May Day special

Two years ago today I sat in a doctor's office in Ohio for my first pregnancy checkup listening to my doctor list the things I couldn't eat. "We'll do an ultra-sound to check on the baby, and to see if there is only one." She said. "I'm just nervous I'm wrong about being pregnant," I admitted. Never mind the fact that I had been constantly nauseous for weeks and going to bed at 7 every night. I was still in denial.

Then she found the baby on the ultra sound screen. Zach and I couldn't believe it. There was a head, arms, legs, and we could see a heart fluttering madly. This baby really was living inside of me. "So there's only one, right?" I joked. "Actually," the doctor said, well, you know what she said. She moved her magic wand and there they were, two tiny babies, hearts racing. We. Were. Shocked. I was shaking, my head was spinning. I was so nervous my veins retreated and the nurses had to use a baby needle for my blood work. We left the doctor's office and gave eachother a goodbye kiss, but we missed. Tried again. Missed. "Ok, see you later," I said and we got in our cars to drive to work.

As I drove to work I couldn't stop thinking about the two babies. I thought about getting two carseats, two high chairs, a double stroller. How would we fit two cribs in our tiny apartment? How would I ever be able to get two babies up and down the narrow staircase that led to that tiny apartment? What if I couldn't tell them apart? I also felt a new sense of protective instinct. I realized I actually had two living beings growing inside of me. It was amazing, confusing, scary and exciting all at once.

As it turned out, our apartment was very cramped. It was really hard to go anywhere. We lost a lot of sleep that first year and worried way too much. But having our boys has been an absolute joy. I am happy to report that since that first year, things have gotten much easier. We stress less and we've even moved to a larger, lower apartment. Sometimes, we sleep through the night entirely uninterrupted. The best part is, we love being parents. We can't imagine life without our boys, and we can't imagine how boring it would be to have just one.