On Things to Buy When You Get Your BFP

I'm writing this post specifically for one of my BFFs, Kasey, who I just know is going to get her BFP very soon.

When I got my BFP, I was honestly so clueless about pregnancy because I had spent SO much time just concentrating on the idea of getting pregnant and TTC. And, I found that many of the things I learned no one tells you about (probably because then no one would want to get pregnant, lol). I've honestly had a dream pregnancy so far, if you don't include the kidney stones - very little morning sickness, just normal aches and pains, and nothing out of the ordinary from what other mamas have experienced. However, I have been formulating this little list in my head for Kasey and figured it would be something good to update as I go along and learn more things about my pregnant body.

Medications & Personal Items

Zuplenz - it was a life saver for me when my morning sickness was at it's peak. It's the new Zofran, but dissolves faster, tastes better, comes in a higher dosage, and for my insurance, was cheaper than Zofran.

Colace & Fiber-Con - constipation hits hard in the first trimester, your digestive system changes due to the hormones. I'd never suffered from it before pregnancy and never want to have it again. My RE & OB both recommended these as safe and good to take on a daily basis.

Peppermint Lifesavers - the normal ginger ale, crackers route didn't work for me with my morning sickness (which, side note, lasts all day and night long). I would always try to keep my belly full and have the peppermint on hand. Also, in the mornings, I would drink juice versus water.

Sensitive Toothpaste & Mouthwash - I started having serious tooth sensitivity in my 2nd trimester and found out from my dentist that root exposure is common in pregnancy, resulting in sensitive teeth and/or bleeding gums. I learned to stay away from whitening toothpastes during pregnancy and to start a sensitive toothpaste... my issues have seriously decreased (almost gone completely!) since switching. Also, get mouthwash. I could barely brush my teeth without puking or gagging, so I relied on mouthwash some days.

Pantyliners - just trust me on this... especially if you are using Endometrin, lol.

Sarna Original Lotion (for injection sites) - my RE pregnancy nurse suggested this as I was getting awful bumps and rashes from my progesterone injection sites. It's the only thing that worked well.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Massage Cream - my skin was like the Sahara literally from the minute I found out I was pregnant. I was literally flaking off skin, it was insane! I started using this as a regular lotion because of it's creaminess and the thickness. I've been using it on my chest and belly daily and don't have a stretch mark yet. I know the little bastards are coming, but I truly believe moisturizing daily has kept them at bay so far.

Missha BB Cream & Clinique Moisture Surge - I have always used the BB cream, but even with the moisturizing powers it has, I needed more in pregnancy, so I started using the Moisture Surge. Both are lightweight and feel so nice on your skin. I would use the Moisture Surge at bedtime and the BB cream in my morning routine.

Snoogle pillow - I don't use mine all the time yet, but on days where my back or legs are achy, I use it and love it.

Clothing

Non-underwire bras - I've been out of underwire bras since my first trimester. My belly sits really high right now, and I just can't tolerate the underwires.

Belly Band/Belly Belt - these didn't work so well for me (my belly was huge from the beginning), but I know others who had great luck with them

Gap Demi Panel Modern Boot Pants & Gap 1969 Demi Panel Sexy Boot Jeans - these were my "go-to" work pants & jeans in the first trimester. However, towards the end of my first trimester, I had to switch to full panel pants because it was just too uncomfortable. I also like that Gap almost always has promo codes available. I have consistently purchased my "pre-pregnancy" size from them and been fine.

Gap Full Panel Modern Boot Pants - these are my current "go-to" work pants. Totally comfortable, machine washable, and they look great.

Express Best Loved Bra Cami - I still wear these under almost all of my shirts. It really smoothes things out, especially when wearing full panel pants.

Motherhood Secret Belly Line - I love their shorts, jeans, and capris. Also, once you sign up for their email list, you get coupons and promo codes all the time and their online selection is much better than what's in our local store. They often do 30% or 50% off clearance, too. I have consistently purchased my "pre-pregnancy" size from them and been fine - mostly mediums, but I bought shorts in larges since I'm sure I'll be huge by the end of the summer, lol.

Books

I never read What to Expect When You're Expecting. In fact, I gave my copy (which had been passed to me by a friend) to another friend who was expecting a singleton. My pregnancy nurse at the RE had told me from the start that I needed the "multiples bible" aka When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads: Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy by Dr. Luke.

If you are ever on a Mom of Multiples board, you find they all reference Dr. Luke. She has done great research into the best things for a pregnant mama of multiples, including weight gain guidelines. I read this book cover to cover in a matter of days when I got confirmation I was having twins. To be honest, I don't follow her diet guidelines exactly (I try to stick with the basic principles, but sometimes I just cannot eat that much food or eat those specific things), but I have been following her guidelines for weight gain. I'll be 24 weeks on Friday and I'm up 25lbs as of the scale this morning - which is right on track. She provides information that shows early weight gain is best to have big, healthy multiples at birth.

Other books I've read and found informative include:

Breastfeeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers 
Mothering Multiples
The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers

As you can see, I plan on exclusively breastfeeding the twins and have been really trying to read up on information about it. I love that all of the books broke down "myths" I'd heard about breastfeeding and really took it back to it's core - a natural thing that almost every mother can do. I think the best thing about today's society is that women can do whatever they feel is best for their child and that there are options - but I also think that some of the issues women encounter with breastfeeding are due to lack of education (on their part and/or their healthcare providers' part) and can be due to a somewhat Westernized-thought pattern on breastfeeding issues.

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That's all I can think of for now, but will update with more as I think of it. :)

On Our Twin Gender Reveal Party

I wanted to do a post about our Twin Gender Reveal party. I had so much fun planning it, and we had such a great time with our loved ones.

To be honest, I originally didn't want to do a Gender Reveal Party. I knew that I didn't really want to do the cake thing, and it was hard for me to think of a way to reveal it without a cake... But, once I started thinking about it - all of our loved ones have been so unbelievably supportive and loving throughout our journey that I really wanted to share learning the sex of our babies with them. Plus, I love parties, and this will be my only pregnancy, so I wanted to really "do it all".

One of the first things I did was hire a photographer. During parties, I'm always running around so I never get to take pictures and I definitely wanted our reveal and reactions documented. Julia is a good friend of my sisters' and she has recently started a photography business, so she was perfect for it. (She will also be doing my baby shower. I'm really excited to make photo books from both events to keep for the babies.)

When I first started planning it, I knew that I wanted lots of pink, blue, and yellow. For the paper goods, I used the Party City Tiny Bundle theme. I bought coordinating stuff in pink and blue, and tablecloths in yellow from Party City, as well (I love that you can almost always get a good coupon or promo code with them).

I had seen a really cool banner made from ultrasound pictures on Pinterest, so I knew I wanted to do that as well. I bought the cardstock backing from Michael's, and had leftover blue ribbon from our DIY wedding invitations. I also wanted to make a "guessing sign" for our guests, which I made from posterboard from Michael's.

 

I also wanted to do something related to my cravings, so I used the leftover cardstock for that and bought cheap frames from Dollar Tree. I also bought cheap vases from Dollar Tree, and bought yellow roses the day of the event from our local produce place (super cheap!) to make centerpieces.

 

For the actual reveal, we used balloons - but not in the typical sense. I saw somewhere (maybe Pinterest?) that someone had done this... at our ultrasound, we didn't find out the genders. We had them put the information into an envelope. My BFF was at the ultrasound with us, so she got the envelope. I had purchased black balloons and tons of pink and blue confetti. Her job was to put the correct colored confetti in the balloons (blue for boys, pink for girls, blue & pink for boy/girl), blow them up, and put them in a box. When it was time, everyone got a balloon and a thumbtack, and we all popped them at the same time.

 

 

 

 

As you can see, I was very surprised by the color of the confetti.

And I can't forget the very handsome big brother, Mojo. :)

On 22w5d & Baby Names

We decided on the names for the babies a few days after our Gender Reveal party. I have loved Ryder throughout my pregnancy, and if it were 2 boys - it would've been Ryder and Reid. I was so thoroughly convinced it was 2 boys, I hadn't really thought of girl names. I always loved Bryn (Ava was my #1 girls name, but there are too many Ava's these days), but I wanted something different than just Bryn - so Brynley it is. I love both names because there won't be 30 of them in their classes at school. Thomas is for my dad, and Marjorie is for DH's grandmother who recently passed away.

We visited DH's dad in California around my 20th week of pregnancy. Honestly, flying that pregnant with twins wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I bought 2 bottles of water to keep hydrated, plus the drink service on the flight, and lots of snack options. I also brought along a couple of my breastfeeding books to keep me occupied, since I can't read on planes. We got Exit Row seats right near a bathroom, which was great because my bladder was definitely giving me a workout. I did have some back tightness after the flights, but my back has always been tight, so that's not a shock. I did also have some ankle swelling, but it went down only a few days after each flight. My biggest suggestion for flying with pregnant is to hydrate!!!

We had a great time in California, visiting with our best man, his wife, and their daughter (who is almost 2)... we had never met their daughter, so that was the best part. DH's dad was also always loving on my belly. When we were leaving to go home, he kissed my belly and talked to the babies. <3

Here's my 20 week belly in California. Also, here is DH & I in Cali.

I had an appointment with my OB last week. He is super happy with everything in the pregnancy, minus my hypertension when I come to his office. I swear that I just have white coat syndrome because my pressure is great at home. He told me to just continue logging my blood pressure at home because we need to keep an eye on it. I will be doing another 24 hour urine collection to check my protein in the urine, and in a few weeks, I will be doing another 1 hour glucose test. We also discussed birth control after the babies are born - I'm insistent that I'm done having babies after this pregnancy, but don't want to do anything permanent yet... so I'm thinking of the Paraguard IUD. The OB told me that in his professional opinion, I'm "not done having babies yet". LOL. I also discussed exclusively breastfeeding the twins with him, and he said that it'll be difficult, but that with what he knows of me, he knows I will do it.

As of this morning, I was up 24lbs, which puts me right on track with my twins book recommendation. I'm definitely feeling the weight gain more now. I'm seeing my chiropractor every 2 weeks or so to help with right hip pain, and I'm so hot at night that we had to turn our thermostat down to 66 (lol) and I'm sleeping in a sports bra and boy shorts - and still sleeping without covers most of the night. It's such an odd sensation, like only my belly feels hot. I'm still applying my cocoa butter every morning, and not a single stretch mark yet, which honestly shocks me. I know they are coming but I certainly thought they would be here already.

Our gender scan went really well, and it was amazing to see the babies in such detail. They have changed who is lower, and now Ryder (on my right) is technically Baby A. They were both super active, and were currently both breech position. I think Ryder may have flipped though, because he has been giving strong kicks in the top of my stomach. DH finally got to feel the babies kicking this past weekend. I felt so awful that he hadn't felt them yet.

Also, I got a surprise this weekend when 2 of my sisters flew in as a surprise, since they couldn't make the gender reveal party... it was great!

I plan on ordering our nursery bedding this week and we are working on estimates from painters to paint the nursery (and the rest of the house). It blows my mind that the babies could be here in 3 months!

Here's me at 21 weeks and 22 weeks (I'm finally starting to figure out how to take self pictures with an iPhone, lmao!)

Here is big brother Mojo loving on my belly.

And here are some baby feet. :)

On Gender Reveal