A new year, a new life (or two)

Ringing in the new year paled in excitement to ringing in my second trimester. I had been so tired and SO nauseated! I could not wait for our ultrasound, scheduled for January 17.

The morning of the 17th, I called to make sure I had our ultrasound appointment time right. To my dismay, the nurse had forgotten to order the ultrasound, and had simply told me the date!

I was one grumpy pregnant lady.

We scheduled the REAL ultrasound for January 24. We had no idea what was coming.

I laid there on the ultrasound table, belly exposed, waiting with baited breath for the news. The technician (Derick) paused. He moved the wand around one more time and said, "Well it looks like there's two in there."

At first (and for the next couple of minutes) I thought he was kidding around. To prove the reality of the situation, he showed us 2 heads, 4 arms, 4 legs, and 2 hearts. Once I realized he was serious, it was like those out-of-body experiences you hear about. We had no idea this was coming. In fact, we had only joked about it in the past! And that is when God laughed. :)

We were asked if we wanted to find out what gender the babies were. The technician told us they were in the same placenta, meaning they were identical twins. We obviously wanted to know, and he told us they were both GIRLS! He also told us that he didn't see a membrane between the girls, and that he would put a call in to my doctor (I had no clue what this meant -- I just thought it was part of identical twinning).

During the remainder of the ultrasound when the measurements and fluid levels were taken, I sat and watched Chris, trying to get a read on what he was feeling. The poor guy looked like he was in total shock. Each time our eyes met, we both shook our heads in disbelief and laughed (and I cried at the same time).

The rest of the day was spent on an emotional carousel, circling between shock, excitement, and overwhelm...then back to shock again.

Here is a bit of my journal entry from Ultrasound Day:
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I would be lying to say I am not completely overwhelmed and intimidated by this life-changing news. It is going to be tricky, but at the same time I feel so much peace and so much love and support from my Father in Heaven. With His help, I can do all things. I feel so blessed to be trusted with Brayden and with these 2 little ladies. We are in for a lot of fun ahead. Brayden says he is looking forward to teaching his sisters about letters, cake, party hats, and balloons.

So there you have it! The beginning of a wild and exciting ride. I am humbled and grateful, and so many different things right now. Most of all, I am incredibly happy.
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