9 Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy

Although I called myself taking good notes during the time I was pregnant with A and B, I look back now and wish I’d written down so much more. 

I'm taking a trip down Memory Lane today to record some tidbits about what I did to support a healthy pregnancy.  (I’m no doctor, mind you!  This is what worked for me…and if this might spur some inspiration for someone else, all the better.)

1)      Eat often.  I was incredibly lucky not to have “morning sickness”, but that didn’t mean my stomach felt peachy all the time.  I cite the trick to my success as twofold – finding the foods that worked for me, and eating them often.

Cold cereal in the mornings did the trick to get me going.  Frosted Mini Wheats were my friend…to the point that I traveled with a box of them if I ever was away from home.  For lunch, I most often ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat (with two glasses of milk).  And I should have bought stock in cheese and almonds.  That was my failsafe snack a couple of times a day.  I felt like as long as I could keep something in my system, I could keep from feeling too nauseated.

Between breakfast and lunch, I ate 2-3 bananas a day, too.  I think that kept the leg cramps at bay.

2)      Drink a lot.  My doctor recommended I drink Gatorade when I first got pregnant.  Now I can’t remember the exact reason for that recommendation, but that quickly became my morning ritual.  I couldn’t have coffee…but I looked forward to kick starting my day with some Gatorade.

Outside of my Gatorade routine, I drank WATER…lots and lots and lots of water.  I remember reading that the uterus is a muscle.  It’s important to keep it hydrated, just like the muscles throughout your body.  I credit all the water I drank with me carrying my girls as long as I did (to 34 weeks).

3)      Get a pregnancy pillow.  I was always a tummy sleeper, and I was so afraid (before I got HUGE) that I would roll over onto my stomach while I slept.  I bought the most awesome pregnancy pillow, one that went between my legs and I was able to snuggle into.  It made a huge difference in my comfort at night.  (And I am still hanging onto it for sentimental reasons!)

4)      Embrace your body.  It’s a common joke that husbands “accidentally” tell their pregnant wives they’re “big”…pregnant wife gets mad…husband is never allowed to forget it.  “Being big” was the last thing I worried about…I loved my pregnant self!  I was so in awe of my body and the amazing things it was doing…so incredibly proud to see my babies growing and prospering, as evidenced by my growing belly.  And I had such a fun time buying maternity clothes! 

5)      And on a related note, take pictures and make notes!  This is one regret I have, that I don’t have that many pictures of my adorably HUGE pregnant belly.  One day you’ll want to remember what you looked like at 6 months along, how big you were at 8 or 9 months.  I’m not sure I would want to see pictures of my swollen feet…but maybe I should have taken a picture or two, just in case.

6)      Listen to your body.  YOU are the only one who knows how you feel.  YOU are charged with being your own advocate…and therefore the advocate for your baby/ies.  Another regret I have (although I remind myself it’s a moot point…I have two healthy kiddos now) is that I put too much stock into “mind over matter”.  I thought I could will myself into making it to my 37-week due date.  I was wrong.  I can’t help but wonder if I’d listened to my body more…if I’d not dismissed the contractions I now realize I’d been having pretty regularly…if I could have carried the girls longer.  I’ll never know that (and again, I remind myself it’s a moot point…otherwise I’d drive myself crazy thinking about it).  This experience has taught me to listen to my body, though.  It’s a lot smarter than I sometimes give it credit for. 

7)      If you have questions, call your doctor.  I’ve come to realize that what I’m afraid may be a silly question, has likely been asked hundreds of times.  There’s no such thing as a “silly” question.  If you have something on your mind, call your doctor!  It’s better to be safe than sorry, and better to ease your mind than to sit and worry.  (And it’s good practice for all the “silly” questions you’ll have for your pediatrician!)

8)      Connect with those around you.  My husband was by my side my entire pregnancy.  He went to every doctor visit, every shopping trip for baby stuffs, and lifted everything down to a gallon of milk.  I had some amazing friends (mom friends and not) who cheered me along in such an awesome way.  They were so happy for our impending bundles.  Being surrounded by such a great support system just amplified my joy.

9)   SAVOR THE ANTICIPATION!  Pregnancy was truly the most amazing time in my life.  Hubby and I were elated at becoming parents.  There were so many new things happening, every day.  We couldn’t wait for our girls to be born…we would sit and dream and imagine what it might be like.  I’ve never wanted anything so badly…and having months of anticipation was nothing short of awesome.

I am very fortunate not to have taken any medications during my pregnancy.  (I remember when I got to the hospital, the nurse was taking down my history.  "You didn't take anything???  I'm talking aspirin and TUMS, even???"  She was incredulous.  I was able to power through, and I'm very thankful.)

Zofran, a drug that has been used to subdue morning sickness, and has recently been reported to have terrible side effects.  Again, I'm no doctor, and I'm not going to weigh in on the topic, other than to say...what would perhaps be my 10th tip...research, research, research.  Know your options and weigh the risks with whatever you do.

Thanks for joining me on this little trip down Memory Lane!  It's bittersweet...I'm so thankful for who my girls are today...but I kinda miss the journey that got them here!

Taken at my work shower...I was about 7 months along.  Sniff, sniff!!!

Super Stuff!

We had another super-great week of swimming lessons.  How I love to see my baby girls having such a fun time!  And in other super news…

1)      Out of the blue, Baby A exclaimed, “Mommy, your tummy must have been really big when I was in there!”

2)      Daddy was teasing the girls that we would send them into the store to pick up something.  He said we’d give them money, and B interrupted, “But money is dirty!  We’ll need to wash our hands!”

3)      We met Miss Demara with M&C at the bounce house last week, while five-week old A stayed home with her Daddy.  My Baby A was so worried how he would feed the baby while Demara was with us.  “But how will A eat?”  I told her Mr. G would give her a bottle.  “Well what will be in it?  Milk from the gallon?”  And then another discussion ensued about how the milk wouldn’t come from the store.  I had to laugh…and beam…at her detailed questions.

4)      B worried over her art supplies one morning, "This marker doesn't look washable, Mommy."  I love that kid!

5)      And I nearly fell out of my chair during art time another day, when Baby B asked me, "Mommy, what does 'pissed' mean?"  Like what, Sweetie? Can you use it in a sentence? I replied, trying to remain very calm.  "Like the 'sharp-pissed' crayon. You asked who had the 'sharpest' crayon."  Whew!

6)      The girls have been all about their baby dolls and building blocks this week.  I love seeing them playing – in new ways – with the toys that have been such a part of our lives for over three years now!

7)      On Friday night, we decided to go out for dinner, a rare treat.  We sat outside at the Mellow Mushroom, and the girls had such fun.  Afterwards, Baby A asked for ice cream.  We’ve NEVER gone for ice cream so late…but we indulged ourselves with yet another treat.  The girls were in heaven!

8)      We had such a fun time at a birthday party on Saturday afternoon.  I love seeing my girlies, playing with their friends.

9)      My Facebook status on Monday morning: It's not quite 8:30. So far today, we have...unloaded the dishwasher (a group effort)...eaten breakfast...researched Finland, the Great Barrier Reef, and tornadoes (in that order)...set up a store...and had a pretend birthday party. We know how to kick off a Monday at our house!

10)   On Tuesday we went to Mammoth Cave National Park to do a little hiking.  Words cannot express how I love to be out in the woods, just the four of us.  It’s the best family time ever!

We saw a mommy deer and her baby...here, she'd just groomed his face.

At Sunset Point.  The drop-off over the wall was only about 4', I promise!

Sisterly hug...I love it!!!

A tiny bit of "fall" color in the woods.  (This pic is for Marcia!)

 And there you have it...our weekly super highlights!

Fabulous Friday!

I haven't "accurately" counted to five -- as in "Fab 5 Friday" -- for a long time. It's not that my math skills are waning that much...but I'm having a hard time narrowing down the fabulousness of my week to just five points. And I'm OK with that. So here, the top seven reasons our week was fabulous...

1) I know I have to be careful with B’s “mothering” tendencies, but I can hardly stand the cuteness when she calls her sister “Baby”. Baby A will ask a question, and if I don’t jump in quickly, B will say, “Yes, Baby, this is Monday,” or “No, Baby, it’s not time for lunch.”

2) Every day for nap, I take Baby B upstairs first, and Baby A’s job is to get their baby dolls tucked in for their nap. She takes her job very seriously…a blanket under them, a blanket covering them, with them positioned together just right. And she is always so proud to show me what a great job she did.

3) While I was making lunch one day, the girls were “cooking” in their kitchen. I loved listening to their dialogue. “I’m dicing some cucumbers…I’m washing the lettuce…here’s your pizza and broccoli…here’s the milk from the milking cow…wait a minute, let me get a steak knife.” I don’t make a habit of dreaming about what they’ll be when they grow up, but I couldn’t help but think about a Dynamic Duo cooking show…HA!

4) One morning Baby A woke up earlier than B, so I had her downstairs with me. Daddy didn’t realize B was still asleep in her room, and he turned on the light in the hallway. I immediately heard B start singing the Beatles, “Here comes the sun, little darling, here comes the sun / and I say, it’s all right…” as I used to do with them every morning as I turned on the light in their room.

5) I’ve been talking to the girls almost non-stop since the day they were born, and they long ago picked up on the idea of narration. Baby A made me laugh one morning as we went into the bathroom. “Yep! That’s my bathtub! That’s where I wash my hair!” Her tone of voice was priceless, as if she were giving a tour.

6) We had snow on Thursday night and Friday. I knew the girls would be excited when they woke up, and they did spend quite a bit of time looking outside. At one point, A said, “That snow is amazing!”

7) I try to make the girls aware of various musical instruments. They can name quite a few that we see in magazines and books, and they’ll ask “Is that a piano / guitar / drums?” when we’re listening to a song. They didn’t know the cultural significance of what they asked a few days ago, but in essence they asked me to show them how to play “air guitar”. Even funnier? We were listening to an acoustic CD!

Hope you had a fabulous week, too!

Fab 5 Friday...and ME!!!

The girls have been sick this week…nothing really serious, just colds, I think…and I’m so thankful to declare this house fever-free for the first time all week! Despite the inordinate amount of tissues consumed in the past five days, there was still lots of fabulousness to count...

1) Friday night we held our weekly youtube fest (twenty or so minutes of pulling up different songs to dance to, Mommy and Daddy taking turns with the selection). I chose a Los Lonely Boys song. I asked the girls if they recognized the song, and they said they did. I explained that they went to a LLB concert when they were in Mommy’s tummy. “But I’m out now,” B confirmed in all seriousness.

2) We went to a birthday party for fellow twin friends last Saturday. The girls played so well and had a really great time. And seeing five sets of twins don party hats (at least for a few seconds) met my cuteness quota for at least the next week.

3) Daddy has been encouraging the girls not to run full speed in the house. (It used to be OK for them to run on the carpet, just not on the hardwood, but they’re getting to be such speedsters!) He’s trying to teach them the concept of “jogging”, but that seems to be pretty foreign to my two-year olds. They try though…they bend partly over and run in slow motion…and it’s pretty darn hysterical.

4) I love how the girls talk about what other people / animals / even inanimate objects must be thinking. We went for a walk over the weekend and saw a squirrel right next to the road. Baby A said, “There’s a swirrel! Hi, widdle swirrel! He said, ‘What are those baby girls doing here, I wonder?’ And then he said, 'I am cute!'”

5) And the quote of the week? After explaining something to the girls, B told me, “You’re probably right.” She’s TWO…not TWELVE. I may be in trouble.

And what did I do for ME this week???

Hubby and I marked the 16th anniversary of our first date on Thursday. (Yes, we started dating when I was seven.) With everything going on internally this week, I honestly didn’t realize the date until mid-morning. Our mini-celebration was pretty impromptu…we treated ourselves (and the girls) to takeout pizza from a new gourmet shop in town. But I did take the time to make chocolate molten lava pudding cake, coordinated perfectly to come out of the oven as the girlies went to bed. Hubby and I may have over-indulged a bit…each having two servings…but it was a celebration, afterall!

It's a GIRL!...and Another GIRL!!!

It was just about three years ago when we had our ~18-week ultrasound. We were so thankful it showed two healthy babies...and we were so excited to know those babies were both girls!

(We didn't care one way or the other about the genders, but it was nice to begin to visualize proverbial "pink" or "blue".)

I hadn't bought many baby things up to that point. It's like I was afraid to jinx anything with my thought process. I didn't want to allow myself to believe it was really true...we were having babies! Two of them!!!

But a couple of days after that incredible ultrasound, I had to travel for business. I had a little bit of extra time, and there just happened to be a nice outlet mall nearby. I tentatively went into the Carter's outlet. I looked around, and around, and around, amazed at the selection.

I finally allowed myself to buy the first two articles of little girl clothing...the softest velour dresses in coordinating pink / blue and brown...


When I got home from my trip, I hung the dresses in my bathroom so I could look at them every morning and every evening...a precious reminder that my dreams were really coming true.

I'm linking up with the sweet Cheryl at Twinfatuation for Way Back Whenesday. This picture was taken when the girls were about 7 weeks old, Baby A on the left, and B on the right.

In Utero Name Game

It was roughly three years ago when our first sonogram showed not one – but TWO – heartbeats on the screen.

A handful of my closest friends were in on the news, and at some point I gave the babies “code names” so we could talk about them more freely.

Of course at the time we didn’t know the gender of the babies, so I assumed that one was a boy, and one was a girl.

As we were in the middle of the Democratic primary debates, I began calling one baby “Barack” and one baby “Hillary”.

We had all sorts of fun conversations about the elbows being thrown in there. And the best standing joke was, “Which one is on the left?”

We had our telling ultrasound at around 18 weeks, when I learned the genders of the babies. I came back to work, beaming at the thought of two healthy babies…and at the fun of telling my friends that we no longer had Barack and Hillary, but rather Hillary and Michelle [Obama].

It wasn’t long after that that Hubby and I decided on the girls’ names. [FYI: Baby A’s name actually starts with “A” and Baby B’s name actually starts with “B”.]

We weren’t keeping the names a secret, so “Hillary and Michelle” were soon replaced with the girls’ actual names.

It’s been a long time since I thought of my little ones so fondly in the context of political debates…but the memory definitely brings a smile (and a chuckle!).

Did your baby/-ies have code names in utero? Did you share their intended names before they were born?