Anyway, just as I had written before - my pregnancy really flew by. I was right, before we knew it, we had installed carseats, packed the hospital bags, and waited patiently for our ladies to finish baking. My back bothered me for a little bit around the 20-24 week mark, and that slowly dissipated. I actually felt pretty good (I'll use that term loosely) until about 30 weeks. I was able to help get a few things done around the house. I still did some grocery shopping and errand-running, and minimal cleaning. When I hit the 30-32 week mark, things got really, really tough. Being pregnant with twins is no cake walk. I was miserable. Not only is it physically demanding, but it also affects you mentally, being miserable day in and day out. I had read about moms who are pregnant with twins hit "walls" where they feel like things are just so hard that there is no way they'll ever make it. Soon after my first baby shower was my first wall, and from there on out - I was pretty miserable. Here's the caveat: I had never been so happy to be miserable in my life. I was creating two beautiful girls - twenty fingers, twenty toes, four limbs, and two beautiful faces. It was a lot of work, but so worth it.
I want to remember all of the aches and pains as weird as that is. So this is not my list of complaints, it's a reminder of what I went through to get these gorgeous girls. And I want to be able to laugh at myself later on :)
Getting up and out of bed was nearly impossible at the end. I had zero stomach muscles to help get myself up, so it was a comical site. So approximately 6-8 times per night when my bladder would get squished, I would STRUGGLE. It was a combination of grunting, propping myself up using Daniel (sorry...), rolling, sliding, and heavy breathing. Sometimes it would involve a little cry-session. Or I would laugh at myself.
Sneezing & coughing were like knives in my stomach.
Whenever Daniel would drive over bumps, I would have to brace myself and my belly because it hurt so bad.
I couldn't lean over the bathroom counter to put on my make-up, so I would stand at the full-length mirror and do it. I would accidentally touch my huge belly into the mirror, and I still have belly-prints on the mirror. It's pretty comical.
My nose was perpetually bloody. It rarely dripped blood, but whenever I blew my nose, it was so bloody. I also had horrible allergies, so I blew my nose all the time. As soon as I was no longer pregnant, that dissipated and I went from taking Zyrtec daily to not taking any at all. That's crazy - especially in the middle of peak-pollen season!
I hated chicken.
Whenever I went to the doctor, I had to pee in a cup. The bigger I got, the more impossible it became to pee in said cup. I just shoved it down there and hoped I was peeing in the right place :)
The girls were both breech, so both of their pretty little heads were in my ribs and they enjoyed using my lungs as pillows. Sydney was always much higher up in my ribs, but at the end they both took up so much real estate. Every time we would get an ultrasound, the ultrasound tech would say "Oh, can you even breathe??". [Insert grumpy cat face here] During some of the ultrasounds & NST, it would take all I had in me to just breathe thanks to the angle I had to lay in. Daniel would sit next to me and try not to laugh... thanks, dude.
After we purchased the minivan (I know, we are so cool now) I was the main driver. In the last few weeks, I couldn't drive it anymore because it was nearly impossible to get up and into the drivers seat. It got to a point that getting in/out would give me a contraction. Poor Daniel, he had to rock the van for a while. And I was happy to drive his car with that amazing seat heater for my back aches.
I actually slept pretty well at night. I would get up and go to the bathroom about 6 times (and only pee a tiny trickle), but normally would fall right back to sleep, thankfully! I was happy to not experience pregnancy insomnia like a lot of women. There were very few nights that I had to lie in bed and stare at the ceiling, or listen to Daniel snooze away peacefully.
During one of the "walls" that I hit - I had extreme hip pain. For about 5 nights in a row, I would wake up crying because laying on my hips hurt so bad. When women are pregnant, their bodies release a hormone called relaxin, which causes your joints to spread to prep you for childbirth. When you are pregnant with twins and have two placentas, you release double of that hormone, which in turn causes extreme joint pain. In my case, for a short period of time (which felt like an eternity), it really affected my hips. So happy that wasn't a long-term problem :)
I could definitely tell when the girls were having a growth spurt. That's when I would hit a wall. Everything hurt. I felt big and heavy and like I wouldn't make it. But after a few days, the worst would taper off, and I went from being incredibly miserable to mildly miserable.
Even though it wasn't HUGE like people were expecting, my belly was heavy. So heavy. I felt like I was carrying 100 pounds on my front. In the end, I gained 43 pounds and the majority was right there in my belly. I was fortunate that was the only place I really gained it - except the water weight I retained. It was really challenging to walk or do anything up and on my feet just thanks to the sheer size of what I was carrying. If we went into a store and I was on my feet/walking for any period of time, I HAD to wear a support belt. I started wearing it around 20-24ish weeks because it was helpful, at the end it was a necessity.
Speaking of retained water weight - my hands and feet were pretty massive at the very end. Thanks to the swelling, I used my only sick day of my pregnancy. I woke up on Daniel's birthday and the swelling made my hands and feet hurt. Since I was determined to make it to 38 weeks, I called in sick and hung out on the couch with my feet high up in the air all day. I figured one sick day would buy me a few extra days with the girls baking. I could barely wear my rainbows and slippers, but other than it being a nuisance, the swelling wasn't a problem.
The girls were movers! In my last update, Daniel was just starting to feel them more, but he was still pressing into my belly. Just a few weeks after that, he could just lay his hand on my belly and feel them. One of the coolest things ever. We would just lay in bed and marvel at the fact that we had created two babies :) Anyway, I felt Ella/Baby A all the time. She would kick, punch, high-five, and head-butt me. I even have a video of her dancing around. Sydney/Baby B was more stealth in her movements. I would feel her high up in my ribs and then she would slowly move around and I would feel her down lower. Due to her positioning, I didn't feel the sharp jabs like with Ella. Fast forward to them being in the world, Sydney is ALWAYS awake, being content just looking around, and Ella is always snoozing.
I had to eat to keep them growing! Sometimes after a date to DJs, I would eat too much for my squished stomach and would spend the evening miserable. You know, the chips and white sauce are too tempting to say no.
My bath towel wouldn't fit around my belly. After I took a shower, it was a pretty comical sight.
I had very little heart burn. I popped a few tums every few days, but I was thankful that it wasn't horrible. And we were surprised during ultrasounds when they told us the girls had hair - the old wives tale about heart burn + hair didn't seem to ring that true for us.
I felt like my life was a never-ending episode of "My 600 Pound Life". I would watch the show and see the people struggle with showering and reaching all of their parts to clean, getting in/out of the bed and vehicles and chairs, huffing and puffing after doing a small task, eating a lot of food, etc. I know that is kind of dramatic, but I did feel like those people. Thankfully, I knew it was temporary and that my huge belly and all of the aches and pains associated with a twin pregnancy would soon dissipate - I can't say the same for someone who is actually 600 pounds :)
Now that I've listed off lots of complaints, here's the best part: I had zero complications. No gestational diabetes, my blood pressure stayed steady, no bed rest and I continued to work up until the very last day. My hands and feet didn't really swell until the last 2-3 weeks. The girls were healthy - no NICU time, they were good birth weights, passed all of their "tests" with flying colors. How lucky are we?
And here is the growing bump right up until the day we delivered!
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| 24 weeks |
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| 25 weeks |
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| 26 weeks |
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| 27 weeks |
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| 28 weeks |
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| 29 weeks |
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| 30 weeks |
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| 31 weeks |
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| 32 weeks |
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| Here is an extra! 32 week snow day bump. We were lucky enough to enjoy a few quiet snow days together, before our future snow days are filled with giggles, hot chocolate, and happy children! |
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| 33 weeks |
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| 34 weeks |
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| 35 weeks |
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| 36 weeks |
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| Final bump picture - 36 weeks, 6 days - the morning of the girls birthday! Obviously I'm wearing my all-time favorite maternity shirt :) |
And since I have approximately 3 faithful readers (and because I want to remember some of this stuff!), I'll share some relatively private & semi-embarrassing stats and pictures!
Pre-pregnancy weight & belly size: 126 pounds, 33"
Morning of delivery weight & belly size: 169 pounds, 45"
3 weeks post-partum weight & belly size: 136 pounds, 35" (only 10 pounds and two inches left to lose!)
The Friday before delivery at our OB appointment, my fundal height measurement was 45. That means from pelvis to top of my belly, my uterus was measuring 45 weeks pregnant - whoa!
I'm also proud to say that I have ZERO stretch marks. I thought for sure that I would have them, especially with twins, but alas, the skin-Gods were in my favor. Hence, the need for a bare-belly picture :)
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| My belly measured around at 45" - it felt MASSIVE |
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| bare-belly from the front |
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| bare-belly from the side... it hurts just looking at it |
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| 1 week post-babies |
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| these two beautiful girls were growing inside of that huge belly! it's so hard to believe that they fit in there, along with two placentas, bags of water, and goo. |
And here are some more fun updates from the rest of my pregnancy...
I'm sure I've told you before that the girls LOVED Jersey Mikes. It was my go-to meal when I didn't feel like eating anything else. Especially at the end, their favorite dessert was Blue Bell ice cream. They loved it during the day, and even in the middle of the night :) Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do in order to get twins with high birth weights, so don't be so judge-y.
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| here we are with red velvet blue bell |
With twins, we had LOTS of doctor's appointments. In the beginning, we saw our regular OB every 4 weeks and our high risk dr every 4 weeks. At the end, we saw both doctors each week - we would start out with our high risk for an ultrasound/non-stress test/biophysical profile (they were the "babies doctor") and go across the street to my regular OB (she was the "mom doctor"). We loved seeing our girls so often - we never once took a single appointment for granted. Listening to their heartbeats and watching them up on the screen never got old. We loved our Friday "dates" with the girls.
Here's a funny memory. During the non-stress tests/biophysical profiles, each baby would be tested and would have to pass or else we would have to deliver. They would get two points each for the following: non-stress test reactivity, amniotic fluid, muscle tone, fetal movement, and practicing breathing. During our very first test, Ella/Baby A decided to sleep and wouldn't practice her breathing. The ultrasound tech tried everything to get her to wake up - jiggling my belly, waiting, and zapping my belly with a little device that vibrated and buzzed. Lazy girl wouldn't wake up. The next week during the non-stress test (when I was hooked up to monitors and we would listen to their sweet heart beats for a while), she was lazy again and wouldn't move. They zapped her and she finally moved around. The following week, same situation. And finally, the week after that, she was being lazy yet again, the nurse said "I'm going to find the zapper" and as soon as she left the room - BAM, Ella started moving. So now we have to joke with her that all we have to do is threaten to use the zapper and she will behave :)
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| Baby A/Ella @ 34 weeks |
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| Baby B/Sydney - thinking hard - @ 34 weeks |
And here are some sweet pictures of my bump with Daniel. My mom requested the heart picture from something she had seen on Pinterest, and I'm so happy she did! It turned out cute
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| Sydney is our Baby B, and she was always higher/in my ribs and on my right. Ella is our Baby A and she was always further down and on my left. |
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| <3 <3 |
At 32 weeks, we found out that both girls were breech. Baby A had always been head down up until that point, but she decided she wanted to hang out and be able to talk to her sister. Baby B was always breech or transverse. We knew that unless both girls were head down, we wouldn't be able to deliver vaginally. I was bummed to find out that a C-Section was a likely scenario, especially since they were so tight in there that flipping was unlikely at this point. BUT - we had goals for this pregnancy. We wanted HEALTHY twins. High birth weights, no NICU time, delivering as close to 38 weeks as possible, and a safe delivery, even if that means a C-section. At our second appointment that day, we went ahead and scheduled their birthday for April 7th, our 38 week mark. If they made their appearance sooner, that would be okay, but we were shooting for the stars trying to get them as big and healthy as possible.
And now onto the days before the girls were born...
We went to the doctor for our 36 week check-up. We invited my mom and mother-in-law to join since they hadn't been to an appointment, and there was a chance Daniel couldn't make it. They were able to experience how awesome it is to see the twins on the screen and hearing their sweet heartbeats. This particular appointment, we had a growth scan to see how the girls had grown in the past 4 weeks. Baby A was measuring at 4 lbs 15 oz and Baby B was measuring at 5 lbs 6 oz. When Dr. Rudinsky came in, she very eloquently told us she was concerned about Baby A. She explained everything with the same grace as she did when she told us about the concerns over their short femur bones. We love that doctor! So basically, Baby A only had a 4% growth in the past 4 weeks, and it would appear as though she is growth restricted (anything under 5%). My uterus was measuring 45 weeks pregnant, so my body thought it was 45 weeks pregnant. Sometimes what can happen (and is common in twin pregnancies) is that the placenta can degrade at that point because it thinks I no longer need to be pregnant. When a situation like this happens, the baby is safer outside the womb. So we went over to the next doctor and scheduled their birth-day for Monday, March 30. Shit was getting real. Even though we had previously scheduled for the following week, there was an urgency and excitement that developed. We were going to meet our girls in 3 days! We were still SO happy with how far I had made it - one day shy of 37 weeks. We were hoping for no NICU time and a safe delivery. After we left the doctor, I went to work to wrap everything up and prepare to be off for 12 weeks. Eek!
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| last day of work! |
Everyone had advice to offer. The top advice: Sleep as much as you can! Umm, have you ever tried to sleep the days leading up to a scheduled C-section? It's like Christmas times a zillion. There are so many things to think about. What do I need to get done? How will I be as a mom? What will a c-section be like? What will they look like? Weigh? What kind of complications might we face? Our lives will never be the same. This is our last weekend with just the two of us. I mean really - there isn't much sleeping. The best advice I received was from my awesome boss/friend, Lorri. She said to me - I know you are probably freaking out about finances since you are about to have two babies, but my advice for you to is to eat out every meal this weekend. Don't cook and splurge and enjoy each other. Now that is some advice I can listen to, and we did just that. In addition to eating every meal out, we splurged and went on a fancy date to Flemings.
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| Last date night just the two of us, totally in love with this guy |
We spent the weekend getting ready for the girls and enjoying each other. I treated myself to a mani/pedi. We finished up last minute details on their nursery and playroom. We binged Friday Night Lights. We enjoyed our quiet house, just the two of us. We spent the whole weekend talking about what was about to happen, and nobody could wipe the grins off our faces :)
I have some more baby stuff to update - showers, nursery, playroom, etc - sit tight, i'll work on that. I know you want to see baby girl pictures more, and I need to write about them before I forget the first few weeks!
And one last thing that I can't forget. Our main goal has always been to have two healthy babies. We wanted zero complications and high birth weights. We are thrilled to say we achieved that, but I wasn't the backbone to that operation - Daniel was. He is the sole reason why we were so successful. When I was pregnant, he did everything. He allowed me to rest and eat and grow babies. He painted and decorated three rooms. He crossed off countless items on our never-ending to-do list. He grocery shopped and cooked and cleaned. He fixed me ice cream every day and made me drink lots of water. He encouraged me and was my biggest cheerleader. When things were super tough, he reminded me why I was doing this. We achieved healthy because of the best husband and dad in the world.
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