18 weeks...

18 weeks...I popped finally!

16 weeks!

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain? 6lbs. I've been stressing about this. My goal was to gain 8 lbs in the first trimester but between lack of appetite, chasing a one year old around, and that said one year old always wanting to eat all my food, it just hasn't happened. But, we get frequent ultrasounds of these babes and they are growing just fine so no worries.

Sleep? Potty breaks and vivid dreams interrupt my sleep but I'm sleeping well still. I use my Snoogle still and it's the best!

Best moment of the week?  Feeling these babies more and more. I can't wait until I feel them all the time so I can know they are okay. 

Miss anything?  Rest. I took for granted how much I could rest when I was pregnant with Sam. 

Movement? I have been feeling flutters and nudges for about 4 weeks. This week they have turned into little kicks. I still don't feel them all the time but when I lay down at night, it's kick, kick, kick. I think in the next week it will be the real thing and in 2 weeks, Michael will be able to feel. I can sometimes determine who is doing the kicking. Like just now, Baby A kicked and that always makes me feel good since we are little more worried about her. I have been nervous about not feeling them sooner but I read that just because you have two in there doesn't mean you will feel them any sooner. I also was thinking back and felt like I felt Sam earlier but I read back on my blog and it was about now to next week that I really started feeling him.

Food cravings? My appetite in general is different than it was with Sam. I don't really have one and I can only eat a little bit at time. I really have to force myself to eat. My body usually will tell me when it's been too long but that hasn't been the case this last week. I get cravings every now and then though. I pretty much want what anyone else is eating. We were watching Master Chef Jr. (seriously, those kids make me feel like crap when it comes to cooking) and they made Beef Wellington. OMG! I wanted a steak so bad right then. Texas Roadhouse was still open (it was 10:30pm!) and my sweet husband offered to go get me a steak. I almost took him up on that offer and the only reason I didn't is because I knew that I would take two bites and be done. Don't worry though...I ordered take out the next night and got prime rib with creamy horseradish. YUM!

Anything make you queasy or sick? Generally, I have felt good. No morning sickness but get nauseous if I don't eat often. I had my weeks of feeling really BLAH but that's about it. I did wait too long to eat one morning and then Michael wanted a burger for lunch and I got one with onions. Oh man, onions. Not doing those the rest of this pregnancy. I had him pull over and puked on the side of the road on I-215 (but just after grabbing our bag of fries and destroying those).

Labor signs? No way! I'm super nervous about this. My doctor said he really wants me to be aware of preterm labor. It freaks me out because I didn't have ONE contraction with Sam. I have no idea what they feel like! I am terrified I won't recognize them. I had Braxton Hicks with him but just a few. When I went in for my 37 week appointment my doctor said I wasn't even close to being in labor and let me go one more week before the c-section. He said I probably wouldn't have had him until 41 weeks. I'm hoping that works in my favor this time. My goal is 38 weeks. I really want them to be as big and mature as possible. Even 36 week-ers are kind of pain (they are usually not great eaters).

Gender?  GIRL/GIRL (still hasn't really sunk in yet). I keep referring to them as "the girls" and I giggle every time. It feels like I'm playing house or something. We don't have names yet. We have a list of plenty we like, it's just deciding which two we like the best. It's super hard to name two. You would think it would be easier since you get to choose two instead of one but it's hard!

Symptoms? Aside from peeing a couple times at night, not much. I have a lot of growing pains and I am super tired all the time. I try to nap as much as possible since Sam is taking two naps still. Of course I have great husband who really picks up the slack when he gets home. Major back pain that is quite an issue. I don't really know what to do about it. It really hits me at night.

Happy or Moody? Happy. My mood has varied so much with pregnancy. At 18 weeks I still can't get my head around the fact we are having 2 babies! It may sound horrible but I'm not entirely convinced we are bringing home 2 babies. Since 12 weeks we have been told be "cautiously optimistic" or "take it one day at a time" so I don't think I have allowed myself to get too attached yet. I hope that changes quickly. I feel like these girls have been shafted when it comes to the documentation of this pregnancy. I only first took a belly pic two weeks ago and haven't taken one since. I think staying up on my blogging will help be more connected with this pregnancy.

Looking forward to...?  Real movement and finally feeling good about this pregnancy. I'm terrified something is going to happen one or both of them. I feel a little robbed of the joy that comes with pregnancy. I'm really having a great pregnancy and I should be able to enjoy it. I know easy pregnancies don't come by most people so I should be able to relish in it but it's been hard to plan on anything with whispers in our ears that there might be something wrong with Baby A (even though so far she is fine). Deep down I know she will be okay but it's hard.

Realization of the week? No realizations really. I'm looking forward to the moment I realize there are actually two little babies in me! Hasn't quite hit me yet.