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A Personal Account On Twin Pregnancy

There are numerous articles and books written about pregancy and the changes that it may bring to a woman. Pregnant women can read about how they might feel, physically and emotionally, during those 9 months. But these are only in text. There is no better account on pregnancy than what an actual pregnant woman has written. And in my case, all these experiences are magnified by the fact that I am carrying twins!

It has been months since I first caught a glimpse of my two angels by ultrasound, but I still find it hard to believe. But the physical signs cannot be denied. My tummy is much larger than what is normally expected from a singleton pregnancy. Its size has started to stir my amazement at the human body which is able to make ways to accommodate the growing babies. Unfortunately, stretch marks are bound to appear. They are like webs imprinted on my tummy, going on different directions and of varying colors. No lotion or any specialized cream can have the power to stop this natural adaptive change in my skin. Definitely, my skin has to be stretched to the greatest possible extent to provide enough space for my twins to grow.

With the large size of my tummy, most people who see me and don’t know that I’m carrying twins think that I’m only counting days to my due date. They are surprised to learn that I actually still have a month and a half before I can finally see my twin baby boys.

It has been both physically and emotionally challenging in the past months. Everyday is a constant struggle to give out my best for my babies. I diligently carry out routine and deemed important self-care such as daily bath, multivitamin intake, and ample rest, even if at times I feel listless to do so. A cold of flu may sometimes disrupt my appetite for eating, but then again, I must compel myself to eat so as not to deprive my babies of much needed nutrients. At certain times too, my body is unreasonably tired that I feel my muscles could not bear the increasing weight. It is hard to move my weak muscles and joints, expecially when coming from a resting position.

Now that I am entering the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy, I am experiencing more difficult and exhausting physical demands. I’m afraid that I might have premature contractions when I stand for a long period of walk for more than 5 minutes, because my tummy feels so heavy. I have to limit my food intake every time I eat. I have to moderate the volume of food I have to eat because a full stomach can only give me a labored breathing afterwards. And if I should sit, I sit with my back inclined at 30 degree angle so as to increase the surface area for my tummy. As if those are not enough, resting at night can also be exhausting because there is no single sleeping position that can give me a restful sleep. I constantly feel restless, which leads to sleep deprivation and drowsiness the next day.

Besisdes the discomforts, the babies also make me more excited with their movements. Their kicks and punches are more discrete. I might not know who among them is gleefully moving inside my tummy, but I can definitely tell which part of their body moves. Honestly, there’s a different kind of joy that I feel inside when I see my tummy waves in and out, sometimes getting deformed as my babies move inside.

With all the seemingly unbearable discomforts that I have to go though for the next couple of weeks, I ponder on the little joys that I am experiencing everyday with my twins. I am personally convinced that perhaps the reason why my babies’ movements become more and more sensible and discrete as I hurdle over the discomforts, is to inspire me to look forward and persevere with joy in my heart this difficult stage of my life.

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