Why You Need To Remember To Eat When Pregnant with Twins, or How to Ruin Valentine’s Dinner

31 weeks, 3 days

The last few weeks I’ve managed this delicate balance between eating enough and dealing with the horrendous indigestion that I have on a daily basis. When both babies are breech with their heads on your stomach, there just isn’t much room in there. I’m taking prescription medicine for the indigestion, but one night it was so bad, I had to get up and make myself throw up just so I could sleep.

Well last night my husband, Jason, and I had plans to go out to dinner. I felt a little hungry at 4, but I was working and quickly forgot about it, since my hunger signal is so weak right now. If only it were like this when I’m NOT pregnant, I would be a size 6!!! At 5:00 he said he would be home in a couple of minutes and we could leave for dinner right away. At that point, I figured I could make it 30 minutes more without food, so I decided to wait.

He didn’t get home till 5:40, so we headed out to dinner pretty quickly. I ordered food, we chatted, and I drank a little bit of root beer.

I told him I was feeling a little funny. I had had a sip of his beer and was like, there’s no way that one sip of beer made me feel like this! I hadn’t made the connection that this was now beyond hunger. My stomach still wasn’t really telling me I was hungry.

The waitress brought the food. Right as I leaned forward and started to eat, my ears started ringing. I started getting sweaty and clammy and my eyesight started to dim. I told Jason what was going on and he was very calm. He had me put my feet up in his lap, told me to drink the root beer, in case my blood sugar was low, & to keep eating. I did and started to feel better. I was still only able to much on the fries & drink a little root beer. Couldn’t even touch my burger at this point.

After a few minutes, it started to fade, so I started eating my burger. I was a sweaty mess! As soon as I put my feet down, it started again, but this time quicker and I couldn’t make it go away. I was almost completely blacked out and told Jason he had to help me. I was kind of freaking out. I didn’t want to ruin dinner, I didn’t want to pass out in public, I didn’t want to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance if someone called 911… So he took me to the bench in the front waiting area of the restaurant. I laid down and put my feet up, which immediately made the dizziness and passing out feeling go away, but I felt like such a DOOF laying on a bench in the restaurant.

Jason quickly paid the bill, our waitress, who knew I wasn’t feeling well, had already packaged up my dinner. Our friend, the restaurant owner, came out and made sure I was doing okay. Jason went and got the car and took me home.

I ate half the burger in the car on the way home, with the seat leaned back. I apologized to Jason for being such an idiot and not eating. Lesson learned!

This won’t happen again. I’m going to eat right now!

TO THE PAIN! (I don't think I'm quite familiar with that phrase.)

In my world, the word "blogger" is synonymous with the word "slacker."

I often think about writing, but rarely actually do it.

So anyway, here's where we are now:

I'm 26 weeks, measuring the same fundal height as a woman who is pregnant with a singleton at 36 weeks. The OB says that this means if I go to term (37 weeks, March 25th), I will measure somewhere around 45-50 weeks. Ouchie.

On that note, she is doubtful I will make it that far. Everything looks good, but with the babies gaining 1/2 a pound a week (each), she's thinking I will be lucky to make it into March at all.

OMG! I AM NOT READY!!! I need till March to get my brain in the right place & I really want these babies to stay in until they are big & healthy, even if that means being terribly uncomfortable and whiny.

The babies are moving like crazy. Two nights ago they woke me up kicking for the first time. I was like, "Who is touching me?!?!?" and then realized it was inside! I still love every move they make. As of right now, they have been moving almost non-stop since 4pm, and it's 9:12pm. It might be 90% nothing, but here's a video of my bouncy belly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K23__NsSe7w. Specifically check out 0:50 and 1:20, just to the left of the center of the screen. For me, it's super fun to watch. :)

I have a bag of medicine that I carry around with me. It contains: Pepcid AC, a thermometer, Tylenol, Robitussin DM, cough medicine with codeine, stretch oil & lotion for my belly, antihistamine, chap stick, & saline nasal spray. I don't use all of this stuff on a regular basis, but it is just easier to have it all with me than truck up & down stairs to get it.

Umm, so about 4 weeks ago I pulled a muscle coughing hard. Between the stretching & coughing, my ribs couldn't take it. The OB made me see an ear, nose, & throat specialist to see if she could help get my cough under control. When I left her office, I went to the public restroom in the building & as I sat down, the broken toilet seat tossed me off to the side & I almost fell on the floor, further injuring myself. BTW, the ENT visit did absolutely nothing as I was already doing what she recommended. :(

So I've been getting gradually better, but this was to the point that everything hurt... Sneezing, turning corners in the car (I have only driven maybe 4 times in the last 4 weeks or so), deep breathing, & let's not even talk about how hard it is to turn over & get in & out of bed. But this weekend I was feeling really good. I did some light cleaning, vacuumed, straightened up a bit. I was finally getting back to where I felt normal, until today... I was reclined with my arms up over the back of the chair and had a sudden sneeze. It tore through my rib cage and just about killed me. Not only am I hurting again, but it's worse than it was the first time. I see a lot of laying around in my future. :(

I talked to my mom tonight, which helped me feel better, & was telling her about how THIS is just not me. I am not a whining, complaining, aching, crying person. I am strong and I deal with stuff and I move on, but pregnancy is different. This is by far the most difficult thing I've ever done in my entire life. I guess anything else that gave me this many problems, I would have quit long ago, but obviously I can't quit this.

So today was a lot of crying, feeling very alone, "why me's," and wishing it was March 25th now, then came the moment when I read some incredibly wise words from my friend Monique (who happens to be a doctor):
"This is not in response to anyone's comments, just something I've said for a while. I bet you've caught on to the phenomenon of pregnancy where it seems like everyone around you doesn't care about your suffering anymore. I think because pregnancy and delivery require so much of a woman, that people become desensitized by it or something. Seriously, it's like so long as you're pregnant you could have blood oozing out your eye balls or a fork stabbed into your thigh and people would say, "oh, sorry, yeah, that's too bad." --M"

She totally brought the day, and the whole experience into perspective and made me feel so much better. Thanks M! Much love coming your way today! <3

And if you caught the title of my post & what it refers to, kudos!

Long time no update

Soooo I haven't written in a while, out of pure laziness, but things are going okay.

At our last perinatologist appointment, the doctor double confirmed what the OB said, we are having a boy & a girl. I can't even begin to explain how happy I am that we got one of each. I was petrified of the idea of two boys that would encourage each other to do insane things or of two girls who would be such a joy going through puberty together. I honestly don't think my reaction to 2 of the same would have been very good initially. I'm sure I would have gotten used to the idea, but this is just perfect! One of each!

My apologies for ranting, but here it goes...

I'm still having major sinus issues. I'm so frustrated because I've tried everything I'm allowed to try (Benadryl, Tylenol, antibiotics, saline nasal spray) and nothing seems to work. Since several of the moms in my twin group have recommended a neti pot, I'm going to try that next.

Why can't summer just go away? For the first time in my life, I am hating the heat more than anything. Okay, well not more than my sinus infection, but still a lot. It's November and it was 91 yesterday.

I have gotten this reaction from a lot of moms of singletons: Oh I was able to X through my whole pregnancy (replace X with work, run, do cartwheels, stand for 93 hours a day), so you should be able to also. Is this supposed to make me feel good or encourage me? I want to say, "Wow, you should be grateful that you had such a pleasant pregnancy." I feel crappy like 75%+ of the time right now & women who have had 1 baby at a time look at me like I'm such a wimp. I HATE IT! Every day for the last 10 weeks I have had one or more of these problems: headache, congestion, runny nose, back ache, muscle cramping, dizziness... The headaches are almost every day. I guess the bottom line is, if you haven't had more than 1 baby at a time, you don't know exactly what is going on with women who have & you should try to be supportive instead of judgmental. Believe me, I want to feel good, but I don't, so don't try and make me feel better by telling me how easy and pleasant and lovely your pregnancy was. That just makes me want to punch you.

Okay, enough of the rant...

The babies get their first trip to vote for the president today! I'm looking forward to sending their birth announcement to the White House and getting a letter back from President Obama next year! :)

There are two things getting me through this pregnancy that I don't know what I would do without: Jason, my mom, & my twin mom group on Facebook.

My twin mom group is so helpful. I feel so much less alone with them around. People don't judge or look at me like I'm pitiful or pathetic in that group. They are loving & encouraging, and best of all, funny as all hell. (FUPA & peaches come to mind).

My mom has been doing a lot for me. She cleaned my house, which was uhhhh-may-zing! She picks stuff up for me when she shops, & sometimes she just spends time with me, which is nice. She's going to be such a good grandma. It's all she's been looking forward to for the last 10 years! LOL!

Jason has been nothing short of amazing. He is doing so much for me and just trying to get me through the tough spots. He rubs my back & neck when they hurt, cooks me dinner, & just spends time with me trying to help me feel better. Just getting home from work and getting to see him is the highlight of my day. I am pretty sure that I fell completely in love with him (and his family) when we went to Mexico for the first time together, but I could have never imagined that I could love someone as much as I do right now. I feel closer to him than ever. So happy to be having his babies!

Less Nauseated, More Emotional

I'm feeling overwhelmed tonight. Not sure why. I'm not as tired tonight & I didn't end up really feeling nauseated today, which is a change. I usually feel it at some point every day. Maybe these are the hormones that are kicking in and making me feel different. Less nausea, more anger/frustration/sadness/emotion in general.
Today was a rough day at work. Just a lot of stuff going on and not enough copies of me to take care of it all.
I have my first OB appointment tomorrow. I'm excited about that. Excited to know what the OB will say. The RE seemed really calm and collected, but the further I get along, the more I feel like he could have offered more information.
I kind of feel alone in some of this. I just don't feel like moms of singletons understand. I'm part of this "Moms of Twins" group on Facebook which is helpful, but a little scary. Lots of complications and bed rest in this group, which seems pretty horrible to me.
And I want to punch people who tell me I should be enjoying my pregnancy. If being pregnant is so much better than having these kids, then why do people have them? I'm cranky, tired, achy, & emotional and I feel like I can't tell anyone about how I'm feeling because I'm supposed to be skipping around in a fucking field of flowers like it's the happiest day of my life. If I get emotional, it's hormones and it's like "pat pat" on the head, you'll feel better soon. Patronizing. 207 more days? Just thinking that number the 40 times I've thought of it today makes me want to cry.
I'm trying to be stable here and not break down, but I'm so overwhelmed. I want to get things done, but I'm so tired and when I do get up and move around a lot, I start feeling sick. I know it could be MUCH worse, so I'm trying to be thankful for everything I haven't had to experience so far. Trying.
It's 8:40. I think I will go to bed now.

So Tired, I'm Moving to Sweden

I have never been this tired in my life. It's 9:05am and all I want to do is go back to bed, but I have to work. If you have ever been pregnant, you probably know what I mean when I say I'm tired. If you haven't, let me explain. Imagine you have the worst cold you've ever had with fatigue that drives you down and makes you want to stop and lay down no matter where you are (kitchen, bathroom, middle of the street, walking down the hall at work). Minus all of the other cold symptoms and you're left with how I feel right now. And it's nearly constant. I had like 4 days a couple of weeks ago where I felt REALLY tired, then about 3 that I was okay, now I'm back to REALLY tired.

I have been resting a lot. I use my 15 minute breaks at work to take naps on my office floor. I get home & after dinner, which has mostly been left overs lately, I get in bed, probably around 8pm. I feel like I could sleep for the next week.

And I feel like I could cry right now. For no real reason other than the stress of thinking about having two babies and the incredible resistant feeling I get when thinking about going back to work when my babies are 8 weeks old. That just makes me sick. Did you know that MEXICO has 12 weeks of 75% paid leave?

Check out the chart of leave & pay during that leave on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave

Here are some things that PISS ME OFF:
1. Iraq, known for their oppression of women, gives 62 days at 100% pay. That's 20 more days than the US AND full coverage of pay.
2. The US is the ONLY country on there with ZERO leave mandated by the government.
3. I am moving to and getting a job in Sweden before these babies are born.

Jason + Tiffanie + 2 Babies....

...makes Tiffanie laugh and cry simultaneously like a crazy person.

Yes, you read that right... We are having twins. There are two yolk sacs, so there is a higher chance they are fraternal, but still a chance they could be identical.

Science has not discovered what causes identical (monozygotic) twins. It happens at virtually the same rate across cultures. One of life's little mysteries.

Fraternal (dizygotic) twins are typically an inherited condition, passed down on the mother's side. Women who have dizygotic twins in their family often ovulate two eggs each month (this is that part that is genetic and passed from mother to daughter). Twins also have a higher occurrence in women over 35.

Reactions

Mom (Vicki) - Sounded like she was having a heart attack. Apparently she was walking around at work and people started asking her if she was okay. She told them she just needed to sit down!

Mom (Teresa) - Said something like, "Well I'm just getting ALL of my grand babies at once now!!!"

Dad said something like, "When you do something, you do it right the first time!" :)

Grammy was very excited. She said, "You could have told me anything else & I would have less shocked than I am about this!"

Hot & Sleepy!

8/12 - Okay, so I'm really not sleeping well. I didn't think this part of pregnancy would start this early. To be honest, I still don't really FEEL like I'm pregnant. No morning sickness at all.No peculiar food cravings. I'm not unusually tired.

But this sleeping thing... So I'm reading "YOU: Having a Baby, by Dr. Oz." It explains why you should sleep on your left side during pregnancy, as much as you can. Don't sleep on your stomach, for obvious reasons. Don't sleep on your back because it cuts of blood flow to the placenta. Limit how much you sleep on your right side because the vena cava, the main vein that takes blood to your placenta, is on the right side. So sleeping on your left side is the best option. Well, my left side is also the hip that is injured. Unfortunately I haven't had a cortisone shot since last August, so it's really hurting.

I have read that getting a cortisone shot during pregnancy is okay, but I think I would want to wait until the first trimester is over, just in case. Better safe than sorry.

And on the better safe than sorry category, alcohol. I haven't been drinking at all since we found out I was pregnant. Jason and I were having a conversation last night and talking about some studies we had read about alcohol consumption during pregnancy. I'm doing my best not to put any toxins in my body right now (not using anything with parabens in it, not cleaning with stuff with fumes, no alcohol), but these studies are all inconclusive or basically cancel each other out. The only thing experts all agree on is that HIGH alcohol consumption, 8 or more drinks per week, causes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Below that level, there are actually long-term studies that show that drinking moderately, 3-4 drinks per week, causes the baby's IQ level to go up. With that said, until there are some clear results that this is always the case, I'm not drinking.

But back to the sleeping thing... I spend at least an hour a night wide awake now. I love sleeping, but I am finding that my body is warmer than I like. Also, it's been like 80 in our room every evening. I think I got it down to 76 before I went to bed last night, but normally I sleep best when the room is around 65. I've researched to see if other people experience their body temperature going up when they are about ready to go to bed, and apparently it happens to a lot of people, but no one knows why. I actually get so hot at night that I wake up sweating or, if I'm lucky, I just have to turn over every hour or so in order to cool off my side that was against the bed.