The last few weeks have been incredibly painful. I am officially unable to stay in one position for longer than 10 minutes maximum due to intense upper back pain. I am well aware that back pain is a common problem associated with pregnancy, but I wish I knew how it feels to carry one baby so I could have a better understanding if the pain is amplified with two babies.

I have all the resources that are supposed to help manage the pain, including a maternity belt and full body pregnancy pillow, but nothing seems to work anymore. My sleep patterns tend to be in about 45 minute increments and then I wake up to shift positions or get up and walk around a bit. The lack of uninterrupted sleep doesn’t bother so much, but the pain is often unbearable. My mom advised me to have my doctor give me a urine test to check for an infection, and sure enough I found out I had one last week. Pregnant women are very susceptible to bladder infections and I am no exception. My doctor prescribed amoxicillin, which I was hesitant to take, but she assured me it was safe and wouldn’t harm the babies. The bladder infection did contribute to my back pain, but although the infection is now gone the back pain still remains.

In order to manage the pain, I’ve relied on prenatal massages, praying, breathing exercises and just reminding myself that my babies are worth every ache and pain. Last night I finally took one Tylenol, which my doctor said is safe, but I definitely don’t want to rely on, because I hadn’t slept much over the last week. So I treated myself to 7 straight hours. It was super nice!! I do feel very guilty though because I haven’t taken any medication this entire pregnancy up until this week, and I pray it won’t affect the babies.

On another note, I’ve gained 30 pounds so far and if one more person tells me I’m ‘So tiny for carrying twins’ I just might fly off the handle! These are some other things that should be common sense, yet I’ve had people say to me over the last 7 months…

XO, A & B’s Mommy