Week 26 Lord Give Me Patience

Oh how true this is.

26 weeks:
Approximately 80% of babies born in the 26^th week of pregnancy will survive. Babies born at this gestation typically weigh less than 800 grams and are termed micro-preemies. At 26 weeks, the eyelids are now open, the eyebrows and eyelashes are fully formed, along with fingernails and toenails. The footprints and fingerprints have begun to develop but their tiny feet will often be smooth to touch with very little creases. Although the 26 weeker can hear your voice, loud noises are often too much for their underdeveloped neurological system and they will startle at loud noises. The lungs have started to develop alveoli, the air sacs that allow gas exchange (breathing!) and their lung walls have begun to secret surfactant; a surface-activated fat on their lungs necessary for breathing however, the lungs of the baby born at 26 weeks remain underdeveloped making them susceptible to injury and may be dependent on respiratory support in order to survive. A long and sometimes complicated NICU stay awaits the preemie born at 26 weeks gestation. (Taken from http://www.peekabooicu.net/2012/02/your-growing-preemie-week-by-week/) 

GOOOOAAAAALLL! This was a small goal I had, but 26 weeks was my next one to reach because of the high chance both babies will survive. Next goal is 28 weeks and next big goal is 30. Only 10 more weeks to go until delivery. I've started experiencing pregnancy symptoms I've never had before, and let me tell you, experiencing this stuff is fuuuuuun.
1. Hot flashes
Good gracious these things are mean! I will suddenly break out into a sweat and feel like someone sucked all the AC out of the building. I get them about every 5 minutes all day everyday. I guess I didn't realize just how hard it is to be pregnant during the summer.
2. Stretch marks
:-( I avoided them the entire pregnancy with Mason. This time I knew they were unavoidable but I was still hoping I would be able to keep them away until I was almost done. No luck there. Oh well, just one more thing to add to my list of items I will be fixing on myself once Jared is done with residency.
3. Dizzy spells
I had this with Mason, but not nearly this bad.
4. Shortness of breath
I get out of breath doing just about anything. I think I have one or both babies pressing on my lungs and so I have a hard time catching my breath.

My maternity clothes are also getting too small on me. So glad I had to spend all that money on maternity clothes only for me to grow out of them 10 weeks before I delivered.


I feel like I have a bowling ball attached to my stomach. A bowling ball that moves around constantly. And we haven't even reached the big growth period yet of 3rd trimester. Can you tell that my belly button is disappearing and it's starting to get bruised from all the stretching? Either that or it's getting bruised because I bump it all the time.

Jared goes back to school in 2 weeks. I'm pretty freaked out about it. He will be starting out with the hardest block (Neurosciences) which means he will have very little time to be with me and Mason. The block is 6 weeks so from 28 weeks to 34 weeks I will have no help from him. This summer I have grown very dependent on him to help me out so I can rest as much as possible and now that I'm getting into the hardest part physically in the pregnancy I'm very concerned about how I will keep up with a fast moving, stubborn toddler while also getting the required rest I need to keep these babies cooking as long as possible. I've started trying to get my body used to having 1/2 a cup of coffee a day so that I will have some liquid energy to keep up with Mason all on my own. I feel guilty every time I drink it, but I have to remember that I'm not just the mom of twins right now, I'm also Masons mom and he needs someone there for him that has enough energy to play.

The bigger I get the more impatient I get. Dealing with a high stress pregnancy for 26 weeks is taking its toll on my patience with everyone and with having to wait 10 more weeks. A high risk twin pregnancy and stubborn toddlers don't mix very well. Mason stubborn?!?!? NOOOOOO, it's not like he is MY child or anything. He has started doing things that he knows he isn't allowed to do, so I will tell him "no", he will then look at me and slowly continue doing whatever it is he was doing while watching my reaction. What a booger.

Speaking of booger, here he is right now. Don't let that Cherub face fool you, he is looking at me right now and feeding the dog under the table like I told him not to do. Sneaky baby boy. Please excuse the mess in the background (and in the background of my belly shots as well) I'm currently working on getting all my boys clothes ready for the Kids Consignment Sale coming up next week. I slacked off last year and didn't consign anything and now I have all of Mason's clothes from newborn to 18 months that I have to go through and tag for the sale. It's a really big job.