Two Peas in a Pod... Maybe?

“Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant... When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.” (Genesis 25:21,24)

Ever since my doctor mentioned putting me on Comid, it has gotten me thinking about the possibility of conceiving twins. I have wanted twins ever since I was a little girl. Back in the day, I wanted just 2 kids, but I wanted them to be twins more than anything else. I just think the idea of it is so cool- such a rarity and phenomenon. I’ve always held on to the hope that my chances of having twins were pretty good considering that my dad is a twin himself and that my mom has brothers who are fraternal twins. And, when I began to struggle through the journey of infertility, I secretly wondered if when God answered my prayers, He would answer them in abundance. Anyone who knows me, I hope knows that my heart truly just wants a baby. And I would be overjoyed with simply having one. However, I think twins would be an extra special little gift.

But when my doctor said that if I wasn’t pregnant this month, she was probably going to prescribe Clomid for me, I began to dig a little deeper into the statistical chances of me REALLY having twins! Here’s what I’ve found out:

In just the general population, there is a 3% chance of having twins, or 3 in every 100 babies are twins.

Factors that I already have which do increase my chances of twins are:
*Your mother or grandmother having or being fraternal twins. It indicates that they may release more than one egg in ovulation and that you may inherit such a gene. My grandma had fraternal twins, so this does increase my chances.
*Having a Body Mass Index of 30 or higher gives you a significantly higher chance of twins. Sad to admit, but I do fall into this category as well.

Then when you add in fertility treatments:
*Fertility enhancing treatments, specifically drugs that stimulate ovulation can increase your chances to be as high as 1 in 38. Others estimate that using the drug Clomid increases your chances to 1 in 5 (about 20%).
*By itself, most sources say that Clomid causes twin pregnancies about 10% of the time. (Triplet & quadruplet pregnancies occur less than 1% of the time.)
*Some practitioners actually prescribe Clomid to help someone get pregnant with twins even if they do not suffer from infertility. It’s hard to find such a doctor, but they do exist.

Combined Factors:
*I found one woman who said that because of having twins on both sides of her family and the slight increased chance Clomid gives, her doctor gave her a 50% chance of having twins!
*Women who take Clomid when they do not have trouble ovulating have an increased risk of getting pregnant with twins.
*Women who are younger than 25 have an increased chance of having twins.

So, if the woman who had only 2 of those factors was given a 50% chance of having twins, what about me? I have FIVE factors!
*A family history of twins
*A high BMI
*Fertility drugs (possibly)
*Being under 25 years old
*And already ovulating on my own

I tried to find anything that might give me a percentage number, but couldn’t get any results. Perhaps when my doctor does prescribe it, she will give me some indication of the likelihood that I may have twins.

P.S. While I would be stoked beyond all get out about having twins, Jesse is fairly frightened. Oh well! He’ll adjust! :-)

And, while I’m speaking of Clomid, I did find out that 95% of pregnancies that occur with Clomid, occur within 6 months. So, if you don’t get pregnant within 6 months of bring on the drug, the drug by itself probably isn’t going to help you. This makes sense as to why Dr. York said she would refer us to the Reproductive Endocrinologist after 6 months, who would combine the Clomid with artificial insemination.

The only downside to it all is that Clomid has some nasty side effects, including mood swings, hot flashes, and headaches (which I hear happen most often). It can also cause hostile cervical mucous which counteracts pregnancy by killing sperm, and it also things the uterine lining which prevents implantation or causes early miscarriages. These two things happen in 30% of women who take them. My biggest fear is taking a drug that makes things worse for me considering that I already do ovulate. Most women who take this drug, don’t ovulate on their own, which means it is impossible for them to get pregnant. Therefore, even the nasty side effects are worth it because it gives them their only chance of conceiving. Since my story is different, it’s something I’ll really have to consider. Having said that, some women don’t experience any side effects (just like any medication one could take), and I think it’s worth giving it a shot, considering I could always stop taking it if I needed to.

So, as long as there’s no underlying factor that we have yet to find, I have a REALLY high chance of getting pregnant within the next 6 months, due to this being my 2nd year of trying to conceive and the possible fertility treatments. I don’t want to get ahead of God in any way, but I can’t help but feeling excited since I believe that He’s been telling me to get ready for Him to move.

In anticipation, I have bought several picture frames. Nearly a year ago, I made one for my future son with his name on it. I decided to go ahead and make 3 more with the other names we have picked out. I know that I may not have that many kids or those specific genders, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. I also bought a bigger frame to put in the future nursery. I want it to have a quote or something on it which depicts the anticipation of our future baby.

I’ll try to post pictures when they are done. :-)