Weeks 18 and 19 {Halfway!}

18 Weeks

Here's the requisite (Ha! Neglected!) list of questions:

How far along: 18 weeks

Size of babies: 5.5 inches, head to rump, and about 7 ounces--the size of a green pepper!

Total Weight Gain: 10 pounds.  I hovered at 2-5 for the first tri, then gained a few quickly when the twins seemed to have a big growth spurt. I've not gained again since then. I don't think ten pounds is terrible for halfway through a twin pregnancy.

Stretch marks: No new ones. I can see mine starting to stretch back out though.

Maternity clothes: Always!

Gender: We haven't had it confirmed for certain yet, so you still have to wait to find out! ;P

Movement: Oh definitely! I love feeling their little pops and wiggles. 

Sleep: I don't have to get up to use the bathroom every night anymore (blessed 2nd trimester relief!) but I don't sleep very well either. My pillow is too flat, and my bed is too uncomfortable. Haha, how's that for complaining! I'm very grateful to get the amount of sleep I do, because I know it's going to be a lot less very soon!
What I miss: Not much yet, although my hips are terribly out of place so I guess I miss walking without pain or getting "stuck" on the floor because my pelvis moves out of place. I haven't been to the chiropractor yet but I need to get in sooner rather than later!
Food cravings and aversions: Nothing in particular. I'm really into cold watermelon. My best summer purchase this year was popsicle molds. I dice up watermelon really small, and then fill them the rest of the way with honest kids juice, which is super low in sugar. I also fill them with leftover breakfast smoothies. The kids are huge fans! I can think of about a million combinations, so I'm excited to have the whole hot summer to eat popsicles. No aversions, particularly.
Symptoms: Not much, other than a big belly! With Shane I had horrible heartburn. With both kids I was nauseous and felt gross all first tri. So far, this has been my easiest pregnancy symptom wise, with the exception of my poor messed up pelvis. I know that I'm carrying double so the end will be hardest, but no complaints so far!
Best moment this week: Home again after a long time away!
Worst moment this week: Azaria SCREAMED in the car most of the way from OH to D.C. Not like crying screaming, but this thing she does where she just screams for the fun of it. Frustration, Anger, Exhaustion, Hunger, Fun, Excited; you name it, she likes to scream for it. My poor dad will probably never go on a trip with us ever again!
What I'm looking forward to: Seeing the babies again next week.
Excercise this week: Is that a real thing? Haha. If it doesn't involve pushing a stroller behind a three year old on a bike, or pushing two kids on two swings, it probably doesn't involve me! Haha. I like to consider chasing my kids and doing housework excercise. Shh, don't break my heart with your truths.


On the weekend in between 18 and 19 weeks we took the kids down to the boardwalk to see the pirate festival! A couple pictures of these two were so cute I couldn't help but share, even thought it's a maternity post.

Shane was wearing the Jake and the Neverland Pirates shirt Miss Tara spoiled him with before she left. One of the activites at the pirate fest was a headscarf, beads included. And then Mommy and Daddy spoiled him a little with a wooden sword. I want to point out that we did NOT ask him to get into the stocks, he and Azaria just found this little child sized one and wanted their picture taken!

We might have taken them to the pirate festival, but their one true love is sand so after much begging and pirate watching we went down to the beach.

I mean, tell me these two are not the cutest things ever?! Ok, I know you think your own kids are so actually don't tell me. I'd rather live in my jaded ignorance.

19 Weeks

Mango babies? Only if a mango is 6 inches from head to bottom! I feel that my mangoes were smaller than my green peppers, but if they'd been African mangoes they would have been a proper size! I'm also relatively sure that my mangoes weighed more than my approximately 8.5 oz twinskies. In biggest news, 19 weeks is considered halfway in a twin pregnancy! Yay, halfway! 

This past Thursday I went and did my one hour glucose test. For the non-pregnant among you, it's where you go drink 50 mL of glucose, wait an hour, and they test your blood sugar. I don't love the test--it made my super dizzy and shaky and "high" feeling. But I did it, and it's done, and the most wonderful part is that I had to do it early because of my twin placentas and so I have to do it again in eight or so more weeks. I also had a checkup, and the twins look fine. Or they both have heartbeats, which is apparently the same thing in pre-anatomy scan lingo.

Friday the kids and I went to visit the preschool Shane will be attending in the fall. The public school system here only does full time preschool on a needs basis, and I feel that full time is too much for a four year old. I really wanted him to go to a Christian school anyway, and so I was thrilled to find a church-based preschool under five minutes from our house. It's not going to be the easiest thing to drag four kids out of the house twice a day, but it will be so perfect for my social little man and I know he will thrive with the attention mommy might not have the ability to give him once the new babies come.

Next was yet another frustrating WIC appointment, in which I took out both kids at naptime, my proof of income was STILL not sufficient, and at which Azaria decided screaming loudly at any child that came near her or her brother would be a great way to act. Ugh. Back again next week, lets hope we can get it right next time.

Finally, I got a call from the nurse that told me I was "too sweet". As in, I failed my glucose test by three points and now I get to go back for the three hour glucose test. Sigh. As I thought about it, I realized I pretty much did it to myself. See, the nurse told me I could eat beforehand but only protein. Well, I don't really eat meat often but I thought maybe I should this time, so I grabbed some lunch meat from the commissary. I didn't think about it being honey smoked ham. High sugar protein! Then, as usual when I have to leave the house with the kids, I was in a rush and didn't get a chance to eat until after I dropped them off at my friend's house. So basically I ate a sugary food directly before I drank a sugary drink. Let's just chalk it up to a pregnancy brain mistake and stupidity! Anyway, three hour test here I come. Super-sarcastic-sounding yaaaaay.

37 weeks, car trade

My 37 week picture is a real gem. I promise. But first you have to know the story behind it.

A few weeks ago my mom called and said she was sending me a package with a couple of things for Piglet, and a cute maternity outfit she’d found for me. She was so excited about the maternity outfit, going on and on about how cute it was and how she wanted a picture and on and on. So I finally got the package and there were some cute things for Piglet and then there was…the maternity outfit. I pulled it out and started laughing and laughing. I couldn’t believe mom really liked it and wanted me to wear it. But, she was so excited about it that I figured I’d just take a picture for her and pretend I loved it and throw it away on the sly. I texted her, “Got the package, love the stuff, thanks!” She texted me back, “Do you like your outfit?” Um, what to say. “I love all the baby stuff!” “But do you like your outfit?” “Man, Piglet is going to have more shoes than I do!” “But do you like your outfit?” Erm. “Yeah it’s nice, thank you!” “You really like it?” Finally I just gave up and called her. I told her that I was trying to be nice but the outfit wasn’t really my style. Finally, laughing, she said it was a big joke and she just wanted to see what I would say. So without further ado, here I am, in all my 37 week pregnant glory. Please note my lovely freshly waxed floors. Okay, so you can't tell. PRETEND!!

Now do you see why it’s so funny? I think these pantsuits were popular in the late eighties or maybe early nineties. In fact, at one point my mom had sewn matching pantsuits for her and I for deputation, and I LOVED mine. They had lace around the collars and were from a McCall's pattern. But now? I think we’ll just leave them for a joke. (And mom, I hope you appreciate the guts it took to put a picture like this in cyberspace.)

In other news, we’ve been trying to trade our car for a four door and it looks like Nathan just got a good trade. I have a 94 Acura Integra, the one he replaced the engine in last fall. It’s a good car and sporty but unfortunately the baby seat just doesn’t fit in the back seat (what there is of one, lol). We had a guy want to meet up to trade for an Accord on Sunday, and I almost bawled when I saw his car. It was a 92 (OLD!), and apparently he’s just had a new engine put in but it was in terrible condition interior and body wise, with a lot of things wrong with it. I’m not sure what he was thinking, since our car is in good condition with a lot of aftermarket mods. He offered us the car plus a thousand bucks to trade for our car, and seemed willing to go up more. He really wanted the teggie! I sat in C.hili’s and read a book while they took turns driving the cars and eventually N came in and asked me what I thought. I started crying and said, “I h-hate it!” Seriously. I know I have some hormones but it was also THAT bad. Poor guy. But he wasn’t happy with the car anyway and we knew we would be getting a raw deal even with cash so we politely declined. And by we, I mean Nathan did while I finished drying up my crocodile tears. I really hated the idea of getting rid of my sporty nice car for that hunka junk. And thankfully Nathan thought it was a bad idea even before he talked to me.

Then today he went to meet up with another guy and it turned into a trade! It’s a 94 Civic, 4 door automatic (Teggie was a standard, but I thought it would be easier to deal with a baby in an auto). It’s also only got 76K on it and was owned by an old couple so they are probably easy miles. The interior and exterior are both nice and I think Nathan is pretty happy with the trade. So praise God, that was the last big thing on my “Before Piglet” list!

Sunday was my first Mother’s day and it was nothing to write home about. I went to church and then came home and cleaned the house while Nathan slept. And slept. Grrr! Then we went to meet that guy about the car and then went and saw Ironman 2.

Monday I had a Dr. appointment and everything is good, no changes since last week. Then I went to the chiro for a second adjustment. I feel so much better! I recommend it to any pregnant ladies, even if you don’t have SPD. I know that aches and pains are part of every pregnancy, but really there is a world of difference in the way I feel now and the way I felt two weeks ago before I went to get adjusted.

19 weeks, 2 days

Baby: This week, baby is getting covered in vernix. Yum. His body parts are all becoming more proportionate, and supposedly he can hear voices and will react to light. (I think this is funny because N likes to put his mouth right against my stomach and holler all sorts of random and strange things to the baby)

Me: No sickness. Occasional faintness, especially while standing and singing in church. Decent energy, need less sleep. Back to eating a normal portion size, but not super hungry yet. Did sort of indulge in all the holiday treats, so I'm hoping not to get in trouble at my next appointment. Crippling hip pain is GREATLY lessened and I hardly notice it now (thanks Doug!!) Still feel as though someone kicked me on the pubic bone with a steel toed boot, which is another side effect of SPD and one that I will have to find a female chiropractor to take care of.

I'm not sure that I ever mentioned it on the blog but since I was six weeks pregnant I've had severe pain in my hips. It was worse if I spend any time on my feet, and at times I was almost unable to stand or move. My Mom did some research and found out about SPD, or Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction.    

As stated on http://www.baby-pregnancy-ultrasound-3d-4d.co.uk/Pregnancy-SPD.htm, some symptoms of SPD include: "Pain and tenderness in the area of the symphysis pubis joint can often be accompanied by pain in the hips, lower abdomen and groin. Sometimes the pain can also manifest itself in the inner thighs and in one or both buttocks. Walking and other activities exacerbate the pain. Standing on one leg can be virtually impossible, so activities that rely on this to some degree will increase the pain. Climbing stairs, getting dressed and getting in and out of cars or the bath all involve the use of one leg at a time. Women can also experience pain while trying to move in bed, lifting things, sitting down and getting up. They may also have pain if they try to spread their legs past a certain point. Sometimes there can be a clicking during hip movement felt or even heard. A tendency to shuffle along or waddle may develop as women try to distribute their weight evenly." Um, yep, yep, and yep. That described me, so I asked Dr. H about it.  He gave me the usual spiel about how it is fairly common in pregnancy and there's really nothing to do but grin and bear it, yada yada, but did clear me to go see a chiropractor.  So when we were in NY for Christmas my Dad called and got us in with Doug, a super-good chiropractor who's helped us in the past.  He snap-crackle-popped my back and hips and since then the pain has been much much less. He didn't do the actual pelvic adjustment as apparently that requires hands to be placed in awkward places but he did recommend that I find a woman pediatric chiropractor to get that done. I think that being able to walk and function would in this case be worth paying  a chiropractor every couple months, and there are a few things I've read that you can do to help. I don't know if anyone reads my blog other than my family and a few friends, but if there are any women out there with SPD who read this please let me know any of your tips to help.