12 weeks

by Bex

This week has been an amazing turnaround for me.  We had our first antenatal appointment at the Southern General Hospital last week and met our consultant who runs the twin clinic.  We will have more than the usual number of check up appointments due to carrying twins, our next appointment is in June.  Anyway, she asked how I'd been and I explained I was coping but struggling with sickness and she asked if I would like something to help, I could have hugged her!  This week, I finally managed to get my prescription for Ondansetron and it has made the world of difference!  I now haven't been sick for 3 days and have been sleeping better.  I feel like myself again and I've been managing work so much easier this week.

Yesterday we had our 12 week scan and it was awesome!  One of the thoughts I used to struggle with was the thought of missing out on these pregnancy milestones and exciting stages.  I know a lot of the things I used to get upset about could be construed as superficial (photos, having a bump, etc) but the more meaningful things were just too painful to even think about.  Mostly, even though I knew I might struggle with sickness (I am terrible at coping with being ill!), I just really, really wanted to be able to experience everything involved in pregnancy and now that I'm feeling better, I can really appreciate everything else!

Watching our babies bouncing, waving and kicking was just amazing.  Baby number 2 (the one slightly higher up) was very well behaved and easy for our sonographer to measure and check everything she needed to in about 10 minutes.  We watched the legs stretching out and up and baby flipping its whole body which was just amazing as I can't feel anything yet and it just blows my mind to think of these gymnastics happening inside me right now!!

Baby 2 stretching those long legs up, touching its toes to the sac, its wee hand is resting on its belly

Baby number 1 was not quite so cooperative!  Lying looking away from us or almost in the correct position but refusing to turn its head despite the sonographer jiggling it with the ultrasound probe, getting me to cough, wiggle, dance and bump my hips up and down.

We were secretly quite pleased (despite some discomfort as she poked and prodded the probe into my tummy to try to get a better view) as we ended up being in there for another 30 minutes getting to watch our babies!  :)  It was really surreal watching it react to movements.  Baby 1 did eventually get into the right position but then wouldn't stop waving its hand in front of its face which made things difficult for the sonographer again but we got some great views of our mischievous baby saying hello!

In the end, we left with 10 pictures of the babies!  I'd been hoping for one of each so was delighted when she handed over a massive bundle for us!!  Obviously we love looking at them and our parents were blown away at the detail.  The two below are the ones with the best facial views (Baby 1 still has its hand in front of its mouth!)...

We also have one showing their heads from above, side by side.  Baby 1 is slightly bigger than Baby 2 but looks more so in this picture as its in a different position as well...

And just before we left, they were lying head to head as close as possible, so cute!

Its really sinking in that this is happening for us.  We're going to have actual babies!  We're doubling Team M!  I don't think I've ever felt this happy!


How far along: 12 weeks

Size comparison: limes

Weight gain: -7lbs

Cravings/food preferences: pickles - cornichons & silverskin onions, sweets, still mostly eating potato waffles sometimes with cheese on, expanding to salads and sandwiches now too, yay!

Symptoms: last week - evening sickness, tiredness, constipation - all the fun things!!  lol.
This week - mild nausea but feeling SO much better now I'm taking Ondansetron!  Also sleeping better.

Life Recently

by Bex

I keep writing loads of blog posts in my head but have just never had the inclination to get the laptop out lately, even for random browsing.  Any tweets/instagramming/pinning has been via my phone, either in bed or under the duvet on the sofa - basically my two favourite places at the moment!  I can't promise that after weeks of not writing this will even be any good/interesting/worth reading but hey, I'm blogging again and this is just what's been happening lately along with other random thoughts whirling round my head.  (It's mostly about pregnancy, because, well that's pretty much taken over my life for now.)

A couple of weeks ago on Friday Nik and I drove down to Durham to spend his birthday weekend with his parents.  Somewhere between Glasgow and Carlisle I started sobbing uncontrollably.  Nik noticed and obviously asked me what was wrong and I just kind of sobbed at him.  Straight away, he said "is it because you're so happy?"  He said he could tell it wasn't upset crying and basically just knows me so well, even at my most emotional.  Obviously I blame the hormones but I think just being in the car, not feeling nauseous (I was snacking ALL the way down for fear of being sick at the side of the A1!), with time to think about everything just had my mind drifting back to when we were convinced this would never happen for us.  Every time I think about our mini Ms (we haven't come up with any nicknames for them), it's just overwhelming.  I can't wait for the fun symptoms to start!!

My nausea (and what I want to eat) is still changing frequently.  Lately it's bad from early evening until I fall asleep, sometimes way later than planned/needed due to worsening nausea.  Some weeks I throw up every night (which usually gives me a window of feeling better to try to get to sleep) and some weeks I just lie suffering wishing I was unconscious!  It's certainly not easy this growing humans malarky!  I'm also fairly constantly burping like a champion but luckily don't have heartburn yet.  Anyway, looking at the positive side it is no longer coming in waves ALL day and despite it being pointed out that no nausea can mean just as healthy a pregnancy, I'm still seeing this as a good sign that everything is as it should be.  Basically that thought is what keeps me going when it gets bad!  It means I still have nice healthy levels (most likely doubly so) of those important hormones rushing around me helping our babies grow and do everything they should.

I've just received my appointments through for 'booking in', all our screening tests and then our 12 week scan the week after.  I'm so excited to see the babies again and actually be able to identify more than just their beating hearts!  :)  Obviously I am anxious to know that everything's OK and progressing as it should for both babies as well and we don't have long to wait now.  Plus, more pictures, yay!

I've now lost 8lbs since becoming pregnant, but I've been reassured by many that this is often the case at the start and my tummy is definitely still getting bigger!  I honestly have NO IDEA how so many women go through these first few months in secret.  First of all, there's no way I would have got away with it at work given how sick I was feeling the first few weeks.  Even though I would quite often eat a lot and eat random things anyway before I was pregnant, the fact that so many food smells made me nauseous and I was suddenly eating such a restricted diet, never mind the odd retching incident would have definitely tipped them off if they didn't already know!  Secondly, the reassurance and advice I've received on Twitter from all the mums and fellow mums-to-be has been so valuable!  I've never been one for keeping things to myself anyway (clearly!) but to get through what is surely one of the most horrible stages [I do realise I may change my opinion on this as other nasty symptoms appear (I have been warned), even if my sickness improves there may be worse to come, not to mention labour!] with no support other than from my husband would have been SO hard for me.  Thank you to everyone who's been keeping me sane!  Despite being over the moon about finally being pregnant which I was so afraid I'd never experience, it's still difficult to stay upbeat when feeling so rubbish so much of the time.

As for my tummy, given the fact that I am now the lightest I have been for at least the past 6 months, I'm taking my growing tum as a nice early bump.  I know at 10 weeks that may seem unrealistic but it's never been this big and since there are two wee babies in there, I'm kind of hoping it's not just bloating although it is definitely always bigger in the evenings.  I should probably be scared of how big it is already as I'm very aware of how big it might get with our two wee bundles in there!  Eeek!

Belly at 8 weeks - I used to be able to suck that in!  ;)

10 week belly
- please excuse my roughness, I have just been sick again, sigh!

I can't help it, I'm just so excited by my belly!

Since my writing and thoughts are all so random at the moment and I really want to document my pregnancy (especially since it will most likely be my only pregnancy), I did a quick google on ways to record things so I can add a bit more structure to my pregnancy posts and remember all the things I want to.  I've chosen a few questions from various sources/blogs/forums to have a regular update.

How far along: 10 weeks

Size comparison: green olives

Baby development: now a foetus, fingernails have grown, can kick and swallow

Weight gain: -8lbs

Cravings: cheese on toast (not strictly a craving, just my favourite thing to eat right now)

Symptoms: evening sickness, tiredness, definite small bump forming

I may add more things as I think of them or have more to remember.  Since I can still remember my 8/9 week answers I'm just going to add them below since I'm so behind on blogging everything!

How far along: 8 weeks

Size comparison: kidney beans

Baby development: tail disappearing, webbed fingers & toes growing

Weight gain: -5lbs

Cravings: potato waffles, cheesy mash (not strictly cravings, just pretty much all I want to eat)

Symptoms: all day sickness, tiredness, possible beginnings of a bump

So, that's all I can think of right now.  I'm sure I have plenty more things to write about, including our recent weekend exploring Sussex for the first time.  I hope to get back to blogging more regularly but it really depends on how I'm feeling.  I usually love writing while watching TV in the evenings but since I've been mostly sleeping or vomiting in the evenings it's been the last thing on my mind!  Now I have some more time on my days off without any more trips away planned I will hopefully find some time in the day to sit down and chill at home.  :)  Either way, I certainly won't be keeping up with my usual writing frequency of most weekdays (you know Roz has taken over Tuesdays already when she has time to write), but I would like to write something at least once a week, I miss my blog!

Yelp's Gallery of Glasgow

by Bex & Roz

Roz will be writing most of this post as I am sadly not going to be back from Thailand in time to attend the opening of Yelp's Gallery of Glasgow at Ubiquitous Chip!  :(  I am, however, delighted to have had 14 of my images chosen to be in the gallery!  Yay!  :)

Here are the ones which will feature as part of the exhibition which will be on show at Ubiquitous Chip (and available for sale to raise funds for Women's Aid) for the next few weeks:

I'm sure the opening event will be a great success knowing Briony and I bet Roz will have a blast. Here she is with the full report:

Hey Bex thanks for the intro, sorry that this post took so long for me to write, I had trouble uploading the pictures from the evening and then with all the pregnancy tiredness just didn't feel like writing blog posts.  But I had to write up this event before Baby Star arrives as it was so much fun!  And seeing so many of Bex's photos on the walls was fab, I even featured in two of them :)

The picture below is a quick selfie before heading to the event, bump is pretty big and not a lot of nice clothes are fitting comfortably so I was delighted when this blue maxi fitted under bump and worked with the flip flops I need to wear with my swollen feet.

I was really looking forward to seeing the Gallery of Glasgow photos in the flesh but the event at The Chip was even better than I expected. There were free cocktails from Aperol and Wild Turkey which B enjoyed, delightful canapés (including a very morish brownie, that I may have had a few of!) and those wonderfully framed prints. It was such a busy event and lovely to chat to so many Yelpers, everyone was loving the event and the photos selected for the gallery were a brilliant cross section of Glasgow life.

This is one of Bex's photos on the wall, a yummy pepperoni pizza from Munro's birthday party evening - that's my hand stealing a slice!
 

 

I did find it a bit tricky to get photos of the framed prints, it was such a glorious evening and the private area in the loft of the Chip that we were in has fantastic sky lights along the roof.  These were thankfully open and kept the temperature to an acceptable level for me but they also flooded the area with light and I kept getting reflections off the glass. 

 

This was the first Yelp event I attended since becoming an Elite Yelper and it meant I got my very own lanyard instead of a stick on name badge, it was exciting!

A rather blurry shot of one of the wild turkey cocktails that B loved so much.

The lovely Briony, who is the Glasgow Community Manager for Yelp, and organised the event brought along these baby grows for Baby Star :)   

Anyone recognise the beautiful lady in the photo below (top left)??  That pic was snapped at ODP 2 in November at Malaga Tapas and the picture of the champagne and strawberries on the bottom left is another of Bex's pictures.  This one actually won a prize on the night - well done Bex!  It was selected by the judges to win the "Bottoms Up" award.  I think it's a fab picture and really makes me want a glass of chilled bubbles.

All of the 76 prints on display at the Chip, until 4th May, are available to purchase for £10.  All of the money raised from the sale of the prints goes direct to Glasgow Women's Aid, so not only do you get to buy a unique snap capturing a little slice of Glasgow life, you get to help out a great charity operating in the heart of the city.

I highly recommend you head along to Ubiquitous Chip and check out the photos before they are no longer on display. 

 

 Roz xx