The 2nd Trimester

The second trimester is supposed to be filled with energy and radiance. I don't think this is true with twins. While I was pregnant with the boys my 2nd trimester was everything the books promised. I had a ton of energy and I felt fantastic. I was able to get the nursery ready and go about my daily life with no hindrance. My skin was perfect and my hair was radiant, it truly was a great time. With my precious daughter things were a little different. My skin and hair were great but I developed sciatic pain that lasted the entire pregnancy.I also found out that your ligaments can only stretch out so many times before they just quit and you have to hold up your uterus with your own 2 hands! Although this was a hard time, I was only carrying 1 baby. Looking back I wish I could tell myself then that I should be happy because having twins is a whole other ball game!

This time the 2nd trimester was much different. Although I had lost the nausea and extreme exhaustion I did not gain the glow the books rave about. My energy level was a little better, but I was certainly not buzzing around town!!! My skin became oily and blotchy - not exactly glowing. My hair, which is naturally curly, became straight and stringy and very hard to manage. And my ligaments were beyond shot. I actually had to buy a maternity belt! It is this huge contraption that has 3 parts just to keep it up. It made my skin sweat and turn bright red but without it I wasn't able to keep my belly up! I have to say that is was much more difficult but every time I got to see my precious baby girls on the ultrasound it was all worth it!

Since this was the last pregnancy we decided to have a 3D ultrasound done at Womb With A View. We had to go earlier than most pregnancies because the farther along you are in a twin pregnancy the harder the babies are to see. We took our kids to the session with us and it was such a great experience for all of us! We got to see their profile and a pretty good frontal shot of their faces. The boys loved hearing their heartbeats and Olyvia loved to see their faces. The pictures turned out great and we also got a dvd of the whole session.

My girlfriends threw me a lovely baby shower. "Tea for Two" was the theme and it was perfect! We had a great lunch and cheesecake for dessert. We were blessed to receive some great gifts to get us started and of course some precious outfits. I had the 3D pictures of the girls up and everyone agreed that they are adorable.

Our neighbors also threw us a couples shower. What a blast! There were some great appetizers and some great conversations. The best part was nursery rhyme karaoke! My husband and our neighbor did great rendition of Mary Had A Little Lamb, Beatsie Boys style! It was great to again be surrounded by people that care for our growing family .

I think in the 2nd trimester is when it really hit me that we were not only pregnant again - but having twin girls! Every time I look at 2 matching outfits or see both of the car seats I am overwhelmed by the double blessings we are about to have - ligament pain and all!