It was a cold Pacific Northwest morning, January 18th, 2015, just like any other. Today was her first ultrasound with her third pregnancy; she figured it would go quickly and be over with no big fuss. She took her two youngest daughters with her, one two years old and the youngest just ten months; she hoped to get in and out with minimal wait times. Her husband stayed at work; after all, it was only her third pregnancy; a picture of the jellybean-sized child would suffice.
She gave each girl a bag of cereal and climbed onto the exam table. She tapped the ultrasound technician on the shoulder. ‘I’m only here so you can tell me it’s not twins. I feel like it is,’ she joked. But the technician was courteous about laughing. This was no different than any number of times she had been told the same thing. But the thought was more than earnest. In the past few days leading up to the appointment, strange things had happened. Dreams about pink and blue balloons in the room of a gender reveal party. With babies. Plural. The tech started the ultrasound, but she stopped almost at once. “It’s ironic that you should say that,” she said. “It really is twins.”
The words barely resonated in her mind before tears began flowing. She looked at the screen, her thoughts jumbled. Twins? On top of having two in her own nursery already at home? Fear trumped excitement at this point. And then there was more news—they would have identical twins. Her wish was close, but identical twins would mean two babies who looked exactly alike. Her thoughts swirled with excitement and fear. She cried throughout the appointment.
Her husband didn’t believe her either. The tech had to verify it over the phone. This ten-minute appointment turned into a forty-five-minute ordeal, filled with unfamiliar words like “high-risk pregnancy” and “maternal fetal medicine.” She left overwhelmed and emotionally drained, amidst a pool of crushed cereal on the floor. However, soon after, the shock was worn down by the arrival of awe in its place. They were having identical twins! They realized they were fascinated by having been selected to experience the phenomenon of identical twins, as if they were part of an exclusive club.
Pregnancy itself passed without any issues, although it involved numerous visits. However, her water breaking at thirty-five to thirty-six weeks of gestation resulted in rapid labor. Soon, she found herself in the operating theater. Baby A gave birth first. She put the baby on her chest. She froze. That’s because the baby’s hair radiated bright, glowing yellow, unlike her other daughters, who all have dark hair. A blonde? She could hardly look away.
Baby B was born a few minutes later, and, of course, she had the same neon-blonde hair. Although she was expecting it, it was still quite shocking. The twins were taken to the NICU almost right away. Baby A appeared a bit smaller than the other one, but it would become more apparent a couple of hours later. They differed by almost two pounds. Comparing the two of them side by side, everything she had been told suddenly seemed questionable. They did not resemble one another in the slightest. Except for the hair, of course, they might have been totally different people. She asked every nurse in sight how they were the same when they were identical twins.
But time passed, and slowly their features began to match up. Even though their head structures were dissimilar, their differences in size, which were once five pounds and four inches, were narrowed to ounces and inches. During a checkup at age two, she noted that one was right-handed and the other left-handed, with cowlicks on opposite sides. The doctor smiled and said that both boys were mirror twins, a rare form of identical twins that occurs when a mirror split forms in the egg. However, now that she is a witness to her children’s lives, she is grateful. She has five children to love, a life she never could have dreamed of.
Being a twin mom is like icing on an already sweet cake. The icing was having twins. The icing on top is having mirror-image twins. Despite their similar bodies, they are very different in spirit. They are nothing alike in terms of personality. They are “best friends,” each other’s protector, yet still very much their own person. “And no matter how often the world compares them, she hopes they always know that at home, they are seen separately, completely, and endlessly loved.”
