We're Having a Litter

I went to the doctor in August and found out, through a blood test, that we were preggo. We were, of course, very happy. The doc wanted me to come in for an ultra-sound on August 27. I get there and he starts pokin' around. He gets this worried look on his face and says, "Well, boy, uh, lets just zoom in right here on this gestational sac." I am thinking something is wrong with the baby, maybe it's not growing or they can already tell it's going to miscarry. He starts reading me the stats, showing me the heartbeat and giving me the measurements, all of which were right on-6 weeks, 2 days. Then he says, "Ok, let's move over here." As he moves the wand over I see another gestational sac. I'm thinking holy crap, it's twins. He says, "Now this is a different sac then we were just looking at, totally separate." Ok... We have 2 embryos in here.

Whoa.

Wait.

Hold the phone.

"There are 3?" I ask.

"Yes."

He then goes on to measure each of the identicals and they are all measuring 6 weeks and like 1 or 2 days, don't remember. My first question is, "How likely is it that all these will actually grow into real babies?"

Doc gives me a serious look and says, "About 80%". He then discussed with me the plethora of complications that come with triplets and particularly with a set of identicals sharing a placenta, thoroughly scaring me and making me sure that all the babies were facing certain death.

For the next 2 days I simply freaked out and made zero sense whatsoever. Eventually, however, I came to my senses, got myself together and got happy about it. We go back for another ultrasound on September 10. We are mostly wondering if all three babies are still there, given the 20% chance of one or more of them being a vanishing twin, which just absorbs back into the uterine lining.