26 weeks

This past week Robbie's and Rylee's kicks have gotten stronger,but not painful yet, so it is still an enjoyable experience. I'll only be doing this once, so I better enjoy it while I can.  This past week has been uneventful.  It is getting harder and harder to get up every day and go to work.  I'm pretty good the half first of the day, but the second half of day I feel useless and I get more and more uncomfortable. I'm almost looking forward to bed rest. I'm not looking forward to being confined to the house for 9 weeks though. I have lots of things planned to keep me myself occupied from the recliner/bed.

At 26 weeks, we are reaching the end of the second trimester. According to The Bump, the twinjas are the size of a head of lettuce. I'm not sure if my belly is big enough for that. I might head to the grocery store and check it out.  Their about 14 inches long and weigh about 1 2/3 to 2 pounds.  They have eyelashes and their eyes will be opening soon. Their sense of hearing is even more sensitive. They are also inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, practicing for their first breaths.

As for Mom, I am doing pretty well. The heart palpitations are still happening, so I am going to be fitted for a Holtor monitor on Tuesday to monitor my heart rate for 24 hours, just to be sure it is just normal twin stuff. I didn't gain any weight this week.

26 Weeks
Total weight gain: 27 pounds
Maternity Clothes? Yes! I'm loving my dresses right now.
Stretch Marks? No, moisturizing three times a day. I'm doing a combination of cocoa butter and vitamin E
Sleep? I have slept a little better this week, sleeping until 3 instead of 2.
Best Moment this week? Last weekend I spent lots of time with my mom :)
Miss Anything? Sweet Tea
Food Craving? No particular cravings this week
Gender prediction? One of each.I was right!
Labor Signs? No and hopefully not for a very long time.
Symptoms? Shortness of breath, itchy stomach (not scratching though), heart palpitations, fatigue and strangely the hair on my legs stopped growing.
Belly Button in or out? Kind of flat
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy, nervous
Looking forward to? Having Nicole take some maternity photos for me

25 Weeks

For some reason I have been obsessed with the thought of stretch marks this week, wondering if I will avoid them. I took a poll on one of Twin Mom groups and there were a few moms who said they didn't get any, but most said they did end up with them. I know it is a silly thing to worry about but I do. I can't help it with my body image issues.  Will I ever wear a bikini again?  If I do get them I should wear them with pride, they will by my badge of honor. I will be a tiger mom who earned her stripes. There are plenty of women out there who would give anything to have the stretch marks for a baby in return.

This past week I had my first crazy birth dream.  I dreamed I gave birth to two miniature sumo wrestlers. They were both boys, one was black and one was white. They were babies, but looked like little men.  I kept telling the doctors that something wasn't right, I was supposed to have a girl but no one would listen. They wouldn't even fit into their infant car seats.  It was so crazy and vivid!

This week is week 25, Every week gets harder but I am also so very happy that Robbie and Rylee are still cooking and doing well. I am always amazed when I catch a glimpse of my growing belly, sometimes it doesn't seem real. It's important to never give up hope.

According to Babycenter.com they should weigh about 1.5 pounds, but they are probably a little bit over that now. They're exchanging their long lean looks for some baby fat and are looking more and more like their newborn selves. They are also growing more hair! If they have it! I was born with a head full of hair.

25 Weeks
Total weight gain: 27 pounds
Maternity Clothes? Yes! They are cute and comfy.
Stretch Marks? No, moisturizing three times a day. I'm doing a combination of cocoa butter and vitamin E
Sleep? I have seen 2 am three times this week
Best Moment this week? We went to see Iron Man 3
Miss Anything? Chicken and wine
Food Craving? Fruit Salad from Publix (watermelon, strawberries, grapes, honey dew and cantaloupe)
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing this week!
Gender prediction? One of each.I was right!
Labor Signs? No and hopefully not for a very long time.
Symptoms? Shortness of breath, itchy stomach (not scratching though), heart palpitations
Belly Button in or out? Kind of flat
Wedding rings on or off? On but it keeps slipping off.
Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy and a little scared.
Looking forward to? 5 days off from work

24 weeks

It is hard to believe that I am already 6 months along, time seems to be going by so quickly but so slowly at the same time.  In 13 weeks I can be holding my babies, of  course there is so much to be done in the mean time, sometimes I panic that there won't be enough time to get everything done.

This weekend was Mother's Day Weekend. I received a lot of Happy First Mother's Day wishes. I appreciated the well wishes, but on the other hand. I have been a "mom" for four years now to my incredible stepson. He may not have grown under my heart but he did grow in it.  He did wish me a Happy Mother''s Day and said it will be my last one with him as my only child.  I have been really blessed to have him in my life. Next year will be my first one as a "mommy" though.

We spent Mother's Day Morning and part of the afternoon with my mom on Jekyll Island and went to dinner with Michael's family. It was a really nice day.  The best thing was that being in car for 2 hours allowed Michael and I to settle on baby names.  On the drive to Jekyll Island we settled on our son's name. We narrowed down our long list to 5 names and we agreed on Robert Steven, for my father-in-law and brother-in-law.  We will call him Robbie. On the way back we settled on our daughter's name. We didn't have many "R" girls names on the list so we had to start from scratch there.  We both fell in love with Rylee and of course she will have the middle name Perrell. Perrell is a family name, mine and my mom's middle name created from my Granny's name Pearl. So we have Robbie and Rylee!!

Since this is getting pretty long here is a quick development update.  At 24 weeks Robbie and Rylee (R & R) should have gained about 4 ounces. Their still pretty lean, but will be starting to plump out. Their brains are growing quickly now and taste buds are developing. Lungs are developing too!  Mommy is doing well, no new symptoms or complaints this week.

24 Weeks
Total weight gain: 25 pounds
Maternity Clothes? Yes! They are cute and comfy.
Stretch Marks? No, moisturizing three times a day
Sleep?It's difficult but I get my best sleep the nights Michael rubs my feet.
Best Moment this week? Spending Mother's Day with our families and choosing names
Miss Anything? Chicken
Food Craving? Pizza
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing this week!
Gender prediction? One of each.I was right!
Labor Signs? No and hopefully not for a very long time.
Symptoms? Shortness of breath, itchy stomach (not scratching though), heart palpitations
Belly Button in or out? Kind of flat
Wedding rings on or off? On but it keeps slipping off.
Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy
Looking forward to? Mother's Day Celebration with Caleb

23 Weeks

23 Weeks, about 14 more weeks to go! WooHoo!  According to BabyCenter.com the twinjas are 11 inches long and weight a little over a pound, but at my amazing ultrasound yesterday I found out they weigh 1 1/2 pounds. They are about the size of a grapefruit. Babies are doing great and everything looks great. I'm doing well too!  It was so nice being able to see the babies, even though I had been able to feel them the past week.  I could have spent all afternoon watching them kick each other. Baby Girl wasn't so shy this week and we actually got some pretty good profile shots of her.  Baby Boy was a ham a usual.  He turned his face towards us and crossed his arms in an X.

The babies sense of movement is developed now so if I want to dance around to Prince, they can feel me move. Their blood vessels in the lungs are developing to prepare for breathing and they are hearing more noises outside of the womb. They can also dream during their time asleep.

23 Weeks
Total weight gain: 23 pounds (doing good with gaining a pound a week, scary but anything for my babies)
Maternity Clothes? Yes! They are cute and comfy.
Stretch Marks? No, moisturizing three times a day
Sleep?It's difficult but I get my best sleep the nights Michael rubs my feet.
Best Moment this week? Seeing the babies on the ultrasound and watching them kick each other.
Miss Anything? Chicken
Food Craving? Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing this week!
Gender prediction? One of each.I was right!
Labor Signs? No and hopefully not for a very long time.
Symptoms? Shortness of breath, itchy stomach (not scratching though), heart palpitations
Belly Button in or out? Kind of flat
Wedding rings on or off? On but it keeps slipping off.
Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy
Looking forward to? Mother's Day!

22 Weeks

Sorry for no update last week, I was fighting a nasty cold barely made it out of the bed all week.

Week 22 has been a great one so far.  Baby kicks are the most amazing thing. Whenever I am having a bad, one of the babies will kick me and I can't help but smile. I have two little miracles growing inside of me, life can't be too bad.  The other night I had a Slurpee and the Twinjas went crazy, kicking up a storm.  Caleb and I could actually see the kicks.  Michael was at work so he missed it :(

This week the babies are about 11 inches long and should weigh about 1 pound each, about the size of a papaya. They're starting to look more like their newborn selves. They are sleeping in cycles for 12 - 14 hours a day.

Mommy is doing well I have more energy, but I am more uncomfortable.  It is harder to do things, like picking up things off the floor when I drop it or getting clothes out of the washer machine.  By the time dinner time comes around I feel like I don't have any room left for food. Sometimes I have trouble catching my breath.


22 Weeks
Total weight gain: 21 pounds (doing good, 24 pounds by 24 weeks reduces the chances of preterm labor)
Maternity Clothes? Yes! I'm embracing the bump, while it is still cute
Stretch Marks? No, moisturizing three times a day
Sleep?Still hard finding a comfortable position to sleep in.
Best Moment this week? Babies kicking
Miss Anything? Sleeping through the night
Food Craving? Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing this week!
Gender prediction? One of each.I was right!
Labor Signs? No and hopefully not for a very long time.
Symptoms? Shortness of breath
Belly Button in or out? Kind of flat
Wedding rings on or off? On but it keeps slipping off.
Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy
Looking forward to? Designing the nursery.