Is That Two? – How I Became a Twin Mama

Y’all – have you loved this series as much as I have?! I mean, I talk to all of my fellow Moms Without Answers girls almost every day, and I didn’t know a lot of these things! It’s been so awesome getting to know these women and their journeys into motherhood. Because even though every baby started as one fertilized egg, every story of how a mother came to be is different for every woman.

Okay – I’ll stop gushing over my amazing fellow Moms. Because today it’s my turn. And I’d like to take you down memory lane, almost 4 years ago, to a small little dark room, in Littleton, Colorado.

*enter dreamy wave sequence scene shift*

There I sat, 4 months over 21, waiting for my ultrasound. See, my husband and I have been together since the dawn of time, married about the same amount of time, and so even though 21 is young, our pregnancy was planned and we were excited about it. Anyway – there I sat. 

Now before I get into the rest of this story I’d like to segue into a small pros and cons list. Having a baby when you’re 21 has lots of pros. I’ll be 39 when they graduate high school, my body rebounded from child bearing well, I often get confused for their nanny (is that a pro? We’ll call it a pro). One notable con – I was the first person in my friends circle to have a baby. I didn’t know what to expect, what I was about to see. I’d seen ultrasounds, sure, but this was way more up close and personal than I had ever gotten before.

Like I said… there I sat. Alone. See, my husband had a higher-up at the time that didn’t take kindly to him taking time off of work, there was an important meeting, and that was the only day my ultrasound could be scheduled. “It’s fiiiiiine” thought I who would just get to text him a picture of our newest DIY as I left the doctor’s office. I’d hear the heartbeat, send a thorough report, and it would be great. I laid back on the ultrasound table, the sweet technician with a bubbly voice and giant smile began the ultrasound. 

“Yep, there’s your cervix.”

“Yep, I see a baby…”

“Well, I have some news for you.”

Honestly, at this point it was sort of enigmatic. I had a very poignant out of body experience as I craned my head up to look at her screen, so as to not question whether there was an issue with the picture on mine. And what did appear before my eyes? Two tiny little gummy bears apparently co-signing a lease in my uterus. 

And in this epic moment, in maybe the most life-altering moment of my life, I responded ever so eloquently, “Is that two?” 

Two babies. Twins! Dos bambinos. Deux bebes. Each with their own womb accessories and all. So there I was, laying on an ultrasound table in pure shock, rendered speechless, half naked, alone. Should I cry? Should I laugh? Should I smile or giggle or shake or pass out or move or not move? Whatever you do don’t sneeze. I sat there, mostly immobile, staring at the screen with my two babies. The technician had lots to say – stories, pointing things out, jabbering on. And in that moment, it all turned to white noise as I watched those two little 6 week old blobs and wondered what the heck I was going to do with twins. 

At the time we lived in a small 2-bedroom townhouse. It was really cute and we had just renovated the kitchen. After my appointment, I was to head straight to my parents’ house. They wanted to see photos and I was excited to share. But because my husband didn’t come with me, I had a phone call to make. I stood outside the building, the feeling beginning to come back into my feet a little, and called my husband. 

I told him the news. The same earth shattering, life altering news I’d learned about an hour before. And, in true form, he so eloquently responded, “We need a bigger house.” 

Everyone was overjoyed, as expected. I ended up throwing up every single day of that pregnancy from five weeks on. I grew out of XXL maternity wear at 28 weeks. I waddled starting at about 20 weeks. But it was smooth. I was healthy, the babies were healthy. Though Wyatt – my Baby B and still the agile one in the family, somehow turned breech at 36 weeks. How? I don’t know.

And on May 23rd, 2014, Jude Scott joined us at 12:20 weighting 7 lb 14 ounces, and Wyatt Alexander came in exactly 40 seconds later, weighing 6lb 13 ounces, on my mother in law’s birthday. 

Turns out twin infants – super hard. Surprised? (Somehow I was). I ended up exclusively pumping for 15 months, which allowed me to bless a third baby and donate milk to feed another baby for a year. Wyatt’s first tooth came in a 4 months, he walked at 9.5 months. Jude’s first tooth came at 11 months, and he walked at 13 months. One is a ginger with the temper to prove it, one is a quiet guy with a big love for wheels. The only thing they share is an eye color and a birthday. And as much as they drive me batty sometimes, I’m really really happy they made me a Twin Mama. Though, it did turn out we definitely did need a bigger house.