17x you really want to hear this when you are heavily pregnant

Carrying a belly of about nine kilos is no small feat. In fact: you no longer recognize your own body.

Suddenly I have thick feet, thick fingers, I fit into nothing anymore. I think I urinate more in a day than I have in total in all those 29 years before. I can hardly eat until I feel nauseous. And that belly just keeps growing.

Especially when two little ones are growing in your belly, being pregnant is not always easy. Now that I am quite far along and the due date is slowly coming into view, I lie awake every night. More women seem to have this, you know. But all those worries, those doubts, those thoughts. Can I do it, being a mother? Can I do it, being a mother of two at once? Do I even know what to do when I am home alone with two babies in the crib? Sometimes I still can't believe that soon there will be two boys born who will one day call me ‘mom’. I think it's hard to imagine if you don't have children yet, what that moment will be like when they suddenly are here. Right now, we are just together, albeit with a big belly, but still. We know this. Living together. Him and me. And then suddenly you come home from the hospital and you have children. A family. A full house.

Those phases in pregnancy are special, because although I am used to the idea of two boys in my life, it is getting more exciting by the day, as it gets closer. How do I know what to do when they cry? Do I have everything at home for them? How do you clean a bottle? How soon can I do something again after the birth? As I said: doubts. That's why I love hearing these things now:

1. You don't look very pregnant at all – except for your belly!
2. It all comes naturally, being a mother, once they are here. Really.
3. One is already busy and another life, then two really doesn't matter that much.
4. You are getting two because you can handle this.
5. You are going to do great as a mother.
6. I wish I had twins, wow, so special.
7. You will be slim again after your delivery, you know.
8. Your little ones cannot be compared to others: these will be your children.
9. All women can handle such a delivery, so you can too.
10. We will really come to help you when they are here.
11. You are stronger than you think.
12. Being a mother is the most beautiful thing there is.
13. Treat yourself well in these intense last weeks. Take your rest.
14. You can also enjoy a vacation with little ones, you know.
15. Let it come to you: it goes as it goes. Having children cannot be planned.
16. What kind of children they will become ‘later’ is mostly determined by you and your husband. Not the gender or that they are twins or anything else. The upbringing, the safe foundation, a good marriage between their dad and mom: that counts.
17. Really enjoy that round belly full of babies. That's all you can do right now.