Our Twins Are What I'm Thankful For

by Shelly Cunningham
(Washington State)

My sister-in-law took this picture for us around Thanksgiving 2009, so whenever I see it, I am reminded of all I have to be thankful for. My husband and I had been married five years when we decided it was time to have a baby. We got pregnant the first month and had two appointments (heard one fetal heartbeat & saw one "bean" on the ultrasound) before the "big" ultrasound where you find out the sex. Our joke was that we weren't finding out unless it was twins.
Well... it was twins! Two boys. We were informed that they were fraternal because they had separate sacks & placentas, but I later discovered that if the egg splits quite soon, the fetuses can have separate sacks & placentas and still be identical. So we weren't sure about our boys until their first birthday when we did a DNA test and confirmed that they are, in fact, identical.

I had a relatively good twin pregnancy. I went on light bedrest (mostly taking it easy, no work) at 27 weeks. I had gallstones and was limited to only 10 grams of fat a day because the doctor feared my gallbladder attacks would send me into premature labor. I worried so much that I wouldn't be able to provide the nutrients the boys needed. Because of my diet, I only gained 25 pounds.

The boys were born on June 6, 2008 at 37 weeks gestation. Baby A (Logan) was 4lbs.6oz. and Baby B (Jack) was 6lbs.13oz. They were delivered via c-section since Jack (the larger baby) was breech. We stayed at the hospital Friday to Monday and were able to go home all together.
The first four months were probably the hardest, mostly because of the lack of sleep.


Since 15 months they have been sleeping 12 hours at night, and that has made ALL the difference!

It's getting a lot more fun now. They are talking, and singing, and signing. And they are interacting with each other, which is fascinating to watch.

For instance, one will hurt the other and be put in timeout as a consequence, and the injured brother will go sit with him in timeout, like, as moral support. I can't figure that out... I am very lucky to have two sweet boys who love each other so much.

(If you would like to read more about the Cunningham twins, check out my blog: www.loganandjack.blogspot.com)