Pregnancy (including favorite books)

Pregnancy:

We found out at 13 weeks. Total. Twin. Shock. I was in a daze with a million questions and worries going on in my head for the first two weeks or so. We had to sell our house, buy a bigger house. I had to quit work at 28 weeks, and just hope to make it as far as I could in the pregnancy. Luckily I knew friends that had been through it, and I knew it would be very hard but I had some great support in what I should do.

When the babies were 4 months I wrote: I thought it was the end of life as we now it. And honestly it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. And we have made it to almost 4 months. Nothing beats having two babies smiling at you. I had horrible morning sickness. My doctor suggested lots of protein. And a handful of nuts if I woke up during the night to help the dry heaves in the morning (I was

too empty for my own good). I talked to my friends who also had twins and the said to take in lots of protein and lots of water. We are talking 50 grams of protein a day. I did the protein powder from Costco twice a day plus lots of nuts and chicken and meat plus cottage cheese is good too. My friend liked split pea soup.

You really want to eat as much as you can now, because in the end

there is a lot of baby in you and not a lot of stomach.

Favorite books for pregnancy and beyond!

"When you're Expecting Twins, Triplets or Quads" by Barbara Luke and

Tamara Eberlein. It was like my Twins Bible. Great practical and medical tips for the pregnancy for nutrition and health. Eating right for good birth weight. Good

recipes too. Answered so many medical questions for me.

Favorite survival tips for when they are born

"On Becoming Baby Wise" by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam. Getting

your baby (or in our case babies) on a good schedule for eating, sleeping. Totally recommend it!!! And there is a blog about it now. http://www.babywisemom.com/

"The Happiest Baby on the Block." by Harvey Karp. I would skip the

first half of the book, and get to the best ways to calm a baby. Highly recommend swaddling!! And loved the video if you can find it at your library or something.

I liked to have a cliff bar handy anytime I needed something. It helped me feel full. I also didn't have any cravings this time either. (Unfortunately I developed Gestational Diabetes by 28 weeks and really had to be careful with my protein/carb balance.) I ALWAYS had to have something in my purse or the car, no matter what.

I almost made it to week 38. 37 and 3 or 4 days. But at 33 weeks I had to go on strict bed rest. I was dilated to a 3 and Baby A was at a -2. From week 28 I was on "couch-potato" rest. I just took it easy. But at 33 I was on the couch all the time. No cooking, no cleaning, I only got up for the bathroom. (I did a lot of reading to the kids and puzzles) At the time my husband was finishing the basement kitchen and bathroom for my aunt. Luckily she was able to move in 3 days before the babies were born. I was so nervous at 33 weeks that the babies would be born. To my great surprise, I was able to to hang on for a few more weeks. Babies were born super fast. My water broke at home, Baby A was born an hour later and Baby B (who was head up and luckily had enough room to turn around) was born 45 minutes later. All Naturale (no epidural, there was no time, and it wasn’t as impossibly horrible as I thought it would be). Baby A was 6 lbs 12 oz, and Baby B 6 lbs.