Monday, August 25, 2008

"Its Twins" at 20 weeks

Those were the words that my husband and I will never forget. Life for us started in March 2002 when I met my future husband. I was 20 and he was 23, we hit it off immediately and fell in love fast. We dated for 3 weeks and then moved in together. My parents were a little shocked and concerned. We were both trying to finish up college and enjoy our life together. Craig proposed to me February 21, 2004 and we were married the following March 2005. Our first year of marriage was like any other, we enjoyed our time with family and friends. In early 2006 I decided to take myself off birth control, I had been on the pill for close to 8 years and I was ready to be done. We decided we would not prevent getting pregnant, but that we didn't want to get pregnant too fast either.

I took a trip to Destin Florida with my parents late April 2006. I was over 2 weeks late, but just figured it was because my body was adjusting to being off the pill. The day after I returned from the beach I woke up and decided to take a pregnancy test. I remember this day like it was yesterday. I peed on the stick and within 20 seconds I saw 2 lines. My husband was in the kitchen making breakfast and I came running out saying "we're pregnant". He was like "are you sure", so I took another one, same result. We were in total disbelief, no-one gets pregnant that fast. It had only been 2 months of being off the pill. I knew at that moment we were truly blessed to be pregnant. I called my ob and they set up an appointment for some blood work to confirm pregnancy and then I started with monthly appointments, but no ultrasounds.

20 weeks comes along and its time for the BIG ultrasound, I was 100% sure we were having a girl, I had her name picked out and her nursery designed in my head. Were we in for a huge surprise. We get to our appointment early and had to wait forever. Finally, the u/s tech comes out to get us and we head back to the room. I'm a huge camera freak and made my husband take a picture of me and the tech as I'm laying on the table. Craig goes to put the camera away, this is after she has started the u/s. She says "you might want to take that camera back out" we say why? and she states "you're having twins". I will never forget how I felt in that exact moment. Life stopped for a few minutes while I picked my jaw off the ground and made sure my husband wasn't going to pass out.

Here is the exact moment we found out it was twins and then identical twin boys


Life went by really fast after we learned it was twins. I was over 20 weeks pregnant, that is 5 months. I didn't have enough time to plan everything and then on top of it worry about carrying 2 babies. I was scared, I never really told anyone, but I was terrified. How could I love 2 babies at once, how could I care for 2 babies, would we be good parents? All these emotions ran through my head.

I had a very easy pregnancy, we were lucky. I was never put on bed rest and never stopped working, even though I begged my OB to put me out. I worked up until 3 days before the boys were born. I was huge and uncomfortable, but extremely happy my boys stayed put until 37 weeks and 3 days.

I was induced on December 4, 2006 at 6:07pm. I was in labor for about 12 hours when I was given the green light to push. I pushed for about 2 hours when Andrew Michael Harris was born at 8:15am weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces. Once Andrew came out, Ethan (baby "b") flipped and when the mid-wife examined me she said "all I feel is hands and feet" and with his heart rate dropping dramatically I was rushed to the OR where they did an emergency c-section to get Ethan out. Ethan Dale Harris was born at 8:25 am weighing in at exactly 6 pounds. We had 2 perfectly healthy boys and I was in heaven.

A & E (as we like to call them) are now almost 21 months old and will turn 2 in 4 short months. These last 21 months have been the happiest times. Being a mom is amazing and being blessed with 2 babies at once is remarkable. We have truly enjoyed watching our 2 tiny babies turn into 2 big boys. Each day is filled with laughter and joy. My heart will forever be full of love.


On a last note, I wanted to say thank you to all the amazing women and MoMs on the nest multiples board. I have found some life-long friends and appreciate all the help over the last 21 months. Thank you, MoMs ROCK!

1 comment:

Katie said...

Such a sweet story, Katie!! I love that photo that your husband got of you on the u/s table - that is priceless! And you're a ridiculously beautiful pregnant lady!