The Big Question

For those of you that don’t know, our twins were what they call “Dichorionic Diamniotic." This means that each baby had their own amniotic sac as well as their own placenta/umbilical cord. First, this is the least risky type of twins to carry since they can’t really “steal” anything from each other.

This also means that odds are the twins were going to be fraternal (not identical). We were told that the odds were about 80/20. The only way they could be identical would be if the embryo split within the first few days of fertilization. Without doing a genetic test, the only way we would know before birth would have been if they were different genders. Since they were both determined to be girls some time ago, that really didn’t give us much information.

Of course, as per Birth Week, they are significantly different weights, so it is still difficult to tell just by looking at them.

However, they both have been tested for blood type. I don’t remember right off which each has, but they are different blood types. This confirms that they are not, in fact, identical.

One thing that a lot of people seem to not realize is that fraternal twins are no more genetically similar than any other siblings. They each had their own egg and their own sperm. They just happened to share a uterus and a gestational period. It’s a weird thing to think about, for sure.

So, there you have it, fraternal twins!

General Updates

They both keep getting increased feedings and we’re hoping that when we go visit tonight they’ll actually no longer be getting IV sugars. This would mean they could both have their IVs removed entirely. With any luck, they’ll both get off the high-flow air as well.

Longer Cuddles

This morning we did our first care-time to care-time carry. We got a bit of a preview last night. We had a different night-shift nurse (the other one had the night off) and she offered to move Elizabeth’s IV and air supply to the other side so that Sam and I could sit close to each other and see each other.

After we had held them like that for a while and before we put them back in their isolettes, the nurse put Elizabeth on my chest with Aspen.

The fewer things they have attached, the more of these things we can do.

About My Hair

Those pictures are embarrassing. I haven’t had a haircut since at least March, if not earlier. Today, we decided to do something about that and bought a pair of clippers. Sam made her first attempt and did a pretty darn good job. Please excuse my terrible attempt at a “normal” selfie.

Extra Bits

I have been updating this every day, but I doubt that will keep up. For now I’ve had enough to talk about, and that may continue for a while, but I’m not going to work to maintain a schedule. I’ll try to let people know when there are updates, but we’ll see how I do.