Pregnancy

Photo by Stephanie Dennis

It seems a bit ironic that this journey, which consumes so much time, energy and emotional angst, can be reduced to a snazzy little acronym. TTC! LOL! (For those new to this, that stands for Trying to Conceive.)

My own TTC journey began two years ago. I was 39, and while I recognized I was a tad mature, I felt optimistic about our prospects. My optimism was rewarded with a pregnancy after just two months of trying. Yeah, baby! Fertile Myrtle! No problemo!

Except at 10 weeks, we discovered during an ultrasound that we had miscarried.

Photo by The-Autism-Mom

Screening for depression during and after pregnancy is good for women, their babies, and their families, says a new opinion issued yesterday by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Hubs & I practicing with diaper babies!

My husband, oh I love him, but I don't think he would be able to handle being pregnant. I don't think he could handle bleeding once a month either. Or PMS. Or just having a vagina. I don't think a lot of men could.

I think my hubs can handle lots of things -- he's great in times of panic, he's very level-headed and that pays off a lot, and he's a great cook -- but I think he would have a breakdown if he had to grow a baby, or babies in my case, in his belly, along with all the pregnancy symptoms.

Me at 35 weeks! Happy dance!

Thanksgiving. TIme of reflection. Time to give thanks. Almost baby time!

Yes, the countdown for the birth of my twins is coming down to the wire. As many of you know, I'm almost at 36 weeks and I am so very excitied. Part of me feels like it was yesterday when I shared the news I was pregnant.

I'm so grateful for so much and I just want you readers to know how thankful I am to you as well.

Photo by mmoleader

I'm going to be honest...when I was in the trying to conceive (TTC) groups and someone would get a big fat positive (BFP) on their pregnancy test, I would get sad. I was so very happy for the woman getting the BFP, but it made me think...when is this going to happen for me? Why isn't it me?

Well really, at first I was thinking what the heck is BFP? Then I learned. Then I felt sad for myself. I was a little behind on all the lingo.

I eventually got my BFP and as most of you know, readying for twins next month. I got so much baby dust from fellow CafeMoms, I am sure it helped. So thank you!

My niece made me want to have kids

even more!

Soon after I got pregnant, my husband and I had a talk about becoming parents. We had the talk many times, but this time it was becoming a reality -- I was pregnant!

I had always known I wanted to have kids, even when I was a kid myself. I just felt that I was going to be a mom someday. My husband didn't think like that when he was younger, but he did talk about having kids even before we got married.

I have friends who don't want to have kids. Even my sister said she didn't feel like I felt -- she didn't have that motherly yearning I had until she got pregnant with her first child.

I know it's different for everyone.

There is a commercial for HSBC on TV where a woman says about her baby "It took me three months to love him" and she concluded with "Now I can't imagine my life without him." I felt really confused.

After thinking about it more, I realized she was probably suffering from postpartum depression. But depression doesn't always happen after birth; you can get depressed during pregnancy, too.

I've had moments of feeling depressed -- mostly in my first trimester when I was nauseous all the time and sadly, it's returning now in my third trimester.

OK pregnant mamas...let me just say I do not want to inflict fear in anyone, I'm pregnant too, with my first babies. Yeah twins. So fear...well I have a new fear every day. But I'm the kind of person who likes to talk about fear -- it helps me not fear so much.

Here's a fear I never thought of before though...until now.

I read about one CafeMom's birth story and her baby's face was cut during her c-section.

My sonogram of my twins.

What cute little heads!

My twins, seven months in the womb, are already showing signs of what they like. I'm basing this on their reactions to what I eat and do, and how much they kick and respond.

I put together a list and I'm curious to see if the things they like now match with the things they like after they are born.