Every week
this pregnancy seems to get more real. People I know actually think I am
showing now; it used to be that I was the only one who noticed. I think I feel
more pregnant too. I am having more body aches and pains and I am having more
trouble getting up from laying or sitting positions. Basically any movement that
requires use of my abdominal area/muscles is becoming strenuous.
I guess many
changes are occurring in my abdominal region; some good, some unpleasant. My already
pale skin is being stretched thin so my blue veins are very visible as well as
some gorgeous busted blood vessels. On a positive note, I used to have a
permanent red line/crease on my upper tummy from slouching and now that my
uterus has grown so high it has stretched out that crease and now it is gone! Woohoo!
The one change I am trying to document is my belly button. I hear that most
women end up with an “outtie” during pregnancy. So one day I decided to look at
my belly button and sure enough, my once deep belly button and become pretty
shallow. I am watching it each week to see if an when it begins to protrude and
become an “outtie”J
The past few
weeks have been relatively the same symptom wise; a lot of bathroom trips,
indigestion, shortness of breath, and trouble sleeping. A new symptom that has
developed is shin splints; all the time. I am just going to go ahead and assume
these are due to my sudden weight change paired with my scrawny chicken legs. I
also am feeling this strange painful urge in my arms and legs to stretch and
strain them…hard to describe but it is often only on one side of my body and
when it strikes, sleep is impossible. However, it happens when I am not lying
down also…just strange.
So in week
20 I went to see my regular OB and he checked for heart rate and fundal height.
I believe I was measuring at around 22-24 weeks! Yikes! I also told him about
some abdominal pains I had been having and he said they could have been
contractions, thus I should have called him. However, I have no idea what
contractions, true or false, feel like so I figured it was a nice combo of
round ligament pain and indigestion. Bottom line was that I have to monitor
these pains for frequency, timing and hardening of the uterus…oh and call him
if they occur again. Thankfully I have not really noticed any more of these
pains, but he did decide that I now have to come see him every 2 weeks instead
of 4 and that as I progress I may have to come in weekly. (Just another thing
that makes this pregnancy suddenly seem so real!).
The following
week, week 21, I was able to see the perinatologist who again did an in-depth
scan of the babies to measure things like their head, palate, legs, arms, etc.
which basically helps rule out deformities and abnormalities. Apparently everything
looks great and the doctors are fairly confident that neither baby shows any
sign of these things. The great thing about these scans is you get to see every
detail of your babies while in utero, right down to fingers and toes. And
speaking of fingers and toes, Elli was picking her nose and at one point she
tried to kick her brother in the head! We actually got a picture of her little
foot heading right towards his head!
One of the
strange things about carrying twins is that often you cannot be sure which baby
is making which movement that you feel. Sometimes you can be aware of their
relative position based on a recent ultrasound and you can make an educated
guess, but as I recently found out, those babies have a mind of their own and
may change spots and you may not be aware of it. For example, for months Eli
and Elli were in an “L” shape; as of 20 weeks this was still true and my OB
said that Elli would probably remain where she was for the duration of the
pregnancy because Eli had her trapped. Well, week 21 rolled around and the
ultrasound revealed that they had BOTH changed spots. Eli did a complete flip
the opposite way and Elli went to the other side of my tummy. Now they are lying
almost side by side (as of Monday!)
The funny
part about them changing locations like this is that we have been trying to use
a stethoscope to hear their heartbeats at home and the whole time we were
listening to their feet because that is where we thought their chest was!! So I
guess the lesson is that babies are not always predictable. As the twins get
bigger I can feel more and more of their movements. I have felt kicks, punches,
somersaults, and I think even hiccups. There really is life in there…how
amazing!
At my
perinatologist visit they also checked my cervix again and it has only gone
down one centimeter (to 37) and apparently that is really good. In 2 weeks I go
back for them to perform an echo on the babies’ hearts to verify that all is
well because twins carry a higher risk for heart problems. I know that the
health and wellbeing of these babies is in the hands of God and I am not
worried! In 3 weeks I will be seen again by the specialist for basic growth
charting.
In the area
of growth our babies are soaring! Based on the Bump.com and Babygaga.com, the
average size of a single baby in week 21 is 12-13oz…our twins are coming in at
15oz each! To me that is huge! In a good way! One of my concerns was that we
would have these tiny babies that wouldn’t be allowed to leave the hospital,
but if they keep this growth up we should have no problems in the weight
department! Elli’s heartbeat was about 148 and Eli’s was around 151; good
strong heartbeats.
Here are the ultrasound photos:
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| The first time they were able to capture her gender on film! |
