WE MADE IT!!!! Full term for twins is 37 weeks and it’s a HUGE milestone for any twin pregnancy. I am so happy and thankful to have kept these babies baking for 37 weeks. When I first found out that I was pregnant with twins, I had a lot of fears about pre-term labor, bed-rest, low birth weight and NICU time for the twins, and horrible symptoms that women often experience in the final weeks of pregnancy. I was prepared to take these obstacles head on as they can come hand in hand with a twin pregnancy (and the vast majority of the time result in healthy babies so it wasn’t worth spending a lot of time worrying about it).
I stayed optimistic throughout my pregnancy and I’m so happy to say that none of those initial fears came to fruition and here I am, carrying full term babies fairly comfortably with no complications. For a “high risk” pregnancy, I have been as low risk as they come. The first trimester was definitely harder than the third for me, just as it was with my singleton pregnancy.
And now babies, your eviction notice has been served. I’m officially “ready” for you to be here (well, please don’t come on April Fool’s Day/Easter if you can). I got some of the final things on my to-do list done and today is my last day doing one of the roles I do for my digital marketing consultant job. There are a few more things I want to do before these babies come but it won’t be the end of the world if they don’t get done (starting with a pedicure with a friend today).
How Many Weeks: This covers 37 weeks pregnant with twins.
Babies Update: Babies are doing well. I don’t have any size estimates as I haven’t had a growth ultrasound for 3 weeks (they were estimated at around 5 lbs then so it’s possible they’re over 6-6.5 pounds each now but it’s all an estimate)! Both are still head down and they’ve passed all of their non-stress tests with flying colors.
Frequency of Doctor Appointments: 1 appointment per week with my OBGYN (he does an ultrasound to check the babies’ positions and fluid levels but doesn’t do weight estimates or any measurements) and 2 weekly non-stress tests at the hospital I’ll be delivering at (which is thankfully less than a 10 minute drive away).
Since my last update I’ve had three NSTs (I have them on Fridays and Tuesdays). It’s pretty common for doctors to do non stress tests twice a week starting around 35 weeks apparently but I wasn’t made aware that this was going to happen until my 35 week appointment. The first NST actually ended up taking nearly 2 hours between filing out the paperwork and the fact that one of the babies was sleepy and they couldn’t get a good reading. I had to drink some cold water and eat a sugary snack to get her going. The next two NSTs were about 45 minutes total and both times the nurse had to hold the monitor on baby B basically the entire time to get a good reading. This wasn’t super encouraging as most likely I will be monitored 24/7 while in labor. It’s not exactly easy to manage contractions with a nurse holding a monitor on your belly. Like I said, I still am planning a post on my labor plans and I’ll go into more detail on that in that post (or you’ll hear about it in my birth story if they come before I’ve had a chance to publish it).
Labor Signs: None. When I have my NSTs they pick up contractions I’m not even feeling and I have a lot of Braxton Hicks each day (probably at least 30-40!?) but I’ve been having them for quite a while. My doctor won’t induce until 39 weeks so I have two weeks left to kick things into gear (many doctors induce at 38 weeks so I feel like I get a bonus week). Since I went 41 weeks 2 days with my daughter, I know my body likes to hold on to babies so I wouldn’t be completely surprised if I make it to 39 weeks.
Weight Gain: 45 lbs, 1 pound this week.
Movement: It’s a big party in my belly pretty much all day and especially when I’m doing a non-stress test or trying to sleep.
Symptoms: Sleepiness continues to be my biggest complaint – Mike let me sleep in this weekend and I got 9.5 hours sleep one night (granted it was interrupted by several bathroom trips) and still took a 2 hour nap that day. The next day I took a 3 hour nap! Besides that and feeling easily winded, restricted in movement due to a giant belly and generally emotional, I’m doing pretty well. I do have some mild lower back pain that I notice the most when I wake up in the middle of the night and am shuffling to the bathroom and the days when I do a long walk. I have no swelling, no stretch marks (yet), no pelvic pain, no hemorrhoids, no (more) nausea, no heartburn/indigestion. I’m not saying this to brag – I’m saying this in part to let any twin moms who may have found my blog and read through it (like I did with so many blogs) know that it’s possible to not be totally miserable at 37 weeks pregnant with twins. Believe me, it’s not a walk in the park but I’m not miserable.
I definitely have my emotional or down moments. It’s not all rainbows and sunshine over here. I’ve found myself feeling increasingly apathetic about certain aspects of life and kind of just feeling like I’m in a funk. As a type-A go-getter, having to ask for help, spending a lot of my free time sleeping and not being able to do a lot of things for myself or make progress toward big life goals (career wise, fitness wise, running wise, etc) is a frustrating place. I know it’s all for an absolutely wonderful reason, but I can’t help but feel a little stuck. I’m at this point now where I’m just ready for them to come and move on to the next phase. However challenging the first month with twins will likely be, I’m ready to start that journey.
Cravings/Food Aversions: I’ve been eating those little mini chocolate eggs non-stop!
Purchasing/Borrowing: This week I purchased two gifts for Siena from her sisters. I’ve heard this can help ease the transition for toddlers, but who knows. At the very least it’ll keep her more entertained when they’re here. Siena has been incredibly clingy and much less independent than usual – she always wants one of us playing with her or carrying her or doing something with her and doesn’t want to play on her own. I think it’s a phase related to the twins coming but we’ll see. I’ve heard it can get worse once the new sibling arrives.
Maternity Clothes: Barely fitting into most and avoiding jeans as much as possible.
Exercise: I felt pretty good this week and did three prenatal yoga workouts, one strength workout, and took two long (3+ mile) walks.
Interesting Moments: We went to a North County Moms of Multiples (this is a national organization, twin moms to be – look up your local chapter!) Easter egg brunch and egg hunt on Saturday which was fun! It was so interesting to see all the other families with multiples, both fraternal and identical.
Best Moments: Siena and I had a mama and daughter day on Monday morning at the children’s museum. I almost always set up a playdate on the mornings that we have together but this time it was just the two of us. We had a fun time and generally she was in a great mood which was nice! She was drawn to the hospital area that has tiny newborn baby dolls and was playing with two of them like they were her sisters. That evening she was hugging and kissing my bare belly and saying “I love you sisters. I love you sisters” over and over.
Missing: My drive, ambition and energy!
Looking Forward To: Meeting these babies!!! And seeing Siena get excited on Easter.
The question is – will this be my last weekly twin pregnancy update?! We’ll see!
See my Twin Pregnancy page for previous updates!
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Love your blog! Keeps me going xoxoxo