I remember a friend and colleague over a decade ago sharing her prayer for an asymptomatic pregnancy. I wasn’t even married then and she told me that when the time comes, I can pray for that too.
A few years after, I did just that, and thankfully God answered my prayer that I didn’t have much discomfort with my pregnancies. (Okay so needless to say, I am not implying that those who have symptoms are not prayerful, etc.)
Now with the twins, although still tolerable, I felt my past preggy symptoms more intensely.
| Singletons | Twins | |
| Overall | They’re there but mostly 1 out of 10, so can easily be overlooked. | Still tolerable, but compared to singletons, probably 5–7 out of 10. |
| Fingers | Chubby fingers nearer due date | Chubby fingers around week 30, shortly followed by some finger joint pain when closing to a fist, plus locking fingers |
| Food Aversion | Brei: I suddenly didn’t like adobo (like I couldn’t even taste or swallow it) before I learned I was preggy. | 1st to 2nd trim aversion to chicken, no matter the kind of cooking I found it malansa (fishy?) |
| Food Preference | Brei or Noah: I shifted from wanting to eat mostly hawaiian pizza to being more balanced with my taste for pizza. I never went back to hoarding this flavor. Noah: Craved shrimp sinigang for 2 consecutive weekends, at around week 5, before I found out I was pregnant. Ethan: Before him I didn’t like chocolate. While I was preggy with him, chocolate became okay. I can now eat it. | Hmmm… interestingly no cravings or changes in preferences so far. |
| Hair | They say that during pregnancy, moms can almost always get good hair days thanks to hormones making our hair healthy. Didn’t really feel this happened. | 2nd to 3rd trim, from dry and shedding lots of strands, to normal hair, no shedding, and better bagsak! |
| Metal Taste in Mouth | Brei & Noah: None Ethan: Yes, somewhere 1st trim | Yes, at around weeks 4–5, before I learned I was pregnant |
| Nausea | Brei & Noah: None Ethan: Very tolerable (1 out of 10) in 1st trim | Had more kick in them but just 6 out of 10 (1st-2nd trimester, not frequent) |
| Nosebleeding | Yes in all my single pregnancies | Yes and more frequent! |
Twin Pregnancies: No Escape to Bigger and Heavier Bump
Now I think no matter how asymptomatic a twin pregnancy is, there’s no escape to the physical discomforts of two growing humans inside a mom’s belly. As I entered the third trimester, my belly was big and heavy, and got even bigger and heavier week by week.
- Just at 27 weeks which is the start of the 3rd trim, I already looked like my full-term physique in my single pregnancies! I think this was also the time I started catching my breath even with very short walks.
- At 28 weeks I was already having a hard time finding a comfortable position for sleeping. I read twin mom stories saying they slept more after their twins were born!
- At 29 weeks there was more pressure down there because of the weight, and this was when I started to have less to no choice but to move slower especially when getting up from the bed or a chair, and even walking.
Carrying twins? Invest in comfort.
I’m not the type who buys maternity stuff. If I bought any, I made sure I can still use them postpartum—until I carried twins!
Initially I was holding off buying maternity stuff because I didn’t need them before and I thought I could press on toward my due date with just what I had. Px,xxx for a piece of maternity wear to be used for just a few weeks felt financially unnecessary. However, with twin pregnancies, no matter how small you carried with your single pregnancies, you will get bigger and heavier and will need as much maternity wear and support as possible, so go ahead and buy what you need even if you have one or two months left! Better yet, get them earlier if you can so it’s more worth the price, but in choosing the size anticipate you will get bigger. The size and weight of your belly will inevitably be uncomfortable, and it’s wise to make yourself as physically comfortable as possible in an effort to reach full term. Here are a couple of things I got, still sticking to what I found essential:
Maternity Belt. I have one that I used in all my single pregnancies but as my belly got bigger with the twins, the fabric eventually kept rolling down and not providing the right support. I needed to get a new belt—this one, which feels like a hug helping me carry the weight!
Maternity Pants. Starting my third trim with the twins, nothing can fit me well except my old dresses, which were just a few, and so I had no choice but to buy maternity pants on my 30th week because I still had 8 weeks to go and my belly will just keep getting bigger and heavier! (CS schedule is 38 weeks) I got these from Uniqlo via their app. Sadly, their maternity collection is only available online, but the measurements were reliable. The XL size was just the right size for me, with room for more belly expansion for the next weeks!
Pillows! Pillows of different shapes and sizes helped find the right sleeping position, usually. Didn’t need to buy any.
Hope this helps! If you want to read more about twin pregnancies and mommying twins in my blog, search #twins.
Oh, and if you’re wondering about gift registries, I found Edamama‘s to be more complete than the rest. We still have a few essentials at SM, plus my fave cookies, Lactation Cookies by Milking Bombs.
I’m currently at week 31 of 38. Stats say 50% of twin pregnancies come out before week 37. All my singleton pregnancies were on schedule and full term. Pray with us that the twins go on schedule too!
