Two Eggs Are Better Than One

For those readers I may have who don't already know, my wife Valerie is pregnant.

With twins.

That's right. Twins. And we have an 18 month old with Tessa. That makes three kids under three. Three in diapers-at the same time. Conventional wisdom says "never let your kids outnumber you." Oh well.

I went from looking at Mustangs to looking at Mini-vans overnight. Useful, but not cool.

We are both excited about this, though a little daunted by the changes that are coming. At first it just seemed overwhelming (especially to Valerie-can't blame her, she's carrying them!). The big questions all hit at the same time. How can we afford this? Who will watch them while we're at work, and can we afford a sitter? Will anyone babysit three kids under three? Is our house going to be big enough? How do we get the extra cribs, high chairs and other furniture and supplies? How can we send three kids to college a year apart? Can we have a full term pregnancy physically? How about mentally? Do we really have to get one of those big ugly strollers?

We quickly calmed down, however, and began to get a grip. We totally can do this. It's actually pretty cool when you think about it. Having twins is special. Twin births are on the rise (I believe it's something like 1 in 300 births) but they're not the majority. It's a whole new way to look at parenting but I believe we are up to the challenge. And it's a nice feeling to know that your kids will always have one another-twins are like that. Also, since Tessa will barely be two years old when they come along, she won't remember ever being without her siblings. They'll all be close and that's a good thing. It's going to take a lot of work, patience and love. It's something that one never sees coming, but it's amazing what you can do (and what you want to do)when it's in your heart and all about family.

Now, at this point it should be stated that there are some areas of concern. The biggest concern is that although the ultrasound did show two fetuses, only one registered a heartbeat. The plus side to this is that due to Valerie's doctor having vacation scheduled the tests and ultrasounds were done about a week or so early. As a result the confirmed heartbeat was quite faint, which means it had just started. With twins, it's possible that the other is a little younger, possibly as much as a day or two, and the heartbeat just wasn't there yet. We have another appointment in a week and a half to confirm both heartbeats and it is highly probable that we'll do just that.

But there are no guarantees. We are confident that both twins are in there and are growing, but we would still like to ask for any prayers and good thoughts you can send our way. Healthy, strong and full term. That's the saying around our house these days. Make it one of yours, too, we'd appreciate it.

There are also health risks for Valerie involved. No risks that aren't there for any pregnancy but with a multiple pregnancy the risks are higher. Please keep her in your prayers as well.

So that's the big news. Things seem to be falling into place fairly well already. We've got lots of people willing to donate furniture to us, and our sitter has already expressed her delight in the pregnancy and is more than happy to watch them. We've received lots of love and support already from family, friends and co-workers and we are looking forward to sharing our joy with you all.

Oh, and as long as we're on babies-congratulations to Chris and Amy Teague on the birth of their son Mattingly. And congratulations to Mike and Bridget Wildscheutz. Glad you were finally able to bring Faith home.

That's all for now.