What are MoMo twins?

When John and I first saw 2 heartbeats, we of course scoured the Internet about the different types of identical twins. When we came across all of the information for Monochorionic/Monoamniotic twins, we thought for sure that ours would not be that. It is pretty rare, so what are the odds right? Waiting the 2 weeks to see the specialist for a diagnosis seemed to take forever! Our specialist confirmed at that appointment that they were indeed mono/mono or MoMo for short.
More about twins....
There are two different types of twins, identical and fraternal. Fraternal twins occur when two different eggs are fertilized. Identical twins occur when one egg is fertilized and then splits. Identical twins are always the same sex and they share 100% of their genes. There are many different types of identical twins too. Our MoMo twins share the same placenta and the same amniotic sac. This is a rare occurrence that occurs in less than 1% of twin pregnancies. These type of twins are at a great risk of health complications due to umbilical cords being so close in proximity inside the one amniotic sac. It is easy for the umbilical cords to become tangled or compressed therefore cutting off the nutrients and food supply necessary for survival. The survival rate for MoMo twins is approximately 50%. By going in-patient it improves our odds significantly as they will be monitored several times a day. The only way to "fix" these problems with the cords is to take them. So, we already know that we will have our babies early. Our goal is to get to 32 weeks!

Where To Begin....

The journey that John and I have been on has been a rather interesting one for sure! We had been married for 3 1/2 years when we decided that it was time to start planning for a family. I had finished my Master's degree in Library Science and everything was going to fall into place.... I just knew it. After months and months of trying, a miscarriage at 8 weeks, surgeries, and even more trying, we decided to go a different route. After consulting with our doctors, we determined IUI (Inter-Uterine Insemination) was the next step to take. With any kind of fertility treatments, your odds go up for having multiples, especially fraternal due to multiple eggs fertilizing. That was a risk that John and I were willing to take.
After our first attempt with IUI, we were blessed to see those 2 LINES and even the word POSITIVE on multiple pregnancy tests! John and I were cautiously excited! We knew from experience that so many things could go wrong!
At our first ultrasound at 5 weeks, we saw one little sac (really looked like a blob to us), and realized that we must have beat the odds of having multiples when we only saw one. At our 7 ultrasound, we got to see 2 little heartbeats beating together! What an amazing thing! Our one fertilized egg split and we were lucky enough to have identical twins!
Our OB recommended we go see a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist. He informed us about the different types of identical twins and it is something that he didn't know much about. We were able to get an appointment with Dr. Kirshon, a highly recommended MFMS in Houston in 2 weeks. At 9 weeks, we went for our first ultrasound with him. He confirmed what our OB suspected.... there was no membrane in between the two, therefore our little ones are a very rare type of identical twins, Monochorionic Monoamniotic .