I'm 18 weeks today, which is very possibly the halfway mark, since average delivery for a twin pregnancy is at 35-36 weeks. It appears I might be approaching another "growth spurt", since I've had major round ligament pain this week, and I had another wave of nausea and vomiting last week followed by a few days of being ridiculously hungry. Sometimes when I think about how much I can eat these days, it scares me a little. It reminds me of when I went through a growth spurt in elementary school and could eat 2,000 calorie snacks. I feel like I spend 80% of my day eating. I'm not sure at this point how much of my belly is fat and how much is all the baby related stuff. I know it's grown like crazy, though. This round ligament pain is no joke! I didn't know to expect it to last so long or feel so much different from what I've felt so far, and I actually called the doctor to see if I should be concerned. I'll be interested to see what my uterus is measuring at my appointment on Monday. I think if it weren't for my cavernous belly button/fat, I'd look about 25 weeks or more. Instead, I just look like I ate an entire McDonalds. Oh well.
This coming week is going to be super busy, and I'm anxious about the anatomy scan, but nothing to do but wait and stay in the present. I need a break from all the worrying and stressing I've done this month. We'd been talking about getting a new car, since our bigger vehicle has lots of miles and has seen better days. Then, of course, our basement flooded for the second time due to a sewage backup, and we ended up dealing with that and spending what could have been a decent down payment on fixing plumbing that was installed incorrectly by a company who has fallen off the earth. Our "basement" is actually over 1,000 feet and houses our guest room, a full bath, and our living room, and it is currently stripped. Like drywall cut out, flooring ripped up, toilet detached, no sink, etc. I keep telling myself we have lots of time for this to be finished before the babies get here, but my real worry is that we planned to turn my craft room into the nursery and move the craft room to an extra room downstairs, but all our living room furniture is currently taking up that space. Anyway, things could be worse, and at least this is all happening before we have two newborns. I'm just getting really antsy, since I know by the time it's all finished, I'm probably going to be beyond the point of being able to help much with the nursery.
On another note, I've noticed something interesting. I will never stop getting unsolicited advice no matter what the situation. I am so used to getting senseless advice about our infertility that I guess it surprised me to be getting it now for pregnancy and parenting. People want to comment on what I registered for, lecture me about the benefits of breastfeeding and vaginal delivery (really?? I never heard these things before!), tell me how I'll end up cosleeping no matter what because it's easier, etc. I can tell I'm going to enjoy that as much as I did all the "just stop trying and it will happen" remarks. I sure do wish there wasn't so much judgement among moms, but such is life. I'll do what works for me, and I'll ignore the critiques. I'm pretty sure my babies won't be totally stupid full of hate for me if I end up with a c-section or give them a bottle.
18 weeks:
Symptoms: SERIOUS round ligament pain, hip pain, lower back stiffness, always hot, crazy dreams
Food aversions: Depends on the day, but no major ones anymore
Cravings: Watermelon, Rita's Italian Ice, veggie sandwiches, chocolate almond milk, yogurt
