If you notice that my symptoms don’t quite line up with your timeline, don’t worry! Apparently, twin pregnancies track about 6 weeks ahead of singleton pregnancies with respect to symptoms and measurements. At least that’s what my doctor says!
While a 25-35lb weight gain is recommended for a singleton pregnancy (assuming a healthy pre-pregnancy weight), my doctor has recommended a 40-50lb weight gain for my diamniotic dichorionic twin pregnancy. Those fancy words translate to ‘my babies need a lesson on sharing as soon as they exit the womb’. Not all twins have their own amniotic sac or their own placenta, but my uterus is hauling two of each! Bring on the weight!
I’ll try to do an update every week or so, but we’ll just play it by ear and see how I’m feeling!
How far along? 30 Weeks 1 Day – Forgot my picture again this week! My pregnant Willow Tree figurine will have to do.
Total weight gain? 29 lbs
Maternity clothes? Mostly just sweats and t-shirts since I’m at home 24/7 with the exception of my weekly doctor appointments now.
Sleep? It’s a very disturbed sleep schedule. I think I get plenty of sleep (there’s only so much to do on bed rest, after all), but it’s the most bizarre schedule ever. I guess it’s good preparation for babies! 😉
Best moment this week? My doctor appointment, while crazy, was an overall great report. I say crazy because it involved two hospital-wide evacuations due to pulled fire alarms… in a hailstorm nonetheless. An hour appointment quickly turned into a two hour appointment. Not to mention the fact that my 17 minute drive home turned into nearly a 3 hour drive home because Obama was in town and all major interstates were shut down. I finally left my appointment at 5pm, so I hit rush hour traffic on top of that. Told ya it was crazy! But the good news was that the bed rest and progesterone, while not proven to help prevent preterm labor with twin pregnancies, have certainly been working for me thus far. What an answer to prayer and gift from the Lord! My cervix measured higher this week than it did all three of my previous appointments. It technically cannot lengthen, but sometimes you’ll see deviations in the measurements since it’s a muscle and measures differently at different times of day, under different circumstances, etc. Since we’ve been measuring it, my numbers have been 5.5, 3.1, 3.67, 2.19, and then a 3.9 this last time. So looking at the overall pattern, while it cannot lengthen or ‘grow’, there certainly seems to be a halt on the shortening for the time being! Our babies are both measuring quite robust for their gestational age. Our son has been called ‘a little porker’ by our sweet ultrasound technician. He’s just shy of 4 lbs and his sister is right at 3 lbs. They are both over the 50th percentile. I already have as much baby weight in me as a lot of moms do when they deliver full term! So crazy! We’re monitoring their weights closely now to see why he’s pulling ahead so much these days. Dr. Brown isn’t super concerned since they are both nice and plump, but if the difference gets over 20%, she’ll send me to a specialist to make sure there are no placental problems or anything of that sort. We’re at a 17% difference now. As Dr. Brown put it “sometimes little boys just come out bigger”, so that very well could be all that’s going on. After all, our babies have their own amniotic sacs and their own placentas so there shouldn’t be too much fighting over nutrients in there… space, yes, but we have plenty of nutrients to go around!
Miss anything? Getting out of the house. Not that I’ve been super active this pregnancy in general or anything, but you always seem to miss something a little more once you’re told “No, you can’t have that now”. On the plus side, I’ve read some great books and picked up art journaling thanks to Lisa. 🙂
Movement? Yes, a lot still. Such active little ones we have! I feel our “little porker” more, but I guess that makes sense now given the size difference we have.
Food Cravings? Crab rangoon, popsicles, clementines.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Yes, lots of acid reflux that is not helped by bed rest. I have been on medicine for this since very early on in my pregnancy, and while it helps, it doesn’t eliminate the problem completely. This week I’ve thrown up 4 days in a row already. No fun! It’s definitely worse late at night and early in the morning.
Symptoms? Nausea/vomiting, acid reflux, nosebleeds, insomnia (or just a weird sleep schedule in general), swelling, itching (mostly my back oddly enough), backaches, and just an all around soreness/stiffness from having so much extra weight and being so immobile.
Stretch Marks? Nope
Looking forward to? The first thing that comes to my mind when I read this question each week is “BABIES!!!!!!” and then I get all sappy and emotional thinking about getting to hold my children one day soon. Seriously, everything else that I’m excited about pales in comparison to that. Decorating the nursery will be fun, not throwing up multiple times a week will be even more fun than that, but just having children with my husband takes the cake any day!
Verse of the week? In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. –Ephesians 1:7, ESV
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