the story of an infertile girl and the surprise twin pregnancy

We can all agree that 2020 has been the strangest year yet. And through all the tears, anxiety, and unknown that this year has brought all of us, somewhere along the way my family discovered a shocking surprise that brought tears of joy and smiles to our faces:

We are pregnant with TWINS!

Finding out you are pregnant may not be a surprise to many of you. But after every doctor in town told us we would never be able to concieve a child on our own, you can imagine the shock when in late August I took a pregnancy test and found out I was expecting. But for this story to make more sense, lets rewind to the start…

2014

Will and I married in 2012 and immediately began trying for a family. By 2014 we decided to undergo fertility treatment and during our first egg retrieval I was diagnosed with what is called “low ovarian reserves.” Translation: I was born with very few eggs. This was not due to any illness or injury or even to my age (at the time I was 32). But just as a person may be born with only one kidney or missing some fingers, I was born with very few eggs. Luckily thanks to God, the universe, and advances in medical technology, two IVFs later and we have been blessed with our 4 year old son Liam and almost 2 year old son Bear.

February 2020

Fast forward to 2020. We had one frozen embryo left over and we began discussing having baby number three someday. I met with my doctor and we came up with a plan to transfer that last and final frozen embryo in the spring of 2021 in hopes for another baby.

I should mention one small, somewhat important detail. Will and I have been married for eight and a half years and have NEVER used contraception. We tried for children quickly after we were married but unfortunately we were never able to get pregnant on our own. And due to my low egg count I was told getting pregnant naturally was not in the cards for us. And 8 years of unprotected sex seemed to verify that statement. So there’s that. 🙂

July 2020

On a hot day in July it dawned on me that I never got my period that month. I had experienced some mild spotting two weeks prior but the full flow never arrived. I had only had one period since stopping breastfeeding Bear in June so I thought perhaps this was a normal occurrence after prolonged breastfeeding and going so long without a period. But then I began to wonder “Could I be pregnant?”

I decided to wait a few days and see what happened. But nothing happened. So I hid myself in the master bathroom, took a test, waited the longest two minutes of my life, and then sobbed happy tears as the words “PREGNANT” appeared on the digital screen.

August 2020

I immediately told Will and we were shocked but excited. I called my fertility doctor (because I had no idea who I was suppose to call. I have never gotten pregnant on my own, this was unchartered waters!) and she informed us that even though we did not use fertility treatment for this pregnancy, we are always and forever her patient and she would be happy to see us for an early ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy.

It was August 26 and at this point we predicited I was about 6 weeks pregnant. The moment the doctor turned on the ultrasound screen there was a long pause. She smiled and said “Now remind me, did I give you ANYTHING to help trigger this pregnancy?” Worried that something was wrong, we quickly replied that no, this happened all on its own. She smiled even bigger and announced “okay, just checking because there are TWO babies in there!”

To be truly honest my heart jumped up into my throat. I immediately began to worry out loud that this was not normal, something bad is going to happen, there is no way I can carry two babies, what if something happens to one of them?!

Will on the other hand was completely speechless.

Both doctors we have seen this pregnancy believe that I did what is called hyperovulation. For a normal cycle, a woman will ovulate and drop one of her eggs. But in some cases, as is the case for hyperovulation, you may drop two or even three eggs. This is sometimes due to a genetic gene that is passed down to women from the mother or grandmother which is why you sometimes see twins that run in families. Another cause, which they believe is my case, is due to a combination of advanced maternal age and history of infertility. The doctor described it as “your body knew that you were getting older and already didn’t have many eggs left in your body, so it tries to over compensate by giving you a higher chance of conceiving and dropping whatever is left!” So I dropped two eggs and here we are!

Present Day

At first I was somewhat of denial that I was having twins. I had heard so many stories of “vanishing twins” and how for many twin pregnancies only one baby makes it past the first trimester. I began to mentally prepare for that scenario. I held my breath going into each doctors appointment, each ultrasound, telling myself “if there is only one heartbeat today then I suppose it’s what’s meant to be.” I prepared for the worst and I tried to make peace with it, but deep down I had fallen in love with both of these babies. Something I never knew I wanted was all that I could think about.

I’ll never know if having twins is some crazy accident, a random evolutionary coincidence, or why I was chosen to bring two more babies into the world next year. All I know is that we are head over heels in love with two tiny babies that we haven’t even met yet.

I am 19 weeks as of yesterday but both babies look strong and are measuring a week bigger than expected. So we are halfway there! My first trimester brought morning sickness, daily vomiting, pregnancy acne, and extreme fatigue. But the past few weeks I have felt like my old self again and I feel like we are getting closer and closer to the end! I guess you’re never really out of the woods until the moment they are born, and yes I still hold my breath going into each appointment, but I have absolutely fallen in love with these twins. Something that terrified me in the beginning is now all that I want and I can’t wait to have them here. 

My heart goes out to anyone out there who is still struggling to conceive a child. We know the feeling all to well and it is not lost on us how blessed and honored we are to have this experience. Sending our love and wishes to anyone out there still praying and hoping for their someday baby. xx