Twins, again!?!? What are the chances?

Our twin journey began when we went in for our first ultrasound. The ultrasound technician turned to us and said "Everything looks great, I see two heartbeats" Our confused looks must have said it all, she replied "Oh, is this your first ultrasound? You didn't know, your having twins!" I think that my husband was about to pass out and I couldn't stop smiling. Immediately the worry began, and still hasn't subsided! Now we had two babies to worry about. Neither of us had much experience with babies at all and now we were going to be responsible for two of them, we were so happy and excited yet so incredibly nervous. Aside from some morning sickness and food aversions, I had a relatively healthy and uneventful pregnancy until 31 weeks. I went in for a normal check up and they discovered that I was having contractions and would likely give birth within the next two weeks. This came as a total shock to me, I was tired and uncomfortable but I had absolutely no idea that I was having contractions. They immediately admitted me into the hospital where I was put on medication to prevent labor and steroids to help develop the babies' lungs. After almost two weeks in the hospital I developed pnemonia and needed to be taken off the medication. The next day, my water broke and I had an emergency c-section at exactly 33 weeks. On December 10, 2006 we welcomed our precious little boys into the world; Matthew Samuel 4lb 12oz and Chase Patrick 5lb 8oz! This was both the happiest and scariest day of our lives. Matthew was born first, the nurse quickly brought him over to us so we could take a look at him and give him a kiss before taking him away to the NICU. Chase was born next, a crowd of nurses surrounded him and he was immediately whisked away to the NICU. It was very difficult not to be able to hold my babies until the next day. It is a very strange empty feeling to have carried these two babies with me for 33 weeks and then to be left neither pregnant nor with any babies. Matthew was in the NICU for about 2 weeks, he basically just needed to grow and learn how to eat on his own and maintain his body temperature. Chase spent 3 weeks in the NICU, he had some respritory problems and some episodes of sleep apnea. This required him to wear an "apnea monitor" for the first 4 months of his life which would alert us if he would stop breathing.

After spending a difficult and emotionally draining 2 and 3 weeks in the NICU we were finally able to bring our little boys home! The first few months were difficult but we were so grateful and excited to have two healthy babies that we really only focused on the joy that our two little boys brought to us. Matthew and Chase are now 20 months old and they are just unbelievable! Everytone tells you how quickly they grow but I can't believe that these two toddlers are our "preemie babies". It is difficult to have two children the same age at the same time but I wouldn't trade it for the world. The way they "talk" to eachother and run around playing with eachother just melts my heart, I almost feel that mothers of singletons are truly missing out on something so incredibly special.

This past May we had the surprise of a lifetime! I was pregnant again. We weren't planning on having our children so close together but we always knew that we wanted a third child so we were delighted. After all, we survived the first year with twin boys. We figured one baby would be a breeze compared to raising two premature twins. Well, we were in for another big surprise! When we went in for our first ultrasound, I jokingly said to my doctor "Are you sure there is just one in there?". Well, much to my surprise he mentioned something about my "second set of twins".Yes, we are having twins again!! When we told our family and friends everyone thought that were joking. I mean, who has two sets of twins? It is just insane! We had to show everyone the ultrasound just so they would believe us. After adjusting to the good news, around 9 weeks into the pregnancy I developed the Chicken Pox. I was very lucky and did not have any complications myself from the illness however there was about a 20% chance that the babies may have some complications and/or birth defects due to the illness. I met with my doctor and a specialist several times after the illness and they advised me of what my options were. Basically, whether I wanted to have different tests done and whether I wanted to continue with the pregancy based on the results of these tests. We decided that we will not have any testing done and that we were going to continue with the pregnancy. So, far everything looks great. I just went in for our "big" ultrasound and the doctor informed us that we have an excellent chance of having a normal pregnancy. This was a huge relief, although complications can still arise we are feeling very optimistic. We are hoping and praying for the best yet prepared for the worst. We also found out that we are having a boy and a girl this time! We are so excited, happy, blessed and a bit scared! But, we can't wait to meet the "new twins" and welcome them into our family.