Twin pregnancy: week 24 in review

How far along? 25 weeks today! Belly measured 32 weeks at my OB appointment 4 days ago!

Weight gain: Still at 167lbs. Same weight for the third week in a row; I guess this is why they say you should gain most of your weight in the first half of the pregnancy! Glad I did. Hopefully I can put a little more on this week!

Now I know ultrasound measurements for babies aren't super accurate, but that said I think my efforts at gaining weight have been paying off because both babies are at above average weights/sizes (for twins) for their gestation! Baby A was 1lb 8oz and Baby B was 1lb 14 oz! In comparison to singleton weights, Baby A is in the 45th percentile and Baby B in the 75th percentile. Awesome!

How are you feeling? Same normal pregnancy stuff as last week (tired, slow, not sleeping well), but very much enjoying this stage. The babies are always moving around and reminding me of their presence. At my appointment on Friday my OB asked me, "Can you feel where the babies are?" I thought she was asking if I could distinguish their position (breech or not) by the placement of their kicks. I was kind of like, "Sort of," but no- she meant could I press on my belly and feel their little body parts? It didn't even occur to me that it would be possible for me to do that yet! She pressed around on my belly for a minute and then John and I were able to put our hands on my belly and feel the small round ball of Baby B's head.

I was completely awed. His little head was slightly larger than a ping-pong ball under my fingertips. Pressing firmly into my swollen belly to discern the curve of that skull I felt almost as if I was pushing through a divine screen from one world to the next. I know there are two baby boys growing inside me, yet feeling the human form of a baby just centimeters beneath my stretching skin... that was incredible. It made this pregnancy real in a whole new way.

Through my years of infertility I had a few women try to comfort me in my grief by saying, "pregnancy isn't really that great." I'm sure every woman's experience is unique and I myself might apply that sentiment to the first trimester when I felt so sick, but.. now? I could not imagine anything further from the truth. Pregnancy is absolutely amazing, breathtaking! I'm grateful beyond description for the opportunity to experience it. It has been all that I hoped for and worth every moment of the long battle to get here!

Noteworthy moments: Another great OB appointment this week. Baby A flipped to head down position which I was thrilled to see! Unfortunately Baby B is now breech. Ha! They switched. I can still attempt a vaginal delivery as long as Baby A is head down, but if Baby B continues to be so much bigger than Baby A, I may not be able to deliver him in a breech position. So now I'm hoping Baby A catches up in size and Baby B flips again!

John and I also had fun painting and getting the nursery ready this weekend!

Well, "fun" might be a bit of an exaggeration. Painting went fine and I really enjoyed sorting through all the clothes etc that we've accumulated for the twins, but there was this six hour project in between those two activities that one could probably consider torture:

Putting together an IKEA dresser.

Now we have LOTS of furniture from IKEA in our house but I cannot remember any one item taking longer than an hour to assemble.

This dresser was another story.

We probably should have known when, at 10am, we opened the boxes and saw THREE GALLON SIZE BAGGIES filled with various nuts and bolts and allen wrenches. Still I thought we'd be done by lunch.

We were barely done by dinner.

Both our hands hurt from all the screw-driver-ing and I had rug burn like marks on my knees from kneeling for so long.

On the plus side, I think I've finally learned to call it a "philips head screwdriver" rather than "the one with a star on it."

Just kidding, I had to ask John what it was called again before I typed this.

Anyway, the dresser looks great and the room is about 80% done. I'll post pictures when it is all finished.

Get a little spiritual: As I feel our babies kick and watch them roll and stretch under the surface of my skin I keep thinking about Psalm 139: 

For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.My frame was not hidden from you    when I was made in the secret place,    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;    all the days ordained for me were written in your book    before one of them came to be.

It is right for me to be awed by this process. God is knitting together two of his precious children in my body. I know God's hand is always with me, but this process makes me so aware of his presence because I imagine his hands at work in a very literal way as he puts these children together. It is a joy to be a vessel for his handiwork! 

Bump shot: 

xo