Sprinkles of Real Life: 12 Week Bumpdate

Hi! Hello! Salutations. I interrupt all this merryment and cheer going on with Christmas in July content for a preggy update. If you aren’t super interested and are just here for the food, cool. Check out my melting snowmen s’mores instead.

But if you do want an update here goes.

I’m closing in on 13 weeks pregnant, not that you’d know it by looking at me. When I was 12-13 weeks pregnant with my daughter, I barely had a bump. It just kind of looked like I’d been getting really friendly with donuts.

This time, oh no. I look PREGNANT. To the point of people that are aquaintances like the proprietor of a pizza shop my family has gone to for years congratulating me on our new addition, which makes for some pretty awkward conversations. It goes something like this:

Aquaintance: Good to see you! How are you?

Me: Good (hopes they don’t notice the bump)

Acquaintance: (Notices the bump) OMG you’re having a baby.

Me: Well…actually-

Acquaintance: WHEN ARE YOU DUE? You’re bump is so big.

Me: (insert death stare) January. And-

Acquaintance: JANUARY? But you’re so pregnant looking and that’s so far away.

Me: IT’S TWINS OK?

Yep, the above exchange has happened about three times in the past five days and the conversation makes me feel just a tad twitchy. I think I may make up a maternity shirt that says something about eating for three so people can assume it’s twins. I’ll wear it all the time in public. Done. Awkward conversations no more.

But in all honesty, aside from the level of awkward, I’m feeling so much better. I still have days where I am pretty nauseous but mostly I am so hungry. And if I get too hungry I get nauseous. It’s the weirdest most counter intuitive thing ever.

But for real, there are some days where I am just eating constantly and I feel like the very hungry caterpillar. And I literally can’t help it.

And I am craving things. My cravings these days? Pineapple and other tart fruits like green apples and pomegranate seeds and under ripe blueberries. Cherry tomatoes for days. Bread salad (recipe coming soon because I eat that and this buttered balsamic tomato pasta almost daily). Caesar salad. And a very specific cheese hoagie from the aforementioned pizza place: provolone cheese with mayo, red wine vinegar, shredded lettuce, a little onion, and housemade Italian dressing on the side for dipping. DROOL. I’ve eaten about 4 cheese hoagies in the last week. And I want one right now as I type this. So weird.

Unfortunately, though the nausea is getting better particularly if I keep up with my meds, the aversions are not. I still can’t do most meat. No burgers, chicken is very hit or miss, and seafood is questionable. Kind of stinks. I miss some favorites right now but I guess I am unintentionally vegetarian for awhile.

What else? Well I had my 12 week appointment and was super pleased. My practicioner took tons of time to answer all my questions, which I have tons of since I am having mono di twins and am high risk. Last pregnancy I had preeclampsia fairly badly and a pretty rough delivery, so I am pretty scared that I am heading down that road again. Plus last pregnancy set off a health journey leading me to discover that I have high blood pressure and a really rare kidney disease. I’m hoping this time since I am medicated for the high blood pressure and kidney problems that I can stay healthy the whole time but it’s a bit like living with a time bomb attached to me. I don’t know if it’s going to explode or not. It’s a weird feeling but I am constantly on edge because of it. Some days are better than others but some days are really rough and the fear gets the best of me. I’m just trying to figure out how to deal with all my what ifs.

At my 12 week appointment, many of my what ifs were addressed so that made me feel a ton better. I know what my goal is for the babies. The goal is to make it to 36 weeks, which is between Christmas and New Years. If I can get to 36 weeks, the babies will be born then because my ob recommends delivering mono di twins then since they share a placenta and there are more risks to them and me if they stay in longer than that. I don’t know how I’ll be delivering yet but a C section sounds kind of likely. I’m a little worried about that but not too much yet.

Also at my 12 week appointment, I got an impromptu ultrasound. I thought we’d have to wait until the end of this week when I have a 4 hour long maternal fetal medicine appointment scheduled to see them again, but my ob decided to do a quick one in office since it can be difficult to pick up both heartbeats on doppler. I didn’t get any pictures but I can tell you baby B is a wild baby and was doing all kinds of acrobatics in there. Silly baby.

Also, we brought Goose with and she got to see the ultrasound, which was kind of cool. She still doesn’t really get that there are babies in my belly and if you ask her she still says mommy is having 12 babies (lol. no.). So that was super fun. She’s been super cute giving my belly kisses and snuggling the bump. She also likes to tickle the babies which of course means she’s tickling me, silly Goose. But I think she’s going to be a good big sister. I’m really glad she’s starting to understand. I’ve been really worried about how she’ll react to the twins.

I’ll do another update in a little while, perhaps after my next appointment.

In the meantime if any of you are seasoned moms of multiples or have dealt with a high risk pregnancy and managed to stay sane please let me know! Drop me a comment or shoot me an email to [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you!