Well, I am "unofficially" on maternity leave and just waiting on the arrival of William and Charlie!! The fact that I will have 2 sons in 2 weeks is just insane to me! Honestly this pregnancy has FLOWN by.
How am I currently feeling at 36 weeks?
Well....Like a HOUSE ON STILTS! I've put on 50 pounds (that I carry ALLLLL up top) and I'm in that Oompa Loompa stage where I walk around like an inflatable balloon but WAY too heavy to float away. But it's all good. I still feel sexy, strong, and proud of myself for managing to find a way to thrive throughout this pregnancy, but it hasn't been easy. THAT's for sure!!! People may assume that I've done so well because I've felt so well. Let me set the record straight. I have NOT always felt great. I've felt exhausted and overwhelmed and hormonal and sick and uncomfortable BUT despite the way that I felt, I knew that I was capable of carrying on. Just because my mind and body didn't WANT to do something didn't mean that I COULDN'T do something. It just meant that it was harder. And I knew that in the end, it would pay off...and it has. At the end of my pregnancy, I feel strong and confident. I am pain free (other than areas we shant speak of) and I still have some energy to boot. I am praising the Lord for that and hoping that I will bounce back feeling physically emotionally and mentally ready to take care of my baby boys!
At 7 weeks pregnant when I found out that I was having twins I spent a few days freaking out of course, but once the shock wore off, I made the determination to carry on with life as usual (with obvious modifications) and to take care of my health and the health of my babies to the best of my ability. As a result, I'd say I've had a pretty amazing pregnancy!
You see, I'd spent the first few months obviously googling the heck out of my situation and joining groups and reading forums about all things Monochorionic/Diamniotic (Identical twin) Pregnancies and deliveries. I found out VERY quickly that I was in what most would consider a "risky" situation. By nature of the fact that I am carrying 2 babies who share the same placenta apparently makes the environment of my womb less than ideal for hosting and nourishing 2 lives. I read horror stories of mothers who kept losing their babies to TTTS and TAPS and still birth and birth defects and so on and so on. So many moms were on bedrest and they felt miserable and health was poor. And for the many of the moms who HAD their twins....they were sleep deprived, confused, and desperate. There was so much negativity and fear and dread and speculation and "what ifs" and theories on everything that it was hard to have any positive feeling about my situation.
And that's when I decided early on to remove the fear and dread from my own pregnancy and do my best to write a different story. I refused to let go of hope and chose to be optimistic. My twin pregnancy would NOT be horrible. It would NOT be traumatic. And I would NOT be miserable!
And that's when I decided early on to remove the fear and dread from my own pregnancy and do my best to write a different story. I refused to let go of hope and chose to be optimistic. My twin pregnancy would NOT be horrible. It would NOT be traumatic. And I would NOT be miserable!
I knew that so many things were out of my control, but what WAS in my control were the choices I made and the attitude that I had. SO, I chose to carry on with life as usual. I listened to my body and made some modifications, but for the most part, I just focused on the life I was living which I LOVE and carried on about my business. I focused primarily on my nutrition so that I could put on a healthy amount of body fat and build a healthy placenta early on. I continued exercising daily but turned my focus to preventative and corrective exercises so that I could avoid pain later on. I stayed active, kept working, took life one day at a time, and before I knew it, I was in the home stretch of my pregnancy!!!
I still continued teaching bootcamp, training clients, and working out with my friends!
My home away from home throughout this pregnancy has been either at my OB's office, My perinatologists office, or the hospital. Even though I was always so healthy, my "situation" was being treated as if I were a horror story waiting to happen! I had to have frequent monitoring to make sure the twins weren't developing TTTS (twin to twin transfusion syndrome) where one twin receives more nutrition and blood supply than the other. It can only happen in Identical twins. It is very serious, and can happen within a couple days. TTTS is very common, and I know a few women personally who have experienced it. Fortunately they had happy endings, but many moms and babies do not. Early on it was always nerve wrecking to show up to these appointments, but by God's grace, my babies always looked perfectly healthy. They were right on track and my health was always in perfect condition.
Now I show up to get fetal monitoring twice a week at the hospital because the biggest concern at the end is whether or not my bigger babies are still thriving in such a cramped environment on one life source. I absolutely dread these NonStressTests because I have to lay in bed for an hour and they always see something iffy which lands me in the ultrasound room where they find out the boys are of course still rockin and rollin! In hindsight, knowing how my boys have thrived, I wish I could have refused so much monitoring, but the truth is, when choosing the lesser of two evils....I know that I made the right decisions by keeping a close eye on the boys. With so many complications that can happen in a Mono/Di pregnancy...NOT monitoring them would have been VERY careless.
So, here I am at 36 weeks pregnant and I can't believe it!!! I wish I had blogged more about the pregnancy, but when I wasn't working...I was SLEEPING! The fun part will be watching my journey from pre twin to post twin. WHOA! I've got my work cut out for me, but we all know I like a challenge. ;)
Anyway, my Drs strongly recommend that I deliver these babies by 37 weeks because the risk of still birth goes up dramatically at this time, but my intuition tells me, the boys are absolutely fine. I've asked to PLEASE let me try to make it to 38 weeks, so they've set my induction date for Monday, Sept 16th. Trust me....the thought of keeping 2 humans in my belly for much longer does not sound fun to me at all, but they're thriving in my womb right now, and I do not want them to come out before they are ready. I want to give birth to robust, healthy baby boys who are ready to come home with me right away.
My OB is absolutely amazing!! He has a very low cesarean and induction rate, so I really trust him. He has been very open with me and has never been condescending to me. He has actually shown me lots of support and respect. I know that he is not pushing an induction so that he can put my delivery on his calendar. He assured me of that, and he has given me all kinds tips for helping to induce the labor naturally so that I don't have to end up with an artificial induction.
Starting today, I plan to prepare my body more for labor. I'm eating lots of pineapple, taking evening primrose, doing lots of stretching and deep squats, walking 45 mins a day, drinking raspberry leaf tea, and having lots of fun with the hubs. ;) Woohoo!
I don't want to go into labor before the time is right but I'd like to prepare myself for an easier labor when it happens. As of right now, these boys aren't going ANYWHERE. They love my womb. See how happy they are!
I DESPERATELY want to go into labor naturally, but I'm ok with the things my DR and I have compromised on because ultimately, even if I have to have a little "help" getting these babies out, I still get to have a vaginal birth and he is going to let me labor naturally for as long as I want before getting an epidural. I do have to deliver in the operating room in the event that something goes wrong, but again....I'm ok with that. As "natural" as I want all of this to be, I realize that my situation is different than most and it's important to take some precaution. Everyone has their opinions about what I should be doing, but I'm making decisions that I am comfortable with based on my own research, support from other mothers, the expertise of my doctors, my mother's intuition, and lots of conversations with God. The truth is, I'm still playing it by ear and making decisions along the way, but I'm aware of the options that I have and the risks and benefits of all of my options. I plan to make decisions based on what I know depending on how things are going with my delivery. I feel like I have developed a healthy enough relationship with the team of people who will be delivering these boys that I won't have to fight for what I want, but that they'll respect me and my wishes.
Starting today, I plan to prepare my body more for labor. I'm eating lots of pineapple, taking evening primrose, doing lots of stretching and deep squats, walking 45 mins a day, drinking raspberry leaf tea, and having lots of fun with the hubs. ;) Woohoo!
I don't want to go into labor before the time is right but I'd like to prepare myself for an easier labor when it happens. As of right now, these boys aren't going ANYWHERE. They love my womb. See how happy they are!
I DESPERATELY want to go into labor naturally, but I'm ok with the things my DR and I have compromised on because ultimately, even if I have to have a little "help" getting these babies out, I still get to have a vaginal birth and he is going to let me labor naturally for as long as I want before getting an epidural. I do have to deliver in the operating room in the event that something goes wrong, but again....I'm ok with that. As "natural" as I want all of this to be, I realize that my situation is different than most and it's important to take some precaution. Everyone has their opinions about what I should be doing, but I'm making decisions that I am comfortable with based on my own research, support from other mothers, the expertise of my doctors, my mother's intuition, and lots of conversations with God. The truth is, I'm still playing it by ear and making decisions along the way, but I'm aware of the options that I have and the risks and benefits of all of my options. I plan to make decisions based on what I know depending on how things are going with my delivery. I feel like I have developed a healthy enough relationship with the team of people who will be delivering these boys that I won't have to fight for what I want, but that they'll respect me and my wishes.
Until my expected D-Day, I'm going to pray and be proactive in getting things going naturally, but ultimately no matter what happens, and no matter how my delivery goes....even if I end up with a C-Section, healthy babies are my happy ending! I love my boys so much already and I can't believe they'll be in my arms so soon!
