Twin Pregnancy: 12 Weeks

*This post was originally written on Monday, August 4th*

Today, I'm 12 weeks pregnant with our twins. I'm so happy to have reached this milestone! While I have been very sick for several weeks, this past week was definitely better than weeks 7-11! I'm hoping this means that we're coming out of the sickness/nausea phase of this pregnancy. It's been easily my hardest pregnancy so far in that respect. 

This is the first week that I've worn maternity clothes several times. I've been resisting the stretchy pants, but finally decided to just embrace it :-). My regular jeans/pants still fit, but they are uncomfortable when I sit and later in the day. There's just no give in my tummy, so the regular pants cause a lot of pressure. Here is what the belly is looking like:

While the belly is definitely rounding out, I weighed this morning and am still down 3 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. I know this will change quickly, so I'm not too concerned about it! I haven't gained any weight during the first trimester with any of my previous pregnancies, but I thought this time may be different since there are two babies. However, I've also been much more sick. I typically gain almost two pounds a week during about weeks 16 through 24, so we'll see how it turns out this time. I know weight gain is imperative - especially with twins - so I'm really trying to not worry about it!

My appetite is beginning to make a bit of a return finally. It's certainly not normal, but I'm eating fewer saltine crackers and more "real" food. I haven't been craving anything in particular this week . . . I'm just happy that I no longer have an aversion to all food!

My energy has been a lot better the past few days. I'm so thankful for this, and I know Chris is as well! I'm still having gagging episodes about 3 times a day, but that's much better than 15 times a day. This whole pregnancy, I've been so thankful for strong symptoms. They have eased my mind so much after two losses, but where I am now is really great. I'm still having a few symptoms, but not battling severe fatigue and nausea all day long. I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I have been suffering with terrible headaches a few times a week since about week 9. I dealt with headaches during my pregnancies with Brianna and Brenson, but I used to get frequent headaches a lot back then. After I had Bren, I started seeing a chiropractor on a regular basis and my headaches all but vanished! However, I think these headaches are mostly hormone related. I use stretches, ice, and sometimes Tylenol to combat them, but that will generally only take the edge off. This week though, I only had one headache, so YAY for that!

Brianna told us a few weeks ago that she had the perfect name for one of the babies. She was very serious, and we were certainly interested to see what she said. Her perfect name? Peacock. Yes, you read that right. PEACOCK. And, she was genuinely offended when we said we probably wouldn't be using the name Peacock. She is such a free spirit that we knew her name suggestion would be something good, and she did not disappoint! She has since started calling the babies Peacock and Penguin. She calls them that when she's talking about them AND when she's talking to them! This past week, Brenson has started calling them Peacock and Penguin as well, haha! A few days ago, we were saying our bedtime prayers, and Brenson thanked God for Peacock and Penguin just as seriously and genuinely as could be. Chris and I were cracking up! For the record, Peacock and Penguin are NOT on the name list :-).

After losing B3 at 13 weeks, I am dealing with some anxiety as I approach that gestational age again. Obviously, we're doing some things differently with the daily blood thinning injections this time around to hopefully prevent miscarriage, but there is no guarantee. I pray daily for peace and trust - no matter the outcome - and I do feel peaceful for the most part. It doesn't take much to trigger my anxiety though, so I feel like it's a constant battle.

We did decide to go ahead and announce our news at church yesterday and of course on the blog. I was/am nervous about announcing it, but it's also been really fun to share that we're not only expecting, but expecting TWINS! I hate that this pregnancy feels a bit tainted, so we're working hard to not let the past overshadow our joy. I really just want to embrace this happy time!