Yes, they are just blurry dots but they are the first glamor shots I have of my twins!
On the bottom picture you see two dark sacs with little white blurs in them, they are baby one and baby two.
After seeing the condition of the Limbe hospital, which left me very disconcerted, we decided to look for other alternatives concerning my pregnancy. So on Tuesday, the 20th, Drew, the mission nurse, Veronica, and I loaded in the mission van and headed 45 minutes up the mountain to Buea. There they have what they call a reference hospital, that means that it is the hospital holding the best doctors and specialists in Cameroon. It seemed to be a mostly uphill journey and when we were just nearing the busy market section of Buea, the van quick. It was a frustrating 15 minutes trying to get the traffic to clear long enough to get out of the middle of the road but we finally were able to roll it back and out of the way. Veronica called her brother, a mechanic, to come and help while she and I went on to the hospital. Upon entering the gate I started to relax a little bit. It was clearly a much nicer and cleaner hospital than Limbe. As we neared the maternity ward there were already six or seven ladies waiting to see the doctor in the outdoor waiting room. We took a seat and heard that the Doctor was not yet in, he was teaching a class at the university. Soon he arrived and Veronica greeted him, she had recommended this Doctor to me and knew him well. I felt bad getting to see him right away but Veronica just laughed and said she had made an appointment with him.
The consult went very well. Drew arrived in the middle of it and was able to meet him as well. I had come in very nervous, but He was a very professional older gentleman and I soon relaxed and left feeling like things might be ok, after all.
The Doctor gave us a prescription for blood work and an ultrasound. I was ok to wait on the blood work, but asked if we could do the ultrasound that day. The hospital radiologist was out so we drove to a pharmacy in town that was doing ultrasounds. As my name was called, we entered a little room in the back. A doctor came in shortly and after typing in some information, pressed the "magic wand" to my belly. I couldn't see the screen, but Drew and Veronica could. I kept waiting for the heart beat but none sounded. I began to get nervous thinking something was wrong. Turns out his machine only did picture not sound, so in a few seconds he said, "Ok, here's one." then after a pause he moved it a bit and said, "And here's another." Moving the wand back and forth he said again, "One, Two. Twins!"
I was so shocked, I said, "are you serious?" He confirmed. I laughed and cried all at the same time. Drew gave me a big hug and kiss and we walked out to wait for our pictures and paperwork. Drew said when he saw the doctor moving the wand he saw the first baby then another little white spot appeared on the screen. It was a great moment. Veronica gave me a big hug as well and told me how happy she was for me. It was nice to have her along. She has been so great about helping our family out while I have been going through all the morning sickness and exhaustion.
SO back home we went and called the children in to show them the pictures. Kent stared but Katie was the one who saw the two. "You're having twins!" she cried. Kent was quick to remember that he had been the only one to guess right. We all laughed and began the contact list for home.
What an amazing journey this is, far more exciting than we could have ever planned. We truly thought our baby days were over and then for God to send us twins, it is stunning but exciting. We are all feeling that God does all things well and twins were the perfect gift to fill in the children's age gap. Of course this opens up many more questions and we want to be careful to be following in His will for our lives. We are trying to take things one step at a time and trust God to make the way clear. As always we are so appreciative of our family in Christ's prayers and support. May God bless you all.
