Twin Pregnancy: 17 Weeks!

We have now completed our 17th week of pregnancy with our twinbies. Although it's a bit scary to think about, I could be half way through the pregnancy at this point. However, we're praying that I don't hit the halfway point until at least next week!

My belly is definitely growing! This is typically the time in my pregnancies that I experience some rapid growth, and this time is no exception. Here's proof (not sure what happened with the photo . . . all the belly shots were blurry this time):

Our family took a little four day trip to St. Louis this past week. Chris worked part of the time while the kiddos and I hung out at the hotel, swam, and relaxed. Chris took this photo of me when I was 16 weeks and 4 days along:

I realized that when I was exactly this far along in my pregnancy with Brenson, we were also out of town. We had traveled to California for Chris to attend a training in Lake Tahoe. We tend to stay at The Embassy Suites when we travel, so both belly shots are taken right outside our room at an Embassy (the first one in Cali, the second in St. Louis). I think my belly looks about the same, but thankfully my face looks so much less puffy this time around!

My weight is up another pound this week, putting my total weight gain at plus one pound. My appetite was good this week, and my nausea was minimal. I also didn't have any headaches, and my energy has been up! Yay for a good pregnancy week! I'll definitely take it! I am still having a lot of back pain (mainly lower back and hips), but I have an appointment with my chiropractor today so I'm hopeful that I'll get some relief. I have noticed that I do better if I keep moving and do less sitting or lying around. It helps to feel better because then I stay motivated to be on the move. 

I don't feel like my belly is looking huge yet, but my dear 4 year old knows how to keep me humble. Yesterday morning before church she said, "Whoa Momma, the babies must really be growing. Your belly is biiiiiig!" Haha, she has no idea what's in store! A man at church also make a comment that I'm starting to look big, then he said, "Just let me know when you need me to take out the pew in front of you to give you some extra room." Ummm, what?!? He, of course, was just teasing, but I can't believe I'm getting these comments already!

We started to really think about and pursue getting organized to welcome two more babies into our home. It started the week before last when my BFF Kendall (who has almost two year old twin girls) gave us some of her baby things that she thought we could use. We started really organizing to make room for the stuff she gave us, and we haven't really stopped. We pulled some of our baby things down from the attic to assess what we have and what we need, made several lists, added a new shelf to one of our closets, cleaned out said closet to free up some room, and went through a bunch of stuff in the garage. It feels good to make some progress, even if it's just little stuff!

How awesome is it that Kendall gave us their infant car seats?!? They are in perfect condition (seriously, like new), and I know they've never been in a wreck or anything since they are from my BFF. Seeing these in the house made things really start to feel real! I mean, are we really going to have TWO babies?!?

Last Sunday, Brenson came out of Bible class carrying a paper covered in stickers. I asked him about it, and he said that God made families and God made the animals. When I looked at the family on his paper, I thought it was SO cute that it was a family of 6. I asked him who all the people were, and he said, "Momma, Daddy, B-Anna, Brenson, Peacock, and Penguin" Haha . . . it seriously made me laugh!

Brianna still calls the babies Peacock and Penguin, but this week she said that maybe we should name them Matilda and Glilda. I have no idea where she got these names, but she also told me that she thinks Matilda is THE most beautiful name for a baby. Lol.

When I'm pregnant, Chris tends to have a lot of sympathy symptoms and pains. In fact, he has often even had sympathy symptoms when I've been on fertility drugs. It's kind of hilarious to me, although sometimes I do get a little bit annoyed about it. I tease him about his pregnancy symptoms and cravings (which honestly are sometimes even worse than mine), and he's a good sport about it. His weight gain has already exceeded mine this time around, and just last week he was complaining about back and hip pain. Like I said, he even has cravings (which probably has contributed to his weight gain!) Well, when I was about 30ish weeks pregnant with Brianna, he had a severe episode with kidney stones. I ended up having to take him to Urgent Care where he had to have an ultrasound on his kidneys and everything. It was pretty entertaining that I was sitting there all big and pregnant, and he was lying on the bed getting an ultrasound! He made some diet changes and has been able to manage his kidney stone issues really well, although he did have a bit of a flare up when I was about 30ish weeks pregnant with Brenson. Well, guess what? Yep, he's having kidney stone issues again! Of course, they are quite painful so I do feel for him, but at the same time I'm like seriously?!? In the past, his issues have been on his right side, but this time, he's having severe pain on both sides. We were telling my parents about this, and my dad said, "Well, of course you are . . . you're having twins!" Hahaha! I hate to make light of his pain, but it is kind of funny. I think pregnancy is harder on him than it is on me :-).

We have an appointment with Dr. N on Thursday, so I can't wait to see my little twinbies again! I already feel like I'm at his office all the time, but I'm also so thankful for such close monitoring. I'll update about the appointment when I do my 18 week post.