The Story of February 20th: Twin Fake-out

Get comfortable – this is a long story!!

I went to my first appointment at the hospital's prenatal clinic where I now go regularly instead of my GP. When checking the baby's heart rate, the nurse found two very strong beats…one high up on the right side, and one lower on the left side. She scurried away, and came back with another nurse and the doctor. Each of them took their turn listening and prodding, and the doctor was confident that I am having twins. She said that I was to stay at the hospital until they could get me an ultrasound to confirm, because she would need to refer me to an obstetrician and take me off work right away, as apparently 18-26 weeks is a dangerous window in the life of twins.

They scooted me downstairs to ultrasound and squeezes me in between appointments. The ultrasound technician was testing a new piece of equipment that the hospital may purchase, so she and the salesman of the unit did the ultrasound. It was not what I had expected. They didn't show me much of the screen and talked far more to each other than me, discussing the clarity of the picture, the resolution of the screen, and the various button features. She kept the "wand" in the same 3 inches of my stomach the entire time, and said that she just saw one baby.

I went back up to the prenatal clinic to tell the doctor and nurses there, who were all quite surprised – saying that they have not heard two beats so strong and not been twins. The doctor then said "Well, we'll see. You can go back to work for now, and I'll see you in a month." I left feeling pretty uneasy about the whole thing, as I really felt that more attention was paid to the features of the new ultrasound machine than to me and the baby. I worried about it enough that night that I decided to call my doctor the next morning and, telling the story to his nurse, she squeezed me in berween appointments that day.

My GP said that he called and heard the recorded reading of the ultrasound pictures from the radiologist, and that everything looks like we have one healthy baby. He said that although the ultrasound might not have been a pleasant experience, it appears as though everything was done properly. I was measuring further along than 18 weeks, however, so he said to expect the baby a week or two early. My mind was far more at ease after seeing my GP than it was before, but I am still not 100% convinced. After hearing two heartbeats with my own ears, it's hard to shake this weird feeling I'm having.

In other 18 week news– my weight was 21 Lbs heavier at that appointment than pre-pregnancy. They recommend a 30 Lbs weight gain? Yeah right!