Twin Pregnancy: 22 Weeks!

We've now reached 22 weeks along in our pregnancy with the twinbies. That means - at most - we have 16 weeks to go!

Here is the weekly baby bump photo:

I think my baby bump changes so much from week to week! I noticed that in this photo I am really arching my lower back to compensate for the ever-growing belly. Either that, or my bohonk had a major growth spurt this week (which is certainly possible!). I gained one pound this week, putting my weight gain total at 10 pounds. We've hit double digits! Hopefully (and truly this is not a concern of mine), we won't see triple digit weight gain :-). If I'm being really candid, this is the first week during this pregnancy that I've seen a belly shot and thought "ugh". I just don't think I look good, and I haven't been feeling that way until now.

Also notice in the photo that you can see my belly button starting to poke out quite a bit. I have a herniated belly button from when I carried Brenson, so it started to poke out early on this time. It's gotten much worse, and I'm wondering what it will look like by the end of this pregnancy? I think it's gross, and it's not something I like about my body right now. Booo again.

The babies' kicks and movements are becoming so much more obvious now. We can often see them moving and kicking on the outside which is fun! The other night, we were in bed trying to go to sleep and they both started rocking out. They moved and squiggled and bumped and thumped for about a half hour! Chris and I were cracking up at my crazy looking alien belly. Brianna was able to feel them move again, and she just loved it. Brenson wants to feel them kick, but it hasn't happened so far. They tend to be really active at about 11pm, just like their older sister and brother were in the womb. What is it with my babies partying at night?!?

My great sleep has kind of come to a screeching halt over the past week or so. Several nights this week I had trouble not only falling to sleep, but staying asleep as well. I do get up multiple times each night to use the restroom, but I had been falling right back to sleep easily. Not so much this week. Hopefully, that will improve again because I need my sleep!

My food cravings have also taken a new turn. I'm off of wanting McAlister's so much and on to Twinkies. Yes, Twinkies!!! Up until now, sweets did not sound appealing at all, but randomly I started craving them about a week ago. With Brianna, I craved Oreos. We do have a package of Oreos, but I'm maybe eating one or two every couple of days. However, Twinkies sound so good to me (I could go for one right now, in fact :-). This is so strange because it's been years since I've had a Twinkie. I did buy a box, but I'm trying really hard to practice lots of self control and not indulge in one every day.

I had a strange episode last night at dinner. We went to Taco Bueno after evening church services. I was feeling fine, but after eating about half of my food I started to feel really full. Then, I started to feel like I might throw up. My stomach was just so uncomfortable and upset. My sister and I were in the middle of a conversation when suddenly my vision started to go black. I said, "I think I'm going to pass out!" so I put my head down to as close to between my knees as I could get it (not an easy task these days!). After just about a minute or so, I felt fine again. However, just a few minutes later when we stood up to leave, I had another lightheaded/dizzy spell and ended up laying down on a bench in Taco Bueno. That was not exactly a shining moment. Of course, my Bs and my sister's little girl were all looking at me with wide eyes. I laid there for just about a minute and felt fine again. On the drive home, I had one more episode of feeling like I was going to pass out, but then I was okay the rest of the evening (I didn't feel great, but I didn't get light-headed). I could live without that ever happening again.

We spent the weekend working on our house some more. We have made major progress and feel good about where we are. Our next 4 weekends are all booked with various things to do, so we really needed this time to work hard at getting some things in order around here. I also purchased some materials to do a few craft projects for the nursery, so that's exciting! Now, I just need to find time and energy to do them :-),

We had an appointment with Dr. N this past Thursday. I was 21 weeks and 3 days along at the appointment. The whole family was able to come along, so we all enjoyed seeing the babies. My blood pressure was 118 over 72 at the appointment, so still looking good. Dr. N did an anatomy scan on both babies (which means an extra-long ultrasound!) It is so awesome to see all their little developing parts!

Baby A is still head down, with its head on my right side. I can often feel the movements of this baby very low. Baby A's spine:

He got this amazing shot of Baby A's face. I love it! 

When I was pregnant with Brianna, she had some pretty major growth issues that were detected at about this gestational age. Because of this, I was a bit anxious for this appointment. I just wanted to know all the measurements and know that the babies are growing well. Praise God that they are! Baby A weighs about 14 ounces and is measuring at an average of 21 weeks 1 day, which is just perfect!

Baby B has its head on my left side up by my ribs (so currently breech). Because of positioning, we weren't able to get a shot of Baby B's face this time. 

However, this is a neat leg shot:

Baby B's heartbeat was high like it's always been at 164 beats per minute. Both babies' hearts looked strong and their heart rates were good.

Baby B was measuring a bit bigger overall at 1 pound 1 ounce with an average gestational age of 21 weeks 6 days. Also healthy and perfect.

Since Dr. N did a more in-depth ultrasound, it took a lot longer than it normally does. While I was lying on the bed during the ultrasound, I got very light-headed and had to roll to my side. I really can't lay on my back at all anymore due to the weight and pressure the babies put on my spine. I remember having this issue with my other pregnancies, but more when I was like 30 plus weeks along. I have to keep reminding myself that there are two babies this time, and that does make a BIG difference!

There is a bit of a size discrepancy between the babies, but Dr. N assured us that it was nothing to be concerned with. He said, "Do you know what it means when di/di fraternal twins are different sizes? Just that they're different sizes!" We were happy to hear that! I did ask him about a game plan for the future . . . I wanted to know when I'd start weekly appointments, cervical checks, non-stress tests, etc. He said that with twins, it's unpredictable. For now, we're going to keep trucking along with every-other-week appointments for a while, unless there arises a need for that to change.

We are extremely thankful to God that the babies are healthy and growing, and that we haven't had any pregnancy complications so far. We're praying that it stays this way for many more weeks!