Pregnancy News!

I'm starting to get HUGE in the belly and am really loving this pregnancy. I love being pregnant and enjoyed every moment of it with Paprika- and this pregnancy is no different. It's so exciting to feel the miracle of life (or lives!) inside of me and feel such a deep connection to my unborn children. It's the most wonderful gift in the world.

I am now 17 weeks, 5 days pregnant. Most people who see me think I'm 6 to 7 months along. I've gained about 30 pounds, which is right on track (for me!). I am starting to see a perinatologist every two weeks, and my regular OB every two weeks. So, I'll be getting lots of good prenatal care by some of the very best doctors in the world.

I never mentioned this before, but when I was pregnant with Paprika and going to prenatal yoga as Golden Bridge, I talked to Gurmukh about my OB. She said, "Oh, Bobby- he's the doc to go see if you're expecting twins. He's the best there is at that." Of course, I wasn't expecting twins then, but what she said stuck with me. "Bobby" delivered Paprika and we were very happy with how he handled the delivery. This pregnancy, we are back with him and it makes perfect sense because this time we are expecting twins! I am very impressed by his attention to detail, especially after our last visit.

I forgot to mention last week that at our last visit the babies were both measuring very large compared to single babies for their gestational age. They were 16 weeks at the last ultrasound but were measuring more like 18 week singleton babies. This is great news. Perhaps my high protein diet is paying off! I want to give these babies the best start in life possible, and having high birth weights is one of my goals for them.

I am trying to rest as much as possible, but that's not really possible with everything going on right now. Paprika is going through a VERY clingy stage where she wants me and only me. I'm trying to pick her up less, but it is very hard to deny her when she looks up at me with tear-stained cheeks and says, "Pick, mommy, pick up, please." So, it's a work in progress and I'm doing my best. We are thinking about getting Paprika a toddler bed so that I don't have to pick her up to put her in her crib- but we're reluctant to do that because she is so comfortable in her crib- and we don't want to mess up her sleeping schedule again because that would cause even more drama at our house! So, maybe the toddler bed will have to wait.

I go back to the doctor next Friday for a visit- and will get another peek at the babies then. I am hopeful that they are growing well, and that everything is right on track!

I guess the biggest announcement is the one I'm leaving for last: we found out at our last ultrasound that the babies are definitely identical twins, and that we are expecting two girls!!!! We are VERY excited and can't wait to meet our two new daughters and Paprika's two new sisters!

Now we can really begin the name search. Mr. Mustard wanted to wait to start thinking about names until we knew if they were boys or girls- so now that we know, the hunt is on. We are very paticular about names, and we have about every baby name book on the market. There isn't a name that we haven't heard or haven't considered. We will be keeping the names we choose secret until after the birth. We did that with Paprika and enjoyed letting everyone know her name after she was born- so we'll do the same this time! Of course, this pregnancy we have twice the work cut out for us! It's important for us to give our children names they can be proud of and names to live up to!