Pregnancy so far x 2

I am now officially in my second trimester of carrying twins. It's been a fairly easy pregnancy so far. I've had a lot of questions about the pregnancy, the twinning, etc. so I'll try to give a little rundown of FAQ's here:

How have you felt?
Honestly, the first trimester was pretty okay. I was more nauseous and sensitive to smells than I was while pregnant with Zeke, but nothing unbearable. Now, I'm a lot hungrier every couple hours. I am always thirsty. I drink twice as much water- much earlier- than I ever felt the first time around (At least 3 liters per day). Plus, I'm growing every day! I need a nap after school most days, but Tom has been wonderful about making sure that I can get the extra rest I need.

Are you showing yet?
Yes. I look about how I did at 16 weeks with Zeke. My pants haven't fit for a few weeks, and some shirts are beginning to look inappropriately like belly shirts. It's fun though- when you look pregnant in Honduras, you get to go to the front of the bank lines. :)

Do you know if they're identical or fraternal?
Nope, not yet! There's really only one way to tell for sure before they're born. That would be if we have one boy and one girl. Then it would be pretty obvious that they aren't identical. Otherwise they can perform some tests after the babies are born to verify. We do have reason to believe that they are most likely fraternal- see next question.

Do twins run in your family?
Yes! My mom's uncles (my grandmother's brothers) were twins. The fraternal twin gene can only be passed down through the mother's side. The identical twin thing just happens randomly. Since I've got the gene from my mother's side, it's pretty likely that they're fraternal. Tom has twins on his side of the family too, but that's just bonus. The gene comes from my side.

What are you going to do???
Well, we're going to have 3 kids under the age of 2. I'm going to do my best as a stay-at-home-mom. We'll be landing in Omaha to start our new stateside life on June 4. My due date is around Nov. 18, however twins are born on average at 37 weeks (instead of the 40 week pregnancy of a single baby). In reality, the twins will probably arrive closer to Halloween than Thanksgiving. Tom is actively looking for the next great opportunity to make some money to support a family of 5. We're just going to take things step by step- we're up for an adventure!

Have you felt them move yet?
I think that one of the cool things about twins is that they're a little more crowded than a single baby. Last week I felt them both move. As I type this, I think they're practicing for a synchronized swimming routine. It's pretty neat to be able to feel them this early.

How is Zeke taking it?
He is very excited. Every day, I explain to him how lucky he'll be to have 2 new brothers/sisters/ or brother and sister to play with. He will never be able to remember life as an only child. Luckily we will be able to remember this special time for him, and we've got about 4000 photos to prove it! Zeke has been having a lot more fun lately learning to play with other kids. I think he's going to be a wonderful big brother.

That's all for now. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask! In the meantime, say a couple prayers for us! This month of change will bring many exciting moments. We're just going to keep taking it all in stride.

I'll try to post a belly picture one of these days. I'm not feeling incredibly photogenic lately, but I'll do my best sometime this week. Thanks for all the well wishes and support. We're counting on friends and family to help keep us sane in the upcoming year(s)!