GOODBYE ANKLES - HELLO CANKLES!!

Unfortunately, swollen hands and feet are all too common in pregnancy. When you are pregnant, your blood volume increases substantially. Your growing uterus puts pressure on your pelvic veins and vena cava (the major vein that receives blood back from your lower limbs), which slows down the blood flow returning to the torso. This causes blood pooling, which in turn forces water into the tissues of your extremities (hands and feet).

And lucky for me, with the gestation of twins, I have even more blood flow thank someone pregnant with a singleton, so more swelling it is for me. And add that to the fact that it’s summer in Minnesota with high humidity. Yikes!!

Here are my feet on a more "normal" day in this pregnancy. Although this is still swollen.
And here are my really swollen feet today.

I keep looking down thinking, “These ARE NOT my feet!” I’ve lost my ankle bones, which usually stick way out. (I’ve never liked that so you’d think I’d like them to be swollen, but no! – not this much!!) Actually, now that I think about it more, I can’t even really tell where my calves end and my feet begin. AHH!! Oh, and don't forget my toes - I have sausage toes! Tennis shoes are out of the question and when I wear sandals, my feet start swelling around them. It's actually pretty funny as they leave huge marks when I take them off. Oh the horror – I’ve got cankles!! But don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining - just reporting! :)

Since my feet are so very tight and sore, it feels heavenly to soak them in cold water. I may just have Nick pull down that teeny tiny kiddy pool I bought for $1 at a garage sale last summer so I can fill it up outside. Then I can relax with my feet cooling off in the pool, while drinking a delicious pina colada (virgin, that is!!)

So, goodbye ankles...for now. I'll see you again...hopefully by next Christmas...

GETTING BIGGER....AND BIGGER...AND BIGGER!

I had my last doctor appointment last week on June 24th. My mom and sister, Corrie came to the appointment with me and they got to hear the babies’ heartbeats. What a joy that always is! I had a shock as I weighed in with a big jump of 7 pounds this month. (I had only gained 13 pounds total in 20 weeks, from the beginning of my pregnancy.) I’m not quite sure what to think about that. But I keep telling myself that it’s better than not gaining any weight at all! I need to keep these babes nourished, right?

At my appointment, I was 24 weeks along, but I was measuring at 33 weeks. My OB/GYN said, “Congratulations, you’re almost full term…for a single baby!” HA! Good one! I’m excited for next month’s appointment where we’ll have another ultrasound to check on the size of each baby. I pray they’re growing as they should!

Here’s a photo of me at 24 weeks. (But measuring 33 weeks!)

WEEK 20 - 23 SYMPTOM UPDATE

Week 20:
I’ve been so very thirsty this week, feels like I cannot drink enough liquids. So of course that means more potty breaks! My hands and feet have still been swelling often. One day this week, my wedding ring got stuck on my finger after it took a while to pull it off, I realized this just isn’t gonna fly. So off to Kohl’s I went to purchase a “pretend” wedding ring. It’s super pretty and cost less than $20. What a deal! I’m going to tell people it’s a family heirloom worth millions. HA HA! I miss my “real” ring, but I guess it will have to do for now. Otherwise, if I had left it on, I’d probably have to get it cut off!

Week 21:
I have a lot of pressure in my stomach. A. LOT. OF. PRESSURE. At times, it is hard to bend down to pick something up off the floor or to put shoes on. I’ve also had some weird stinging pains in different areas as well. One pain is on the right side of my pelvis. Nick googled it and we are pretty sure it’s “round ligament pain.” Your uterus is normally the size of a pear. And thick ligaments hold your uterus in suspension within your abdomen. As the uterus grows in size and weight, these ligaments become very long and thin, stressing and tensing like rubber bands. They pull and tug on nerve fibers which cause pain. So, I’m feeling this pain and it hurts, but that’s okay – I can deal with the physical pain. But it always makes me question whether something is wrong with the babies. You’d think I’d stop being so paranoid, but each days brings on new physical and emotional feelings and questions!

Week 22:
The joints in my fingers feel very sore and tight often throughout the day. (Is this what arthritis feels like?) I’m sure it has to do with the swelling. When I wake up in the mornings, my hands and feet feel very tight and sore. I feel like my entire body has been hit by a truck. It’s hard to walk around for the first half an hour!

But the most exciting part of this week has been feeling the babies move. Holy movement, batman!! I had thought I had felt the babies move just a few times before this week, and it probably was just that. But this is the first of them consistently moving a lot. It’s amazing. There’s no doubting it now, it’s for sure what I’m feeling. I am in love with it. People had described it to me as feeling like a butterfly fluttering its wings. Well, it doesn’t really feel like that to me, it literally feels like there’s something in there moving and kicking around. It’s like the twins are poking at me saying, “Hi Mommy! We’re here!” I just can’t get enough of it! I wonder who is moving what body part and where. Or maybe they’re playing with each other…

Here’s a photo of me at 22 weeks!

Week 23:
I’m still really enjoying feeling the babies move around…of course! If I feel a lot of movement and watch my stomach, I can see my skin pop up. Nick has been trying to feel it, but of course when he tries, the babies stop moving!

Sleeping has been difficult this week. I wake up a lot and am uncomfortable. My stomach feels so full, tight, and achy…even throughout the night. During the day I’ve been having a lot of back pain in the middle of my back. It’s hard to sit and find a comfortable position. Pillows or blankets propped behind my back help.

For a few days this week I was just miserable. Usually these aches and pains I have are spread with just a few ones occurring and switching from day to day. But with all the aches and pains happening at once for a few straight days, I thought to myself, “If it continues this way, it’s going to be a very very very long summer.” People tell me to take it easy and relax but when you can’t even find a comfortable position laying down, that makes it pretty difficult!

BIRTHING CLASS

Nick and I took a birthing class called, “Birth, Babies, and Beyond “ through the local ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education). It was a 4 session class, with each session lasting 2.25 hours. They went over pregnancy tips, stages of labor, labor positions, pain meditations, relaxation/breathing, newborn care, resources, etc. We took the class in June, which was during my 5th month. You’re ideally supposed to take it during your 8th month. But it was the only dates that would work for us and we figured in case I delivered early, it’d be best to take it then. Most of these ladies were near the end of their pregnancies and I was literally bigger than most of them already. CRAZY!

Having worked in childcare, a degree in Elementary Childhood with a specialization in pre-primary, experiences with my nieces, and just speaking with friends/family, I already knew a lot of what the class offered. But it was still nice to go over again. Although I really wished the class went over more of newborn care, such as how to take are of a baby AFTER you leave the hospital…and especially with twins! I felt out of place in the class because I wanted to ask specific questions regarding to twins, but I didn’t want to waste everyone else’s time there that it didn’t apply to. I wish there was a professional to talk to about twins or a class to take. But in a town our size, there just isn’t that option.

Unfortunately, we had previous plans and we missed the 4th class session, which is about breastfeeding. This was the class session we need to be at the most! I was really disappointed about this as breastfeeding is one thing I’m sure I’ll need assistance with. And for double breastfeeding with twins, I’m sure it takes a little more skill. So I’m nervous about that part. But I know they have lactation consultants at the hospital that can help and even come in the home to assist.

Also during the last class that we missed, they did a tour of the birthing center. We spoke with the RN about this and after the first class, she gave Nick and I our own personal tour! This was the highlight of the class for me. The new birthing center at the brand new hospital here in town is beautiful! The rooms are very nice with great amenities. (gee…sounds like a hotel!) It was great to see the c-section room, since that will be where we will deliver. (With multiples, they have you deliver in the surgery room, just in case of emergencies.)

We had to bring pillows and blankets a few nights as we practiced relaxation techniques, including breathing and massage. Many of the women in the class mentioned how they were planning on having a natural birth with no medication. Nick and I would look at each other and grin because I’m planning on taking whatever drugs they can give me! More power to those ladies, but that will be a daunting task, to say the least! I’m looking for a fun, drug filled, pain free experience. HA!

Here are photos of Nick and I headed to class!!

REGISTERING - A FINE ART!

Registering is a fine art. For months we've researched products, compared prices, and read countless reviews. It’s like a part time job Nick and I have created for ourselves. This strategy is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because we know more about the products and which ones we think will be great, that are the most cost efficient. But it’s also a curse because it takes a long time to go over all that information and we stress ourselves out about deciding which one to get, when to get it, and where to get it. That’s our OCD taking charge. At some point we’ve just realized that you just research a little, then just decide on something and stick with it. Because by this point – you’re just wasting your precious free time! And I guess we need to fall back on our parents advice, "We didn't have that stuff 30 years ago when you were born and YOU SURVIVED!" Because it is so very true!

Give us a little break though – this is double duty for us. With twins on the way, many items we need TWO of, so we want to be as frugal as possible. (This is our life story – we’re probably too frugal with everything.)Of course we’ve spent the longest research of bigger items such as cribs and nursery room furniture. And I’m pretty proud to say that I think we found the best deals possible!

We’ve received good advice and found ways to save money and have more room; such as buying a dresser and not a changing table. This way we can have more drawer room for double the clothes, plus we can keep the dresser forever and it can grow with the kiddos! We’re thankful for advice from other mommies and daddies out there. But at the same time, we know our situation is a little different with twins, so we oftentimes do have to think about things a little differently.

I’ve also read awesome books geared toward twins and received lots of ideas about what we really truly need TWO of and what not. And things that people just really don’t need at all – like those diaper genie things that hold the dirty diapers! And that many stores offer a discount for multiples – 10% off the second item of a double purchase. (ie: We got our 2nd crib for 10% off. Not that it’s a huge discount, but anything helps!)

Here are a few photos of us registering. Those “guns” are fun! Just point, shoot, and whala – it’s on the list!



Before we started, we thought registering was going to be very overwhelming. And it was at times, but overall, much better than we anticipated! What may have helped keep us in a great mood was that we found the cribs we wanted at USA Baby, on sale, plus we got 10% off the second, and a $10 coupon to use! So, after that big success - we started at Babies R Us and walked around the whole store, crossing off our items along the way. We spent a long time there – that store is huge! But we left feeling satisfied. (Probably because we also went to Khan’s Mongolian Barbeque for supper…YUMMY!!) Then we headed over to a Super Target and registered there as well. Mission accomplished!! And Nick and I were still on speaking terms! HA!