I am feeling so, SO great! Happy as can be and just LOVING being pregnant. I am totally present to the miracle of it all everyday. Our daughters are growing inside me. Wow. Part of me doesn’t want it to end–wants to savor every drop.
I feel an abundance of love, abundance of happiness, abundance of baby, abundance of gifts and offerings, and most of all… an abundance of FOOD.
Body Stuff
The only little thing that’s sort of a bummer is that
I cracked my rib or tore the ligaments there. I’ve done this on the other side in the past so I know that’s what’s going on. Apparently, it was the perfect storm: weakened ribs from vomiting for 3 months and coughing for 4 weeks plus a double dose of the relaxin hormone (softens the joints and bones during pregnancy) did the trick. So, while I feel great, the rib thing hurts pretty bad. Particularly when I throw up (which still happens now just a few times a week), cough, laugh, sneeze, drive, or get up and down out of bed. It’s not messing with my spirits though, that’s for sure.
My ears are still full of fluid and all clogged. This is mostly annoying given all the blood I pump through my body means I can hear and feel my heart beat in my ears most of the time. Acupunture helps for a few days which gives me a nice little reprieve. In the scheme of things, it’s not painful, just annoying.
My belly feels full and tight, particularly after I eat. I just ordered a belly band so that I can get some relief on my belly and back as I really feel the weight of it by the end of the day.
There are now parts of my body that I can no longer see or reach. “Wiping” is now like an Olympic sport and shaving in the shower or bending over for anything is hysterical.
Food, Food, Food
My belly measures over 40inches now and I weigh about 157! Crazy awesome! Some of you know that we’ve been working a pretty aggressive food plan by Dr. Barbara Luke who specializes in healthy full term multiples. She’s been studying the relationship between a mother’s weight gain and the health of her multiples for over 40 years and her stats are amazing. On her program, babies stay in 25% longer and weigh 30% more than the average twin newborn. I don’t meet the 3500 calories/ 176 grams of protein plan everyday (equal to a whole chicken) but by-god we try (and get close). And by “we”, I mean “we”. It’s seriously a joint effort in terms of getting that much food/calories/protein in me. We are already co-parenting. It’s very cool.
We’ve met lots of twin mamas in the past few months. All those we met that carried full term (38 weeks or beyond) had big, healthy babies that did not need the NICU (neo-natal intensive unit- very common place for twin newborns) and all credited Barbara Luke’s plan. This is very reassuring, though slightly disconcerting how little the standard western OB knows about these studies or the necessity of nutritional intake for a mother of multiples. In fact, they seem think just gaining a few more pounds is all that is necessary (explains why so many babies tend to be born soon and land in the NICU so often). I digress.
Now that my belly is getting bigger, I get fuller sooner so I simply have to eat less portions more often, making me feel more like a grazing cow than a pregnant mama. Fortunate for me, I really like cows. You know, those eyes!
Readying the Nest
We are just now starting to wrap our heads around what baby gear we’ll need. What stroller we’ll choose, diapering system we’ll use and how we’ll create baby space in our house. It’s been fun but certainly overwhelming… there is so much to know and choose from. I feel like I need a personal guide to help me figure it all out!
Readying Ourselves
Out of our cocoon and the “oh shit” phase, tomorrow we’ll be starting a string of baby classes, birthing classes, multiples classes etc. In fact, most weekends are full from end of July through August and then some of September. It’s been highly recommended that with twins we do all these things as early as possible not only for the possibility that I could be on bed-rest but because I’ll simply be too uncomfortable to sit in classes by then. A woman pregnant with twins can measure anywhere from 6-10 weeks further along than with a singleton; meaning that when I’m just 30 weeks along I could feel/look more like 36-40. And at 36 weeks pregnant, I could look/feel like 42-48 weeks. Crazy, right? On little, ole me!
I’m also beginning to read more books on birth and think more about how I will create the birth I want inside a hospital. Truth be told, I’m having a little bit of grief or fear come up about that. C-section horror stories and the medicalized model of pregnancy being and illness have me wondering how to stay empowered inside that world when the time comes.
Play Time!
I have some pics for you today.
Gift from another Twin Mom, Jen B. She made it a point to get two sets not because there are two babies, but because there are two moms. Very sweet.
What’s on our Fridge (6wk, 9wk, 18 wk ultrasound pics)
If you look closely, you can see she is smiling. (Baby B, 18wks)
Baby A at 18wks. Looking closely here you can see the umbilical chord. So cool.
This is our favorite pic. "Power To The People!"
This is a card my friend John sent to me. Clearly, he already has a child.
In case you can't read the words above, here's a close up.
Next…
That’s all folks. Today we have a midwife appointment as well as a doula appointment and pain coping class. The week after we have a 22 week ultrasound. Gina is gonna try to get some video again but they don’t allow it so we’ll see how sneaky she can be. Shhh.
xo