Washington DC, Northern Virginia, & Maryland Wedding & Portraiture Photographer

Now that we are almost at 20 weeks (crazy that this pregnancy is half over!) I thought I would give you guys an update 🙂  The first trimester brought a ton of morning sickness that thankfully I think is just ending.  I have gone a few days without anything to help the nausea so I am hoping it is finally ending.  We got exciting news on week 17 – we are having boys!  My husband ended up not being with me for that ultrasound, so when I left I stopped by Carters (love their baby clothes!) and picked up a little shirt to tell my husband they were boys.  It was such a special moment when he opened the bag.  This is an iPhone picture I snapped of my husband that day – can you tell he is excited? 🙂

So the news that they are boys is the great news that we got in week 17.  The hard news is that the doctor thinks our twins have a rare condition called “mono-mono” (otherwise known as “momo twins”).  What that means is that both of the twins are not only sharing the same placenta (making them identical), but they are also sharing the same amniotic sac.  When they are sharing the same sac they have a very high risk for a lot of complications.  One complication is, they can steal blood flood from each other and deprive one twin of proper nutrients (also called Twin to Twin Syndrome). A bigger problem is since umbilical cords are free floating in the womb they can get entangled in each other and form knots which cuts off the life line to one or both babies (this also leads to cord compression and can slowly cut off the lifeline).  These are just some of the side effects.  It has all been very scary these past couple weeks as we have processed these new changes.  The chance of having identical twins is .3% of all pregnancies in the US each year.  The chance of having “momo twins” is 1% of the .3%.  Leave it to my kids to distinguish themselves early 🙂

So, what does this mean for my pregnancy and business?  Well, it means that most likely somewhere around 24 weeks I will be checked into the hospital for the duration of my pregnancy.  They wait until 24 weeks because if they are born 24 weeks and after their is a chance at saving their life.  If they are born before 24 weeks they are almost guaranteed not to survive.  For now I am at home on “limited activity”/”modified bed rest”.  Basically it means I can still go about my life for the most part, but I shouldn’t be standing on my feet for long periods at a time, walking a ton (a mile at most and very leisurely), and the moment I feel tired I should lay down and rest.  They don’t want me exhausting myself if at all possible.  So, this means that last weekend was last time shooting a session for awhile.  I have been able to contact all my clients who had sessions scheduled and they were all great about it (THANK YOU!!!!).  Now I am just at home editing the sessions and wedding that have been already done and getting things in order at my house before I get checked into the hospital (oh and attending a ton of doctor appointments:) ).  It has already been a huge adjustment to me and I am having to learn to accept help (which is not always easy).  The boys are guaranteed to be early and the latest my doctor will let them stay in me is around 32 weeks.  They will monitor the boys and make a decision on when to take them based on how they/umbilical cords are doing.  Either way we are looking at a NICU stay.

As of Monday both boys were healthy and measuring the same size (important factor in identicals).  They keep the sonographer busy during ultrasounds since they like to move around so much 🙂  I will keep the blog updated at different points throughout our journey and can’t wait to share pictures of these sweet miracle boys.  My family and I covet your prayers for a safe and healthy pregnancy!  Thank you:)