While I will never be completely reassured until my babies are safely in my arms, our 20-week anatomy scan revealed nothing alarming to date. I will continue to have weekly ultrasounds to monitor things closely.
The upside of the super-anxiety-provoking anatomy scan was gender confirmation. My husband has been convinced of Baby A's gender - he was certain to have seen female genitalia on an early ultrasound. Our doctor has also been quasi-sure that both babies were girls and offered his advice on names (he highly recommended Sophie for one). My husband even gave me two beautiful little pink onsies for Christmas as a first gift for our twins. Just a few weeks into my pregnancy, I dreamed that I was carrying twin girls, but I also dreamed that I gave birth to an iguana, so I really couldn't count on that dream as an instinctual sign or motherly intuition (I hoped)...
Although not privy to them very often myself, I do believe in special signs from the Divine. One morning while at a stoplight on a back road, my gaze was attracted to a small abandoned shopping center. The parking lot was completely overgrown with vegetation and covered with wide-open Morning Glories, reaching towards the golden beams of the morning sunrise. It was not one variety growing wildly there, but a splendid mixture of two. They were pink and blue.
Of course, we would have been happy with any gender combination, as long as the babies are healthy. But to our surprise and delight, the 20-week anatomy scan confirmed what was suspected from our recent genetic testing (where the presence of Y chromosome was detected). We are having a girl and a boy!
Although we are very anxious with this pregnancy because of our history, we have been working hard to create happy memories. When the fear of loss is raw and real, it's easy to detach. But, our goal is to bond with our babies even before they are born and enjoy every single moment we have with them.
So, we planned a gender reveal party to share our joy. I had dreamed of having a gender reveal party someday, but didn't think it would really ever be possible for us. Planning the party actually felt quite surreal. Because it's still flu/RSV season, we had to limit the number of people we could invite (doctor's orders). Some of our immediate family members were with us in person, other friends and family joined via Skype. It was wonderful having a little company after so many weeks of bed rest and isolation. We had a beautiful cake made for the occasion and toasted (me with sparkling grape juice) the gender revelation and impending coming-into-the-world of Emma France and Rémi Lorenzo. It was absolutely one of the happiest days of my life!
The upside of the super-anxiety-provoking anatomy scan was gender confirmation. My husband has been convinced of Baby A's gender - he was certain to have seen female genitalia on an early ultrasound. Our doctor has also been quasi-sure that both babies were girls and offered his advice on names (he highly recommended Sophie for one). My husband even gave me two beautiful little pink onsies for Christmas as a first gift for our twins. Just a few weeks into my pregnancy, I dreamed that I was carrying twin girls, but I also dreamed that I gave birth to an iguana, so I really couldn't count on that dream as an instinctual sign or motherly intuition (I hoped)...
Although not privy to them very often myself, I do believe in special signs from the Divine. One morning while at a stoplight on a back road, my gaze was attracted to a small abandoned shopping center. The parking lot was completely overgrown with vegetation and covered with wide-open Morning Glories, reaching towards the golden beams of the morning sunrise. It was not one variety growing wildly there, but a splendid mixture of two. They were pink and blue.
Of course, we would have been happy with any gender combination, as long as the babies are healthy. But to our surprise and delight, the 20-week anatomy scan confirmed what was suspected from our recent genetic testing (where the presence of Y chromosome was detected). We are having a girl and a boy!
Although we are very anxious with this pregnancy because of our history, we have been working hard to create happy memories. When the fear of loss is raw and real, it's easy to detach. But, our goal is to bond with our babies even before they are born and enjoy every single moment we have with them.
So, we planned a gender reveal party to share our joy. I had dreamed of having a gender reveal party someday, but didn't think it would really ever be possible for us. Planning the party actually felt quite surreal. Because it's still flu/RSV season, we had to limit the number of people we could invite (doctor's orders). Some of our immediate family members were with us in person, other friends and family joined via Skype. It was wonderful having a little company after so many weeks of bed rest and isolation. We had a beautiful cake made for the occasion and toasted (me with sparkling grape juice) the gender revelation and impending coming-into-the-world of Emma France and Rémi Lorenzo. It was absolutely one of the happiest days of my life!