Wow!  I can’t believe I’m already in the third trimester of my twin pregnancy!  I feel like the first 28 weeks have flown by and T and I are in full baby prep mode trying to prepare for the arrival of Lola Mae and Tex’s siblings 🙂  I have spent most of the past several days fervently working to try and get our house ready for their arrival.  It is amazing to me how such a tiny little being requires you to have SO MUCH STUFF.  And we have TWO of a lot of it.  I had no idea there was a difference between an infant car seat (with a base) and a toddler car seat.  An umbrella stroller or a click n go or a jogging stroller.  Rock-n-play, swing, bouncer.  And don’t even get me started on the the various hygiene products – from soaps and shampoos to lotions and……BUTT PASTE!

We are extremely blessed with the most generous friends and family who have pretty much bought out our entire registries, and I can’t even begin to thank them all.  It wasn’t until I did my registries at about 15 or 16 weeks that I started to realize how expensive everything was, and kind of started panicking a little.  But, because our friends and family are so awesome, they knocked it out of the park and we are almost done!  Now, it has been our job to get everything in it’s place and ready.  T said he has never looked so forward Mondays in his entire life because that is when our recycling comes.  The empty boxes are invading our garage!

Now, on to the fun stuff – what are my symptoms and what am I experiencing?  So up until a few weeks ago, I still felt pretty normal.  Normal meaning going through my day to day with little to no extra effort (other than working out – that slowed down much earlier.)  Waking up, getting dressed, going to work, walking at lunch, coming home, making dinner, etc. – you know, normal stuff.  I didn’t have much swelling and other than being tired and having occasional heart burn, I felt pretty good.  Fast forward to about two weeks ago, and really emerging about a week ago, and BAM! complete 180!  My feet have never hurt so much in my entire life.  I guess all the extra weight I’m packing around is really affecting my feet.  And it doesn’t help that we have tile in most of the downstairs of our house which is a killer on my feet.  I try to wear my fave house shoes that I got for Christmas a couple of years ago, but it is summer in Houston.  I don’t think I need to explain any further.  But literally, there are some nights where I feel like my feet are broken and I can’t even walk on them.  T has been amazing and rubs lotion on them and massages them most nights, but good Lord, I keep thinking, “Is this common for all pregnancies?”  Like I seriously almost texted my podiatrist family member to ask him if my feet could break from being pregnant?  You can read all about another time I had to go see him here.

Coupled with my feet just flat out hurting all the time, is the fact that they are now bigger, partly due to swelling, and I’m assuming the other part due to the relaxin hormone being released in my body in preparation for child birth.  Most of my shoes do not fit, and the ones that do, my favorite ones I bought when I first found out I was pregnant with the low block heel from Target (click here) have the ankle strap buckle on the outside of my foot, and I have now gotten to the point that I cannot really bend over to buckle them.  So, what’s a girl to do?  I guess buy more shoes?  Or just push through the next two-ish months and have T buckle them for me every morning?  You may be thinking, well, why don’t you wear your flats?  Well, the answer to that is because they don’t fit either.  I feel like Cinderella’s step sisters trying to shove my foot into a shoe doesn’t fit.

Next up on the fun list – swelling.  Ugh!  I was doing really well – I mean really well, literally until about last week or so.  I realized I wasn’t sure if I was able to get my wedding ring off, but I was finally able to get it off using a combination of Bio-Oil, lotion, and water.  Then, a few days later, I had my maternity photos, so shoved it back on, and then had an even harder time getting it off.  It’s safe to say it will stay in the safety deposit box for the rest of this pregnancy.  But here’s kind of a weird thing – my fingers hurt.  I’m assuming from the swelling, but especially when I wake up in the morning, they hurt so badly.  And, it is harder to type – like I’m losing coordination in my fingers or something.  And my feet and ankles – holy moly!  I keep them elevated when possible, ice both of my ankles daily, but I guess the swelling is just inevitable.

You know the saying, “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”  That’s kind of what I thought about when composing this post.  I wanted to share the not so fun things about this pregnancy first, because I know we are all real life people and if I were to type up this long post about only the great things about being pregnant, I know anyone with pregnancy experience would think I was crazy.  But with all that behind us, we can now move on to the good stuff.  And let me tell you, feeling these rascals move around inside of me is something truly remarkable.  Sometimes I catch myself just staring down at my stomach hoping to see them moving around, and do they ever!  They are most active on my drive home from work (I guess they are just as excited as I am) and in the bath tub.  Which, in the bath tub, it is pretty funny because I feel like a hippo in the water with my tummy sticking out, and when they start moving around, I get quite the kick out it (see what I did there…..kick.)  Or sometimes I just sit around the house or in bed with my hand on my tummy waiting to feel them.  A few times, the movement was so extreme, it actually made me jump!  Powerful little things…..

I also did maternity pictures this past week, and it was so much fun!  I cannot wait to see the results!  My photographer, Kat at Mustard Seed Photogrpahy, and the girls at Sunkissed and Made Up truly made me feel fabulous.  Side note – if you want to see our wedding photos from Mustard Seed – click here.  I really needed that, because it was such a boost in confidence.  I honestly did not think that gaining weight and being a little extra pudgy would bother me while pregnant, but it kind of does.  Especially in the social media world we live in where all you see are the highlight reel photos of your friends – all in their bikinis, at the pool or beach, looking super hot and sipping on champagne.  But, I know that it will all be worth it.  And I know that every single one of my friends has bounced back, and I think they are even more incredible for that!

Something else that this pregnancy has done is bring T and I even closer together.  I’ve always been a very independent, I can do it on my own type person, but being pregnant, I’ve had to learn to slow down, rest more, and allow T to help me.  I think one of the cool things about pregnancy is it slowly prepares you for being parents.  I’ve heard from so many parents that once the babies come, you HAVE to rely on each other for help – no one can do it all on their own.  We are learning that now, and I know it will be even more true once the babies come.  He knows when I need to rest or when I’ve over done it, and makes me sit down and take a break.  All I can think is, “I need to get this done, and this, and this, and this…..and the list goes on and on and on.”  But, he’ll make me take a break, and pick up some of the tasks himself (like unloading the dishwasher as we speak.)

So, to finish up, I’m still holding strong on my list of pregnancy essentials, found here.  Bio-Oil every night, collagen lotion every morning, aim to drink 4 of my camelback water bottles daily, epsom salt baths (try lavender) and so on.  I’m currently 28 weeks, but my belly is measuring 33 weeks!  I feel large and in charge, and my belly is bumping into things (doorways, dryer door, walking too closely behind people, steering wheel, etc.)  I have my third ultrasound appointment next week, and after that, start going in for weekly check ups.  My due date is Sept 12 (which is 38 weeks.)  If I’m still pregnant at that time, they will induce; however, my doctor says in his experience, most of the twins he delivers are around 34 – 36 weeks.  There is nothing leading him to believe I will deliver at that time, just looking at the average of his past patients.  Summer is here – it is hot and humid in Houston, and I’m doing my best to stay calm and cool.  The nursery is almost done, and we are prepping the rest of our house for the arrival of the twinsies.  The next big task on our list is to trade in my small suv for a…..dun dun dun – SUBURBAN!  Yes, we are looking into buying a suburban.  I don’t know if you’ve ever seen us travel to my parents’ or his parents’ houses, the ranch, or Rockport for a long weekend, but with us, the dogs, and two babies, we are going to need more room.  I’ve heard minivans are awesome with twins, but we are going to try a suburban first – I don’t know if I can do all that yet.

Anyway, I’ll be updating you all on more fun baby stuff (including the awesome baby showers I had) in the upcoming weeks – enjoy your Monday and have a great week 🙂

Dress: Pink Blush 

Cheers – MP