Monday, September 29, 2008

Identical or not?

That is the big question about the girls... Are they identical? And the other question we get is, How do we tell them apart?

Are the girls identical?

Well, we do not know if the girls are identical, but many people think that they might be. Here's some of the reasons why:
1). The girls look alike to many people (including us!) The nurses in the NICU really thought they might be identical based on their looks.
2). One nurse said that they might be identical since Cayley came out second (behind Aleah), and Cayley should have come out third. It had something to do with the possible location of the girls' placentas maybe being close together. The girls were in separate amniotic sacs, which would normally indicate fraternal twins, not identical. However, if the egg split early enough in the pregnancy, they would have their own amniotic sacs and still be identical.
3). The girls have the same blood type, O+, which another nurse said could be an indication that they are identical. Bryce has B+ blood type.
4). When I asked my doctor if the girls are identical, he said that there really is no way to know for sure unless we do DNA testing (which we aren't going to do). But my doctor said when I am getting after one when they are older and I don't know who I'm getting after, then they are probably identical.

How do we tell the girls apart?
Normally, we dress the girls differently. Aleah is our pink girl and Cayley is our purple girl. Not sure how they ended up with their colors, but that's how it is. One time before we established this "rule" for them, Scott had Cayley in pink and Aleah in purple, and I was so confused for the day. So it was made official after that that Aleah is in pink, Cayley in purple. So somehow they usually wear these colors, whether it is the sleeper that they are wearing, or the onesies that they wear under their sleepers. In the picture below they do have their coordinating onesies on, but you can't tell in the picture.

The main identifying feature of the girls can be seen on Cayley's arm. She has a bright red "birthmark" on her left arm. (Although it wasn't on her at birth). You can see the birthmark in the above picture. Their pediatrician said that the mark will probably fade when she is older (he said around 2-4 years old).

And, we know which baby is Bryce for obvious reasons. But by looking at the babies, I think he just looks like a boy. He really is starting to look like Cayden when Cayden was a baby.

1 comments:

J&K said...

Hi Shayna,

Don't know how big the girls are right now but I do still have that box of clothes if you want any!!! :)

Kristi