Posted in Pregnancy

When I was 12 weeks pregnant and had my first ultrasound, the technician was pretty certain that my babies were fraternal.  A few weeks later the perinatologist told us he was fairly certain they were identical because of the presence of just one placenta (though sometimes 2 placentas can fuse into one in the case of fraternal twins), and because the membrane between the babies was very thin, the kind he typically sees in cases of identical twins.  Throughout my entire pregnancy I refused to believe they were identical.

After they were born, I didn't really give it much thought for the first couple days, until we had their pictures taken.  In the pictures, it was so clear that Rose's head was smaller than Ruby's that I could readily tell they didn't look completely alike.  Besides, their weights were nearly a pound different as well.

But before we left the hospital I started thinking.  My first 3 kids all had very light blond hair from the time they were born.  These girls both have brown hair.  I began to question whether they could be identical or not. 

Everywhere we have taken the girls together, people have had to stop and look at them and exclaim how beautiful they are.  The question nearly every person asks is, of course, "Are they identical?" 

A few weeks ago, we decided we had to know, so I searched online to find out about having a zygosity test done so we would know for sure.  We ordered a test from Affiliated Genetics.  A few days later we received a sample collection kit and swabbed the inside of their cheeks and under their tongues so we could send the sample in for testing.  Then we waited. 

Meanwhile I've gone back and forth second-guessing whether they're fraternal or identical.  When I tell people we're getting the babies tested, they always try to guess by looking at the babies, and about half of them remark that they look different and so are probably fraternal, and the other half take a close look and tell me they think they're identical. 

Today the results arrived.  They examined 10 STR DNA markers from our babies and all 10 were "concordant."  This means they are monozygotic, or "identical twins" with a greater than 99% probability.  Now I can actually answer people with a confident "yes" when they ask their predictable question. 

I am amazed at these 2 little miracles.  I'm also amazed at the fact that I went through 38 1/2 weeks of pregnancy.  Fraternal twins are considered full-term at 38 weeks, but identical twins are often born much closer to 34 weeks.  God had been so good to us!

I just realized I haven't posted the link to our pictures from our first week with the babies.  Maybe we'll get some more recent pictures up soon.