Major Update!!!

Hi everyone!

We went to the doctor on Monday for the first of our "formal" ultrasounds. They examined our babies for almost two hours, which means we got the privilege of watching them for almost two hours! It was lots of fun.

We learned so much about them, I have been so excited to share it with you. First, we got an additional surprise of finding out that we will be having IDENTICAL twins! Wow! We originally thought that they were fraternal due to their spacing and some other stuff, but it turns out that they are actually sharing the placenta which automatically makes them identical. The ultrasound tech described it to us by saying that they live in the same house in different rooms. Living in the same house and the same room would be very dangerous so, we're very glad they are separated by their own amniotic sacs. Having identical twins means two boys or two girls... we couldn't tell their gender yet, but when I go back in two weeks we should be able to see the boy/girl parts.

We had the screening called nuchal translucency which looks for an increased risk of defects like Down Syndrome. All's well... neither are showing any signs of abnormalities. YAY!
They are both exactly 2.5 inches long, and have equally strong heartbeats. It was amazing to see them.

Below is a picture of both little ones, if you look closely you will see one babies head is up (labeled H) and the other's head is facing down. The "B" label means body.





My favorite part of the ultrasound was when I saw one of our little ones yawn! The other one put up its hand to us (I think he/she was saying HI MOM!) and we could so clearly see the tiny fingers. They were both jumping around and turning. At the start of the appointment they were head to butt position, but during it they moved to head to head. Seeing their tiny legs kick was really amazing. I am so grateful to live in a generation that has this technology. I saw them in color (the little hearts were beating bright red) and we also got some 3-d pictures which showed they fit together like puzzle pieces.


All in all it was such good news and a relief. I was starting to fall prey to the
"paranoid mommy" brain and was feeling worried that one twin wasn't ok, or maybe they were sick or something completely irrational like that. I was anxiously waiting to just see that they were both just fine- and they are.

On another note, I had some bloodwork done and it showed that I have a blood disorder (it runs in my family, called Protein C deficiency) that creates too much clotting. Therefore, during pregnancy I am at risk for blood clots and strokes. This does not affect the babies, just me. So, its a simple fix- I have to get daily injections of a drug called Lovenox which is a blood thinner. So far, Dan has had the pleasure of administering the shots, my brain will not let me carry out the shot. I get close, right about to do it and then...I just can't. I am very lucky to have a husband willing to live out the doctor role every day.

So, everything is going great in the world of Mazzio Mania. I hope everyone has a great thanksgiving!

Two are better than One

"Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help lift him up."

Ecclesiastes 4:9




I am so very excited to have the privilege of raising twins! As Dan and I have been processing through our thoughts about this upcoming adventure we both agree that it is truly a special bond that these children will always have with their twin. What a blessing to us and for each other!

p.s. check back for new ultrasound pictures on Monday!!!!!!

Limes!

I have two limes!

This week they have grown to the size of limes! Amazing isn't it?

They have fully formed arms, legs and even ears this week. The next few weeks are huge growth periods. I'm just about out of the 1st trimester which is a major milestone. I'm officially in maternity clothes, even though it's still not completely obvious to others, I definitely don't fit into regular clothes anymore.

The sickness has continued, but has reduced which gives me hope that one day I'll enjoy food again.

EXAMPLE: (on the phone to my mom)
Mom: Hi, what are you doing?
Me: Hi, Oh I'm sitting here... just choking down a fruit cup
Mom: wow, never thought I'd hear that out of the mouth of a Squicciarini... I didn't think it was genetically possible to not like food.
Me: Yeah, I know.... and I'm pissed about it too!


I am still having trouble eating but managing to get a little better as the days pass. Dan is getting excited and today he was talking to "the kids" for the first time! It was funny!

Imagine: Dan, standing a full 9 inches taller than me looking down at the belly, hands cupped around his mouth directing his voice (like that helps?!?!?) and yelling "HEY! Kids! Whatcha doing? I heard you are the size of a lime!" Pretty darn funny.

This brings me to a very funny thought: Dan is an only child and upcoming babyhood will be FULL of so many surprises for him! AKA: He can't even imagine what's coming his way in 6 months.




But honestly, neither can I :)

It's the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure book.

Update

Apparently when you are having twins, the pregnancy hormones are through the roof. I can definitely attest to this because I have been sick sick sick.

I can barely tolerate any kind of food. I've lost a bunch of weight (its normal) and poor Dan hasn't eaten any real food in weeks. I force myself to eat things and the thought of the next meal practically leaves me in tears. yuck. Whats worse is that I decide on something I think I can eat, Dan retrieves it and then I change my mind or it fails. What a pain!

So here is what I currently live off of:


and yesterday I discovered that the babies also really like:



AND, If you are in the area, stop by the house and grab Dan for some real food and a break from this high maintenance pregnant-with-twins woman.

Processing

It's only been 5 days since we found out that we will become a family of four in a few months from now. As you can imagine, the emotions are many and varied. I guess the first thing we thought about was "how did this happen!!!??!!" Besides the obvious answer :) we discovered that my grandfather's brother had a twin who died in early childhood. There are also some twins in Dan's family in far away generations. Our doctor told us that fraternal twins are more genetically linked than identical. So, maybe we do have some recessive trait somewhere that decided to show up for us. Special, huh?

Regardless of how it happened, they are here to stay! Some days I feel like its the scariest thing that I could ever imagine. Other days it seems so exciting I wonder if its too good to be true.
We thought through some pros and cons of this situation:

CON
1. The pregnancy process is pretty rough on me and it stinks to have to feel sick all day. My hormones are triple that of a normal pregnancy= barfy all day long...
2. I am going to be so huge at the end of the pregnancy that I will be wearing tablecloths with rope belts because thats all that will fit.
3. They will likely arrive early because I will "run out of womb" ha!
4.When they arrive we will need double everything. For example, diapers will be a hot commodity around our house. We estimate needing 800 diapers per month for the first few months. And two college tuitions. And two.....

PRO
1. We thought maybe having 3-4 kids would be ideal. This pregnancy could knock out at least 50% of that goal at one time
2. Twins are kinda cool, and people love twins.
3. Carrying two babies at one will surely get my arm muscles in tip top shape.
4. They do everything on the same schedule...which is easier than 3 kids on 3 schedules. Maybe we'll only have 3 kids on 2 schedules.
5. Dressing twins alike is fun.
6. Twins have a special relationship that the rest of us singleton's don't have.
7. Mother's of twins say that they become professional time managers and seriously organized.
8. Dan reminds me that we're 2 tenths of the way to a basketball team.
9. Other mothers of twins say that its so special to see them so bonding, for example most twins like to hold hands while they are being nursed!!! so sweet!!!!
10. MORE BABIES FOR US ALL TO LOVE


OK so there we go. That proves the point. 10 pros to 4 cons. It's clearly a good thing. :)

New Life, New Blog

Dear friends,

Our life is facing some pretty AMAZING changes. We want to share the joy with all of you, whether near or far. Therefore, we're getting serious about this blog. It will be updated regularly and you won't be dissapointed. :)

Without further ado...

We would like to officially announce that we're pregnant! It was a complete surprise! We saw the doctor for the first OB appointment last week and were given this:



This is the sonogram of our babies. Yes, you read that correctly. babies. twins.

Its pretty obvious that there is two in there. The one baby on the left has a great profile picture. If you look closely you can see the head and nose profiled at the top. The black space is the tiny brain forming. The 2nd baby was not at the same angle so he/she is just wiggling in the background. The good news is that they are both healthy with strong heartbeats. Hopefully happy too, but the technology can't exactly tell us that quite yet. One baby is 8mm and the other is 8.2 mm. They each have their own little rooms, so they are not sharing the same space. We're told that this arrangement is ideal and that we probably have fraternal twins.

Over the past few days Dan and I have been just processing the craziest surprise of our lives and we have come up with a new word:

TWINSANITY

kinda like insanity, but with twins.


We have also decided that since this is such a unique opportunity we wanted all the people we know and love to be able to walk this journey with us. We know it won't always be easy, but it will always be filled with love, joy and excitement. We're genuinely excited to chronicle this experience. Please feel free to leave comments and interact with us.


Love,
Dan, Lisa, baby A and baby B, Sydney and Raleigh