New member and couple questions

Hello ladies! I just found this board last night and am very excited. I think I have learned more about having twins in the last 12 hours than I have in the last three weeks. I am a stay-at-home mom of three children. I have a son who is 4.5 and two daughters 3yrs and 20mos. I am almost 24weeks pregnant with twin girls. We didn't find out we were having twins until I went for my 20wk scan. I am very excited but really nervous about the rest of my pregnancy. I am not worried about once they are here I guess because I have changed enough diapers, made up enough bottles that doing it times two doesn't scare me. But I am really nervous about being placed on bed rest because of my kids or having them early. But my doctor told me not to expect to go past 36-37wks so that only leaves me
12-13wks before they are here.

If this question has been asked before I am sorry. Everyone keeps telling me how I need to increase my protein intake now that I am having twins. I have heard that from other twin moms as well but nobody goes into detail. Luckily I love cheese, eggs, and peanut butter. I have been to the doctor once since finding out about our twins and she just said to eat healthy. I don't gain much weight while I am pregnant. With my first I gained 25-30lbs, 18lbs with my second, and 9lbs with my last. I am worried I won't gain enough weight for the three of us. I am already up 11lbs as of 22wks so I guess I'm not doing too bad. lol But can anyone recommend a site or a book that gives good information on eating while pregnant with twins?

Also, is it normal to already have pressure in my girly areas when I walk? It doesn't happen all the time just when I am up too much. I have been sitting as much as I can get away with. But if I take the kids anywhere that requires me to walk or I go to the grocery store/shopping and am there more than an hour I feel more pressure like I am closer to the 30ish week mark not 24. I assume it's because their are two babies in there. Is this pretty normal so early?

 

A book that I have been reading and following for nutrition guidelines is When You Are Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quadruplets by Dr. Barbara Luke. She recommends a high protein, high calorie diet. It seems like not everyone agrees with this type of diet, but I think it's a good book to read to educate yourself about some of the nutrition requirements. Her recommendation for twins is 176g of protein and 3500 calories per day.

 

I agree with Shera - I have read the Barbara Luke's book and it's really good. She says to put on weight early (25lbs by 20 weeks, 38lbs by 28 wks, 40-56lbs by 36 weeks) b/c with twins they do most of their growing up until the 34 week ( if I remember correctly) after that there just isn't much room as with a singleton to put on much more weight.

I too didn't find out we were having twins until our 20wk u/s and completely shocked is an understatement. I have a 7.5 yr, 4, & 2 yr old and twins are arriving in the next 3 weeks! And while I am not scared about 2 babies - I am feeling bad that we'll probably be at home much more than we already are now and the older siblings won't like that.:sorry:

I experienced a lot of pressure and round ligament pain really early as well. I remember thinking this is too early to feel so uncomfortable, until we found out we were expecting twins. I stay at home w/my little ones and was afraid of bedrest -- and so far I haven't had any complications. After reading a lot on twin pregnancies I really took to heart that fact that you need to put your feet up as much as possible, and unfortunately for my LO's at home they watch a lot of TV. Good Luck and TS is a great place for lots of information!!

 

:welcome: to Twinstuff!

 

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Thank you for the warm welcome!

We run around a lot as well and it will be coming to an end soon. Thankfully we belong to a nice playarea where I can just sit and watch the kids play and not have to walk and follow them the whole time. I am hoping to take them there as much as I can. But I have been trying to spend more time at home to prepare them for when I get farther along and once the babies are here. My two older kids have been watching a lot of TV already and I feel SO guilty. It makes me feel so much better to know I am not the only one!

 

My first OB suggested that I gain 25 lbs by 20 weeks as well. However, at 18 weeks I had lost 7 lbs (I was average weight pre-pregnancy) because I had been really sick. I moved to another state that week and switched my OB. He was not concerned about my weight gain at all. I ate when I was hungry, ate at least 5 veggies a day, and drank lots of milk (I craved it bad). In the end, I gained 40lbs and my girls were 5lbs 7oz and 6lbs even at 36 weeks 5 days. I think that gaining weight early can be helpful, but just because you don't, doesn't mean your babies won't be healthy! I never upped my protein intake intentionally. I ate what I craved and let my body tell me what I needed.

Good luck with your pregnancy and welcome to Twinstuff!

 

Glad to see someone is in the same "weight-gaining" boat as I am. I am currently 23w 2d and have only gained 6 pounds. The Doc wants me to gain more when I go back in 2 weeks, but I can tell I haven't gained more yet. Protein drinks and meal replacements don't help me at all. I figure if the babies are growing good, then everything ust be okay!!

As for the crotch pressure...I have it bad too. Except I can't even walk for an hour without sitting down for awhile. Too much pressure. I just discovered I have varicose veins down there too. ICKY!!!