In case you haven’t noticed, my blogging has been lighter than usual since October. Well the main reason for that has been because I’m pregnant. I told my co-bloggers, so they wouldn’t think I was abandoning the site..
Now that I’m in just out of month 4, I’m finally happy to report that my life doesn’t revolve around the fear of throwing up on strangers. :) For a while, from months 2-4, I was battling morning sickness, and the usual first trimester sleepiness. I’m still concerned about a few things like the fact that at almost 19 weeks I weigh the same as I did when I got pregnant. In fact, one of the most fascinating things about pregnancy is the way it has altered my eating habits and my metabolism. When I was in the throws of morning sickness, for some unknown reason the more unhealthy the food the more likely it was to stay down. I’ve never eaten so many McDonald’s Big Mac’s in my life. What’s even funnier is the fact that I ate that kind of food and lost 6 pounds. I felt like I couldn’t possibly eat enough food to maintain my weight, and I was even more shocked when I read that I was supposed to eat 2600 calories a day (300 extra calories per fetus). I’ve always been a person who loves eating and food, and by medical standards I’m in the overweight category, but suddenly, I didn’t want to eat, and these two little fetuses were performing liposuction on my thighs and butt. My husband kept joking about the fact that I had the incredible shrinking booty, which he thought was bad and my mother and brother thought was great. (Now, there’s a cultural difference if there ever was one–West African ideas about booty beauty and White American ideas about booty beauty.) Fortunately, I’ve gained my 6 pounds back, but I seem to be stuck right at the same weight. I promise I’ll write more about this since it really seems to be the one issue that is bothering me the most–I keep wondering how I’m going to gain 30 lbs in 20 weeks.1
Of course, I’m going to write about the pregnancy because there are so many juicy issues. The gender issues are obvious, but other issues like body image (which I alluded to above), medicalization, racism, and the rampant classism/materialism that surrounds birth and children. I already have some good stories to tell already, so be prepared. Plus, when the little ones are born, I’ll even have some baby blogging to do.
- For those who don’t know the weight gain recommendation for twins is higher, but doctors also seem to be all over the place in terms of what they suggest. My OBGYN suggested a 44lb weight gain for a woman of my height who is of average weight. Since I’m overweight, she suggested 30-35 lbs. [↩]
I lost weight in the first few months too. Morning sickness does that. I managed to gain weight though, even though my morning sickness lasted the entire 9 months.
Don’t worry, you WILL gain the weight *L*
Pheeno you’re already making me feel better..because honey, I don’t know if I could handle 9 months of morning sickness.
Congratulations and blessings on you all! Have you thought much about names yet? Do you know if they are identical or fraternal?
Mazeltov!!!!!
I love twins, and I have a few in my family. Enjoy the eating while you can: my sister used to get an ice cream sundae every day, literally. I’m happy for you :)
Congratulations! The sick feeling in your tummy from hormones and what not, passes. The sick feeling in your tummy from thinking about funding two college educations is probably permanent. ;)
I’m pretty sure you meant to write “wouldn’t” there. :-)
And (again), maziltov!
9 months of morning sickness is why I have a 14 year old and that’s it.
I think my body tried to apologize by giving me only 3 hours of labor, but to this day there are foods and smells I can’t tolerate because of those 9 months of hell.
What are you doing labor wise? Drugs no drugs, midwife, hospital etc? I’m only asking because I’m interested, I have no opinion on how other women should have their babies. I went for the drugs myself, but I have a high avoidance for anything remotely resembling pain *L*
Oh, and once you really start showing, be prepared for total strangers to feel entitled to touch your belly. Ignore horror stories, for some reason people delight in scaring the shit out of pregnant women.
As far as cravings go, trust your body. It knows what it needs. You probably ate lots of big macs for the fat in it.
My last month was in August in Texas. I ate nothing but ice cream and fruit. I ate an entire watermelon in one day. It was the only thing that sounded good, it was cold and it would stay down.
Congratulations!
Don’t worry, if the morning sickness passes, I think you’ll gain the weight.
Twins are cool. My parents were both twins, but not to each other.
I cna do random-stranger reassurance on the weight gain. (My wife K and I are expecting our second.) It’s not uncommon to not gain any weight in the first trimester–K didn’t with this pregnancy (which she started technically overweight); don’t worry about it–you’ll very likely start to gain weight within a month, as she did.
Your body is generally pretty smart. It will in all likelihood make it very clear that you need more food RIGHT NOW.
And CONGRATULATIONS!
I lost weight in the first few months too. Morning sickness does that.
My ex lost weight over the course of the pregnancy, and our daughter was perfectly healthy. So was my ex, for that matter, once the pregnancy was over. Don’t panic about the weight gain. Congrats on the kids — they’re a lot of work, but they’re an awful lot of fun, too.
Just promise me that you won’t let the kids accidentally marry each other, ok? :-)
Congrats.
Congratulations, Rachel!
Morning sickness sucks, but I believe – correct me if I’m wrong, anybody – it’s associated with a successfully implanting live foetus. (Americans please note correct spelling of Foetus) (Sorry! Couldn’t resist that one ;-) ) I had a miscarriage with my second pregnancy with which I experienced no sickness, but of course one story isn’t data.
Congrats!
You know what? I lost 7# with my first, and 10# with this baby. Granted, neither were twins, but because I started out fat, it wasn’t a concern. Both times, I started to gain weight around month 5. I am currently (at 5 months) back to my pre-pregnancy weight. With my first, I only gained about 12# the entire time, and he was 8#12. As long as you’re eating, don’t worry! Our bodies are amazing. I think about how many women are unable to care for themselves during pregnancy (poor, underprivileged, etc.) and still have healthy babies. It got me through the first few months when I couldn’t eat anything either! Best of luck!!
On the weight gain thing–a friend of my just had a nearly 9lb child and she gained about 10 lbs. She actually weighed less after giving birth than when she got pregnant. She was heavier than I am and had a singleton pregnancy. If I weighed like 120lbs; I’d be really worried, but I guess this is another advantage of being overweight that anti-fat folks would never admit.
Robert said, “The sick feeling in your tummy from thinking about funding two college educations is probably permanent. ;)”
LOL! That’s one good thing about being a college professor–if all else fails free tuition at my school.
Helen said, “of course one story isn’t data.”
I think that there studies showing a negative correlation between morning sickness and miscarriage….and I think it is related to hormone levels. Of course, it’s just a correlation, so many folks with little or no morning sickness have fine pregnancies.
Amp said, “I’m pretty sure you meant to write “wouldn’t” there. :-)”
Yep, sure did…I fixed it.
RonF said, “Have you thought much about names yet? Do you know if they are identical or fraternal?”
They’re fraternal.
My husband is refusing to talk about names because he thinks it will jinx the pregnancy. I thought about some, but the hard part will be getting us to agree. We already had to make a deal about their last name–in fact, when we got married, we agreed that I would keep my name (unhypenated), and our kids could have his last name (unhyphenated). Oh, and he didn’t have to wear a wedding ring. Oh wait, I think that was not part of that compromise. I think he just asked me about that, and I was like go right ahead. I did not care at all if he didn’t wear a ring.
We will probably give them a more Americanized name and a Nigerian middle name, or we’ll find names that can work well with both cultures.
pheeno said, “What are you doing labor wise? Drugs no drugs, midwife, hospital etc?”
I’m not really sure. I wanted to have a midwife, but since it’s a high risk pregnancy (twins), I’m definitely going to have a doctor in addition to any midwife. In fact, I forgot to ask if they have midwives at my doctors.
I have no idea what I’m going to do about pain medication–I’ll probably decide in the delivery room.
Congratulations Rachel! You can have a lovely, healthy pregnancy with twins.
My twins are turning seven on 2/4. I have girl-boy twins.
Do not fret about weight either way. I lost about ten pounds when morning sick, but ended 25 pounds above my prepregnancy weight. I’m fat, so my OB and I figured I had the necessary fuel for gestation. I too went with a midwife until I was risked out. I found the BEST OB EVAH by asking who backed up the midwifery practice. In case you’re in Chicago, it was Sylvia Bihcalo (odd spelling intentional). She was fantastic, Central American and relaxed about my weight. She cheered me on at every visit, supported my goal to breastfeed twins and emphasized every time that I had a healthy pregnancy. I had one set of preterm contractions, but when she told me I could forestall them by drinking two gallons of water a day and it wokred like a charm.
The second trimester for me was astonishing for the amount I could and would eat. I have never been able to finish restaurant meals, I usually take home about half when my appetite has been satisfied. In the second trimester I had room for dessert. I once reflexively slapped an apple slice out of my partner’s hand and we just sat there staring at each other. It was pure physical food defense, I had no time to think.
I ate mashed potatoes and tuna salad for the last trimester, because they fit at all in my squished stomach.
I did have pre-eclampsia and an induction, but the kiddos were both head down and I gave birth vaginally with no problems at all. Like I said, I had wanted a natural childbirth at home with a midwife, but I understood the risks of eclampsia so my very medical birthing experience was okay by me. I had been on the fence about pain medication – natural is good but denying pain relief could be construed as mysogynistic as well as natural. I requested an epidural, but turned it off when dilation was complete so I could feel to push. My attending OB, Dr. B’s partner, let me work through labor in its own time without pushing fpr a c-section. Overall all the staff were wonderful and helped me have a great if unexpectedly interventionist birth. I loved pushing the twins out, and I REALLY loved the natural twelve minute break between babies!
Sorry about the novel, I just get so excited to talk to expecting twin moms. :)
I have three year-old fraternal boy twins.
Letsee…I gained 37 lbs. during the pregnancy. Lost 30 within 24 hours of birth. Lost an additional 20 in the next six weeks. for a net loss of 12. So, I must have lost weight during the pregnancy. yes, indeed. NINE months of morning sickness and very bad acid reflux. The good news? The second my kids were born…the second, I absolutely remember this feeling washing over me, the acid reflux and the nausea were gone.
Congrats and good luck!
I’m a fraternal twin. It’s one of the most joyous things about my life.
Congratulations!
Congratulations!
I, for one, am looking forward to doubled-up baby blogging.
Starting out overweight increases your chances of having full term, 7 lb twins. Eating well does too.
With your decreased stomach capacity and increased need for protein, it takes planning and effort to grow twins. You need high protein per volume food—sort-of the opposite of what people thinking of when they are “dieting.” Like, eggs, meat, and nuts, and not salad.
When you get up at night to go to the bathroom, think about whether you’re hungry. Keep protein-rich snacks (nuts, yogurt, hard-boiled eggs) handy. When trying to eat small meals frequently, nighttime “counts” too.
Good luck, and looking forward to the stories and pictures!
Congratulations, and the best of everything!
I save my pregnancy/labor horror stories for men. ;-)
Congratulations, Rachel! That’s wonderful news.
Congratulations! Don’t worry too much about your weight. I gained a total of 10# in my pregnancy and had a fat, healthy 7 1/2 pound baby at the end of it. (Yep, there’s advantages to being overweight.) I’m afraid I’m another person with a 9 months of morning (all day) sickness horror stories. The nausea did get better after the first trimester but it didn’t go away until after the birth. I ate little but sorbet and plums for 9 months. As long as you feel otherwise ok (apart from the fatigue, of course), it’s probably no big deal. Food is wonderful when you’re breastfeeding though.
Mazel tov!
I’m positive that in 50 years weighing pregnant women will be seen as either (a) a hard-to-kill anachronism dating from a time when the possibility adequate nutrition in America was not a given; or (b) a patriarchal way of controlling women.
We (meaning my wife) gained more than the “suggested” amount for each of our three girls. For each pregnancy, the OB (a different one each time) tut-tutted, to which my wife asked “should I go on a diet?” to which the OB said “No” to which my wife said, “should I try not to gain any weight during the third trimester?” to which the OB said “no, that’s not a good idea,” to which my wife would say, “so why the hell are you tut-tutting?” to which the OB would not have a good answer.
Also, we approve of (a) not discussing names before birth, because too many people will tell you a name that you have decided on is horrible, but no one will ever tell you that the actual child you have named Uglina has an ugly name, and (b) giving one ethnic and one Americanized name (although we gave Americanized middle names), as it gives the kids the option of using the other name later on if they decide they don’t want to be a Proud Zionist (or whatever your ethnicity proclaims).
Ignore horror stories, for some reason people delight in scaring the shit out of pregnant women.
When my wife was pregnant with our first child (our daughter), about 4 months along I was sitting with her and a bunch of her female relatives on her father’s side. Stories of pregnancy started out mild enough, but then they all started to try to one-up each other on the horror stories of hard pregnacies and difficult births. Until I stood up and gave them all hell for trying to scare the shit out of my wife. They all stared at me, and then changed the subject.
Congrats! That’s great news.
I had two uneventful pregnancies, so you won’t get any horror stories out of me. Sorry.
I don’t really do pg horror stories. I had a nice easy one for the most part. But I do tell it like it is in the first few weeks. I think people are getting annoyed with me for being so … ahem… blunt, but I think it’s important to bust the myths about motherhood being innate because those first several weeks suck the life out of you. And the hormones suck too. But you already know that because I’d told you that ad naseum. :)
Congrats again. You should come see us some weekend in Feb.
Congratulations! I hope all continues to go well. I lost weight with my first, during the tail-end of the 2nd trimester. I was on bed rest for preeclampsia and totally lost my appetite because I was just lying around all day. My doctor put me on a milkshake diet to get my calories back up, so for the last trimester I was eating ice cream sandwiches and milkshakes in between each meal.
I didn’t have that problem with my second, although I admit I had cravings for rare roast beef sandwiches for about 6 weeks of the 2nd trimester. I also could not stand the smell of bleach (a real problem because my older child was potty-training), and I developed a really bad gag reflex to brushing my teeth.
My cousin and her husband made up names to tell people who asked about their choices. They deliberately chose really really unusual ones to reduce the amount of discussion, as they were waiting until they saw their babies to give them names, and they got tired of explaining it all the time. IIRC, one name they used was Yosemite Aloysius. They got a lot of laughs out of people’s reactions, plus it gave them something to call the baby besides “the baby” all the time. Maybe your husband would go for a spoof name?
Enjoy the parts you can and store up the not-so-fun parts for the future – they might be funny 20 years from now, or you can use them for guilt trips or to increase your mom cred. I don’t tell labor stories to first-time moms unless asked. :->.
Congrats! I’m really happy for you guys. :)
check out my blog to, a new mum to be, honest truth about everything!
Yay! Congratulations! I wish you the best of health for you and an easy delivery (knock on wood!)
Just pointing out (esp since the author and I share similar names) that this is by Rachel S., not me, and she doesn’t post here anymore, though I certainly hope she comes back someday!
Also, that this post is a few years old now.
I wish you good luck with the rest of your pregnancy, the birth, and in raising your twins. :)