Stephanie Forrester, A Mom of Mirror Identical Twins
Stephanie Forrester, Guest Blogger
“Congratulations, you’re having a girl and your due date is April 26th,” My husband and I were so excited! After all, within two months I was pregnant when it takes some people years to conceive. From that day forward, everything was pink for us. The first thing I noticed immediately was how much I was showing – the baby bump was bulging! I couldn’t believe how big I was getting, because I am a petite 5-foot, 3-inch lady. At the two-month check-up, it was amazing to hear that little heart beat.
At our three-month appointment, the medical staff suggested an ultra sound. No big deal, until the technician said, “Oh, well, this explains everything…you’re having twins!” I remember laying there, looking at the monitor, shocked and unable to say a word. For once in my life, I was completely speechless. I felt physically faint, and I thanked God that I was laying down. After the initial shock, my husband and I called our closest friends and family to share the news. I believe they were just as shocked and speechless as I was that day I got the news.
At the six-month mark, we found out that we were having two girls. My doctor encouraged me to gain what I could, but no matter what I ate, I just kept getting bigger. Those milkshakes at night were oh-so-good! I had out-grown maternity shirts and was wearing 2XL shirts. At 26 weeks I started having contractions and was put on bed rest. During that time, I read everything that I could find on babies, twins, raising kids, etc.
The Day of My Labor
On March 1st, 1994 I remember that it was raining outside. I woke up not feeling so good and I knew in my gut that something wasn’t right. I went straight to the doctor’s office and did a urinalysis. They told me that I had protein in my urine, which meant that I was going to the Emergency Room immediately. When I arrived, I was wheeled in, hooked up to an ultrasound machine, and had an IV started. After this, I was soon informed that I had toxemia, therefore I was going to have my twin girls that day via caesarian.
Frantically, I called my husband. I had not even packed a bag! I was frantically telling the nurses that, “my girls were too small to be born!” They assured me that at 4 lbs they would be fine. My husband arrived within 2 hours of my call. I kept telling each medical staff person that, “my girls were too small to be born!” The doctor on call (one that I had never met) informed me that if the twins were not born today that we could all three potentially die. There was no other option, so we got the labor party started! After an hour of prep, my two beautiful, perfect, tiny baby girls were born. I barely saw my baby Anna, and I didn’t even see Ashley until the next day as they were whisked away into the NICU unit. They remained there for two and a half weeks.
Talk about joy, talk about surprise, talk about delight! Our beautiful mirror image twins were absolutely amazing. By the way, the term “mirror image” is used because the twins, when facing each other, appear as matching reflections. They have the same physical features but some are opposite. For example, if one twin is right-handed the other twin may be left-handed.
I have loved every second of my twins and can’t say that the day of my labor was the only rollercoaster I had with them. From that day Anna, Ashley, my husband and I lived happily ever after!