C.R.A.Z.Y.

Or maybe just the lives we moms live...and love!

Spring Break 2011

A couple of my friends decided to leave town together with their kids for Spring Break.  They invited us, but I declined.  Every party has a pooper, right. I just couldn't imagine myself with my four children, two of them two-year-olds, swimming, hiking, etc. and having fun or bringing all of us back alive.  I don't think my husband would have appreciated it if I had come home with a kid or two less than what I had left with.  I am also saving my pennies for a vacation later this year, but I didn't want to be the lame-o mom that's child replies to the big, "What did you do for Spring Break?" question when they return to school with a, "I went to the library." as the most exciting thing that we did.  I'll admit, I didn't want to take the heat from my kids when their friends were all away having fun, so I thought it would go over much better if I had an exciting plan up my sleeve.  My kids are still young enough that thrills are pretty cheap, so I decided that we would go somewhere close, find a cheap hotel room and let them swim.  My mom told me about a hotel that is located in the "armpit" of our state.  I would mention the name, but I don't want to get a bunch of hate mail!  Every state seems to have one, so just imagine the armpit of your state and you will be there.  I looked at it online.  Looked pretty good to me and we ended up having hotel points for it, which made it free.  Even cheaper than I imagined!  It was about 40 minutes from our house.  We didn't spend enough on gas to keep track of and my kids only asked when we were going to be there once.  Many people take their kids to exotic, tropical locations for Spring Break.  We prefer Armpit, USA!  My kids absolutely LOVED it and ask at least once a day when we are going back.  I am quite sure we will be "vacationing" there again soon.

Types of Twins

During my pregnancy I felt like we were educated a little more than I ever cared to be regarding different types of twins.  For some reason I was fascinated when I read all of this:

www.wikipedia.com
Zygosity is the degree of identity in the genome of twins. There are five common variations of twinning. The three most common variations are all fraternal (dizygotic):

• Male–female twins are the most common result, 50 percent of fraternal twins and the most common grouping of twins.
• Female–female fraternal twins (sometimes called "sororal twins")
• Male–male fraternal twins

The other two variations are identical (monozygotic) twins:

• Female–female identical twins
• Male–male identical twins (least common)

Among non-twin births, male singletons are slightly (about five percent) more common than female singletons. The rates for singletons vary slightly by country. For example, the sex ratio of birth in the US is 1.05 males/female,^[9] while it is 1.07 males/female in Italy.^[10] However, males are also more susceptible than females to death in utero, and since the death rate in utero is higher for twins, it leads to female twins being more common than male twins.

 Fraternal (dizygotic) twins

Eight month old fraternal twin girls napping

Fraternal or dizygotic (DZ) twins (also referred to as "non-identical twins", "dissimilar twins", "biovular twins", and, in cases of females, occasionally sororal twins) usually occur when two fertilized eggs are implanted in the uterus wall at the same time. When two eggs are independently fertilized by two different sperm cells, fraternal twins result. The two eggs, or ova, form two zygotes, hence the terms dizygotic and biovular.
Fraternal twins, like any other siblings, have an extremely small chance of having the same chromosome profile. Like any other siblings, fraternal twins may look similar, particularly given that they are the same age. However, fraternal twins may also look very different from each other. They may be of different sexes or the same sex. The same holds true for brothers and sisters from the same parents, meaning that fraternal twins are simply brothers and/or sisters who happen to be the same age.
Studies show that there is a genetic basis for fraternal twinning. However, it is only their mother that has any effect on the chances of having fraternal twins; there is no known mechanism for a father to cause the release of more than one ovum. Dizygotic twinning ranges from six per thousand births in Japan (similar to the rate of monozygotic twins) to 14 and more per thousand in some African countries.^[6]
Fraternal twins are also more common for older mothers, with twinning rates doubling in mothers over the age of 35.^[11] With the advent of technologies and techniques to assist women in getting pregnant, the rate of fraternals has increased markedly.

Identical (monozygotic) twins

Comparison of zygote development in identical and fraternal twins. In the uterus, a majority of identical twins (60–70%) share the same placenta but have separate amniotic sacs. In 18–30% of identical twins each fetus has a separate placenta and a separate amniotic sac. A small number (1–2%) of identical twins share the same placenta and amniotic sac. Fraternal twins each have their own placenta and own amniotic sac.

Identical or monozygotic (MZ) twins occur when a single egg is fertilized to form one zygote (hence, "monozygotic") which then divides into two separate embryos.
There are an estimated 11 million sets of identical twins and triplets in the world today.

Mechanism

Regarding spontaneous or natural monozygotic twinning, a recent theory posits that identical twins are formed after a blastocyst essentially collapses, splitting the progenitor cells (those that contain the body's fundamental genetic material) in half, leaving the same genetic material divided in two on opposite sides of the embryo. Eventually, two separate fetuses develop.^[12] Spontaneous division of the zygote into two embryos is not considered to be a hereditary trait, but rather a spontaneous or random event.^[11][13]
Identical twins may also be created artificially by embryo splitting. It can be used as an expansion of IVF to increase the number of available embryos for embryo transfer.^[14]

Incidence

Monozygotic twinning occurs in birthing at a rate of about three in every 1000 deliveries worldwide.^[13]
The likelihood of a single fertilization resulting in identical twins is uniformly distributed in all populations around the world.^[11] This is in marked contrast to fraternal twinning, which ranges from about six per thousand births in Japan (almost similar to the rate of identical twins, which is around 4–5) to 15 and more per thousand in some parts of India^[15] and up to 24 in the US,^{[citation needed]} which might mainly be due to IVF (in vitro fertilization). The exact cause for the splitting of a zygote or embryo is unknown.
In-vitro fertilization techniques are more likely to create twins. Only about three pairs of twins per 1,000 deliveries occur as a result of natural conception, while for IVF deliveries, there are nearly 21 pairs of twins for every 1,000.^[16]

Genetic and epigenetic similarity

Identical twins are genetically identical (unless there has been a mutation during development) and they are always the same sex. On rare occasions, identical twins may express different phenotypes (normally due to an environmental factor or the deactivation of different X chromosomes in female identical twins), and in some extremely rare cases, due to aneuploidy, twins may express different sexual phenotypes, normally due to an XXY Klinefelter's syndrome zygote splitting unevenly.^[17][18]
Identical twins actually have only nearly identical DNA, and differing environmental influences throughout their lives affect which genes are switched on or off. This is called epigenetic modification. A study of 80 pairs of human twins ranging in age from three to 74 showed that the youngest twins have relatively few epigenetic differences. The number of epigenetic differences between identical twins increases with age. Fifty-year-old twins had over three times the epigenetic difference of three-year-old twins. Twins who had spent their lives apart (such as those adopted by two different sets of parents at birth) had the greatest difference.^[19] However, certain characteristics become more alike as twins age, such as IQ and personality.^[20][21] This phenomenon illustrates the influence of genetics in many aspects of human characteristics and behavior.^{[citation needed]}

Phenotype similarity

Contrary to common opinion, identical twins are not always of the same phenotypical sex. There have been described cases where monozygocity resulted in 46,XO (i.e. female with Turner syndrome) and 46,XY (i.e. male). This is thought to be due to unequal distribution of zygotic protoplasm. However, as a rule, traits and physical appearances of MZ twins are very similar.
Identical twins look alike, although they do not have the same fingerprints (which are environmental as well as genetic). As they mature, identical twins often become less alike because of lifestyle choices or external influences. The children of identical twins would test genetically as half-siblings rather than first cousins.

Half-identical twins

Half-identical or semi-identical twins (also referred to as "half twins") are the result of a very rare form of twinning in which the twins inherit exactly the same genes from their mother but different genes from their father. Although examples of half-identical twins have been found, the exact mechanism of their conception is not well-understood, but could theoretically occur in polar body twinning where sperm cells fertilize both the ovum and the second polar body.
This situation is not the same as the common form of fraternal twinning, in which two genetically different ova are fertilized by two genetically different sperm. In this case, the ova are genetically identical.

Types

There are two mechanisms by which this might happen:

• Polar twins (or "polar body twins"), where two sperm fertilize an ovum, one of the two fertilizing a polar body;^[22] or where an ovum splits into identical copies, one containing a polar body, prior to fertilization, allowing it to be fertilized by two different sperm.^[23][24]
• Sesquizygotic twins, where two sperm fertilize the one ovum, forming a triploid, and then splitting.^[25]

Incidence

A 1981 study of a dead triploid XXX twin fetus without a heart showed that although its fetal development suggested that it was an identical twin, as it shared a placenta with its healthy twin, tests revealed that it was likely a polar body twin. The authors were unable to predict whether a healthy fetus could result from a polar body twinning.^[26] In 2003 a study argued that many cases of triploidity arise from semi-identical twinning.^[27] In 2007, a study reported a case of a pair of living twins, one a hermaphrodite and one a phenotypical male. The twins were both found to be chimeras and to share all of their maternal DNA but only half of their father's DNA. The exact mechanism of fertilization could not be determined but the study stated that it was unlikely to be a case of polar body twinning.^[28]

Degree of separation

Various types of chorionicity and amniosity (how the baby's sac looks) in monozygotic (one egg/identical) twins as a result of when the fertilized egg divides

The degree of separation of the twins in utero depends on if and when they split into two zygotes. Dizygotic twins were always two zygotes. Monozygotic twins split into two zygotes at some time very early in the pregnancy. The timing of this separation determines the chorionicity and amniocity (the number of sacs) of the pregnancy. Dichorionic twins either never divided (i.e.: were dizygotic) or they divided within the first 4 days. Monoamnionic twins divide after the first week.
In very rare cases, twins become conjoined twins. Furthermore, there can be various degrees of shared environment of twins in the womb, potentially leading to pregnancy complications.
It is a common misconception that two placentas means twins are dizygotic (non-identical). But if monozygotic twins separate early enough, the arrangement of sacs and placentas in utero is indistinguishable from dizygotic twins.

Type	Description	Day
Dichorionic-Diamniotic	Normally, twins have two separate (di- being a numerical prefix for two) chorions and amniotic sacs, termed Dichorionic-Diamniotic or "DiDi". It occurs in almost all cases of dizygotic twins (except in very rare cases of fusion between their blastocysts[29] ), in 99.7% of all pregnancies,[30] and in 18–36%[31] (or around 25%[29]) of monozygotic (identical) twins. DiDi twins have the lowest mortality risk at about 9 percent, although that is still significantly higher than that of singletons.[32]	Dichorionic-Diamniotic twins form when splitting takes place by the third day after fertilization.[29]
Monochorionic-Diamniotic	Monochorionic twins share the same placenta. Monochorionic twins generally have two amniotic sacs (called Monochorionic-Diamniotic "MoDi"), which occurs in 60–70% of the pregnancies with monozygotic twins.[31] Monochorionic-Diamniotic twins are almost always monozygotic, with a few exceptions where the blastocysts have fused.[29]	Days 4-8
Monochorionic-Monoamniotic	Sometimes, monochorionic twins also share the same amnion. This situation occurs in 1–2% of monozygotic twin pregnancies.[31] Monoamniotic twins are always monozygotic (identical twins).[33] The survival rate for monoamniotic twins is somewhere between 50%[33] to 60%.[34] Consequently, if twins are monoamniotic that means that the two babies will be sharing a placenta and as a result, due to the small capacity of sharing a sac, the umbilical cord has an increased chance of being tangled around the babies. Because of this, there is an increased chance that the newborns may be miscarried or suffer from cerebral palsy due to the lack of oxygen.	Monoamniotic twins occur when the split takes place after the ninth day after fertilization.[29]
Conjoined twins	When the division of the developing zygote into 2 embryos occurs, 99% of the time it is within 8 days of fertilization. Mortality is highest for conjoined twins due to the many complications resulting from shared organs.	If the division of the zygote occurs later than the 12 days then conjoined twins are usually the result.

Wordless Wednesday

I have discovered I have a thing for pictures of sleeping babies/kids. I thought my days of sweet, little twins sleeping together were over. My boys haven't slept like this since they were babies and I thought they were getting big enough for this sort of thing to be dangerous, so I put them in separate cribs. This picture is part of the silver lining of them being sick for 13 days straight. I just love it, even though they were in between my husband and I in our bed, one of them sideways with his feet in my face!

$100 Visa Giveaway and an awesome Recipe!!!

This is one of my absolute favorite recipe blogs and here's a giveaway to make it even better!!!
Lemon Bundt Cake and $100 Visa Gift Card Giveaway
 To enter the giveaway you have to give suggestions for getting kids to eat fruits & veggies.  There were some great ideas for that also!  Here is my response:
Fruits & Veggies have never been an issue at my house. I have always started them with frozen veggies when they have started eating solids. A few other things that I think have helped my kids to like fruits & veggies are:
1.Having them easily accessble, a plate of fruit or vegetables on the table for them to grab as they walk by.
2. Try new things-branch out a little bit from oranges, apples and grapes. My kids all love fresh mangoes, papayas, berries, celery, asparagus.
3. Don't assume they won't like it.
4. Let them help with the produce shopping. My kids love it when they find something new for us to try.

I think...

He likes watermelon!

When did it get "easier"?

One of my good friends had five kids within three years (a set of twins in the middle) and I remember asking her when it would get easier. Her reply was, "It doesn't get easier, it just changes."  In many ways I agree with her, but as I am sure she would agree there are as many things to love and enjoy about each phase as there is chaos.  For me things have gotten a lot easier since my boys turned two.  The first year I am pretty sure we were at the pediatricians office at least once a week many times more along with several specialists, therapists, and the childrens hospital.  The fun and joys of prematurity!  The second year was a little easier, but not much.  When they turned two it seemed like we were still swimming up stream, but could come up for air from time to time.  In the past few months life has seemed that much easier.  I think both of them walking makes things a lot easier.  Now we are having lots of fun chasing them!  Honestly, I have to say that twins hasn't been the hard part for me.  My boys have been such easy babies.  Both of them together have been easier than one of my girls were.  I love my girls just as much as my boys, but they both very VERY hard babies.  I think the thing that has been so overwhelming for me has been having four kids within five years and working through all of the prematurity issues.

Yes, they were both sufficiently scrubbed down and sanitized immediately after this picture was taken!