Irish Twins

Four months after having my first child, I realized I was already 8 weeks pregnant with my second. Was I surprised??? To quote Clark W. Griswold, "If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet I wouldn't be more surprised than I am right now."

A lot of people seem to love this story, in fact I think it may be part of some "suburban legend", so I'll retell it here.
I didn't believe the home-test. I mean, why in the hell would I? It shouldn't be physically possible, right? So I read the fine print on the pamphlet and it said that HCG-levels (the pregnancy hormone that the ol' stick is able to pick up at home) could be high a few weeks after having a baby. Great. A loophole. I called my doctor and went in for the blood test. She told me I was pregnant. I said, "No, I WAS pregnant." And she said, "No, you ARE pregnant." And again I told her, "Nooooo, I just WAS pregnant." And pointed to the thirteen-pounds of proof sleeping in the carseat beside me. I then proceeded with a line of interrogation:
Me: Couldn't my HCG-level be high because I was just pregnant?
Doc: No.
Me: Couldn't my HCG-level be high because I'm breast-feeding?
Doc: No.
Me: Could it be high because of something I ate?
Doc: No.
Me: Something I drank????
Doc: No you're pregnant. And according to this test, your levels are high enough that you're either more than half-way through your first trimester with one baby, or you're earlier on in your pregnancy with twins.
Me: (In total disbelief) How did this happen????
Doc: Would you like me to draw you a diagram?

It took a while for it to sink in, but one thing that helped was telling our friends and family as soon as we knew. My husband and I got a sort of bizarre joy out of seeing the looks on their faces and their inability to form coherent sentences upon hearing our news. A lot of people (like my mother) couldn't stop laughing and thought it was fabulous. Other people (like my mother-in-law) didn't know what to make of it and said nothing.

So I had a baby in early-January of 2006 and another in early-December of 2006. Some people call them Irish Twins. http://multiples.about.com/od/glossary/g/irishtwins.htm
I just called it chaos. I had to get two cribs. I had to get a double stroller. I had to get a bigger house. I had to get two of those "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments.

Needless to say, it was not part of the master plan for our family. But as my dad loves to say, "People plan. God laughs." And it's true. Thank the Dear Lord that my second child had to "cook" for 9 months as it gave me time to get used to it! I'm also lucky in that my first was such a good baby. I mean she had to be, right? The situation would have been MUCH more traumatic had that not been the case.

We found out as soon as we could what we were having and were thrilled when we learned we were having another girl. I can't tell you how many times over the years I've heard random people say, "Oh two girls! How lucky for them! They will be best friends!" And they were right. Because they are.

Two kids in one year? I can't imagine my life any other way.