Friday, January 19, 2007

Do you see what we saw?




That's Friday's ultrasound.
Take a closer look.
Not all ultrasounds look like that.
Yep.
That's right.
A pair.

Kate is 21 weeks into cooking up our second child, so today, Friday, we had our ultrasound. We are planners, and I'm probably one of the most impatient people on the planet (Christmas Eve was always torture; my purist parents refused to let us open even one present that night, so I usually pulled an all-nighter). So there was no way we were going to not now what the sex of the baby was.
We both thought it would be a girl. In fact, we ventured to say that we would be shocked if it were a boy. We had a boy last time, and this pregnancy felt, I dunno, different. Kate was sicker, longer, and there were days she was so exhausted that I'd have more energy after one of my half marathons.
"Every day is a half marathon for me," she would tell me.
Well, we got our shock.
"I've really felt a lot of movement lately," Kate told the ultrasound technican.
"Well, you're having twins, dear," she said.
Whu?

I've never had the crushing of two opposite feelings coming together like that, and I never will again. It felt as if I had just hit my one-outer to win a huge tournament. And it also felt like I'd just lost to a one-outer.
It was, at that moment, a cross between pure, utter elated joy and YOU'VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME.
Kate started bawling, and at that moment, the technican realized that we had no idea we were blessed with a pair of Hiltons.
"Um, I gonna go get the doctor," she said as I held my head in my hands and shut off the video camera.
Yeah, that would be good, I said.
Daddy's gonna need a moment.

"They're having twins," she told the doctor.
"No, they're not," doc said.
But she came anyway, and she took one look at the ultrasound.
"Oh, wow," she said.
I was pacing.
Maybe because I'm already a parent, I was suddenly scared for my daughters.
"Are they separated?" I said.
"Yes," everything's fine.
So there's that.

As it turns out, the one-outer analogy isn't that far off. The odds of having twins is 3 percent. If that's isn't a one-outer, I don't know what is.
I called Mom, who couldn't speak. I texted my brother, "Big News," and he called and said, "What, you're having twins?"
"Yeah," I said.
"No, really, what's the news?" he said.
"Er...are you really?"
"Yes I really am."

Later he said this was exciting news for our family. It is. Kate and I, over a celebratory/Holy Shit dinner, decided to let it sink in for a few days. We won't think about the fact that my CRV, which we paid off just last month, may have to go. We won't talk about getting another crib, or how we were going to keep our sanity this summer, or how the hell we were going to raise two babies when we've already got the world's most demanding, active (and sweet) 18-month-old in the world.
We will worry about that later.

"Just make sure you do one thing," my brother said before he hung up.
"What's that?"
"Play lots of video games."

His point was to enjoy my life now while I can. These last few months are it. I'll play lots of poker and video games and run and hike and love Kate and spend lots of time with Jayden.
I'll enjoy my life, in a way, before it ends.
Although a small part of me can't help but think it's only beginning.

13 comments:

April said...

Congratulations!!

Dave said...

Holy cow big pappa! You da man! Congrats on your pending twindom! I have 3 kids myself and when my wife was expecting our third, the doctor told us that we might be having twins due to how big my wife was getting. It wasn't twins but my third child weighed in at over 9 pounds at birth!

Ya, you're going to be very very busy this summer. Get your sleep while you can!

Fuel55 said...

A big wicked congrats to you and Mrs. Peaker!!!!!

Faith said...

Oh my goodness! We are so happy for you!!!! =) I can't believe it took so long to find out... but with all of our issues we had a few extra ultrasounds, so I guess I'm just not used to normal. We'll have to get together soon!

slb159 said...

Well played, sir. Congrats to you and the family!

CarmenSinCity said...

Oh my gosh! I can't believe you are having twins. That is SOOOOO cool. I love it. Congratulations! My mom is a twin and if I ever have kids it's likely that I will have twins too.

Jordan said...

Congrats!

""Are they separated?" I said."

That was a hit of opposing feelings as I read it too. Half comical, half super serious. Glad to hear they're fine :)

Unknown said...

Thanks to everyone for all your comments. It helps to know there are people who are excited for us. This is a very scary and very exciting time in our lives, and I feel strongly one or the other about 25 times a day.

Jordan said...

Congratulations and Condolences. Me thinks it will all work out for the best.

CC said...

This is a blessing, and I'm so excited for you. Make sure and take as much time as you can for your wife and you over the next couple months, because it will get a bit challenging afterwards.

cmitch said...

CONGRATS!! My suggestion, sleep as much as possible between now and the birth. There will be no sleep for ages after they are born. I can't imagine how diffucult having twins would be, especially with a toddler running around.

GL GL GL!!!

TripJax said...

Belated, but fushizzle dude. Good luck and get your sleep and poker in now!

Jennifer Newell said...

WOW! Congrats, Dan and Kate! That's amazing. By the way, you can totally keep in mind that I'm a cheap babysitter and I'll be back in Colorado this summer. I have references and everything!

Woooow!