day 4

when i woke up, i knew that i wouldn't be going home that day, which then means that my c-section hospital stay would be longer than the average... oh great, once again... i feel like i am not the average hospital/medical patient since i always have so many abnormal things going on...

early in the morning, just like every other morning, the doctors came to check on me.  one of the surgeons (a female) who performed my surgery, but also a doctor from my doctor's office (a high-risk speciality office)... i never knew who was representing the practice.  regardless, i updated Dr. L. on the previous night, and showed her where my skin had hardened the night before.  what i forgot to write about yesterday was that after i started bleeding out, the skin softened around my incision instead of the rock hard pressure surrounding my incision.  with a permanent marker, Dr. L. drew around my incision where my skin had hardened.  surprisingly, by now, it wasn't soft anymore, but the areas had become harder... much more than originally.  she also drew around that, and i forgot what it was called.  oh wait, it's called induration... the depth of the problem.

at this point, my blood levels weren't between 2 and 3 (of course not!  that'd be too easy), and i knew that two things were still keeping me there- 1- blood level and 2-incision problem.  that night... we had a reoccurrence of events.  late at night, getting ready for bed, and as i'm standing next to the sink, suddenly i felt a warm liquid... in my black pants.  oh yes, we have greatness once again!

let's go for ROUND TWO... yet again.  it wasn't fun enough the first time that i'm begging for a round two!  oh boy, it was so frustrating... i knew that i'd have quite a stay ahead of me... so, once i was all cleaned up, we finally headed to bed after i realized that i was running out of clothes due to my bleeding blood. :(

and, for tomorrow?  just wait.  it gets even better! :)  or, should that be a sad face?  :(

day 3

i was excited for day 3.  until now, each day, they had been checking my anticoagulant levels... weaning me off of lovenox and onto coumadin.  usually, on days 3 or 4, a woman who had a c-section gets to go home.  so, as long as my levels were between 2 and 3 (thin enough for nothing to happen, but for regular people, it's usually between 1 and 2), then we'd get to go home!!!

meanwhile, the babies' pediatrician continued to visit them, and it's strange... "suddenly" the nurses thought that our babies had jaundice?!  but the NICU didn't think so?!  interesting.  turns out, no jaundice... thank God.

regardless, i could tell that my milk was going to come in... pins, needles, and marbles is what you feel like when engorged!  no fun! :(  that day, we also had visitors... an old family friend and a co-worker of mine.  it was great to see everyone!  but, later that night... something crazy happened.

i was going to take another shower, and the nurse was worried about the area around my incision... was starting to get very hard and big underneath... she said that she was worried that they might be hematomas.  in my head, i was thinking what is that?!  i guess a big blood blister could be a way to describe them.  anyway, she wanted me to take a shower, which i did.  i was careful with everything, and then...

after i lathered lotion all over my body, i felt something dripping all over my body, and i look down and BLACK BLOOD is streaming down from around my mid-section, which i thought was from elsewhere!  then i realized that it was seeping from my incision area!!!  immediately, i pulled that emergency cord in the bathroom and screamed for help (my mom was in the room, and she ran to get a nurse).  the nurse was so calm and helped me out... i was so freaked... black blood?  what is going wrong now?  why can't anything ever be simple with my medical situations? 

at this point, i knew that i wouldn't be going home anytime soon if 1- they didn't regulate my blood levels OR 2- they didn't get this bleeding under control...

day 2

it was Sunday.  when my mom got there, we went to see the girls... and, what a sight that was!

imagine you're in a wheelchair, and you round the corner to the hallway to which your babies' rooms connect, and you see YELLOW CAUTION TAPE, blocking off the other side of the hallway with many nurses, doctors wearing surgical scrubs, AND masks... IN FRONT OF YOUR BABY'S ROOM?!?! 

(note: at the same time, the "financial services department" called me on the hallway phone, and wanted me to make payments right then and there!  i was flabbergasted, quite upset, and pretty much hung up after telling them to contact my insurance!)

i freaked out in my mind, asking Gab to go check on our baby to see what was wrong.  i didn't know if our baby was okay or not.  i didn't know if they were in her room or not because they blocked off her room.  he just about sprinted there!  my mom and i waited on our side, waiting... they told Gab that he couldn't pass... turns out, they were doing surgery in somebody's room... on the baby NEXT DOOR!  apparently, it's easier to do the surgery there than anywhere else!  the major bummer part was that we couldn't go see our daughter over there, and surgery was going to take awhile.  we were disappointed because that's a possibility of NOT having your babies with you, but also separated in the NICU!

meanwhile, i was so upset with financial services calling... the audacity!  on a Sunday?!  especially when i was emotional since we couldn't see our other baby?!  so, i'm not sure who suggested this, but our sweet nurse heard us talking about our disappointment, and suddenly left... returning with our other baby!!!  we were so overwhelmed with joy because this was the first time that we were all together since birth!!!  that was the first time that we were able to see, side-by-side, how identical these girls really were! 

then, in the midst of all our happiness, the doctors come in talking about DCing (discharging) our babies from the NICU, saying that they were doing better, but nutritionally speaking, weren't eating as much as they should!  regardless, they said that they'd start the paperwork.

it happened much sooner than we thought... i mean, my mom and i had lunch, went back to my room, and the nurse comes in to tell me that i need to start packing up because they're moving me to the maternity ward... the pod that i was in was for women post-op, and no room for babies.

so, within a couple of hours, we were in a new larger room, and just as i was about to get some shut-eye, everybody came in with the NICU nurses pushing our babies in the bassinets... and, it was so funny... the nurses from both hospitals had to read off the hospital bracelets to make sure that the wrong babies weren't being released to us... sort of in a top-secret military operation!

and, then... finally!  we were together for the first time as a little family!  man, that first night... we were awoken just about EVERY hour and a half!  you should have seen Gab!  i'm sure that we looked quite awful the following day with the little sleep that we did get!

by then, i was trying to BF, but i was in-between getting colostrum and getting my milk, so we just used formula.  we were hoping that my milk would come in soon!

day 1

apparently, the day after a surgery is when the countdown to go home starts a.k.a. "day 1."  i don't know why they don't start it immediately following the actual surgery.  my nurse woke me up early in the morning, and wanted to take the catheter out and start me on solids.  i was pumped to be able to eat, however, that hospital food was quite a joke.  i'm supposed to be breastfeeding twins, and they send enough food to last me for a snack?!  i was shocked.  later, in my visit, i did convince them to give me a menu (like any decent hospital should have for specific dietary options and like the previous hospital, in which i stayed in '09, had one) and ordered so much more food for each meal!  since i was back on coumadin (my anticoagulant), i had to be careful about what i ate since i couldn't eat too much vitamin k... (go here for more information).

our plan for the day was to get ready and, obviously, visit our babies. :)  my mom was at the house, cleaning, organizing, and would come later.  i'll be honest... it was strange to wake up the following morning (Saturday).  it felt surreal that we were parents and that the babies were, in fact, here... after they were with me for so long.  a good night of rest did us some good because we had been exhausted and felt re energized!  quickly, we got ready, and went down to see them.  i was so thankful that i wasn't connected to any other machines!

the babies were in separate rooms, which i think that i've already mentioned.  even though they are twins, they had to be separated and sometimes had different nurses.  we couldn't take one out of her room to bring to the other room and be with her sister, so we had to keep going back and forth... i felt kinda bad about that... which room do we attend first?  how long do we stay since we have another baby next door?  their rooms were next door but separated by a hallway.

one nurse happened to be taking care of both babies, which was very helpful... yet, we were told that the babies weren't eating as much as they should... they had enough void/stool (wet/poopy) diapers, but, they weren't in taking enough food.  to be discharged from the NICU, a baby has to demonstrate enough diapers, eating, no jaundice, stable vitals and great response.  the great part was that they no longer had trouble breathing or bruising, yet until they met those other requirements, they'd still be patients.  i was nervous about them being in the NICU because i didn't know how long they'd be there, however, we knew they were in the best hands.

our babies were so tiny, full of life, and just oh-so-adorable!  they had the biggest skinniest feet and the biggest hands, but the skinniest extra long bodies!  it was amazing how identical they were!  we had never seen babies that small, let alone hold them!  i think that i can speak for the both of us when i say that we were completely in awe.  these are ours?!  when the doctors would come in, they'd want to address "Mom," and i kept turning to my mom!  i wasn't used to hearing that!  lol!

how much time is enough time to spend with your newborn preemies when they're elsewhere?  i don't know how much time is enough, but it didn't feel like enough... spending the day there and seeing their hearing tests conducted (they passed), going back up to our room to rest, visitors coming (my mom's cousin, her husband, and our friends) to see the babies.... the babies had to stay there, and it felt strange to leave them... almost like they were being abandoned, but not.  i don't know how twisted that sounds, but it just felt wrong to leave them... but, we had no choice.

also, we were told that they had a chance of going home if they started eating better... we were stoked!  however, it all depended on how they made it through the night... our nurse was telling us to get our rest and that they'd keep them in the NICU.. :)  sweet of her now that we know how sleepless nights are!!!

p.s. EVERYBODY kept asking us what their names were, and we hadn't officially decided.  my mom was with us, and we didn't have much time to discuss it because we were so overwhelmed with the babies' stay in the NICU and my recovery... we had some names we liked that we had tossed around for awhile, but nothing official.  no matter what names we liked, we always came back to liking the original ones... so, since we hadn't officially named them yet (i was still overwhelmed with them being there and we were exhausted from everything), they were just A and B.  but, not the A and B that were labeled in me... towards the end, the letters switched because the breech baby was presenting first, so they delivered her first.  it was confusing for the nurses and everybody else to talk about their version of A and B, and i always had to stop and picture the babies in me to know what they were discussing....

the delivery...

so, as you all know... our identical twin girls, Willow Kate and Coral Bliss were delivered, via c-section on 12/10/10!  they were born prematurely at 36 weeks, which is common for identical twins to alleviate any Twin to Twin Transfusion problem (one twin getting more fluids than the other or possible brain damage).

as for the actual surgery, they took me into the freezing, lifeless-colored operating room.  there were so many doctors and nurses and once the babies were born, that # doubled!  i mean, at least four doctors and seven nurses at first!  anyway, i had a spinal (i forgot why, but it had something to do with my blood clot history).  before the surgery, i was EXTREMELY nervous about the anesthesia and not waking up.  i was so scared that something bad would happen to me, to my babies... i didn't want to die.  you hear about stories like that all of the time for "routine procedures/surgeries."  the anesthesiologist did his best to reassure me, but before a surgery, i always feel like this.  anyway, it didn't hurt as badly as i thought it would... and, once that had really seeped into my system and done the trick, they brought my husband in.  he asked the anesthesiologist if he could watch... the doctor looked at him with that are you serious?  most guys can't handle it because they get faint, and Gab reiterated that he was, in fact, serious.

so, yes, he watched them cut me open... i'd ask him does it look gross?  weird?  and, he later told me that he didn't really want to answer those questions because of the actual truth.  LOL!  it's funny... they put the open blue pad over my belly for where they were to cut... i felt like i was watching Grey's Anatomy.  :)  they had put the "curtain" over so i couldn't see, but they didn't know that the glass windows to the left which were about 15ft away reflected like a mirror the current happenings.  i felt like i was cheating, but i could see them cutting, a bit of red, and that's it.  and once they did start cutting, i didn't feel anything... what a strange feeling.

it only took about five-ten minutes before they actually got close to the babies... and, the rush of emotions, feelings when they announced that they were close was indescribable... and, when they announced that they were delivering the first one, i was at a loss for words.  it was peaceful, silent, and then a baby wailing as she's pulled from me with a great burden removed from my body... your body can be under anesthesia and numbed, yet you still feel that removal. was almost like an oxymoron.  i cried for my daughter had a healthy cry and i was emotional.

immediately, they whisked her away... i didn't even get to see her.  Gab did, and then, what felt like seconds later, they delivered the second baby, and again, we hear this deep wailing, and i cried again for my second child.  two babies, two blessings in less than one minute!  what a moment!  so, they whisked her away... and, as i was on the table, i turned to look through those glass windows into the room of where they were monitoring the babies in disbelief that those were our children... those were my babies that i had carried for so long, had taken care of, had protected, had fed, had comforted.... i then felt like okay, they're safe.  do whatever you need to do to me because they're safe and that's what matters.

then, they were brought to me for what-felt-like just a moment... first one, then the second, then both of them together... Gab got some not-so-great photos of this moment because we were so emotional.  anyway, i was still being operated on, so i couldn't hold them, and that's when they told me that they had to take them to the NICU because one was having trouble breathing (amniotic fluid in her lungs, which is normal for a baby, but usually through a vaginal delivery, the uterus contracts and the fluid is pumped out) and the other had bruising in spots a vertex (head down) baby shouldn't.  your.worst.nightmare.after.you.deliver.  what a mix of emotions!  it all happened so fast... Gab went with the nurses as they took our babies... the anesthesiologist was comforting and reassured/updated me throughout the entire surgery, especially when i kept asking at pivotal points what was going on... he continued to do that after the babies were taken out of the room, too.

after the OR, they take you to a recovery room.  by this point, i was very out of it.  the anesthesia makes you VERY ITCHY and TIRED.  the spinal prevented me from having feeling in my legs for another six hours or so.  it was such a strange feeling.  still, i didn't care about my body as i was heartbroken because i didn't know what was going on with my babies, my husband... and where was my mom?!  i was the only one in the recovery room and i remember that they got a phone call, and the nurse told me that my mom was on her way... finally, a face i'd recognize!!!  when my mom got there, i started balling and telling her that the babies were in the NICU, Gab was with them, and for her to find out what was going on.  she asked how i was feeling, and i said tired, itchy, and i don't feel the bottom half of my body... i sent her out of the room to find out and update me!  i was quite upset!

after an hour or so, i was taken to my room to recover, and no matter how much i wanted to rest, i couldn't.  i was so tired, but couldn't sleep.  i was too worried about my babies.  later Gab and my mom met me... telling me that the babies were doing better.  here's what they told me:

- both babies scored an 8 at first and five minutes later scored a 9.  

- Gab gave permission for them to have formula (i wasn't happy about it, but obviously, couldn't do anything about that.  i exclusively wanted to breastfeed.).

- they were in the Phoenix Children's Hospital (which, i didn't understand because we were in a separate hospital, but apparently PCH originally started in that NICU.).

- the baby (who had extra fluid around her heart and my doctors were monitoring the amount while she was in the womb) had to undergo tests, especially an echo, but everything came back fine...

- the babies had separate rooms and were so small... 

- the doctor told them that nobody told the babies that they'd be coming out of the womb today... they weren't ready.

i remember my mom kept telling me how beautiful they were and how amazed she was at how they looked so precious and gorgeous (something like that)... and, i barely could remember what they looked like since i saw them for brief moments... i kept asking her if she was being nice and truthful... LOL!

once i finally gained enough feeling in my legs, i was told to start moving around... so, of course, as i took a lap around the nurse's station, i stopped for a brief moment because a bed was in front of my doorway, and... i felt queasy.  yup.  i did.  i kept thinking, oh man, now i won't get real food for longer!  LOL!  i wasn't really hungry or tired, though even though people kept telling me to nap... i couldn't.  i was too anxious to see the babies.  finally, around 7p.m., we went down to see the babies... i didn't know how to feel, but i was VERY tired, and i have photos to prove!!!  also, i was SO itchy!  i felt like tearing my face off!

to go to the other hospital, we had to go down a hallway, in which we entered PCH.  so weird.  lol.  we went to the first room (Coral Bliss'), and i remember feeling distant, unsure of what to do.  yes, she's my child, but i didn't feel close to her.  is that easy to explain?  no.  i felt like when she was taken from me, along with her sister, that immediate closeness/bonding was stripped from all of us.  i understand that it was for everybody's safety, but still... after all of our time together, i felt like i had to reconnect with them.  then, we went to Willow Kate's room, and i was just so in awe that these two babies fit into my body!!!  HOW?!  i mean 10lbs. of baby?!?!  they must have been in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon position!  LOL!

friends of ours came that evening to see them... and i just remember being very itchy and tired. at the end of the night, it was strange to leave my babies, after i had been with them for oh-so-long, go upstairs, and sleep in another room... however, we had no choice... by then, though, they were doing remarkably better, which was great news....

later, i will update the rest of our stay... :)
hats off to you if you read it this far! :) :) :)

massage/pedi/gift package

after my work baby shower, i just felt so drained and hot.  i made an appointment for the following day to have a prenatal massage and a pedi.  i specifically wanted a gel pedi since i know that they last up to six weeks.

also, i had another baby shower to attend in the afternoon.  so, i went to my massage, which was GREAT and relaxing... and, it turns out, the masseuse and i chatted the whole time!  she had me on my side, holding a big body pillow.  i wondered how she was going to accommodate my belly.  it was pretty comfortable.  the nights before, i had a couple of leg cramp occurrences, so she worked with my calves....

then, i had my pedi.  yay!!!  it's flip-flopped: they do the paint FIRST, and then the spa portion.  apparently, it has to do with dry toenails for the gel paint.  i chose a soft light pink so that it will last for awhile and it's a close-enough-color-to-flesh.  :)  however, my big toes were really inflamed.  i asked her if she could help me out with that, telling her that this is the first time it's happened to me (let alone, i'm pregnant).  she felt more comfortable with me doing that on my own.  fine.

at the baby shower, i was given two suggestions- 1. cut the ingrown toenail myself or 2. see the podiatrist.  well, i haven't seen my dr. in a year since my last foot surgery, but i wasn't about to go see him for such a (what i thought) petty issue!  i decided to take action myself.

man, am i glad i did!  i don't know how it happened as the nail techs take care of my nails (i can't even do that right now while pregnant) and have for awhile, but on my shower chair, i took care of business.  holy cow, people!  take care of your toes!  just because you pay for someone else to do that for you doesn't mean they're actually doing it!

now, my inflammation has gone down, and so has the pain... yay!!!  massage, pedi, and toenail free!  LOL! :)

p.s. on fri., 10/8/10, my husband said he had something for me.  he was holding it behind his back, wanting me to guess what it was.  i told him about an american game "hot/cold," and after a million "warm" or "cold" answers, i gave up.  he handed me a gift package for three massages, three facials, three skin treatments, and all sorts of things!  immediately, i asked him, "why?  is this for my birthday?"  and, even though i couldn't understand it for minutes or contemplate that he gave me such a meaningful gift, i just sat there, wondering why?  after he allowed me to relish in my amazement, he said, "you deserve it.  you need it."  that's sweet, and even after hearing that, i still sat there for minutes, shocked.  i guess, even though i'm carrying our babies in my belly, i still feel breathless at gestures like that... like i don't know how to respond.  in my mind, i'm grateful, but it's hard for me to express that verbally.

so, iubi... i know you won't read this, and i've already said multumesc... thank you for thinking of me and what i needed.  this pregnancy can overwhelm me with all of the factors, and i'm grateful that you have our best interests at heart, especially my necessity for a massage and facial.  :)

little earthquakes

no, not tori amos' album.  :)

at 27 weeks, feeling little earthquakes at all times of the day!  the only way to explain the feeling/happening is... imagine you're dreaming, and you're falling off a cliff, and you have the deep pit feeling in your stomach?  that's sometimes what it feels like. :)

i have been feeling A and B's heads (since they're pretty much knocking on each other's bag, they're so close) press against my belly... above the b. button to my left... small size of an orange or so...

i think that i'm starting to feel both of them move around at the same time... or movement in two different areas.   i do feel a lot of movement around my b. button, though.

we'll see if i'm right. :)

update 10/10/10: YUP, i'm right.  i felt both move at the same time last night!  a bit of space out on both sides of my belly button, i felt them! 

blue vessel lines

for some weeks now, i have been noticing blue vessel lines all over my belly...

now, it's fascinating as i see them seeping all over the frontal part of my body, especially my chest and below my neck.  no, they are not stretch marks... and, on one side (my right), i see more colored-vessels than the left.  ALSO, i don't think that they are spider veins because they don't look like any of the photos i researched....

of course, like my belly button situation, i've asked people if they had similar symptoms... and, obviously, no, i'm alone in that category... again.  LOL.

but, people have offered me this: perhaps, my skin is so light that the blue vessel veins show through more easily... AKA: i'm too white, i'm translucent, i'm scandinavian!!!  LOL!!!

a soapbox at 18 weeks

tomorrow, we go for our 21-week ultrasound ("u/s" for danielle :)). our previous appointment was very different than any other.

they did the full-anatomy screening on both babies.  imagine having an ultrasound for an hour and a half.  yup, roughly 45 minutes each baby.  the worst part is that the tech was one whom we hadn't had before, and she was quite UNpleasant.  now, i go to u/s every two weeks, and yes, i have questions, AND i have the right to ask any question i want.  for heaven's sake, i have TWO BABIES in my womb!!!  apparently, she did NOT like that and could not multi-task... do her job and answer my questions whenever i asked them.  she got beyond annoyed, and i could tell by her facial expressions, voice, mood, tone, and body language.  for instance, i asked, are we going to be able to compare the fluid around both babies once both babies' screenings were complete?  (for twin-to-twin transfusion which they told us about at our last appointment)  she became frustrated and upset when i asked that and told me that we weren't at THAT point yet in the u/s.  i knew that we weren't at that point, but i was setting the foundation for which i wanted her to point out to me later.  that was only the beginning...

[note: it's UNUSUAL to carry multiples... especially WHEN they're unexpected joys like ours!   it's hard to explain, except i'm sure any woman who has experienced pregnancy has felt this newfound desire to protect everything about the pregnancy/baby.  to know everything, pay attention to everything because it is a RIGHT.   it's a necessity.

well, just imagine your first, you're carrying double, and instead of showing concern for one, you're now responsible for two.  that's where i am.  it's this overwhelmingly feeling of protection, responsibility to my babies, my husband, my family, and especially God.  throw some (sarcasm to it's highest degree) high-risk, 70 mg lovenox injections, twin-to-twin transfusion possibilities in there, and voila!  it WOULD be UNREALISTIC to not be REALISTIC about the situation and concerns that any new mother may have.  we have to prepare for anything and everything.  any answers are appreciated and encouraged.]

normally, we have the most awesome tech... this younger woman (probably late 30's)... she's great about answering questions, providing feedback, multi-tasking, and the face of professionalism!!!  for some reason, we didn't get her this time, which obviously wasn't the best scenario.

for the rest of the visit, she at least reassured us that, once again (for the third time "finding out") that we're having girls.  inside i was LOL!!!  also, she said that the babies are measuring right on schedule for how far along i am.... it's so weird that i have two little babies in there, and every time we go to an ultrasound, i'm genuinely shocked that they're still there.  it's still strange to admit, experience, and feel that i am even pregnant.  i mean, a year ago, i would have laughed if this is where you told me i'd be.... just because i was so sick and almost passing through to the other side... i honestly didn't think there was MUCH possibility in ever getting pregnant after what i went through.  i went through so much medically.

when we finally saw the dr. (who is my fav. by the way, and i hope he delivers my babies since he is well-renowned across the U.S. for multiples), he answered my few questions.  i asked if it's okay to be around my pups (yes), how to solve my problem with prenatals (take two flinstones), if my tailbone's stretching is common (yes, i'm further along than singleton pregnancies since i'm carrying twins), how i deal with heartburn (tum'... 1 every 4-6 hours), and is it normal that i'm having a difficult time coughing/breathing deeply (yes)?

for our 21-week appointment, we are going to the downtown office since it's closer to my work.  since we see a different dr. each visit, it doesn't really matter which location we visit.  we're just praying for healthy baby girls!!! :)

supplements to alleviate leg cramping

i'm 20 weeks.  my chief complaint is leg cramping.   yes, i eat a banana a day in my smoothie.  i drink a lot of water, but it seems to not be helping.  still, i'm awoken several times in the night with HORRIBLE pains similar to my DVT, and i went to sprout's to see if there was any potassium supplement that i could take to help my situation.

the lady told me that actually it was a lack of magnesium which was probably the root of my leg cramping. who would have thought?!  i didn't even know where you find magnesium... meaning, in what food?  well, in LOTS of food!!!  it's in nuts, seeds, whole grains, veggies, beans, etc... AND, she also told me that the root of a lot of diseases, scientists have found, were traced back to a lack of magnesium.... apparently, magnesium is needed by some 300 parts in your body... wowsers!!!  amongst many things, it helps out asthma, blood clotting, leg cramping, allergies, muscle weakness, ADHD (i have most of that right now, especially ADHD my whole life)!!!  here's more information.  AMAZING!!!  i even read that a magnesium deficiency can lead to death due to heart failure!!!

anyway, through more reading, i found that a lack of calcium and potassium also can inflict leg cramping.  not to mention dehydration.  i did pick up a potassium/magnesium supplement.  over the counter, the max amount that they can sell of potassium is 99mg, so my supplement has that in it and 300mg of magnesium.

at my next ultrasound, i will double check with my dr. if it's allright that i'm now taking this supplement. :)

here's Baby Center's information/tips about leg cramping.

alternative drinks

1.  for a couple of weeks, i've been drinking seltzer/sparkling water for an alternative taste.  i was at the point where all i drank was W-A-T-E-R.  so plain.  so, i tried carbonated water.  i have to say that, not only does it taste refreshing, it's also different with enough of a kick (the carbonation) to make my mind/body feel as if i'm drinking something else.  now, i've heard that some people think sparkling water is bad for your kidneys, but that's IF you replace your water intake with it.  you still HAVE to drink water, obviously.

2.  before i got pregnant, i wasn't a big caffeinated drinker; more like an occasional drinker!  but, with water, it just gets to the point of being... repetitive.  yes, you can do the Crystal Light Peach Iced Tea single packs (which i did), but prepared that you might tire from the same watery taste.  don't get me wrong- i love the peach flavor, but after awhile, there's only SO MUCH you can drink of it when we're required to drink THOUSANDS of gallons of water a day, especially for multiples!

3.  when i was nauseated during the fifth-11th week, i needed something to calm my stomach.  i was used to my mom giving us a clear carbonated drink and crackers when our tummy ached.  so, one fateful night when my stomach had other ideas, i had my husband rescue crackers... ahem, graham crackers (all we had-LOL) and sent him to the store to buy sprite (no caffeine).  somehow, in the midst of that, i heard root beer didn't have caffeine either, so i found the BEST tasting, healthiest version of root beer, which is Trader Joe's Vintage Root Beer (not the Virgil's one; very different taste!).

4.  Trader Joe's Blood Orange Italian Soda is phenomenal.  apparently, blood oranges are healthy for you.  this drink is so refreshing, and yes, it has carbonation, but it's great tasting enough to satisfy your urges for something sweet to drink with a meal.

enjoy!