Guest blog – twin pregnancy (Halfway) 20week milestone
Guest blog – twin pregnancy (Halfway) 20week milestone
We’re over the moon that we’ve met another milestone and we are now half way! I am now starting to relax into pregnancy and learn to enjoy these precious moments. Im so proud of my body for getting us this far. I am starting to look beyond each day to think about the upcoming weeks and how to begin to prepare for our babies arrival.
20 week scan
We had our 20 midwife checks and scan.
The midwife always checks my weight and I dread it every-time! I’m definitely piling on the kgs! (I’m hoping it’s all just babies!)I’m defiantly going to allow myself to eat what I fancy now my nausea has passed!
I’ve still not worked out how much water to drink before my scan. There is usually a wait in the waiting area for sometime and by the time I have my scan I’m bursting for the toilet! Twin 1 was very active and mischievously kept turning positions (we know who she takes after!) The Sonographer found it difficult to do all the health checks initially. At this point, my bladder was ready to burst! I was eventually asked to empty my bladder once Twin 2 health checks were completed, he was much more chilled. After emptying my bladder this helped see Twin 1s face and heart chambers clearly. Both twins health checks were all good and they are still both measuring the same. We met briefly with the Twin consultant and had a positive chat about how the pregnancy was going so far. At the moment, we don’t have too many questions but we are looking forward to joining the Twins Trust antenatal classes online next month, which I’m hoping will prepare us with some questions to ask the consultant next time.
Physical changes
Feeling: I have my energy back and as a result, I’m able to stay awake for the best part of an evening! I can now feel movements in my tummy, which mainly happen when I’m resting at night, which I believe are those fluttering moments many other mothers tell you about! I have anterior placentas so I’m not sure if that makes a difference to how I’m feeling the movements at this stage.
Clothing: I’m officially in maternity clothing, I’ve found it difficult to find any local retail shops selling Maternity wear in store. Asda George online has been a saviour with many nice Summer pieces and I’ve managed to buy ‘nearly new’ items on Vinted. Yet, I’m loving a comfy black pair of leggings! I’m getting lots of positive compliments about my growing bump and the change is helping me feel reassured that the pregnancy is progressing as it should. I also keep getting the comments “you’re going to be HUGE with having two babies inside you!”, Im not sure how to take these comments but I’m continuing to just accept my body changes and do whatever I need to do to keep my babies safe.
Cravings: I haven’t had any weird ones but I do love ice in all my drinks, colder the better. I’m also wanting cold salads and fruit from the fridge with every meal!
Bump: I highly recommend the non-fragranced Neals Yard mothers balm on my skin to soften and relieve the itching as my skin stretches. It soaks into the skin beautifully and it’s reassuring to know it’s all natural.
Shopping
I kept putting myself off thinking about buying things for our babies but then I don’t know when the right time will ever be. Good old Instagram with their algorithms saw that I’d recently looked at a ‘baby nursery post’ and now it continues to share lots of posts and reels with me. To be fair, this has helped me realise it’s okay to have hope and plan for the future of our babies! So… I began to browse and came across Zara Nursery home items, I love the neutral tones and the natural materials.I made a note of a few things I really liked but couldn’t bring myself to buy these things just yet. I kept telling myself ‘it’s too early’. More recently, Zara home had a sale on and I then couldn’t resist a haul so I bought the beautiful hot air balloon lampshade and some cloud door knobs to upgrade a chest of drawers. I was also kindly gifted a twin feeding pillow, which I’ve been told is a huge MUST when feeding twins. I’ve also been keeping an eye out for offers on nappies and free vouchers (every little saving helps).
Online Twins Antenatal classes
We joined a friendly group on Zoom through the recommended Twins Trust charity, it was nice to be surrounded by other couples who were first time parents and had the same
Anxieties as us. Our antenatal teacher put us straight at ease. The classes were very much tailored to multiple pregnancies and no question was taken as ‘silly’. There was intervals where we got to chat with other couples discussing our fears and wishes. By the end of our four sessions, we felt better informed with birthing choices, tandem feeding and twin essentials. I highly recommend this charity trust for any future multiple parents to be!
Thank you Annabel for your blog updating us on your halfway milestone eeeekk. I love reading about the pregnancy. We met this week for Annabel’s maternity shoot, which made me even more excited for the twin’s newborn session.
You can read Annabel’s first and second blogs here.
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