The biggest difference is that you grow a lot faster. We started telling people that I was pregnant around 3 months and a few weeks after that it was obvious to almost everyone. With twins the recommended weight gain is 30-56 pounds as opposed to 25-35 with a single birth. That is a lot to put on in 9 months!
Most women, including me with Adriana, will talk about the joys of the 2nd trimester where the morning sickness is gone, yet you don't have all the aches and pains of the last trimester. Well, I think that lasted about 2 weeks this time before my belly got so big I felt like I was in the last trimester! Luckily I still don't have it too bad. I can do most things by myself. Adriana has been my helper to get things off the floor.
Another difference is that you grow out of your own maternity clothes! Most of my shirts are already too short to cover the entire belly. Mark's shirts are really coming in handy... well those that still fit.
Another important thing is being more careful about what I do and not to push myself too hard. This can be very difficult when you have to get ready for 2 babies instead of one, and at the same time keeping the 1 year old out of trouble. (If you don't know what I mean check the last post) I've already told the twins they aren't allowed to come before 35 weeks, so hopefully they listened!
Some of the benefits include... eating and drinking all the time! I'm supposed to have about 3,000 calories each day to provide all the nutrients to the 3 of us so that can be fun. Of course it's all fruits and veggies wink, wink! I do need to make sure I am eating well so they get all the nutrients they need so they are nice and big when they are born. My goal is 5-6 lbs. At the beginning of January they were both about 1 pound which is in the 90th percentile so things are looking good. My sister-in-law recommended a great book called When You're Expecting Twins,Triplets, or Quads. It has a lot of information and has been very helpful. Another great thing is that the pregnancy and everything that goes with it is a double header. I only have morning sickness one time instead of two. I only have to go through labor once, but get 2 out of it! It really has been a great pregnancy and we are blessed that things have gone so well so far. I'm hoping it will last till the end.
I'm sure there are many more differences, but these are the only ones that come to mind right now. We know that something happens to a woman's memory when she is pregnant so if you double that I'm probably at similar levels to amnesia or something :) (I can't quite remember.) If you have any other questions I'd be happy to answer them. One interesting thing I learned is that since they each have a separate sac they will stay on the same side throughout the pregnancy. Now I can attribute some of the kicks to either Baby A or B. One other thing I'll add is that Mark has been great through this whole thing and is also very excited. You don't feel like a regular person while you waddle around with a big watermelon of a stomach, but somehow he is able to look past that and still see me as beautiful. That is a great help to my emotional health and I am very grateful for him. Well sorry this got so long, but hope it was enjoyable! We're on the count down now, less than 3 months left!
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A 24 week picture.
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This is another one at 24 weeks that we will compare the tummy to my last pregnancy.
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Same shirt, but worn on Adriana's due date. Notice much difference between the two pictures? Neither did we.
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