Let's start with the morning sickness from the first trimester. I didn't have a lot of nausea with either of my single pregnancies. There was a little bit of nausea and some pretty fabulous food or scent aversions (hello, raw meat! I couldn't see raw meat, let alone smell it for the entirety of my first pregnancy.) Twins: Holy cow the nausea! My OB kept telling me that with two babies the hormones that cause nausea were magnified and that's what caused the truly "fabulous" morning sickness. I'm just so thankful that Zofran was invented so I could have brief moments of nausea reprieve. I am so glad that I didn't have the morning sickness throughout the entire pregnancy!
Showing. Obviously its magnified with multiples. I believe I was sporting a pretty decent baby bump by 10 weeks. With my girls, I felt puffy around week 14ish, but didn't have much of a bump until I was closer to weeks 18-20. My doctor measured me at my last appointment and my uterus is measuring where I was when I gave birth to both of my singles. And, just think, as every woman who has had a baby knows, a ton of the baby weight happens in the last trimester! In the last 6ish weeks the babies will gain about 1/2 lb every week.
Movements are definitely different. When just one of the babies is moving at a time it feels a lot like when carrying just one baby. That being said, when both of the babies are moving it is such a different experience. I often guess at what is going on in there when they are both moving. Cohen has the big movements. I don't often feel like he has the small jabs or kicks that often happens with babies. It feels like he is trying to get comfortable over there and enjoys sticking his little fanny out the side to make more room (he curls up and gets his knees up to his chest). Cohen also likes to stretch out fully by jamming his head under my ribs (yes, he's still breach) and sometimes pushing his feet down on whatever organs are crammed into my lower abdomen. Meanwhile, Brady's head is stinkin' low in my pelvis. I can often feel his hands or arms pushing out toward my leg (strange, I know). He doesn't kick me in the ribs too often, but he has a lot of room since he is so low. He's a puncher and a bit of a kicker, but they aren't painful at all. He moves a lot, but not the big "lean over to the side to give him his space" kind of movements (that's Cohen's thing).
I know that when Natalie or Annalies was in utero feeling their movements was such a bonding experience for both me and Shawn. When Cohen or Brady is moving, I'm enjoying the feeling and I grab my phone to try to video it to share with B & R. I want them to be able to see their babies' movements as well. However, these babies are rather camera shy and usually stop moving as soon as I click play. Silly boys! Hopefully, once they come out in the open, they will more open to pictures and videos.
Fatigue is a bit exaggerated at this point with twins. First trimester fatigue was comparable to that with the girls. I'm not sure if I really can compare this third trimester fatigue with that of my other two. I wasn't on bed rest with the other pregnancies. I'm not sure if the fatigue I'm experiencing these past couple of weeks is from my body helping little babies grow, the lack of activity I'm experiencing, or just third trimester fatigue. Either way, my afternoon nap/rest is something I cherish these days!
I hope my observations have helped give a glimpse into some of the differences between a singleton pregnancy and a multiple pregnancy. There definitely are differences between carrying one baby and carrying two. It's a totally different ballgame with two!
Overall, the boys and I are doing well. They definitely like me "down" rather than active and I can tell on days that I attempt too much.
Bed rest is going well. Honestly, I do miss adult conversation. Some days Shawn is out of the house from 8:15am until almost midnight. I am so thankful that Annalies is home with me so I have someone to talk with and distract me. She is at an age where she can do a lot for herself, but still needs me to help with meals and some other things. With me having to feed her a well balanced meal means that I have to feed me a well balanced meal as well. I would be prone to snack if I didn't have to give her meals. And, seriously, who doesn't love a little blonde hair, blue eyed little girl!
Oops, off topic again. :-) Lack of real conversations with people (thank God for Facebook, text, and email!) the inability to do housework the way I want to, and slight boredom are really the downsides to bed rest. The up side is that Brady and Cohen are thriving and staying where they need to be right now. And, that is all that that matters.
Miracles make me smile. :-)
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