17 weeks pregnant

17 weeks feels like a bit of a milestone. Twin pregnancies ,on average, go between 34 to 37 weeks. If I fall within the average, I am now possibly at the half way point. Of course I would rather keep them in until 37 weeks, which would make 18 weeks 4 days the half way point.

Here is some of the update sent to me (based on a singleton pregnancy):

Your baby is now nearly 5.5 inches/ 13 centimetres long from crown to rump and weighs approximately 5 ounces/ 140 grams. Her skeleton is mostly rubbery cartilage, which will harden later. A protective substance called myelin slowly begins to wrap around the spinal cord.

You may be gaining weight rapidly at this point, even if you're not eating much. Experts say that the amount of weight you put on during pregnancy is dictated primarily by your genes, so don't necessarily blame yourself if the weight's accumulating faster than you'd like. Your baby's movements are felt as a gentle, fluttering sensation at first, but get stronger and more obvious as time passes. Some babies kick vigorously and often, others are quieter. And many seem most active at night!

If you've woken up from a really strange dream wondering what that was all about, you are in good company. Surging hormones, mixed feelings about your changing body, and anxiety about parenthood are all material for a vivid dream life.

Your growing uterus has shifted your centre of gravity and you've probably been feeling a bit off-kilter. Be careful and wear low-heeled shoes.

Here is an update from a twin site:

Twin Pregnancy Week 17
By week 17 your babies are capable of swallowing, blinking and sucking. They are very active and you may feel them more now.
Your babies ears start to pop out. Their necks are getting longer. Their eyes are still shut at this time. At this stage babies' heartbeats should be heard by a doppler.
Some of your antibodies are beginning to get transferred to your babies.
Mothers better relax and take it easy. For a twin pregnancy, if you carry to term, you are about half way there!

almost 17 weeks...

I thought the puking and nausea was gone for good. Sadly it is not so.

Little fishies...

I had another Ob appointment today. I left feeling much more encouraged this time. She seemed very happy with everything. My blood pressure was slightly lower than it has been, still higher than my readings at home, but not doing anything scary. I had gained 4 pounds in the last 2 weeks (gulp), but as I had lost weight for a few weeks there I am very close to where I started from. She used the doppler to check on the babies. I showed her the area on my left side where I have been feeling little kicks. She found the baby there right away. At one point you could hear a swoosh sound, which she said was the baby moving, just as I could feel the movement. The other baby was harder to find. It seemed like she was chasing him or her all around the right side of my belly. She would find the baby on the doppler, and then swoosh it was gone again. My Dr was laughing and said it was like trying to catch fishies in the fish bowl of my uterus they were swimming around so much. She wote on my sheet that the babies were very active. I wonder if that is a sign of their personnalities to come...

I have my next Ob appointment on March 12th at 2:40 and my 20 week ultrasound on March 16th at 2:30.

16 weeks pregnant

I read my update yesterday and here is what it said:

Your baby's about the size of an avocado now but in the next three weeks, he'll go through a tremendous growth spurt — doubling his weight and increasing his length. In the meantime, he'll be playing with his umbilical cord and practising breathing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid through his lungs. You're going through a bit of a growth spurt yourself. Your uterus has expanded so much that the ligaments in your abdomen are stretching to make room for it. If you feel any twinges of pain now, that's why.

I have certainly been feeling the stretching these past few weeks. I wake up every morning and feel my belly and some mornings I am convinced it has grown overnight. I still am feeling the occasional flutters, some days more often than others. I haven't gained much weight (if any), but my pants are no longer comfortable. I can still do a few pairs up, but after 10 min. I have to get them off. I rarely have any nausea, and I haven't puked all week. I also have my appetite back. Food tastes good again!

We have started researching all the products available out there. We took a trip to Toys R Us yesterday for a quick look around. So much stuff is available for babies, and I really have no idea what I will actually need. I also don't know sometimes if we will need 2, or if it is something that the twins can share. Any help?

Off work

My nausea/puking is 95% gone, I am also starting to have way more energy (just as I am stopping work). It feels good to feel good again. I went into work yesterday for a few hours to plan for a sub this week, and to meet the guy hired to take over for me next week and show him around. After 4 hours of photocopying , stairs, sitting, etc. I was feeling sore and crampy though. Made me sure I (well my Dr) had made the right decision to stop working. The cramps went away quickly once I was home and in bed for a few hours, but I still don't like having them. I am relieved that my replacement seems very nice and capable. I told some of my students I was going to be leaving (and that I was pregnant with twins) and had some very touching conversations with a few of them. It makes you realise how important you are as a teacher in some of their lives, when you are suddenly leaving their lives. I don't regret the reasons why I am leaving, but I will miss seeing my students a lot. I will also miss seeing my friends on staff every day.

15 weeks pregnant

I had a Drs appointment on Thursday. It went okay. I know that the risks in a twin pregnancy are way higher than a singleton pregnancy, but it is still scary to hear it come out of your Drs mouth. She wrote me a note to stop working for the rest of this pregnancy. I am sad to stop working, I love my job, but I know it is for the best. Nothing is really wrong right now, the stopping work is more a preventative thing. I am overweight and that combined with the extra weight of 2 babies can put a lot of pressure on the cervix. I need to lay down as much as possible to save wear and tear on my cervix. I also have a history of high blood pressure. I take readings at home and it is always fine, but at my appointments, after a long day at work, it is often higher than it should be. The Dr said No exercise, No cleaning, No standing for long periods, No stress. I am not on bed rest yet, but she did mention that it is likely I will be before the end of the pregnancy.

I have started feeling "quickening" more often now. I have no idea which baby it is moving in there, but it feels kind of cool. I can't wait until I can feel actual kicks and punches. Even better will be when I (and other people) can feel them from the outside.

I have an ultrasound in a month (March 16th) and I can't wait to see the babies again. I find myself focusing on all the things that can go wrong instead of being positive and enjoying this pregnancy. Seeing the babies a few weeks ago, and hearing that everything looked perfect made me feel so much better for a few days. After the ultrasound in March I will get to see them more often on ultrasound. I am looking forward to that.

I think I need to stop watching TV. My favorite soap, Coronation Street, has the loss of a pregnancy at 30 week as its main story line this week. I just have to keep reminding myself over and over again that it isn't real. Also I watched Grey's Anatomy and Private Practive and one of the story lines involved a pregnant Mom, who almost lost her baby. Another story line involved a Mom who was freaking out with Post Partum Depression. Too many things on TV can make me worry. I know things can go wrong, but I have this desire to live in a bit of a bubble for now. I just can't handle hearing about bad things without letting them worry me.

14 weeks pregnant

Every book, website etc. differs between when 1st trimester ends and the 2nd trimester starts. At 14 weeks all of them agree that I have started the 2nd trimester. Yipee!
I read on my update today that the babies are around 9 cm, are growing hair and are able to suck their thumbs. Kind of cool to imagine them in there exploring their own little hands.
The 24 hour a day nausea seems to have left this week. I still puke once or twice a day, but in between getting sick I feel fine. It is a nice change. I will be even more happy once the puking stops. I still seem to be losing weight instead of gaining. My belly is getting rounder and harder though. I ordered my first couple of pairs of maternity pants on line. They should be arriving next week. Even though my pants still do up fine (thanks to the puking induced weight loss) they feel less comfortable on my stomach. I am sure a little elastic in the waist will feel good.
I have been having pains between my hips and my uterus ( I read they are called round ligament pains), apparently they are normal. By 4 months (2 weeks away) my uterus with twins is supposed to be the same size as a uterus with a singleton pregnancy at 6 months. Scary!
We have been discussing names and seem to have decided on 1 boy and 1 girl name so far. (now we just need to think of a 2nd one of each in case we have girl/girl twins or boy/boy twins.) I don't think we are going to share our name choices until after the babies are born. Everyone likes to give opinions on names and I want it to be our decision, not influenced by other people.
I have another Drs appointment this Thursday. I am looking forward to hopefully hearing the heartbeats on the doppler.