They're Heeeeerrrrreeeeeee...

Where to begin?  At the beginning I suppose.  Stef and I have been trying to start a family of our own for a number of years now.  We had been told by our Ob/Gyn that we would probably have to use some sort of fertility medication, but out of concern for multiples we opted to wait until Tom was closer to completing his program.  Around September we decided it was time to progress to the next stage.  Stef was started with two rounds of Clomid (to help with ovulation), without any response at all.  In January, Stef's Ob/Gyn progressed us to a drug called Femara.  Stef seemed to respond and had all the symptoms and discomfort of ovulation; on both sides.  However, on ultrasound, the doctor thought the developing follicles were still a little on the small side, but was optimistic that we still may be successful, although she outlined the next plan to up the dose of Femara plus add some shots for the next round if it didn't work.  We were optimistic, but cautious--just glad to see that Stef was actually responding.  As part of our established cycle of fertility treatment, we took our pregnancy test. 

The morning of February 19th, 2011 (14 years to the day that I asked Stef to be my girlfriend) we had a surprising result (see below).  Please note, that according to the test, Stef was not just pregnant, but was "very" pregnant.  The line on the left is the "yes you're pregnant line," while the line on the right is the "yes, you peed on the stick line."  Notice how the line on the left dwarfed the line on the right. Hmmm...

Later the following week Stef had some blood work done, some of which included a quantitative hcg over a two day course.  We were pleased to here back from the doctor that everything looked great, and that she would like us to have an ultrasound as soon as possible.  Which seemed sort of funny...  Everything we had read stated that you really wouldn't be able to see anything on ultrasound--too soon to see an embryo, too soon to hear a heart beat.  We justified it to ourselves by saying,"They probably just want to confirm proper implantation and placement." 

But, now we understand why.  Because apparently, Stef's hcg (or pregnancy hormone) was doubling twice as fast as a normal pregnancy.  Below is the result.

So yes, you are seeing double.  TWINS!

We wanted to wait to post and tell extended family and friends after we had confirmed both babies' heart beats, which happened this morning (See bottom strips on the right side of panels).  What an awe-inspiring moment when we heard two hearts woosh-wooshing to their own little rhythms.  We're still in shock, but it is starting to sink in.