Twins 18 weeks

I've hit the 18 week mark today! That means I could be getting close to half-way if the twins come a few week's early.

We Have Contact!
One of my favorite parts of being pregnant is feeling the babies move.
I started feeling the twins move for sure at 15 weeks. I thought I was feeling them move at 13 weeks, but that seemed way too early since I didn't feel Charlotte for sure until 18 weeks. Then I read that some mom's of twins felt them as early as 12 weeks. Right now they both have enough room to grow, so I have two 18 week sized babies in there so it makes sense I would feel them sooner. In a few more weeks they will start interacting and limiting each other's growth. They are not kicking as hard as Charlotte did even at first. My placenta(s?) is/are attached at the front so I wonder if that makes the movement seem less sharp? Matt felt Charlotte kick the same day I did because she was such a kicker. So far "baby a" on the right is more of a jabber and "baby b" on the left is more of a flipper. They can flip and move around just like a single baby but because they are in separate sacks they will probably stay on the side they started out on. I like this so I can tell which one is moving a little better. They haven't cooperated for Matt to feel them yet. I'm hoping they are a little more calm than Charlotte was- I don't want them bruising each other in there!

Baby Bump
Overnight it seems I went from not showing at all to having a little baby bump. I call this stage the "fat" stage. Where you don't look big enough to for sure look pregnant but you do have a nice gut going on. I feel like I'm about 2 months further along this time as far as how big I am but only in the last 2 weeks. My clothes are getting a little tight but I haven't had to do the rubber band trick yet and there is no way I'm breaking out frumpy maternity clothes until absolutely necessary.

17 weeks 6 days 2.14.10

Comments so far-
"You're finally showing."
"You don't look big enough for twins."
"You don't look big enough to be 4 months along."
"You are definitely showing more this time- you didn't look this big until 6 months with Charlotte."

Differences between first trimester this time and last time-

• Much more tired- some days I would take 2 naps and get nothing done I was so exhausted
• Much more nauseous
• Superhuman sense of smell- I'm constantly asking Matt to take the garbage out. I can't stand certain smells.
• A little harder to gain weight so far (I'm hoping this picks up now)
• Poking out earlier
• More appointments and ultrasounds

Luckily around 13 weeks my energy started to come back and the nausea started to go away. I'm still not 100% but I feel SOOOO much better. I really appreciate having energy and an appetite again and keeping my food down. I have a lot more sympathy for women who usually have hard pregnancies. It's hard to feel like that for weeks at a time.

I've gotten so much done the last couple of weeks because I'm so happy to feel more normal. I made a list of all the stuff I'd like to get done during the 2nd trimester before I get tired and huge at the end! A lot of twins are born early and I'd like to be prepared if that happens. I think Matt feels the same way. He keeps telling me "If you need something for the babies just buy it- don't wait." I have to research and analyze everything though and then find a good deal so it takes awhile.

Here's what I've found for the twins already:
HUGE EZ2 Nurse pillow for twins ($25 off craigslist)
Pack and play
2nd Infant seat (we wanted to buy this early to see if it would fit in our car)

We really didn't want to have to fork out the money for a new car so soon so we were hoping while the babies were in their infant seats we could keep squeezing them into our car.

Here's the verdict...

They are packed like sardines but they all fit and the doors close just fine so we are going to try to keep our beloved Chevy Prism until they outgrow the infant seats and then upgrade to something bigger. The only problem now is where to fit a double stroller and all the gear. I'm glad we have a little longer to save for our unexpected car purchase so it's worth cramming them in there for the first while. When I tell people we are doing this they look at me like I'm crazy.

Gender Gender what's the Gender?

Everyone asks this as soon as they hear you're having twins (or any baby). Oh how I wish I knew. I think it would be so fun to be surprised with twins but we will never be able to narrow down names if we don't know the gender. My first level 2 ultrasound (much more in depth than a normal one) is scheduled for Feb. 24th. As long as the babies cooperate we should be able to tell gender on that day so stay tuned and make your guess in the survey if you haven't yet!

My sister-in-law Mindy is having a boy in June and Matt's sister Katherine is having a girl in late May. So whatever we have they will have at least 1 cousin with the same gender and 2 cousins really close in age.

Here are my thoughts on gender at this point-

2 girls- Can you imagine how cute three little girls in matching dresses would be?! I am really close to my sisters so I would be a little sad if Charlotte never got a sister. Imagine the dress-up and tea parties they could have. I wouldn't have to change room decorations and all three of them could share the "twin" bedroom nicely for a long time. I also have a ton of cute girl clothes that the only way I can bear to pack them away is thinking of other little baby girls wearing them later. We actually have a few twin girl names that we like.

2-boys- I've always wanted some of each gender so it might be nice to get some boys in the mix. I'm a little scared of switching to 2 boys since all I know is girls and then Charlotte wouldn't have a sister close in age. I would get to change the room decorations! Matt and I DO NOT agree on boy names. Like we aren't even on the same planet about boy's names. If we have two boys we might have to draw their names out of a hat. Some people say boys are crazier/more energetic but I don't like generalizations like that. I really think it depends on the kid. Charlotte is a pretty energetic girl.

1 boy and 1 girl- I admit that I really like the idea of one of each. That way Charlotte gets a sister close in age but I get to see what it's like to have a boy too. I also worry a lot about comparisons and people getting them confused. I think this would happen less with one of each. Less fun with matching clothes and they wouldn't be able to share a room forever. This is Matt's guess.

I was so sure Charlotte was a girl from the beginning but I really don't know this time. I'm still guessing 2 boys because I think it's so funny I said that so long ago but I really don't "feel" like they are 2 boys. I think I would be most surprised about 2 girls. As you can see there are things that would be fun about any combination.

Congratulations those of you that made it to the end of this lengthy post I hope you enjoyed the twin update!