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My Story

This is what happened to my body when I was pregnant with twins

by

Joanna Venditti

posted in Mom Stories

My five-foot-two frame found my two previous singleton pregnancies to be a daunting endeavor. When I found out I was expecting twins, the first thing I thought was, “what is this going to do to my body?” I couldn’t wrap my mind around a twin pregnancy body.

With my previous pregnancies I experienced sciatic nerve pain, and a variety of pregnancy symptoms. These symptoms ranged from the common: big sore breasts, losing control of my bladder when I laughed too hard, and congestion. To the more out-there symptoms, like skin tags and bleeding gums. Little did I know that my body had a few more tricks up its sleeve.Odd twin pregnant belly shape

Before I even knew I was pregnant with twins, I was incredibly sick. By 9 weeks I was showing and the nausea wasn’t slowing down. Everyday, by about 4 p.m., my nausea set in and I was in survival mode until my husband was home by 5:30 to take over with our older kids. It was common for him to find me in the bathroom.

By the time my second trimester rolled around, I was finding a little relief from my nausea. But new symptoms started to appear. My husband and I took a trip to Las Vegas when I was 18 weeks pregnant.

As soon as we arrived, we walked around and see the sights. I was barely out of our hotel when it felt like a vice had been placed around my stomach. Every step I took it got tighter and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was having Braxton Hicks contractions, something I hadn’t noticed during my previous pregnancies. Unlike what I had read in pregnancy books, these weren’t coming and going in waves, they took hold until I sat down. From that point on we adjusted how much walking we did and I was careful to drink a lot of water.

Once I got past the 20 week mark, the weight of my belly took a toll on my hips and back. I opted to get a super-sexy support belt. But as the weeks went on, and my typical pregnancy heartburn set in, the support belt pushing two babies up only magnified my indigestion and I had to stop wearing it.Pregnancy Support Belt

My stomach took many shapes. My twins were constantly flipping and going from head up to head down. During my weekly ultrasounds, the technicians commented that they had never seen such active twins. They even switched their positions during my ultrasounds. Baby B was especially active, (which is still the case one year later). Baby B finally settled into my ribs while Baby A plugged the exit with her bum. All of this movement and stretching of my skin caused my belly to feel horribly itchy.

Here’s where the more bizarre pregnancy symptoms decided to make an appearance. I had light bladder leakage, which forced me to wear pads all of the time. I was like a leaky faucet. I have given birth three times, I have no shame. Thankfully, this stopped as soon as I delivered my babies.

I also started to drop things. I would be holding something in my hand and then suddenly let go, thanks to carpel tunnel syndrome.

As I closed in on 30 weeks, my hips were in agony. It felt like they would slightly dislocate at times. Having spoken to many twin moms,  the intense hip pain seems to be the most common twin pregnancy symptom. I took multiple baths a day, staying off of my feet and sticking a pillow in-between my knees while lying on my side. I watched a lot of movies with my kids.

At 33 weeks things started to get scary. Walking up the stairs set my heart into over-drive. I had to lie down and just breathe to keep myself from blacking out. I had many tests done, and although they showed my heart was racing at times, it was still strong. We decided to aim for 37 weeks.

Heart tests during twin pregnancy

Another surprise, when I hit the 33 week pregnancy mark, was the return of my morning sickness. This time it was caused by the fact that my food was being pushed back up by my twins. I dreaded eating, and it was a struggle to gain weight from that point on.

After a scary driving episode, where I almost blacked out, I decided I wouldn’t be driving myself anywhere anymore. I relied on friends to take me to my last few appointments.

At 37 weeks, I made it to my scheduled C-section and finally met my two little tenants I had worked so hard to grow. Mia and Everly each weighed over 6 pounds and were perfect. I was in awe and in love.

Newborn Twins
Here’s how I transformed throughout my twin pregnancy:

9 weeks

16 weeks

23 weeks

25 weeks

27 weeks

30 weeks

32 weeks

34 weeks

36 weeks

37 weeks

Although there were moments during my marathon of a twin pregnancy that I wished I could give up and walk away, holding my girls in my arms made it all worth it. It’s incredible what a woman’s body can do, and pregnancy can have some disturbing surprises. But when you are holding your new baby, while staring at all of those perfect little details, you can’t help but be blown away by the fact that all of that was created inside of you.

 

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