Tuesday, October 4, 2011

heteropaternal superfecundation and other things I'm learning

So we found out on Friday that the boys are what are known as 'di/di' twins. This means they are Dichorionic/Diamniotic, which in normal people speak means that they are in two separate sacs and have two separate placentas (we actually knew this before but I wasn't familiar with the medical term). This is the safest situation for twins (woot!) and also means that the chance of them being fraternal (or non-identical) is somewhere between 75% - 99%. We won't know for sure until after they are born. They will first do a blood test to see if they have the same blood type. If they do, then we will do a DNA test in order to determine if they are identical. Some people opt not to have this test done but I feel like it's important information for them and for us in case of any medical situations in the future.

I've started to have a lot of contractions this week. Most of them are fairly mild but a few have been pretty hard. I've started to get really worried about them being born very prematurely. I'm at 27 weeks this week and really need to get to at least 34 weeks. I constantly look up terrible things about how early twins can be delivered and survive. Right now they have a really good chance but they'd be in the NICU for a very long time. Ugh. It makes me sad to think about. There are so few things to comfort me about all this. I feel them kick and I hear their heartbeats at the appointments but I want more. I have literally tried to find out if I could purchase a little heartbeat hearing device thingy just to calm my nerves. Turns out people don't really sell hospital equipment like that to street folk... and x-ray machines? Don't even try. :)

Oh and heteropaternal superfecundation? yeah it's like a really rare twin thing where a woman gets pregnant while she is already pregnant and gets pregnant by a different father. So essentially she has two separate babies in her stomach by two different men that are gestationally about a month or so apart.

I read about all these random twin things now. It's a sickness.

Maybe say a prayer that these boys stay put for at least 6 more weeks. We'd appreciate it.

2 comments:

Nat said...

Hey, I don't know if you're aware, but you can buy a heartbeat monitor at Babies R Us. I almost got one for Bennett b/c I was constantly wanting to check and make sure he was alright between appts.

Elizabeth said...

I can't imagine being in your shoes, but I know God picked you to be a mother of twins because you are a strong and capable woman with determination, grace, and humor. I pray that your pregnancy continues until it is safe for your boys to be born. How is it going with the "stuff" accumulation?