Twin Pregnancy Part 2 of 4

My last blog post was about my first trimester. This one will focus on my second trimester which was the easiest and smoothest part of my pregnancy.

April, May, and June were the best months of my pregnancy. I felt good, I did a lot of Pilates and kept running until the end of May. I really enjoyed my time with Garrett, and we focused on decorating our new home.

My body felt strong. I was sleeping well and although I would be tired by the end of the day, I was full of energy for most of it. I focused on enjoying my time teaching with my partner teacher and our students. I felt wonderful. I was showing, and I just felt so much gratitude for everything that was happening. I finished my school year and I was ready to enjoy my last months pregnant and rest during the summer.

In the middle of May I had my first appointment with my perinatologist a specialist designated when you have a high-risk pregnancy. She was going to check me and do our anatomy scan. We had been anxiously waiting for this day. Originally before I knew that I had twins I didn’t want to find out the sex of the baby; but after knowing I was having two babies, I felt like we needed to know in order to prepare.

My family and my husband came to the appointment with me. I laid on the chair and before I could even adjust myself the doctor said twin A is a boy, and it looks like twin B is too. Again, I was shocked. I am not sure why honestly. I really didn’t have a preference, but two boys just felt like A LOT. The scan was over two hours. The boys liked to hide during my entire pregnancy, and it was hard to see their faces.

During that anatomy scan I was very anxious, I was praying that my two little boys were growing as they should be. During the scan the doctor noticed something about the shape of the nose for one of the boys and she reassured me that it was probably nothing. She kept the scan going until she was able to see it again and confirm that what she noticed was wrong. I held on to that comment my entire pregnancy and even after. Just that one fleeting concern I could not let it go. All I wanted was for my babies to be healthy. In that moment I TRULY realized how silly everything else was in comparison. I struggled with my health in my early twenties, I had a medical condition that I will share about some other time, but I already had learned that health was by far one of the best blessings you could receive. That is all that mattered, that my two babies were healthy – everything else I could deal with, everything else I would figure out. I had a huge shift in my mindset during that appointment and that lessened a lot of the fears and anxieties I still had.

During that scan my doctor also noticed that my cervix was shorter than it should be. This could have been because of the way my body is naturally or because of coughing when sick and running. She told me to stop running immediately, to stop working, to avoid anyone that was sick and that I could not get on a plane. All she wanted me to do was to lay down and have lots of ice cream. Those were her words exactly.

I want to point out that my doctor is one of the best doctors in the country. I was beyond blessed to have her as my doctor and I was going to learn that very soon.

After that appointment I felt that many of my concerns from my first appointment when I found out we were expecting twins were legitimate and correct. Twin pregnancy was very different. What I was going to experience was going to be different. I couldn’t continue exercising to the intensity I was accustomed to even though I felt great doing it. I couldn’t go on a baby moon even though I felt so healthy and strong. I also was told to stop working. These were all things I had looked forward to since before I was pregnant. I was going to stay active. I was going to travel and have one last trip with Garrett. I was going to finish the school year. That wasn’t my situation anymore though. That lesson of trusting and having faith and letting go just continued to resurface.

After hearing the doctor, I knew what I had to do. My babies health was first and I needed to stop running, so I started swimming. I couldn’t go on a trip, but I could soak in all my time with Garrett and I did. I didn’t stop working but I did schedule days off and I made sure to have help to pack my classroom and be completely done the last day of school.

Looking back now I wish I would have stopped working when the doctor said. I wish that running hadn’t been such a blinding goal. I would have swam my entire pregnancy had I known how good it felt and how it relieved the soreness in my body. It was one of the most comfortable feelings. I wouldn’t have pushed my body to do so much. I wanted to be unstoppable, I wanted to just continue to be myself.

I was wrong. I really would never go back to being that person. Pregnancy and motherhood change you forever. A woman’s brain undergoes significant changes during pregnancy and motherhood. You must find your new normal and revel in the new wisdom, strength, love, and purpose you have gained.

I started having insomnia and getting more uncomfortable towards the end of June. My feet weren’t very swollen, I hadn’t gotten heart burn, but I was starting to feel the pain from laying at night for a prolonged period.

I planned my baby shower. We planned it for the beginning of July because we knew that I could go into bed rest or have the babies earlier than expected. I researched everything that I wanted to. We took a labor class and scheduled a photography session. We ordered almost everything for the nursery and purchased what we thought we would need once the babies came home. I was in nesting mode.

On the first days of July I had an appointment and my doctor prepared me for preterm labor and possibly being admitted to the hospital. He spoke about the NICU and the success rate and told me I was measuring at 40 weeks. He warned me that I could start experiencing pre-term labor at any point. I knew after that appointment that things had changed. I had progressed into another stage and I felt that the doctor was trying to prepare me.

My pictures were on July 6, my shower July 7, on July 8 I did not feel well. I started feeling cramping and spent most of the day laying down, I didn’t feel right so I went to the hospital, I thought I was having contractions. They checked me and sent me home. On July 9^th I was sure I was having contractions and went with my best friend/sister and didn’t leave again until September 28^th. My due date was October 6^th.

In my next blog post I will share the details of being admitted for pre-term labor and how the rest of my journey progressed. If you are expecting twins or multiples- I just want to let you know that this is my story and my body. This is what happened to me. There are many women who are a lot smaller than me who have held their babies’ full term. This is just my story and I  want to share to inform so that you don’t feel so scared because I can honestly say that I would do it a million times over again.