When God Hands You an Extra Blessing

Since my first pregnancy we've always looked forward to the first ultrasound. This was the one that would tell us if we were having one or two babies! During our first pregnancy we thought it'd be so cool to have twins. I mean, who doesn't think it'd be awesome to have twins? {At one point or another in their life.} Our first baby was just that. One baby. That's obviously totally normal and most common. Shortly after bringing out new baby home, we laughed {or cried} at the thought of having two of these!
At the beginning of our second pregnancy, it seemed we were always meeting parents of twins. We thought surely our days were numbered before it'd happen to us. I had an ultrasound at 7 weeks. One baby. {Phew} Now don't get me wrong. I love my babies. But two at once sounds more overwhelming, don't you agree?

In the last year we know of two families who just had twins. For the last month, after learning of our pregnancy, my husband's been paranoid about having twins. We talked about it a lot. "What if we do have twins? Do you have twins in your family? Could you imagine if this was twins?" My ultrasound was scheduled for early last week to learn my due date. Well, we had a serious snow storm that morning and my appointment was cancelled. I rescheduled for a week and a half later, due to my husband's work schedule. He told me that he'd rather I go the week before, and he would even drive me! He just couldn't stand the suspense. The drive there was really nice. He'd never been to any of my appointments before.
So... we started the ultrasound, and the first thing my husband saw when it started was a flash of two obvious black areas. I was watching his face since the monitor was faced away from me. He had this instant look of shock on his face. I thought it was just because it was a different experience. Nope. The next thing I hear is from the doctor, ever so calmly, "It's twins." Ha. I didn't believe her. She insisted there were two babies. We were in complete shock. My husband laughs about it now, but he got sick, took a nap, and then a shower when we got home.
It took a while to get used to the idea. After searching "twins" on Pinterest, I began to get excited. Even later that day my husband began to be excited about it. We're both very happy about it now. We've already been searching for baby items on craigslist, and bought a twin stroller.
We're so excited, and can't wait to meet our two little babies!

Surviving Early Pregnancy with Oil Pulling

Well, I know I haven't been pregnant for very long, but I've already been confined to the couch. My first pregnancy was a breeze. I had no morning sickness, and I don't remember anything making me sick to my stomach.
Second pregnancy, how hard could it be? It wasn't that bad, but I got sick more. Certain smells set me off. I couldn't do dishes or even sneeze without gagging. All I ate for the first month was boxed mac & cheese {yuck, I know!} and bagels with cream cheese. The worst was changing my toddler's diaper. That's the only thing that made me actually throw up.
This third pregnancy, well.... yeah. I start out the day feeling sick, and lay on the couch because doing anything else is dangerously sickening to me. Well, I felt like that for about a week until I felt like I couldn't live like that anymore. I searched online, and found oil pulling. I'm on my fifth day. I have more energy than I've had in weeks!
Oil pulling is known for its oral health benefits. Pregnant women are prone to tooth problems already, so this is a double win for me!

{Don't worry, this picture is from a previous pregnancy. I'm not this big yet!}

How to oil pull:
 First of all, I am not an expert. This is just my own experience.
Use between 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon of the oil of your choice {coconut, olive, sunflower, sesame, ect.} I uses coconut oil for Trader Joe's. It's organic virgin coconut oil. I just put it in my mouth as a solid, and it usually melts within a minute. Swish it around for 15-20 minutes, then spit out. It's really that easy. The hardest part is that it's supposed to be done before eating or brushing your teeth. {Otherwise you eat the yucky bacteria you're trying to rid your body of.}
To me, it's worth getting up earlier and before my boys to feel better the rest of the day. I still have to be careful of triggers {smells, things that gross me out, like solid milk}. Also, I found that I can't let myself get too hungry. I just try to keep a small snack with me.
The first day I started feeling better I made chocolate chip cookies. I haven't made them in like a year! That's how great I felt. I also cleaned and cut 35 carrots! Yes, 35. I did that on top of normal household chores that I had fallen behind on. It was nice to get things done again.

You don't have to be combatting morning sickness to try this. Actually, most people who do it aren't pregnant. It's just really great for your teeth.

And don't feel bad if you can't do the whole twenty minutes. I haven't made it that long yet. The first day, my boys were up while I tried it, and they got into a 50 lb. bag of birdseed when I was about 15 minutes into it. The next day I had to sneeze at the 17 minute mark. Go as long as you can.