An ultrasound of Gabriella Foster’s twins.
On Sept. 23, Gabriella Foster, assistant to head to high school Brooke Wells, found out that she and her husband Charlton are expecting. And on Oct. 13, the couple learned that Foster is pregnant with twins. Foster’s due date is June 3, but twins are generally born three weeks early, so they can be expected as early as May 15. Foster is currently about eight weeks pregnant.
Q: How did the ultrasound go?
A: On the 13th, my birthday, we went to see the baby’s heartbeat. And that’s when the doctor found two! It was really cool to see. We didn’t get to hear the heartbeats, but we saw them and it was amazing.
Q: What was your husband’s reaction?
A: Excited. My husband and I are really excited. I’ve always wanted twins.
He wasn’t shocked that we were having two, because he has identical triplets in his family, and I have twins that run in my extended family. He thinks that they are going to be fraternal.
I think when I get bigger and closer to delivery, it will feel a little more overwhelming.
Q: Do you feel different?
A: I started feeling symptoms at about five weeks. When I went to the doctor, he said that when you’re having two, you feel them more intensely and earlier.
I craved so much cheese in the beginning! And I used to like a normal amount of cheese, but one day I came home from the store with a bunch of cheese and just ate mozzarella, cheddar and jack. And then I got really sick of cheese the week after.
I also really used to want bell peppers, and now I can’t stand them or their smell.
I have to constantly eat, but not big meals, just small snacks.
I’m tired a lot. I’m pretty exhausted and nauseous.
Q: How did your parents react?
A: We called my mom, and I made some reference about being pregnant and then changed the subject. And then she said “Hold on! You’re pregnant?” This is the first set of grandchildren on my side of the family.
Gabriella Foster, assistant to head to high school Brooke Wells, with her husband Charlton on vacation.
We told Charlton’s family during his sister’s moving party. We came late, so when we arrived, he said, “Sorry we’re late! It was hard finding a table for three.” His mom didn’t get it at first, but his sister did, and she screamed, “You’re pregnant!”
Some of his family from South Africa and Australia were visiting, so we showed them the ultrasound. And when he was showing them, he said, “Here is the baby,” and then he pointed to the other one and said, “And there is the other one!” And that’s how he told them we were having twins.
Q: What did your friends say?
A: They were all just ecstatic. One of my good friends from college who I played soccer with is pregnant too. She has a due date five days earlier than mine.
Q: How are you feeling about having twins?
A: One baby, your life changes, but with two it’s like everything changes.
We’re having to look at buying a new car. I have an Altima, so we were just looking at my car, and we said, “There’s no way.” Because if we were all in the car at the same time, there’s no way we could fit anything else. So we’re looking at minivans, and I thought I never in a million years would.
We need two cribs. Two of everything. Diapers! Newborns go through 10 diapers a day, and that’s going to be expensive. I feel like doing anything takes more thought with twins.
Hopefully we can get them on the same sleep schedule. It’s obviously our first child, so it’s a learning experience.
Q: Do you have any baby names in mind yet?
A: We sit at night and think of names. I’ll say names, and he won’t like them, so he’ll say, “Veto! Veto!” And then he’ll say names, and I’ll veto them all too.
We have some names, but we’re not really telling anybody. We want something unique, but a name is hard. This is the name this human will have for the rest of its life.
I know a couple who would go to Starbucks, order, tell the barista a name they were considering for their baby and watch how people react when the barista shouts out the name.
People pronounce Charlton “Carlton,” and he hates it, so spelling is also very important.
We might as well wait because my niece wasn’t named until two days after she was born. They ended up naming her Truly. They just wanted to make sure they were picking the name to fit the personality, and when you look at her today, you can tell it’s the right name.
Gabriella Foster, assistant to head of high school Brooke Wells, works at her desk.
Q: Have you talked to any faculty who have had twins?
A: Yes, (English teacher Patricia) Fels and (history teacher) Dan (Neukom). I told Dan, and he was so excited that he pulled Fels out of her class to tell her. It’s nice to know someone who has had twins because it’s not that common. I also talked to (director of communications) Julie (Nelson).
When you’re pregnant, people always tell you their horror stories about their pregnancies. Nobody ever says “Oh, my pregnancy was perfect and fine!”
But I feel fine because doctors are more on top of it now, and I will be going in more often because they are monitoring two babies. You have to make sure they’re not competing for food and vitamins. One can be more dominant than the other.
Q: Are you worried about mixing up the twins?
A: Ours will probably look a little different because they’ll probably be fraternal. If it’s a boy and a girl, it will be easier, but they put a band on their legs after they are born.
But in the womb they look exactly the same. It’s just crazy.
They also put a huge tracker on the babies, so if a baby goes past the infant floor of the hospital, then a huge alarm will sound because someone is trying to steal a baby.
My dad is an anesthesiologist and gives epidurals. He said that most times the baby is in the hospital room with the mom at night, but if it needs more attention then it will be moved and someone could come and claim to be the father and take them.
But with my parents working at a hospital, I’m not worried about anyone stealing my babies!
Q: Are you nervous?
A: I’m nervous about delivery. I would prefer not to have a C-section, but I really just want the twins to be healthy. I don’t want them to be born too early because they could have breathing problems. I Google everything, which is terrible because then you can see every possible terrible outcome. And there is nothing I can do about it!
Once you become a mother, the worrying never stops is what I have heard from a lot of people. I heard from (math teacher) Patricia Jacobsen that she worried while she was pregnant, she worried when her kids were born, she worried when they were toddlers and she is still worrying now. I’m 28 and my mother still calls me, worried. My husband isn’t worried about anything, though.
Q: What are you most excited for?
A: Everything! Just being a mom! Even before high school and during college counseling, people would ask me what I wanted to do, and I would say, “Be a mom.”
At the beginning of the year, we were looking at adoption papers because we might not have been able to have kids, so this really is amazing. It’s a big step, creating life. I’m excited to raise children and see them grow up.
—By Sonja Hansen
