Disclaimer: Since I started updating this blog on a regular basis to keep everyone up to date on our pregnancy, my love for writing has been rediscovered. Its not uncommon for me to get the urge to "write" at all times of the night and early in the morning. This is one of those posts. Please excuse me if I seem to ramble or make no sense. I "wrote" this entry at 6AM this morning on the notepad app on my phone. Right after Zach had left for work and I had gotten back in bed, gotten comfortable, and was about to fall asleep. How convenient.
Isn't it amazing how our bodies change and adapt during pregnancy. Sure there's the obvious or most well
known changes such as nausea, a growing belly, stretch marks, etc but its the changes that seem to be mother nature's way of preparing us for the amazing journey to come that are the most intriguing to me.
Having twins on the way, as you can imagine my body has gone through pretty much any change that most expectant mothers go through. It's just gone through most of it twice. One of the reasons I wasn't surprised when the ultrasound tech broke the news that we were expecting twins is because unlike my first pregnancy (which ended in a miscarriage a little over a year ago) I had begun experiencing nausea at 3 weeks (my first pregnancy I barely experienced any symptoms at all.) This time, I didn't even get a positive pregnancy test until 5 weeks (and Lord knows I had started taking them at 28 days). I think I tested on 3 different occasions over a 12 day period of time.
Another change a woman's body goes through, perhaps the most obvious of them all is a growing belly. My belly had started to "pooch" at about 6 weeks and by about 13-15 weeks I could no longer hold it in. To someone who didn't know me, they would have thought I just had a gut -which I did but this time, there was a little added fluid to keep me from attempting to suck that gut in. Now, that "pooch" has grown exponentially and is more like its own country. With twins, my belly is even bigger than that of a woman with only one baby in there. If I remember correctly, at 27 weeks I was measuring what most expectant moms are measuring at 38 weeks. And to think people had been telling me around that time that I "had no idea what being 9 months pregnant felt like". Ummm excuse me, I've gotten to experience "9 months pregnant" for a lot longer than most women. Going on about 8-10 weeks and I've still (hopefully) got another month in me. Aren't I lucky? lol
The last couple of weeks I have really been able to tell that my body is preparing itself for labor. They say that during pregnancy your joints will begin to feel more loose. I hadn't really noticed that until recently. Now, when I'm walking and/or standing, my knees hyperextend like they were made to do it. Even at night when I'm attempting to sleep, my joints ache as though they've been pushed to do things they weren't meant to do. I guess that's what an added 34 pounds in just a few short months will do for ya.
My sleep schedule has also gotten, well, jacked up. It must be mother nature's way of preparing my mind and body for many sleepless nights and only short spurts of sleep once the boys are here. I haven't slept for more than a couple hours at a time in weeks. Whether its the urge to pee, the pain of being on one side for too long and needing to roll over (which is a task!), the dogs needing tending to, or whatever, I never just sleep straight for 6-8 hours or more like I used to. Now it's an hour here, 2 hours here, an hour and a half here...well, you get the idea.
These changes a woman's body goes through during pregnancy fascinate me. I think sometimes we forget that God made our bodies to do this. This is what we are here for.
Some of these changes just remind me of how soon mine and Zach's lives are going to change and I'm not going to lie, it's scary. Really scary. Not only do I have to get these little punks out of me (most likely by a doctor cutting them out - stubborn breech boys) - but also we have to bring them home and actually take care of them...for the next 18+ years. If that doesn't make you even just a little nervous, you cray! I still feel like a kid myself, how am I going to raise one...errr, two? Yeesh! I am going to be clinging to what the nurse told us yesterday, "just remember to keep telling yourself 'this too shall pass'". I think that is a perfect philosophy for any new parent, especially twin BOYS. Lord help me!!! As tough as I know it will be, even though I am sure I won't REALLY know how tough it'll be until they come home, these boys are truly a blessing and so many people are so excited to meet them. I'm just thankful I get to be their mommy.
As ugly and unpleasant as some of these changes we as mothers go through can be, God gave us the gift of childbirth and I couldn't feel more blessed to be able to experience it. As soon as my boys are here, I have a slight suspicion that everything unpleasant that my body -and mind- have gone through over the last 9 months will fade away from my memory and all I will care about is those two bundles of joy in my arms. I CANNOT WAIT!
Keep cookin' boys!!!
