Well, I just woke up after about five hours of sleep, which I am going to call a success. I woke up because the (almost) 18mo old woke up, also, I had to pee so much I was pretty sure I was going to burst.
Being almost eight weeks pregnant with twins is…an adventure that I was not prepared for. It’s been less than a week since we found out that this isn’t just a normal pregnancy. I’m so glad I made the appointment for the ultrasound to find out. I knew in my heart of hearts, deep in my bones, in my jellies, that there would be two babies on the screen when we went in. I think everyone else knew, too. A few weeks ago, my spouse was talking to one of the kids (I can’t remember if the child was one of our own or a nibling), and he said, “once the girls are born,” and I stopped what I was doing and looked at him because he had clearly used the plural. My mother says she knew it, as well. This pregnancy has been one helluva doozy already and we’ve barely started.
But take a look at the little blueberries!!!
So, here are my symptoms right now:
- Morning sickness. I haven’t actually thrown up yet, but I am constantly nauseous. I have even developed motion sickness! Oh, lords, I’ve had to give up coffee because every time I drank it, I was sure I would throw up. Black tea so far has been okay on my stomach.
- Exhaustion. This growing humans thing is just no joke. I thought I knew what exhaustion was before this. For anyone that knows me knows that I’ve been struggling with an 18mo that likes to be awake at night and has heard me complain about my lack of sleep fairly extensively. This is next level. I can’t be awake more than an hour or two without needing to lie down again. Sometimes, I start dozing wherever I’m sitting, which is not like me at all.
- Joint pains. I already have joint problems. There hasn’t been a day yet where I haven’t wanted to cry because of the pain in my wrists, hands, and knees. Even my elbows and shoulders are acting up! It’s like if you sleep in a weird position and everything just goes stiff and you have to spend half a day restretching everything, but there is no possible way to restretch.
- Mild heartburn. I know this one is going to get so much worse. With my singleton pregnancies, I would get heartburn so bad that I would throw up. Right now, it’s mild and taken care of with Tums when it does show up.
- Cravings. Some would say it is too early in the pregnancy for cravings. To that I will happily flip them the bird. I have already cried because the nearest Arby’s is almost twenty miles away. If that’s not a craving (and a ridiculous reaction), I don’t know what it.
- Palpitations. This is my fifth pregnancy that I plan to carry to term. Every pregnancy, I have experienced heart palpitations. I have been told repeatedly that this is normal as long as they aren’t consistent. I am constantly on the alert because of a previous heart condition. I monitor the palpitations the way a freaking doctor would. I know they’re normal, I just don’t remember them starting this early in any of the other pregnancies.
- Mild cramping. This one I know is normal. All the stretching and whatnot going on in my uterus. There are two babies in there that are now about the size of raspberries. In a singleton pregnancy, my uterus would have gone from the size of about my fist to a grapefruit, I’m not sure how much bigger it is now with multiples. I do know there’s going to be a lot of stretching out. Water helps with the mild cramping. Of course, I am paranoid of the cramps. But, as long as they aren’t severe or sharp, everything should be fine.
- Thirst. Speaking of drinking water, I feel like I can’t get enough. It’s like there just isn’t enough water in the world for how thirsty I am. Which sucks, because I have to pee all the time. I’ve tried to mix up the liquids a little bit… fizzy water for texture, chocolate milk for flavor, black tea for the small dose of caffeine… I’ve been wanting orange juice a lot, but I’m not sure I want to risk the for sure heartburn for that tasty tartness.
- Sore nipples. I am still nursing the 18mo. I am “trying” to wean from it. My nipples feel like I’ve only just started nursing and haven’t been doing it consistently for three years. So, that’s fun.
- Headaches. I’m not sure if the headaches are just from not consuming so much caffeine, or if they’re from hormones, or from the excess amount of blood in my body, but they are there, and they are not fun.
- Depression. Hellooooooooo hormones. It doesn’t help that I battle with multiple mental illnesses on any good day. My depression has taken the wheel. It feels like I’m on a roller coaster where the highs tell me that I can actually handle this and things will be okay and the lows remind me that this is impossible and I’m not cut out for this. When I’m in a low, I try to remind myself that that’s exactly what it is, but damn is it hard to remember. It feels like there is so much to do, and no time. It takes nothing for me to get overwhelmed and overstimulated and want to just shut down.
I know there are more symptoms that I’m going through than all of that (isn’t all of that enough, though?!), I just can’t presently think of them.
I’ll give another update, though. There is so much in my head that I want to get out.
So, anywhere, here is the obligatory belly picture of almost 8 weeks pregnant with twins! There is no baby bump yet, but everything I’ve read says it will happen soon. Also…my clothes are fitting pretty snug already. Also, please ignore the state of the bathroom…I have been in no condition to do much cleaning.
