We’ve wondered for most of the pregnancy which we’d like to have, fraternal triplets or identical triplets, or maybe some of both. Brian thinks identicals would be really neat, although I can’t understand this since it would just make it harder for him to tell them apart. We’ve both thought that it would be better if there weren’t two identical and one fraternal, because we’re worried the fraternal baby would feel left out.
The first ultrasound we had showed two babies clumped together toward my left side and one on my right side. Right from the beginning, I thought this might mean two were identical, which really would be neat after all. As the babies have grown, we’ve lost track of who was who in that original picture, though, so when the technician identified two girls and a boy on Monday, we still couldn’t be sure if the girls were identical or not.
The technician doesn’t think it’s likely, although there’s no way to know for sure until after they’re born. She found where the umbilicals or something were attached to the placentas. Although she can’t actually distinguish two placentas on the ultrasound, she said there were two peaks, and pointed them out to me, which usually indicate fraternal twins.
Contrary to popular belief, identical twins do not have to share a sac, although they do usually share a placenta. In fact, twins who share a sac, or monoamniotic twins, are very rare, and this can be a very dangerous condition for the babies. Identical twins also do not have to be the same size, as different factors can affect their growth separately.
We’re still hoping for identical girls.
I surely am glad for the invention of television and cable tv. I don’t know how I’d survive otherwise. There’s only so much reading you can do before your eyes start to cross and you get antsy for movement of more than your eyeballs, and I hate silence as a background to anything.
A couple of friends think the local news should do a story on us. I didn’t think triplets were that special anymore, but a blind man with triplets might be more newsworthy. I guess if you’re a reporter reading this, look us up and come on by! Or if you’re not, you could always call them up and let them know about us.