the size of...

at 22 weeks, the babies are now the size of papayas

and as long as a spaghetti squash (love squash- favorite vegetable!)!

isn't that wild???

almost 1 lb.  wow!!!

also, no wonder i'm having leg cramp central- it's a common complaint around now, as well as trouble breathing!  these babies are taking all of my oxygen!!!  sometimes, it's just hard to exhale and say something!

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.

they are now as long as a...

banana!!!  isn't that so funny that my chief problem i'm having is with leg cramping which has to do with not eating enough bananas for potassium (i do have one in my smoothie every morning)!  LOL!  and, here, the babies are this long at 20 weeks!

i don't know where they're fitting in me because i don't feel like they can be that big, but i guess our body has different plans for how to accommodate. :)

on a side note, i've been awoken the last few nights with leg cramping, especially three times last night (2, 5, and 7a.m.)- all of which weren't AS bad as they HAD been before, but it felt like the pain just kept circling around my upper calf like a merry-go-round!  the pain didn't last as long as it had before.  still, i'm wondering if i should take potassium supplements... i'll ask at my next appt. which is in a week. :)

update: another site/weekly email said that the babies are the size of a cantaloupe, so who knows!  LOL

are they leg cramps or DVT?

since i have the history of DVT (blood clotting in my left leg) and PE (pulmonary embolism- side of my lung), i started to get super nervous when i started to develop leg cramps in my SAME problematic leg!  it started around when i was 8 weeks, and i went to ER since i had the SAME exact symptoms as my DVT- i mean, the pain hadn't gone away for several days, and for that, i grew even more nervous.

well, i went in, and hours later only to find out that they were severe leg cramps.  oh great, i felt silly and frustrated.  how do you know when they are for real or just the pregnancy taking its toll on you?

all i know is that i mentioned to my dr. and chiro my situation.  the recommendation was to eat a banana for potassium each day.  okay, got it.

then, i started drinking smoothies quite frequently, such as every morning, and regularly, i would throw in a  banana....

didn't develop anymore "cramps" until about 17 weeks... we were staying in CA, and suddenly it's 5a.m., and what do you know!  i feel like i'd rather chop off my leg than scream in pain!!!  the pain was so similar, if not identical, to my DVT, and the thing is- i developed my DVT a year ago at 5a.m.!!!  so, you see why i was extremely nervous....

well, i put my husband right to work to massage my left leg while i was screaming for bloody murder!  who knows how long it took for me to be able to get comfortable again, but the weird thing is- the pain shot to my right leg, and i thought, oh great, how's he going to massage both?  that leg!  no, that leg!  back to that leg!  it was so frustrating for both of us!

then, this past week, again, 5a.m., and bloody murder!  this.pain.was.the.worst.  blood curdling screams.  my right toes felt like they were on fire and going numb, and this pain was just bad.  the following night (or should i say 5a.m. morning?  lol), similar episode, and just felt like my toes were bending weird... know what i mean?  that awkward feeling... well, throw in there some fire-burning feet and annoyingly painful cramps!

FINALLY, i thought- i ran out of bananas!!!  nooooooooo!  need them now!  haven't had them in a few days, which is why i got the stupid, but avoidable cramps!  when we woke up that morning, i immediately sent my husband to go buy some bananas, and threw a few of them into that morning's smoothie!!!  lol

coincidentally, just read that leg cramping is super bad right around now... halfway through the pregnancy!  FYI!

had a minor cramp since then, but seriously... EAT A BANANA each day!!!  if you don't like them, then throw them in a smoothie- tastes yummy!  prevent this awfully painful episode!!!  your sleep, your legs, and your loved one will thank you.  :)

(oh, disclaimer: for a DVT, your leg swells up, hardens like a rock (especially when you touch it- rock hard), red like a tomato, feels boiling hot, and the pain is beyond unbearable.  go to the ER if you have leg cramping that is like that and it doesn't go away!!!)

LOVE this fruit!

the babies are now the size of mangos at 19 weeks!  how cool is that!!!

i know that i haven't posted in awhile, but i have several coming this way, so be prepared to read. :)

also, nice trick my friend showed me with mangos- instead of PEELING (like smarty pants here used to do), CUT off the peel.  duh, right?  and, a family friend showed me one time that she had sliced up mango slices, put them in the freezer in a tupperware container, AND then pulled them out for snacks!  frozen mango slices!  brilliant.

yummy smoothies

ever since i "officially" found out that i was PG many moons ago, i've woken up... STARVING.  literally, waking up between 5-7a.m. (depending on work), and my stomach is  GROWLING.

for twins, the dr. wants me to eat 3,500 calories A DAY!!!  i was eating all of the time... every couple of hours.  STILL, it wasn't enough.

so, i started to make smoothies every morning, and it turns out it's been a great creative way for me to get even more nutrients than i was before..... what i love best about making my own smoothies is controlling what i put in my smoothies... the ingredients that i cannot control at a smoothie shop/jamba.

i especially love strawberries in them!  the trick is to put in half & half, frozen fruit, regular fruit, a bit of sugar, a bit of vanilla, and a bit of ice.  :)  usually, it's enough for my husband and me.

one night, i made my favorite smoothie, razzmatazz from jamba.  not to be biased, but i think that mine was greater. :)  here's the razzmatazz recipe:

1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 sliced banana
2 cups raspberry sherbet or sorbet (about 3 large scoops)
1 1/2 cup ice

blend ingredients until smooth.

every morning, i enjoy myself a sweet drink of a yummy smoothie with a straw... yum!