I tried a few different apps that help record everything about my cycle and daily life. I took my temperature and charted it daily. I was seriously having to work at this, and nothing was helping us conceive.

We finally decided we needed help. This wasn't normal for us and something had to be wrong with one of us at this point. We got referred to a fertility center after 18 months of trying and not getting pregnant. Here's the thing. We are both still young, healthy, active, and had been pregnant within the last 3 years. So struggling to get pregnant again didn't seem to make sense.

When meeting with the specialist we decided it is very likely that I have endometriosis. There are a few markers I am missing for this, so back in college I figured I didn't really have it, after visiting with an OB. Looking back now, all the way to high school even, I have very little doubt that I do have endometriosis. And it answers a lot of questions.

After determining this I went through a few other tests to rule things out, then the dr decided I was a good candidate for IUI. On certain days of my regular cycle I went to the fertility clinic. We did ultrasounds to make sure everything was healthy, then I did a round of medication. The meds I took helped my body grow a healthy & mature egg. Later in my cycle when we confirmed a healthy egg I got a shot that told my body to realease that healthy egg. Then later we did the IUI-inter uterine insemination. We took Zed's sperm and medically inserted it directly into my uterus. I know, TMI, but seriously, I had a nurse last week who didn't know what an IUI is, so after educating her I decided to educate all. By inserting the sperm directly into the uterus it increases the odds of the egg and sperm meeting up and fertilizing.

For us this single round was a huge success. After 18 months of trying to get pregnant and being unsuccessful time and time again; after so many tears and heartfelt sorrow, we finally were pregnant. We found out early due to the circumstances. Also due to these circumstances we had a very early ultrasound, in which we found out we were having twins.

It's been a huge miracle. The twins in this case is not a result of our fertility aid. Even if I had ovulated more than 1 egg, only one was fertilized. That egg split, creating 2 babies. It is a pretty amazing thing. That happened.