Week 18

I'm 18 weeks now, and getting closer to the halfway point.

To further remind me just how different this pregnancy is from the last one, I really "popped" this week!  All of a sudden I'm showing, and obviously pregnant.  (The pictures may not make it so obvious, but in real life, there has been a big difference this week.)  It's a welcome change, because this is what I imagined went through people's minds when they saw me:

First: "That woman is a little thick around the middle."
Second (after they see CC):  "Oh, that poor woman still hasn't lost her baby weight."

Thank goodness it's obvious now!  But that also meant I had to get out my maternity clothes this week. What a change -- I didn't need them until around Week 26 last time.  I opened my embarrassingly small tub of maternity clothes, dug out the trusty jeans that I lived in for the last few months of CC's pregnancy, pulled them on ... and discovered they are several inches too short.  What the heck?  Did I grow since last year?!

Fortunately, my sister-in-law, Susan, let me borrow approximately 100 items of maternity clothing, which included some lightweight cotton and capri pants plus another pair of maternity jeans.  So I might not actually have to buy any more pants. 

My most fervent hope this time around (besides the health of the babies, of course) is that my ankles don't swell up like water balloons.  Last time they did, and it was so bad that I had to wear compression stockings.  Which, of course, required full shoes and long pants.  But this time I will be at my heaviest during the hottest months of the year.  I would dearly love to wear loose dresses and flip flops, but I won't be able to do that if my ankles swell again.  I will drink as much water as is humanly possible (which, counter-intuitively, is supposed to reduce swelling) and pray, pray, pray.

As for the babies, they are about the size of bell peppers, about 5.5 inches long.  I think I might have felt a few kicks this week, but I'm not positive.

In case you're wondering, twins in utero usually grow at the same rate and size as single babies until about week 28.  Then they begin to grow at a slower rate than single babies.  So at least for now, these little twins are about the same size as any 18-week-pregnant woman's baby.