Some twin pregnancy questions - Page 2

[annettemarie]

A couple of updates

I hadn't thrown up in a few days and had myself convinced the babies had died. They got me in right away and I saw them today and they're doing great! I can't believe how much they've grown in 10 days and they have nice strong heartbeats. It's actually really amazing to me. And the nurses were soooo nice. I told them they had my permission to lecture me about chilling out and they said that I was acting pretty much exactly how they would expect a woman who had two miscarriages in a row and then found out she was having twins would act... but yeah, I needed to chill out. It feels more real now because this is around when we lost the other babies. By six weeks, nothing was measuring right and there were already all kinds of warnings that things were going wrong.

Anyway, my question of the night...

Those muscles on the sides of the uterus-- round ligaments, are they called?-- mine are really killing me. I'm wondering how much of it has to do with having three first trimesters so close together and how much of it has to do with twins. Sometimes it helps if I put my hand there-- I'm guessing because of the heat? Is there anything I can do as far as comfort measures? Like a hot water bottle? Or would that be bad for the babies? Because it hurts really badly.

[Intertwined]

A nice warm water bottle would be fine and won't hurt the babies. There is much more worry about raising your core body temp or using a heating blanket or pad because they use electricity. But a hot water body or rice sock would be great. Poor thing, I'd forgotten about how much those growing pains hurt! And it's likely growing pains more than the three first trimesters. Twins really do grow and stretch your uterus much more quickly! That can be kinda intense. I went from barely showing at 18 weeks to looking about 5 months pregnant at 21!

I'm so glad your babies are looking well! What a relief that must be!!!!

[annettemarie]

Thanks! I'm going to try that tomorrow.

I've already come up with three things I think having twins is going to teach me.

1. I know nothing. I honestly thought "Fifth baby, easy peasy." Now I'm realizing what a learning curve two babies are going to be!

2. Slow down. I am a total overdoer. I'm already having to slow way down.

3. Ask for help. I kind of suck at this.

[lilysmama1124]

I like New Chapter organics as they are food based so you absorb more of the vitamins. There are some great books about multiple pregnancy. "Having Twins and MOre" by Susan Noble is great. However try not to get too overwhelmed by all of the increased nutritional needs/added possible complications because stress isn't good for you either. All I can say is protein, protein, protein!! Congrats!

[nummies]

Congratulations!!!

Bedrest may not even happen mama! I didn't have any sort of bedrest and my water broke on my due date!

[verycozy]

Remember: you are making two placentas and nourishing two little people. Even when you're just lying down and complaining about how cruddy you feel , your body is working harder than it's ever worked before.

I'm convinced that the reason we sometimes feel so horrible during the first trimester of a twin pregnancy is to force us to accept help and set up a support network that we can rely on later in the pregnancy when things could get rough, and after the babies are born.

[annettemarie]

Thanks!

It's funny, because I'm usually running around like a chicken with my head cut off, doing 10 things at once. But I've just been so exhausted lately. More than exhausted-- lethargic. I just don't care about anything. I have no energy to direct towards anything. I'm just waiting for my obligations to wrap up and saying "no" to everything else. Do you think that will pass? Or will it just get worse?

[verycozy]

I'd wager that you get a lot more energy in a few weeks.

This is probably a gross generalization, but I think twin pregnancies progress like most singleton pregnancies: first trimester you feel sick and tired, second trimester you feel pretty great, third trimester you feel heavy and uncomfortable and maybe tired. The big difference is that with a twin pregnancy you're already pretty huge by the middle of the second trimester; by about 23 weeks I was enormous and uncomfortable.

But some twin mamas feel great throughout their whole pregnancies