35 weeks

I am quite grateful that at this point of a twin pregnancy I feel this good. I read about others at this point and they seem to fare much worse. I am well enough to go to work, the gym, and stores. I can still make light meals. Though huge, all my weight gain (50 pounds) is belly and boobs so the rest of my body does not even look bad. Somehow I still do not have stretch marks. 

But...a lot of things do suck right now. My feet are permanently swollen. I cannot  even sit or lay for long without it getting worse. When I am at home I raise them above my head to provide relief, but it is hard to lay on my back for long and it hurts to switch from one side to the other. Which is why sleeping sucks. My shoulders and hips hurt from the weight of my body - even if pillows are under me. My back stiffens up so quickly that I dread turning or getting up. The pain almost takes my breath away. My stomach is so large that I cannot turn over sometimes and I get stuck halfway through the process! And my fingers, wrists, feet, and ankles swell overnight and become nearly arthritic for the first hour after getting up.

Ok now that I got all that out... I have noticed some subtle changes over the last one to two weeks. My stomach has hardly any room anymore. I barely eat at this point, and when I do, it is tiny portions. My stool is always loose and is basically diarrhea. I have a few contractions a day, nothing painful and only in my lower abdomen. Occasionally I feel menstrual type cramps, especially at night, which have no timeable frequency. 

The boys have never been frequent movers (kick counts would never have worked for me) but they are moving less than ever. I do feel something from them every day, but I think they are just so squished. Baby B I believe has tried to move toward birthing position a few times because I have noticed his head toward the side. But I think he runs out of room to rotate and/or faces opposition from his happily breech brother, and cannot complete the movement. I will know more tomorrow. Looking forward to finding out their measurements and receiving confirmation that they are ok. Because I still worry. The anxiety between ultrasounds always builds, and crescendos, right before appointments, and now at this point, I allow myself to think of NICU, birth defects, cord accidents, and all kinds of horrible things. 

32w1d

For this point in a twin pregnancy, I feel pretty good. However, I still have complaints, of course! My lower back and pelvis are sore nearly all the time when I walk, get up, or turn over in bed. My belly is getting much more heavy and low so I am feeling more pressure and restriction on positions. Basically, I am never comfortable for long and that is exhausting. My feet also swell more often now, which freaks me out a bit, though my OB reassured me that it is minimal swelling and usually twin mommies look a lot worse at this point!

At my 31 week ultrasound, the boys looked good. They weigh 3.6 and 3.11 pounds, which is at and above average for twin weights. They passed the breathing tests. Unfortunately, both are breech so that nay have sealed my fate for a C-section. Lots of people have reassured me their babies have turned after this stage, but they seem to forget they had only one in there. With two, there is far less room to do so. Either way, maybe I should get my ass in gear and research ways to help them turn.

The nursery is coming along. We sorted all our baby shower gifts and I feel a lot better not having shit all over the house. Still need to buy a few more things, set up the monitors, and complete decorations.

We have decided on day care and have interviewed two out of three oediatricians thus far. The final interview is next week so that will be completed soon. 

I cannot believe there are only six weeks left at maximum until they are here. The anxiety about their birth, their chances of survival, everything, is more prevalent and I need to take time and my mental health more. 

30w2d

Considering I have gained forty pounds and am measuring around thirty six weeks, I feel pretty good. My upper, inner legs hurt now and my feet are swelling sometimes now as well, but otherwise, no new symptoms have appeared. I still go to the gym to lift light weights and to enjoy the pool.

My baby shower went well. My mom had texted and called everyone to confirm attendance since only two people actually RSVPed. There were about 35 in attendance and I had fun mingling with everyone. Of course, I could not resist making craft projects, which my family and C helped me create. Examples were a photo album of all my bump pics from nine weeks on (including a pic with each fruit/vegetable of the week), collage of ultrasound pics, fancy pic of milestones like first kick, and spray painting white bottles for the dining table centerpiece. The friend who offered her house surprised me with additional decorations and organized the set up while I was at home resting. She also made cookies as favors and recruited people to participate in a meal train. The other absent host made an appearance and helped with set up and distributing gifts. She also bought gifts as prizes for games- which I had said no to in advance! I quickly shut down the games and they only played two, but I was a bit peeved. Despite that it was a lovely day. 

The boys are presumably well. Their movements have become much less frequent and strong. So daily kick counts would not work for me as a tool to make sure they are ok. I can only hope it means they are squished in there. It is almost another week before I have another ultrasound. I guess I really cannot believe they will be ok until they are here. It hurts too much to be too excited.