Letters To The Twins, Part Two

My favorite duet,

Here we are, already four months into your prenatal development. Since we have entered our second trimester, time has really started flying! Each day, I feel a little bit more like myself. The nausea is almost gone completely, my energy is increasing, and my I-can-handle-this confidence is mounting. We got to peek in on you last week and discovered the most exciting details about the two of you! One of you is a girl, and one of you is a boy! What a perfect combination! It was so neat to see where exactly each of you are in my womb, and which one of you is doing the thumping, which at least for now, I cannot get enough of. I can't wait until you grow big and strong enough that your daddy and Willa can feel too. It is the sweetest reminder that you're in there and the most precious reassurance that you're okay. (I hate that I'm already having to say this, but sweet boy, stop kicking your sister in the head! In fact, just turn around, it'll make things easier on all of us.) Your bones must be getting stronger, because you are sure using up the calcium and I can feel it. I'm taking in plenty of extra now, so there should be more than enough to go around. At five inches in length from crown to rump, you are growing more noticeably than I am. But I'm certain that it's just a matter of time before my innie gives way and my middle protrudes. Feel free to stretch out, I have a long torso and I'm willing to accommodate. In a couple of weeks, we will get to see you again in a more specialized ultrasound with a perinatologist. We are so eager to catch a glimpse of your sweet faces! As the mystery of whom each of you are unfolds, we look more and more forward to knowing and loving you.

Letters to the Twins, Part One

My dear twin peeps,

You've hardly caused a bump, but oh, the havoc you have wreaked! I've emerged from the first trimester in one piece, though it hasn't been pretty! You and I have been high-maintenance, to say the least. Your daddy almost gave up on ever reuniting with the pleasant pre-twin-pregnancy version of me and threatened to pack up and head to the ranch, with your sister in tow, for an extended vacation. Surprisingly, the store didn't crumble, due to my compromised abilities. I am amazed that the household filth generated by the dog, the toddler, the man, the my temporarily slovenly self has not accumulated enough to bury us all. Needless to say, I've been TIRED. Irritable. Nauseated. And, oddly, congested and allergic like never before in my life. But it's all been for good reason. You have clearly needed the energy more than I do, with your rapid development and the complex construction of all of your bodily systems. And like any mother, I'm happy to merely survive so that you two can thrive. Just know that once you get here, I expect you to be good sleepers. You owe me that. Things have improved over the last couple of weeks. You've eased up on me now that your physical development is mostly complete, and I can definitely feel the difference. I was able to take Willa to the park for a picnic yesterday. I hope the slide wasn't too much for you. Anyway, the more days we can have like that, the easier your big sis is going to be on you when you get here. My nausea has subsided, for the most part. It's only when I miss your signal and don't feed you on time, that you stick it to me. In which case, I deserve it. I feel less depleted and have these exciting, yet fleeting moments of energy. I hesitate to act on them, though, for fear that they are only an illusion that is suckering me into some physical activity that I'll pay for later. I'm trying to prepare for your arrival as best I can, by picking the brains of other twin mamas and reading whatever I can find on the subject. I tell you what, nobody has candy coated it! And I'm actually grateful for their honestly. It's better to know what to expect. Willa is making room for you, too. She has already given up diapers in anticipation of the toll your pants are going to take on the landfill. Bringing you home will be the biggest challenge of my life. But I'm up for it. I'm your mom! And I'm sure your daddy and I wouldn't have been given anything that we can't handle. So rest assured, you're in good hands. We wanted you more than you'll ever know, and love you both already!

{I owe credit to PacingThePanicRoom for inspiring me to track my belly and pregnancy progress in this way. The blogger is an awesome photographer who adores his wife and did a weekly series of maternity photos and notes to their baby. It's worth clicking over and checking it out. So sweet. And the awesome photographer that I've enlisted is Jennifer Lankford of PortraitsByJenn. Her site is worth checking out too!}