It’s Twin Teens

Corinthians 9:15

“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”

Today our twins turn 13. It’s a blessed milestone. What better way to do justice to the story of their journey than to start from, well, conception!

First, let me say this. I always admired twins. Identical dressing and the confused faces people gave when they couldn’t tell who is who and mixing up their names. Don’t get me wrong, there was no evidence of multiple births in our family genes, at least for those alive then until I came around.

That said, my love for twins was unprecedent. It got me excited every time I saw them and I verbally expressed that desire to anyone who cared to listen. “Mungu si athumani” goes the Swahili saying. For me, it was God responding to those mundane prayers I made constantly of that specific desire. 

So, when I conceived, it wasn’t written anywhere on my tummy,” twins”. We just walked into Nairobi hospital to confirm what we already knew. This time I was with the Mister in tow. My previous visits to the doc had my mum make the arduous 90-minute trip from Naivasha just to accompany me. You see, I am strong in most areas until it’s time to see a doctor. Hyperventilation and all those panic stuff linger.

The nurse at the triage wondered why I did not just do a home pregnancy test. I played dumb or rather we. We asked if we could get an ultrasound to witness the proceedings inside the belly. She said the procedure is to schedule one and book an appointment. But she’ll check and revert. We had a slot! So, we walked in, my Mister took a comfy seat as I craned my neck to see before the sonographer came to the rescue. We were following the commentary alright until the sonographer gasped in excitement. She burst out “It is going to be an awesome Christmas!” She scanned some more, “I see two heads!”

Shock and mixed feelings for this first-time mother to be but it was smiles, grins and jubilations from the other player! My mind was racing into the not so far future when the twins are to be cared for. What a handful! I thought and whined! 

In case you are wondering what transpired when they came. It was a fantastic experience. But I digress.

So, we’re eleven weeks into this business already, the results show and we are due sometime mid the new year. I have really had easy pregnancies without health issues as a direct result of being expectant. I was curious to know everything about multiple pregnancies and so I delved into reading a lot. It helped that a very close friend of mine was already at an advanced stage with her twins growing in her tummy. She became very resourceful. The twin “bible” I read most, as if to sit for an exam was

 ‘What To Expect When Expecting Twins by Heidi Murkof and Sharon Mazel. It is a detailed good read that made me an authority in the matters at hand. Sometimes I would fight the urge not help the gyna with some of the diagnoses-itching to take the words out of her mouth. You like, yeah, yeah, I know that, it’s in fact blah blah blah!

Out of that treasure of information was also the flipside of knowing too much, it creates fear. When I read that you could have a twin pregnancy and end up with one child, because one twin could get absorbed into the other or into the placenta or into the mother (Vanishing twin syndrome). I found myself praying fervently like Hannah, Samuel’s mother. And for anyone who cared to ask for a prayer request, this was way up there in the list. I would feel vulnerable and too young to be a mother in such moments.

Did I hate people? No! Did I have cravings? Does eating excessive mangoes and pineapples count? I remember that December we were visiting with the in-laws. On one of the days we were going to the farm, I spotted a man wheeling a sack of mangoes to the market. We stopped him, we paid him premium price for his mangoes, all of the sack and closed his business day. Sterned, excited and confused, the man still went his way in the direction of the market, I guess to testify! I also had a regular morning appointment with a pineapple vendor where I got a kick from one or two slices…or maybe not, I don’t even remember counting!

At 6 months, after a blissful 5 months, my urine had an uncharacteristic bright yellow colour, way too bright accompanied by an irresistible itch on my arms, palms, legs and feet. Now that alarmed me. I called the doc; she advised I change the cream I was using but the symptoms did not relent.

One Sunday, we took a drive that ended up at my mum’s place in Naivasha. She noticed that my eyes were yellow and her friend too confirmed the same. I called the gyna again as a matter of urgency. She gave me an early morning appointment. I could tell from her eyes that it wasn’t rosy from her assessment. She recommended tests because she suspected it was “jaundice in pregnancy” My heart sunk. I went to the referred clinic in the CBD. Boy, did I cry or what? My babies! My liver! I kept thinking. I cried a pretty good one! The lady who attended to me was kind and reassuring. She calmed me down. For the first time in my life, I was heading to admission. Now that sucked.

Having accepted my present circumstances, I called my sister to pick and pack for me a few personal items from the house and to come along with the test results from the CBD clinic.

At admissions, the nurse exclaimed, “Jaundice in pregnancy!” and made a spectacle of it, calling the other nurses to come see first hand what that looked like! In a scene that defied all ethics, she spoke in a loud voice (I think she is a loud mouth) “In my entire career, I have never seen or heard of jaundice in pregnancy until now!”  So much for comforting me! I thought, you mean in this country there has been no such a case since independence? Throughout that day, they kept mentioning my case. I felt like my goose was beyond cooked, it was smoked!

The results came back positive and the doctors now needed to investigate the why. Blood tests were run. I was assigned a Gastroenterologist to attend to me alongside my gynaecologist.  Dr Kioko was the physician. He was very candid with me, he clarified that it was a liver issue and he is hoping the hepatitis I have is type A, which is self-clearing.

So, I was put on a diet with lots of fluids. I was doing 4 litres of water and almost two litres of sugary juice. I was all in for the babies and me, even as it felt disgusting and nauseating taking all that sugar. It helps as a catalyst for the liver function, I heard the doc say. One morning the doc asked me if my poop was white. I answered in the negative. Then he quipped rather crudely, “At least we are not looking a liver transplant!” Still, that was so sweet a sound to hear I hugged myself. All the while, I was not on any medication. Pregnancy makes us so delicate sometimes. It’s hepatitis A, the results were out. Thank God if what the doc said is correct.

So, the doc had cracked the why of my sickness. I was out figuring the how it happened.

A chilly morning in Nairobi’s Marikiti market a week earlier, I was shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables supplies together with my sister. A call of nature required immediate response, so I tiptoed my way through the stinky and suffocating stench of a Nairobi public toilet(They are way better now). Just how they keep those areas that dirty and unusable without pricking their conscience is surprising. Anyway, I wobbled and found some balance and be done with it in a sec. We emerged gasping for air but also equally starving. A mango threw me a glance, I winked. She sauntered revealing her royal juicy succulence-ness. My mind was played. I fell for it. We were in a tango; I paid the bride price and she was all mine to savour and devour. I had to have that mango. Wish I could make you understand. I just had to!The hunger pangs subsided, common sense was restored and I was doing the post mortem of the whole episode. Knife, not washed. Mango, none of that happened either. Ditto! This is it. My eureka moment came but a tard too late. Ladies, carry your own snacks. To date, I wash my own veges and fruits!

A week later I was discharged with just tabs for 7 days medication. All that because of one mango-head? The upside is that I was free from and immune to Hep A.

Press. Resume. Play. Button. We were back on our growth tangent. Mmmhh! Mmmhh! Not so fast, the devil interjected, pointing at secondary hypertension, technically called pre-eclampsia. We are on week 25 or thereabouts. So it’s back to pills and monitoring to manage it till we have our bundles delivered…and then a little more. Tick that.

One month on. Knock knock! Who is there? Spotting(minor placenta previa). Hey, we are due so many weeks away, what for do you want? The gyna again advises rest. Nay, zero grazing, short leash kind of life. Ah! But I comply. Gleefully remembering from my readings that this was not totally unexpected. I was forewarned hence forearmed.

Week 30 and the gyna advised for an elective Caesarean Section birth though the due date was 5th July. We picked 12th of June, no particular reason by the way. So, we’d need admission a week earlier for injections to help develop the infants’ lungs and other nitty gritty. We completed the treatment four days before the appointed date. 

I was wallowing in the land of milk and honey already, emphasis on the milk. I went into labour but no pain. I sent a message to my Gyna and she thought I was joking. At about 7 am, the nurse who examined me told me we should be with the babies by 11 am. The Mister got the message and fought his way through traffic to find me in the labour ward. CS shelved, it was time to push(Thanks God, so we hoped). The nurse was fired up, eager for me to push, but my contractions were not strong enough hence the lack of pain!(not even with my second pregnancy, but I managed a normal delivery)And exasperated, she exclaimed “huyu alikuwa ashaamua kwenda CS that’s why hawezi push, ako na uoga”Trans. (That I had already decided I wanted a CS and that is why I can’t deliver naturally as I’m also afraid) My fate sealed by those words, my gyna walked in and asked how long I had been in there. My throat was dry, I was given some, I think glucose. Inducement. Nothing. Baby had already crowned. My Gyna felt for contractions, asked me to give it a shot, but I could only bite my teeth as there was no urge.All this time my Mister stood by me❤💯 It was going to be CS after all. The theatre was to be prepared for second stage labour. We were almost!!!

At the entry into the theatre, strong contractions announced themselves. It was too late to stop the operation. The sunrays danced into the recesses of my mind as I took a happy slumber. Friends, and our pastor came to pray and keep my husband company. God bless them, more so our pastor for abandoning everything to come be with us. In at 1130am out at 1500 pm when the anaesthesia wore off. I was startled by a voice calling me and a loud baby crying. The baby was too big to be mine! The doc whispered, you have two naughty and beautiful girls. I was wheeled out of the theatre, one baby on my side , the other between my legs.

The first three weeks were challenging, getting to understand the girls, putting them on a schedule, hospital runs, admission at 3 weeks. (This admission is what made us opt for exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.)

This my friends, is the Hand of God. We have had tremendous and awesome milestones. So, this is just but one of the markers. Celebrating Teen Twins. We watch as our girls flourish before us, God’s love for them so evident. Them becoming the salt and light of this earth. We can only say God is faithful.

Questions that arise

*Did we dress our twins in similar stuff?

We realised they are different persons wanting to express themselves independently. People try to compare them, but they are ok just the way they are.

*Do you put them up in same class?

Yes and this is a conscious decision we made, since their formative years. They thrive when they are working in the same space. It’s hard to separate them so we determined that decision will be theirs to take.

*Are they fraternal or identical?

As per our gyna,she believed they were identical more after delivery as they shared a placenta❤
So,how we respond to that,scientifically,or is it bioilogically they are identical…but physically they aren’t 😂

As per our gyna our twins were/are
“Monochorionic-diamniotic twins. “identical twins”(they don’t look alike though😂)who share a placenta but not an amniotic sac”
As this is how they presented ❤

That has been our journey. That is why you just don’t mess with these girls. I am a mother of girls and I know the pain and stakes to bring and present them to the Lord and to the world beautiful in and out.

We are honoured to be the parents to Jasmine and Crystal.We have seen God in them and through them.

This is my/our story, my journey is different from others, different things work for different people.

On matters health,  always consult with your doctor.

May your journey be filled with grace as our has❤

John 16:21

“When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.”