Week 25 Twin Pregnancy Experience: Fear and Gratitude
Being pregnant is such an experience to go through. There are days when I barely feel pregnant, then days that become extraordinarily uncomfortable. There are moments where you simply go about your day, and moments that stop you in your tracks, when you realize just how much your life will change. And then there are moments when gratitude and joy overwhelm every iota of your being. My week 25 twin pregnancy experience focused around that gratitude and that fear.
It’s so easy to focus on the stresses: of getting everything ready (after hours of searching, I still don’t know how we’ll fit three car seats in our SUV), of the fear babies not making it to term. Yesterday at the office I had some Braxton Hicks contractions (nothing new), but they were starting to become slightly painful (new). They dissipated when I went home and relaxed, but it’s still hard to hold off worrying.
At only 25 weeks while we’ve passed the stage of viability, if the twins were born now they’d face huge medical hurdles. One of the reasons I’ve been okay with eating so much is the proven correlation around increased weight gain in the 2nd trimester and higher newborn birth weights (per the book When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets or Quads). The fear is truly real.
Then there’s also the fear about how difficult life will be with two newborns, a toddler, and recovery. How will we handle everything? I remember how difficult the first few months with one child was. Imagining that times three is scary!
And then…there’s the feeling of gratitude. If we never have any more kids, this will be my last pregnancy. I will never again have morning sickness. We’ll never again experience the joy of seeing two lines on a pregnancy test, or of seeing your unborn child wiggling away in their first ultrasound.
As each month passes, there’s an moment that we’ll likely never again experience. So, no matter how challenging certain stages of pregnancy and newborn life are, no matter the pain, or the fear, I want to remember the gratitude. It’s such a blessing and a joy to be able to experience this, and I want to remember that gratitude every day. There will come a time when pregnancy, with all its joys and all its aches, will be missed.
Symptoms
Symptoms: Heaviness. A raging hunger. A few cramping contractions. Some stronger kicks – I seem to be feeling them more than my last pregnancy. Could it be that babies are running out of room much earlier? No new stretch marks yet…but I know it will only be a matter of time.
Babies are each the size of: Rutabagas (um…how big are rutabagas?)
Belly size in singleton weeks: 33
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Last Week: Week 24 Twin Pregnancy Experience
Next Week: Week 26 Twin Pregnancy Experience
What NOT to Get Two of for Twins
