Photo from Amazon

My doula has me drinking two cups of red raspberry leaf tea a day. Luckily it's really yummy and its said to be really good during pregnancy because it's great for the uterus.

I have my sister drinking it too because she wants to have a VBAC and I thought it would be great for her to strengthen her uterine wall.

I'm on the computer for work...and I'm typing this right now. When I'm deep in thought and pounding at the keys, I'm not thinking about the pain, but when I stop, it does hurt. A lot.

It's carpal tunnel...one of the products of swelling or edema during pregnancy.

Yes, anyone can get it from typing, but I have it from being pregnant. The swelling in my wrists presses on the nerve, and then affects my hands. My middle three fingers on my right hand are numb.

Photo from A Pea in the Pod

I am experiencing really bad swelling and water retention. It's mostly in my legs and hands. From the knee down I have what they call pitted edema -- the swelling is so bad that when pressed, the skin stays indented. Sexy, I know.

I don't have preeclampsia or toxemia, and all my tests have been coming up fine. It's just twins at 33 weeks can make a woman have the types of feelings like she's 41 weeks with one baby. That's what the doctor told me...and I'm also measuring like I'm full term, too.

So the OB told me to get compressions socks and I wrote all about it in another post. I've been wearing them for two weeks...but before you go out and buy them, here's a warning.

I can be a sloucher -- rounded shoulders, not the best posture. It's usually when I'm feeling tired. But as my pregnancy progresses, good posture is so important.

It's not just to keep my boobs off my belly or to give more room to my baby boy who is high and loves to get into my ribs (though it helps...a lot!), it's to prevent backaches and strains.

We need to take care of our backs now -- once the baby (or babies) are born, there will be lots of baby lifting. No mama should have to suffer with a bad back.

My feet are swollen. Not just a little bit swollen -- full on cannot see the ankles swelling up through the knee really bad like I've never seen before swollen swollen. My hands are slightly swollen, too, but not as bad.

Even if my feet are up all day, they still swell. Even when I first wake up in the morning, they are still big fat swelled up piggies. I would show you a photo but it's so so bad, I just can't.

It's edema at it's worst (or maybe best?) making me super uncomfortable. It even hurts to walk. I can't even fit into certain shoes because of the swelling!

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.

Photo by sstepph

I recently took my glucose test and just got the results that I do not have it. But during the wait, I was worried, of course, like every mom-to-be who took the test.

All these tests during pregnancy can certainly add stress.

One of my friends, sstepph, was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during her pregnancy. I wanted to find out what she had to do to keep herself and her baby boy, who she named Garrett, healthy.

Photo by tazzygurl611

I have a teeth cleaning scheduled for November which would put me in my eight month of pregnancy with twins. I'm not too happy about this timing only because I'm already uncomfortable and sitting in a chair with my mouth open having people work on my teeth doesn't sound like a good time. But hey, at least my feet will be elevated.

It turns out that getting a teeth cleaning when pregnant is not only safe, but recommended.

Everyone has their own opinion on the swine flu vaccine, but the CDC has one -- they are urging people to get the H1N1 shot. And their latest statistics say that 28 pregnant women have died after contracting H1N1.

In total, 700 cases of the virus have sprung up in pregnant women since April.

This freaks me out. I don't like hearing about pregnancy deaths when I am pregnant. But I am still not getting the H1N1 vaccine.

I can't say I was free from all psychotic tendencies when I was a teen. I had some moments that I'm sure had my parents questioning what the heck was going on with me.

But according to this study, it wasn't me being boy crazy or my hormones in a rage, it was because my mom smoked when she was pregnant with me.

See...not my fault!