28-30 Weeks Pregnant with Twins

Time is so relative: two weeks with a newborn? A nanosecond. Two weeks pregnant with twins? Molasses.

Still, the end of summer is a sweet combination of distractions – soaking in the last of beach days and pool days and the anticipation of a new school year just around the corner. There is never a day where I don’t wake up, look around, and see plenty to do. And then I realize I can only do 12% of it. But for me, distraction has been the key to passing time while I feel so huge.

I have to give so much credit to my kids – we have had a great summer, and they have been so understanding and excited about this pregnancy. I worry that I brush them off when I am needing to sit down/go to the bathroom/carrying something heavy. I always try to follow up with a check in and say, ‘I’m sorry, my belly really hurt when I was carrying that’ or ‘I really needed to sit down for a minute when you wanted my attention’. I have been very consciously putting them first these last few weeks, and holding off on all my ideas for writing & blogging until they go back to school next week. (Currently as I write this they are having a much needed movie morning after a busy weekend. Scooby-Doo for the win.) Also, my son has been a huge help in carrying and moving things for me, a fact I realized when he started his intense two week conditioning for football last week and was so sore I couldn’t bare to ask him to help me. Super proud of him.

As any preggo mom knows, the key to the answer ‘how are you feeling?’ depends on how she is sleeping. For the most part I am sleeping really well. I am so tired I hit the pillow like a ton of bricks. Needing to go to the bathroom wakes me up once or twice but I can go back to sleep right away. (I definitely remember pregnancy insomnia with my other pregnancies, when going to the bathroom would wake me up, then I would need to eat, and wound up scrolling through People.com with yogurt and a banana, but not this time. I need to sleep.) On the few nights that I have had less then 7 hours of sleep though I have felt every pain, every step more acutely. And I know sleep deprivation is right around the corner, but I am a one day at a time girl and trying not to let it scare me. At least I will have cute babies to hold – plus oxytocin hormones and wine – when it comes.

My glucose test at 28 weeks came back great, but my iron was low, so they started me on iron supplements. I do feel a little more energy, and I have an easier time breathing with those. So yay for being able to eat bread, feel better, and breathe after walking up the stairs.

One symptom of this pregnancy that I haven’t recorded yet is allergies. Constantly having to sneeze, blow my nose, itch my nose, is a kind of torture I have never properly understood until now. I will never again be lukewarm towards an allergy sufferer. It is the bane of this pregnancy, along with super-human pelvic pain. Also, how weird is it that you can suddenly get allergies when you are pregnant? Lots of things to offer it up for, of course, but had to list it here in case someone else is feeling incredulous about pregnancy-onset allergies too.

The babies are moving a lot, which is the best. I am getting an ultrasound tomorrow, which always rewires my attitude and reminds me of the bigger reality going on: my belly is getting huge because of huge babies! Last time they were almost at 3 lbs. so looking forward to hearing what they are tomorrow.

At my last check up with my OB I actually lost 4 lbs. My total weight gain was about 35, now back down to 30. I have plenty of weeks left to change that I am sure but this is the only pregnancy I have gone in the opposite direction after the first trimester. Of course, I have been spending my days cleaning, taking kids to sports, visiting family members in the hospital after minor surgeries (but that is a lot of walking! Every time I get back to my car  when I leave the hospital I am like, ouch!). The day before my 30 week checkup I had gone to the beach, taken kids to sports and gone to the mall for 2 hours with my 9 year old for special time back to school shopping. I could *barely* move walking out of the mall, and had lots of Braxton-Hicks that night. My OB heard this and said, “Don’t do that!” She said my body doesn’t know there are 2 babies in there and thinks I am 36 weeks pregnant, so I need to take it easier. Duly noted. I forced myself to rest yesterday before we met friends at the pool.

^^Pool braids before we had an amazing dinner with two other families last night.

This will be helped greatly when our au pair arrives on Friday. Louise is coming from Brazil and we hope to learn so much from her. We don’t have that much family that can help us besides my mother-in-law, and my husband travels quite a bit for work, so it is a great relief to my husband and to me to have an extra set of hands, to be here if I go early or have a c-section. Rob and I have so much peace of mind about what the end of this pregnancy will bring knowing that there will be someone here to cover home base in an emergency.

This week is getting ready for her and for school, finding ways to rest in between. And maybe one or two more beach days.

 

Also – the news about Down syndrome being ‘eliminated’ in Iceland was horrifying to read. We are still prepared that one of our son’s has Down syndrome. I posted on Facebook about it after I shared this mom’s post. It is so wise, I am pasting it here:

I’ve been reading and thinking a lot this week trying to find the words. Friends and strangers have written from the heart and it had been shared widely. I feel like I have a bit of a different audience with a significant amount of Ds family on my page. So, in light of singing to the choir, I’ll say this….
Deciding to have and raise kids is hard work. Period. Whether my child has 46 or 47 chromosomes is rarely the reason for the challenges.
I didn’t think about not having my child after getting a likely prenatal diagnosis, but I have thought about it since. When the stories flood the media every few months and the hatred towards anything not typical rages and the days feel much too long, those “what if” thoughts surface. I try to imagine what our life would look like without Owen and I really struggle to see it. It doesn’t feel right; it doesn’t feel complete.
I can never fully put myself into someone else’s shoes. I’ve heard too many awful experiences in the past 5 years. I know that parents want what is best for their children and if they are not given a full view of life with a child, they are truly being failed. The diagnosis system is not working.
This is all why we work so hard at Down Syndrome Diagnosis Network – DSDN. Along with other organizations, we know we can make a difference and help ensure every family has information and resources in hand along with a new or possible diagnosis.
Life is certainly not all rainbows and unicorns. But I make a conscious choice to work to see it each day in my life. Find the good, find the joy and keep moving forward. Make a moment better when you can. Give grace. Do better. In the whirlwind of these media storms, remember this. Make the conscious choice and choose your path and attitude and work towards it. Share information. Share resources. And, if you are comfortable, keep sharing about your life and family.
I believe our families have a brighter future ahead than any other generation before us because they have paved the way. Let’s honor all of their work and build upon it for those to come.