I can't believe it. I passed the 12-week mark yesterday, so I'm now officially in the 2nd trimester! (Well, according to some sources. Others say 14 weeks, but I'm picking this one and sticking with it.) I know the 2nd trimester brings with it promises of many good things: less fatigue, less sickness, vastly lowered risk of miscarriage, etc. And while I've actually been more tired this week than last, I love the promise of changes hopefully coming soon!
Our babies are now the size of limes, and my tummy is the size of a basketball. Not a whole basketball yet, but like I sliced off a third of a basketball and stuck it under my shirt. I'm still able to wear several non-maternity shirts and dresses, but I am exclusively in maternity pants now. And lucky me, a couple of days ago a new pregnancy symptom visited me - swollen feet! It wasn't too bad, but after a long day of sitting in meetings and not being able to get up and walk very often, my shoes were definitely tight and my feet tender to the touch. I've started trying to grab an extra chair in meetings for my feet, and get up and walk at least every half hour, but it's difficult sometimes. I know this symptom will likely get much worse, so I want to establish those good habits now before I REALLY swell!
I also need to update on our Program for Multiples day Monday! It was amazing; I'm so glad this program is offered in Houston and that we got to participate. I love our clinic; I feel very taken care of. We got a looooong ultrasound (~1 hour) where everything related to our babies was measured and photographed: heads, legs, arms, hands, stomachs, intestines, umbilical cords, placentas, etc. It was really neat to just sit in there and watch our babies on the screen for such a long time. They are super adorable (in my unbiased opinion)!
We also got a genetics consultation, where our detailed family history was taken, and every tiny question we had was answered. Adam has a birth defect that required surgery when he was an infant (and left a ridiculously huge scar on his stomach!), and I have a cousin with Down's syndrome, so we talked at length on those subjects. Thankfully, neither of these issues affect our babies' risk because neither are typically hereditary, so that was a great relief.
Next was our consultation with the dietition. Oh, boy. I want to reiterate that I'm so glad we got to do this, but this part wasn't fun. I knew I would have to gain a lot of weight. I had no idea how much. First, there's the twin aspect - more weight than a usual pregnancy. Then, there's the "skinny Erin" aspect - I'm just barely in the category of underweight, but that added more weight to the goal. Finally, an additional 7 pounds is tacked on when a twin pregnancy is your first pregnancy, just for fun I think. So the final number is...wait for it...53 - 74 pounds.
When I heard this number, my mind just went blank. I know it seems like fun, right? Permission to eat whatever you want for 9 months? But it intimidates the heck out of me. I'm really not sure I'll be able to hit this number! But all I can do is try my best, so that's what I'll do.
The good news is that our babies are healthy and still measuring ahead of schedule, so that's really what it all boils down to. We are extremely blessed!
I can't say that I tried to gain weight and I gained over 40..your body knows what to do! You may have to help it some but you'll put it on...if only getting rid of it were as easy. Chris had surgery for a birth defect as an infant too and has as scar on his stomach..pyloric stenosis. I'm glad we avoided that one with evan!
ReplyDelete