Picture Journey of a Twin Pregnancy - 26 weeks

A little brutal honesty here concerning vanity in its finest form. We took pictures a few days ago in order to document week 26 and post as promised. But....I was so horrified by the amount of weight I have put on that I refused to post....despite the fact the goal is to gain 40 pounds and I have put on a mere 22 and still have 14 weeks left to go. If I only put on a pound a week from here on out that'd make a grand total of 36 pounds for the entire pregnancy. But, a few nights later as I crawled into bed I realized my legs look like logs....as in, they are abnormally out of proportion to the rest of my body by more than just a little. My feet are quite the phenomenon based on the fact they remain perfectly normal and maintain their very foot like appearance....and do not appear to be paws at this point.....but my thighs down to my calves look like they belong on a foreign body not belonging to the top half of me. But I also had never even taken the time to sit that day besides the 3 meals I had eaten and maybe had I just propped my feet up for a bit it might've helped my cause out a little....so I did...that night after kids were in bed. And, I finally realized what a shame it would be to quit the picture taking based on sheer dislike of bodily figure and how I would miss a twin pregnancy grow...as the one and only picture I have at all of my 1st twin pregnancy was taken at 39 weeks. That wasn't entirely intentional. I just never really thought to document the growth of a pregnancy before Garrett.


So, here it is in all of its glory, swelling and all, 2 babies at 26 weeks. And I am now regularly asked by total strangers when I am due. This becomes more than a little annoying since I have only ever once in my life been asked this before this pregnancy...and it was at 37 weeks with the 1st round of twins. So, to be asked this at a mere 26 weeks with a whopping 14 yet to go is a bit irritating and really just brings up desires to go smacking people....mostly when they just stand there and gasp obnoxiously or let their mouth unappealingly gape open and then continue on to cluck their tongues and wag their heads. I'm not really sure at this point if it's due to what they must horrifically envision my size expanding to or if it's due to the news of there being 2 in there and then having to do mathematical figures eventually ending up at 10....which never ceases to amaze me when it takes a good 2 minutes for people to add 8+2.


And I find it odd to be caught struggling with whether to let people in on our miraculous little secret that 2 abide in there. I think I just always assumed I'd be shouting it from the rooftops if we were ever to show up with twins again. But now being here, I can't just let them assume there's only 1 when they go on about how elephantized I am but to declare twins never fails to get the tongue clucking, head wagging thing going....and then the stories and the information about how their sister's, uncle's, cousin's, best friend's, mom's, grandma's, step sister's aunt had 12 sets of twins for a total of 59 kids. Most days I find it entirely amusing but with the heat and the seeming inability to ever get cooled off I find it more desirable to take these people out rather than find them interesting right now.


On that note...today while in town and in a fairly reasonable mood to tolerate strangers we paused to wait for Mother to catch up. Nearby a woman and her 2 daughters were discussing our entourage loudly. Loud enough, in fact, that it was quite obnoxious and could not be ignored.....


"I say 2 sets of twins."
"No, they've gotta be quadruplets."
"Naw, just triplets and a younger one."
"Well....are the girls twins too cause that'd make like 3 sets of twins."
"Do you think she's having twins again or she's just due next week?"
"I bet she's having twins...look at all the ones she's already got."
"Well, they're all really pretty kids and they're all so happy."
"They're all so well behaved...they probably homeschool."
"Well, I still say, 2 sets of twins."
"Naa, at least triplets but I think quadruplets. They kinda look identical."
"I think there's 8 total."


Ok people...seriously....identical???? They've got hair that's dark blond, bright red, white blond and strawberry blondish-red. Not to mention, two of them are five years old and one of them is barely thee years old....little bit of height difference going on, don't you think? And do you need a stronger prescription for the spectacle thing going on over your eyeballs or did you just not bother to look at their faces???? I could care less if they actually think they're quads. It's actually a compliment, I think. I mean..who on earth has quads??? But when you stand there and just get louder and louder and louder until somebody finally acknowledges you it gets a little irritating...especially when they're just downright obnoxious about it.


At this point I looked at the children in which every last one of them are staring at these 3 obnoxious females discussing our life. I have no problem...most days...with inquiring minds. But, just ask already. So, on this note I quietly gave instructions for the children to quit staring and ole Bertha seized the opportunity to dive in to which I replied, "No, only 1 set of twins but we do have another on the way." With raucous laughter and good natured slaps to one another's backs, "I knew it!! She's got that twin look and belly going."...more words, more words, more questions. Ummm.....so woman....how exactly does a 26 week twin belly differ from a single full term uterus and how would you, in all of your infinite wisdom, know the difference? And how exactly does one have a "twin look" to her.....besides needing the words "wide load" tattooed across each butt cheek. Who knows. Actually....on that note, apparently that woman does.


"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Soooo...given the attitude that went along with the last few paragraphs I'd say mine's just flickering right now..... but I'm working on it.


On a more positive note though....I had a stranger come up to us a few days ago and after lovingly admiring each and every one of the children, their behaviour and how beautiful they all are, she went on to say I had the most amazingly feminine curves she'd ever seen on a pregnant woman and then went on to add that if she ever looked as beautiful as I do while pregnant then maybe she would've gone on to have 10 children also. I quickly assessed that she was an angel sent straight from heaven whose sheer purpose was to encourage the gestating soul.

Anyway...all of that to get to the point.

26 weeks with twins!