Morning Sickness Remedies

Thankfully my "morning sickness" stopped around week 14 to 15. Let's take a second to clarify that morning sickness is an inaccurate phrase that implies you'll start to feel better around noon. You won't. Or at least I didn't.

Actually, for me, the only time I felt kind of decent was when I first woke up. I would have about 20 solid minutes of feeling relatively okay until the nausea set in. It wouldn't stop until I fell asleep at night. I started feeling nauseous on and off almost almost immediately - like at about 3.5 weeks. I'm guessing this is largely due to the twin factor. But it really got bad at six weeks. Luckily, I only threw up about seven times, usually I just dry heaved, so the babies were getting all of their nutrients.

Here's a few things that seemed to help make the morning sickness slightly less intense.
1. Zofran. I took this wonderful prescription every day from 6.5 weeks to 14 weeks. They also gave me another anti-nausea pill that I only took at night if I was having a really bad day b/c it knocked me out more than Nyquill would.   

2. Ginger hard candies. I kept these in my purse and sucked on them throughout the day.
3. Eating every few hours. An empty stomach would always make it worse. Even just a handful of nuts or a piece of fruit sufficed to keep something in my stomach.
4. Crackers didn't help me at all interestingly. If anything, they kind of made it worse. I guess I'm just not a saltine fan. Other carbs, however, seemed to do the trick.
5. If you are having a really bad day, stick with BRAT diet (bread, rice, apples, toast). A trick from my mom that has never let me down.
6. Ginger ale or root beer also helped. Make sure you don't get Barq's brand root beer, it's the only brand with caffeine.
7. Walking or stretching. Light exercise actually helped sometimes.
8. Fresh air. Going outside and breathing in fresh air sometimes gave me a little relief.
9. Avoid your triggers. For me, this was reheated meat, turkey (Christmas and Thanksgiving were both rough), the smell of gravy, fish smell and waking through the parking garage at work (every day when I got in my car at the end of the day, I dry heaved).
10. Take a b complex vitamin with b6 in it. B6 can help ease morning sickness.
11. Try taking your pre-natal vitamin later in the day and consider breaking it into two doses if needed.
12. Some days there will be no relief. In this case, I found that lying in bed with a wet wash cloth on my head and moaning was all that I could really do. Get used to watching way more tv than you used to - you'll be doing a lot of couch time.

Anyway, I feel fine now most days so I am glad that passed. Just do your best to make sure you are still eating and getting liquids for the babies (or baby if you have a singleton). Let your doctor know if you can't keep anything down.

20 week twin belly

Babies are as long as bananas. From the size of my belly I feel like they must be bigger. I cannot believe how big my belly is already! My back is really starting to hurt.

Darren's been able to feel the babies move a few times. They seem to be getting more and more active (at least I can feel them more) every day.

We went to look at a glider listed on Craigslist today. Decided not to buy it. The owners had two of the biggest dogs I've ever seen and we were kind of worried about dog hair and slobber.

In other news, I got to eat pita pit today and it was just as amazing as I remembered.

19 week check up

Had a doctor's appointment on Monday. She was very impressed with how big the babies were measuring at the anatomy scan. She said they were big for a singleton pregnancy. She has high hopes that I'll make it to 38 weeks so we'd be looking at the week of our anniversary (June 25th ish). Baby B is breached right now but there is still time for her to flip sideways (doctor said she probably doesn't have enough room at this point to do a complete flip). If she flips sideways, I can probably do a vaginal birth. If she stays breached then I'll have a C-section scheduled. Worst case scenario would be delivering Baby A vaginally and then having a C-section for Baby B but that happens sometimes.

Starting at 24 weeks, I have to go into the doctor every two weeks to check for signs of early labor. I guess they can check a hormone level and if that is zero, it means I am safe for the next two weeks. I also have to continue to see the specialist for ultrasound scans. Sounds like I'll be living at the doctor's office soon.

I am starting to feel a little uncomfortable. My main complaints have been headaches, backaches and a racing heart beat, all of which are pretty normal. The doctor suggested drinking a Gatorade every day and that seems to have eliminated the headaches. I've been using a heating pad on and off for back pain and that seems to help. I know I still have a lot of time left and the uncomfortable feeling is only going to get worse. I am trying to keep up with yoga and walks and make the best of it.

19 week twin belly

Babies are the size of heirloom tomatos.

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a nice Valentine's Day this year, very low key. For dinner, Darren drove me all over town with the patience of a saint to cater to all of my pregnancy cravings. Wraps at Jersey Mikes, curly fries from Arby's and a shamrock shake from McDonald's. Also, I had a beautiful flower display with a heart shaped ring of peanut butter cups and baby bottles filled with M&Ms waiting for me. He knows how to treat his girls!

18 week twin belly

Babies are the sizes of mangos this week! Remember when I ran a half marathon in September about a month before getting pregnant? Now I feel tired after a 30 minute walk.

My husband was able to feel the babies move this week too.

Twin Gender Reveal Cake and Party!

We had our anatomy scan at 17 weeks 6 days. Both twins looked healthy (7 oz and 8 oz) and had all their fingers and toes and pieces and parts. We had the ultrasound tech write the genders down in secret and took the results to Wild Flour Bakery in Rocky River. They made us two special gender reveal cakes.

Both of our families came over for the cake cutting and dinner (I made delicious corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot - 6 pounds of it!). We made everyone vote first on what they thought the babies would be. We had a pretty even split between votes for two girls, two boys and boy/girl twins. I voted for two girls and Darren voted two boys.

Then we cut into the cake.... and....

TWO GIRLS!!!!

Here are a few of the ultrasound pics too. The babies are too big now to get them into one photo. Right now they are side by side and one baby is head down and the other is foot down. The doctor said there is still time for the breached baby to flip - hoping this is true b/c I really do not want a C-section! 

And yes, I do think the babies  both look a little like zombies in these pictures. :) 

17 week twin belly

Babies are the size of turnips this week!

We decided to take a little "baby moon" trip since it would probably be our last vacation alone together for some time, and really our last vacation for a while anyway. I didn't want to fly and didn't want to drive more than three or four hours so we ended up going to a cabin in PA.

Our cabin was about 45 minutes from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (home of Punxutawney Phil, the infamous ground hog of ground hog's day) and since our trip was going to be over Ground Hog's day, we knew we must catch the ceremony. Apparently it's a huge party at Gobbler's Nobb where people drink and stay up all night waiting to hear if Phil sees his shadow or not. They get crowds of 30,000 people.

It was super cold (single digits) so we bundled up. We got a tiny bit lost so by the time we got there the shuttle buses had stopped running taking people to the top of the hill. We decided to walk (it was about two miles up hill). Normally two miles up hill walking for a girl who ran a half marathon only five months ago wouldn't be a big deal but I was so tired! Anyway we made up the hill finally and got to see Phil.

Baby movement!

I felt the babies move for the first time (16 weeks 6 days) as we were driving to PA. I feels like bubbles popping or like someone is snipping me from the inside. Also, I know with singletons women say they feel it right below the belly button but with the twins I felt it much higher, like a couple inches above the belly button.

My doctor did confirm this later that with twins since your uterus measures so much bigger, you do feel the movement higher than a woman pregnant with one baby.