As I sit down to write this, I am 29 weeks pregnant and officially in the third trimester! Before I forget everything, I want to talk a bit about how second trimester went during my twin pregnancy.
Right around 12 weeks pregnant is when the nausea began to clear for me and I felt like I could eat normally, thank goodness! So far this trimester it hasn’t returned in the same way so I feel lucky in my experience as I know some people have it for an extended period.
The most exciting part of this trimester was finding out the gender of the babies! We had to wait until 23 weeks because it was difficult to see on the ultrasound but once we did, there was no doubt! We are having a boy and a girl and can’t be more excited!
Feeling Movement & Braxton Hicks
I began to feel the baby’s move much earlier during this pregnancy at around 17 weeks. Apparently it’s normal to feel them move earlier in subsequent pregnancies as well as with multiples, but it was still a surprising feeling! I also started getting Braxton Hicks contractions at around 20 weeks which was even more surprising because I didn’t think they started that early. But yet again, multiple pregnancies tend to experience them earlier. I noticed I felt them more when I had to pee (which was/is always!) or if I hadn’t drank enough water. Now at 29 weeks, I tend to have them quite frequently, around every hour. They can also be caused my bending over, coughing, or physical exertion.
At 24 weeks was when I first noticed I could see the babies move from the outside as well! That’s always a cool milestone and makes the pregnancy feel more real.
Insomnia & Restless Legs
This is one of my least favorite parts of pregnancy! I had insomnia and restless legs in my first pregnancy as well and it was so frustrating, but now even more so because I have a toddler who likes to wake up at 6AM! I started to have trouble sleeping around 22 weeks pregnant and it has gotten progressively worse since then. These days, I wake up 2-3 times a night to go to the bathroom, usually around midnight and 2AM. When I wake up at midnight, for some reason it’s very difficult to fall back asleep and I will usually be up for an hour or so. Not being able to fall back asleep is usually due to restless legs. Recently, I started to take a magnesium supplement to hopefully help this because it’s quite annoying and I wake up very tired. I’ve found that the only way to fall back asleep is to do some stretching and eat a snack.
Acne
By 22 weeks my hormonal acne had pretty much cleared and now at 29 weeks even my scarring has pretty much faded! I feel really good about my skin, which hasn’t been the case for a long time. If you are struggling with hormonal acne, I feel for you! You can see the state of my skin prior to getting pregnant and during the first trimester in my first trimester update post.
Gestational Diabetes
I took my gestational diabetes test at about 23 weeks and was bummed to find out that I had failed and needed to do a longer test to confirm if I had it or not. A few days later I went back for the two hour, more inclusive blood test. I held my breath for a couple of days waiting for the results because having gestational diabetes could potentially jeopardize my chances of having a vaginal delivery with twins. BUT thankfully I passed! No gestational diabetes for me! I didn’t have to regret all those midnight snacks!
Aches & Pains
By 30 weeks pregnant with twins, you are the same size as a full term pregnancy with a singleton, so during the second trimester I definitely had my fair share of aches and pains! For me, pelvic pain mostly in my sit bones began to appear around 25 weeks. It started in my lower back and then moved to my pelvis. I found it difficult to walk at this time which I had never experienced in my first pregnancy. Luckily, the intense pain only lasted for about a week and began to fade. I’m hoping it stays that way!
Staying Active and Preparing for Birth
I definitely do NOT have as much time for workouts and birth prep as I did during my first pregnancy (you can read what I did here) but I have been trying to keep up some type of activity level to maintain my strength. In general, I try to do prenatal yoga at least once a week as well as attend a reformer pilates class at My Body My Pilates. I also walk at least 10,000 steps a day, which is surprisingly easy to achieve when you have a toddler to take to school, to the park, and just everywhere with you!
To prepare for birth I haven’t done much yet except take a breathing class with my doula from my first pregnancy, Stephanie Kawai at Tokyo Doula Support, and chat with her about my birth plan. I will probably try to reread parts of Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth and Natural Hospital Birth before I get too far along just to refresh my memory.
Tentative Birth Plans
With a multiple pregnancy, the chances of a c-section are quite high, especially these days when doctors are not as experienced delivering twins vaginally. I am still aiming for a vaginal delivery if babies stay head down and no other health issues come up between now and 37 weeks. I recently was told that I will not be allowed to go past 37 weeks gestation because of the decline in the womb environment with multiples after that point. Therefore, I will be either induced at 37 weeks or have a planned c-section if I don’t go into labor before that. It’s a bit frustrating to not have much freedom regarding the delivery date, but I am hopeful I will still be successful with a vaginal delivery despite the circumstances.
Overall, I have been feeling physically pretty good during the second trimester which I honestly didn’t expect! I had heard that twin pregnancies can be very tough throughout so I was glad to get a little respite these past couple of months. However, the fact that I am already as big as a full term pregnancy and still have two months left is daunting!
Thanks for reading and see you in the third trimester!
My Motherhood Tokyo 