16-20 Weeks

Well, by popular request, here's blog number two. I'm sure I'll get better at this, but it's hard to keep up! School has started, and it seems weird to put something on here when there's not much to share.
We have another ultrasound this Friday. We had one at 16 weeks, and as soon as I can find the pictures Eddie (hopefully) scanned, I'll add them to our picture collection. While at the doctor's, we got to see both of them, but of course now they're big enough they don't both fit on the same screen! The ultrasound tech thought it was funny because I said I liked the 9 week ultrasound better. Well, who wouldn't, I could see BOTH of them at the same time on the SAME screen! Of course, at 9 weeks they didn't look at all like babies. This time around I felt like even though I couldn't really see all of them at the same time, I could see parts that looked baby-like, which was pretty neat. They still look like little blobbies to me, but Eddie was great and pointed out things like the outline of their brains, and some ribs. The tech showed us their stomachs, which just look like gigantic black holes in each of their middles. The coolest part was I could see AND identify for myself a whole leg. At 16 weeks their bones aren't fully calcified, so it can be hard to see and measure their bones. They measured their femurs, and their skull size, and their stomachs for the most part. We did discover there are two placentas, which means it is less likely they are identical, and more likely they'll be stable. When there's only one placenta, it can cause complications, like twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, where one baby gets all the blood and the other gets little blood. Even though it reduces our chance for identicals, I'd rather have them be healthy, and have less risk for complication, so the two placentas discovery was very welcome.

This coming Friday we have the next one, where hopefully we can tell boys/girls/both and move forward! They are making me SO hungry, it's frustrating. I'm tired of packing enough food for an army to go to school, and then trying to find the time to eat it too. We have a nut allergy in my classroom, so I have to be careful not to pack things that could transfer to papers, pens, or books that student touches. I never knew how many different versions of peanuts, almonds, pistachios I ate until they were taken away from me! I'm also tired of eating dinner and being hungry again under two hours later. I sure hope this evens out sooner rather than later!

Other than feeling like I'm never going to be full again for more than a few minutes, things seem to be pretty good. I'm sick about once a week, and it seems directly tied to whether I've eaten enough or not. At our last Dr. appointment they asked if I could feel the babies move. I wasn't confident, but said no, because there's been no definitive "I am here" movement. But as we go along, I'm pretty sure that the weird things I feel are babies, and not extra gas or digestion. That's really weird, and I'm still not 100% positive (I'm the kinda person that probably won't be convinced until I SEE a foot kick!), but it sure seems like I can't attribute this movement to anything else! Provided that's true, the babies kicked Eddie this morning three times. Of course, he can't feel them, but if it's them, then I can!

I'm definitely showing, although in general, I still feel like I look like I just gained weight instead of gained two babies. Eddie told me yesterday I looked like a pregnant ballerina. He wasn't trying to be mean, it was actually a complement in context, but still, it didn't exactly make me feel super happy. My friend Robin was here this weekend and we went to Motherhood Maternity for my second, though abbreviated, go-round with clothes. I didn't get much this time either, but I mostly had some borrowed short-sleeved shirts, and it is starting to get cold here in the Northwest! Good thing I love sweaters and work with kids! They don't care what I wear!

More to come later...