16 Weeks: "You are so lucky"

After telling friends, family, even strangers that I am pregnant with twins, the reactions have ranged from complete shock, surprise (always surprise), and various levels of congratulations.  However, when I was dropping Elliot off at daycare, my daycare provider exclaimed over and over, "You are so lucky. You are so lucky!"

I've been thinking about her response and seeing her idea of 'luck' really meaning blessed.  "You are so blessed. You are so blessed!"  Yes, we are so blessed.  The excitement is rolling in amidst the questions and the excitement is taking over the anxiety, because truly we are blessed to be on this journey.

This week has been full of large and small blessings.  I'm still tired. I guess I can't blame my body after standing and walking, bending and squatting, in this profession called middle school teaching. Then, coming home to three rowdy boys, mouths to feed, and a house to maintain. Let's be honest though, Aaron has been doing most of the house maintaining!  It's tiring.

We received two homemade meals this week from my sister-in-law, and my sister just offered to make us a meal once a week.  I almost didn't want to say yes, because what happens when we are at 30 weeks or when we are in the throes of infant hood? But, we are blessed to have family that cares all along the way and I am so grateful.

My ultrasound with the perinatal specialist went great, another blessing.  The technician was so funny, calling the babies Peanut A and Peanut B.  She kept our secret of the genders for us.  Both are healthy. Baby A measured in around 6 ounces and Baby B around 5 ounces.  All their little hands and feet, heart and brain, etc were functioning and in working condition. It was fun to see them moving around.

More things I learned:

• Baby A and Baby B shouldn't be more than 20% different in size. This happens when the umbilical cord is attached to the side of the placenta instead of the middle (in the case of Baby B).  They'll watch the smaller baby all along and then decide what to do if the size difference increases. So far, we're good. 
• I need to produce 5X the amount of insulin! A singleton pregnancy needs 3X.  This could likely mean gestational diabetes... could mean this. There is no way of knowing yet as I was able to produce enough for my previous kids, so we don't know if I can keep up with 5X yet. 
• The placentas work harder (I have 2), which means the doctors will keep a closer eye on these too.  This makes my due date really 38 weeks, rather than 40.  So.... new date is June 12!  Could be earlier too, obviously. 
• Something to think about... I can still do a vaginal birth if I go into labor naturally. I had assumed a c-section based on my past experiences, but the doctor said it's different because the babies are smaller, Baby A is larger and will "pave the way" for Baby B (Baby A is always the lower baby).  I hadn't even considered this... 

We are so lucky. We are so blessed.