I am the mother of 6 month old twins. Last January, when my husband and I found out that I was pregnant, he always joked about me having twins, but I knew that it wouldn't happen because there are no twins in our family. Plus, we got pregnant naturally.

I have a daughter from a previous marriage, but this pregnancy was very different. Subconsciously, I was very interested in twin pregnancies and would even do some research on it. Our 12-week check-up with our OB/GYN fizzled my secret hopes, when she found only one heartbeat. But, something wasn't quite right.

I was a little disappointed especially because I was already starting to show, and feel movement all over, and twins would have explained that. Everyone kept telling me that the second pregnancy is different and you show faster and you feel the movement sooner because you know what to expect, but I wasn't convinced.

At our 16-week check-up, I told the doctor that I just wasn't feeling that this was a normal pregnancy and I thought maybe they had my due date wrong. I looked like I was already 6-7 months along! But, I wasn't gaining any weight and I was exhausted all the time!

She did an external exam and measured my stomach, and again told me everything was fine and right on track. I was measuring just where I should be and she wasn't feeling an "abnormally large baby" as she called it.

So, we set up an ultrasound for 4 weeks from then. My husband and I had decided that we didn't want to know the sex of the baby so when we were all ready to begin the ultrasound, I turned away from the screen and told the technician that we didn't want to know what it was.

She just giggled a little and said, "You mean what THEY are!!!" I whipped my head around and saw 2 heads on the monitor. I think time stood still! I looked at my husband and just laughed as the tears streamed down my face! I couldn't believe that after all this time, I actually had twins. And I finally felt relief.

Everything made sense. The rest of the pregnancy went by just fine until my ultrasound at 34 weeks. The radiologist noticed a larger than normal loop of bowel on my twin "A". We had to see a perinatologist for some more tests and another ultrasound. They assured us that everything was okay, and worse case scenario, this baby may have to be examined more thoroughly at birth.

A few more weeks went by and I began to wonder if I would ever have the babies. My husband and I decided that we were ready and talked to our doctor about inducing labor. Since we were almost to 37 weeks, and both babies were in positions to be delivered naturally, she gave us the go-ahead for an amniocentesis to see if the twins' lungs were ready.

During this procedure, the doctor noticed that the loop of bowel was quite a bit larger than it had been 2 weeks prior. He advised us to have a C-section right away to prevent any stress on this baby's stomach. So, at 36 weeks, 6 days, I delivered 2 beautiful girls - believed to be identical - although we never got official results because of the other health complications.

Kerragyn Barbara Lynch, (twin "A") was 5lbs, 7oz, and Giavanna Renae Lynch (the "hidden twin" or twin "B") was 5lbs, 2oz. Both were 18 inches long and just gorgeous!!! I was ecstatic!!! The doctors examined Kerragyn and thought she looked fine and didn't see any problems with her intestines. They sent both babies to the newborn nursery and we were a very happy family!

Less than 24 hours later, Kerragyn was rushed to the NICU at Children's Hospital in St. Paul, MN. Giavanna followed shortly after, both with bowel obstructions. Two days later they were given the diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis. And, when Kerragyn was just 5 days old, she had a major surgery to remove the twist in her small intestine that had developed in-utero. She was left with just 68cm of small intestine. (the normal baby has 200cm.)

Giavanna spent only 4 weeks in the NICU before coming home, but Kerragyn had to spend over 10 weeks there. She had another surgery when she was 6 weeks old to repair her intestine and put a feeding tube in her stomach so we could give her extra feedings at night while she was sleeping.

The girls are doing great now, both are almost 14lbs! I find it amazing how in-tune with each other they are. They weren't together for the first 11 weeks of their lives, but are inseparable now!

They sleep in the same crib, and don't sleep well if the other is not in there. When they are playing on the floor, they reach out for each others hand and will hold it while playing with a toy in the other!

They do everything within a day of each other. Gia started to smile and giggle and the next morning Kerragyn laughed! When Kerragyn learned how to roll over, Giavanna did it a few hours later! Kerragyn found her voice and began to babble and Gia started talking back! They really are my miracles!!!