by Bex
Oh my goodness! If you're reading this, we've made it to 37 weeks - full term, particularly for twins! Since this is week 37-38 we will be meeting the babies THIS WEEK! OMG! Obviously I will update you all when there is news and I am feeling up to it, I'm not revealing which day we're booked in for as it could all change if things start happening earlier or if we're bumped due to emergencies.
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I've actually had quite a few more unpleasant symptoms this past week but considering we're so close to the end now, generally I've been pretty lucky. Especially if you read this post by Cara when she was waiting for her twins' arrival Kirsty sent me via Twitter this week! (Cara's hilarious Nursery post also made me feel VERY organised despite still having quite a long to do list. At least our house is pretty much all finished with the builder, plasterer, tiler, plumber and painter all finished and gone as of Thursday.) More details below on the symptoms BTW!
I've been doing a lot of reflecting these last couple of weeks as I sat working on little, fun, untaxing projects like hand sewing felt hearts, painting our homemade cloud shelf and cutting out rainbow coloured raindrops for a cushion cover (which is STILL to arrive after ordering it from H&M 10 days ago and them saying it was dispatched 8 days ago, very annoying as I probably won't have time to finish it now).
When I think about how convinced I was at times that this would never happen, it makes it even more surreal that we are about to have two actual babies placed in our arms very soon! I find it hard to express how grateful/relieved/happy/excited I am that everything worked out for us after the preceding difficult couple of years. I have thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant and all of the things I have been able to experience as a part of that (with a few exceptions - see the new symptoms below and not forgetting those 4 months of sickness!) and I am SO excited to actually double Team Olive Dragonfly next week! There is just so much for us to look forward to and despite the inevitable challenges of two brand new babies, I'm sure we will be utterly full of love and awe when we finally get to meet our babies!!
How far along: 37 weeks! FULL TERM, well done babies!!
Size comparison: As long as swiss chard (bit of a rubbish one to finish on really). Oh, I found a better one on The Bump rather than my babycentre app. They're the size of a winter melon (apparently some kind of gourd):
Weight gain: 18.4 lbs. I am now 203.4lbs and pretty pleased with that. I still feel I haven't put on any weight on the rest of my body other than the bump. The bump, however is particularly heavy now with these huge babies (apparently 6lbs 6oz and 6lb 3oz last week!) and making sleeping difficult as well as generally being up and about! Enforced rest after every little burst of going somewhere or doing something is essential.
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Mum and I went for our spa day treat this Thursday and oh wow, it was utterly blissful. I would have been happy just floating around in the quiet pool all day - it felt like the babies had taken a wee holiday and I was able to lie on my back in the water. Mum supported my head and began dragging me round the pool, it felt lovely and soooo relaxing! It was quite a shock walking up the steps out of the water as I suddenly felt the full weight of the bump again!
Cravings: Various liquids - Skimmed milk, fizzy water, orange juice, even non-fizzy water which I usually hate!
Signs & Symptoms: Major thirst these last few days which we're putting down to my steroid injections. I had to have these most stingy steroid injections to prepare the babies' lungs since they won't be squeezed through the birth canal which helps get rid of any liquid. We think this is why I suddenly have a HUGE almost constant thirst and resultant excessive peeing (hoping it's not late stage gestational diabetes).
We're also blaming the steroid injections (I had to have two jabs 24 hours apart) for my sudden very bad reflux and heartburn. Again, I was extremely lucky not to have this earlier as plenty of ladies on my Twitter feed warned me about it or were suffering after the horrendous morning sickness stage but I have managed to avoid it until recently meaning I've been able to really enjoy food again for the last few months which I've definitely indulged in :)
I also developed PEP (Polymorphic Eruption of Pregnancy - a rash over stretch marks) this week, luckily in a small round area under my belly button and not all over as I have rather a lot of stretch marks now! I've been in the hospital a lot this week anyway for various checks, the twin clinic and prep for the section next week so have been able to ask about most of my symptoms and confirm that google is correct ;) Unfortunately, despite it being a small area, when it itches it is insanely itchy and drives me mad, especially in the evening and in bed at night.
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I've also started having Braxton Hicks contractions, something I never thought I'd experience since we were told we'd need a section but then it's always been a risk we could go early so that was a bit silly of me! (And we've since heard from a twin mum who had Braxton Hicks' regularly from as early as 21 weeks and carried on for another few months!) Mine started on Friday as I was driving myself to the hospital (Mum left at home waiting for parcels and Nik at work) so I was able to ask the midwives when I arrived if I was correct in thinking they were Braxton Hicks'. I only felt them in my lower back and for just a few seconds but it was a pretty intense pain (luckily not too bad as I managed to keep driving through the two I had in the car) and I had 3 over a half an hour period every ten minutes - the third being while I was sat talking to the lovely two midwives who had made it possible for me not to miss my spa day with Mum (as I hadn't known about the second steroid injection when the 1st appt was made). They agreed it sounded like Braxton Hicks contractions and just said if they became more intense, travelled to the front and more frequent then I was to obviously phone triage and go back in.
After that I was actually fine and just had a couple more twinges later that day but it was a weird sensation and a bit scary that it could have just built up into full on labour! They reassured me I'd still have a section as the fact is, babies can't come out sideways via the usual track! The problem is, being a planner and having a date in my head, I'd feel even more unprepared than I already do to have these babes out in the world with us before the plan now!
There are still some fun signs & symptoms too though, we love seeing and feeling various heads, bums and limbs sticking out in various places all over! I still love my (usually) round bump despite its hefty weight and I will miss the squirms and watching the babies moving around the bump but I'm definitely ready to say goodbye to the discomfort of the bump now and hold the twins in my arms!
Things for babies: I can finally say the nursery is officially finished! (Minus that cushion mentioned above, grrrr.) The rainbow rug arrived early, yay! In the end we went for the slightly more expensive one than the £50 ebay bargain as I decided that one just had too much red in it compared to the other colours. We bought the £175 Festival rug and love it! The quality is great with a good soft pile and lush colours!
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I've also just finally finished the cloud shelf with Nik's help which should be on the blog in more detail this week if all goes well timing wise ;)
And of course, my felt heart garland (all that essential resting time means plenty of time for fun hand sewing of rainbow items) will also be making an appearance - I love it!
We received an amazing parcel yesterday from my cousin FULL of fantastic things for the twins! We had SO much fun unpacking it - lots of rainbow toys and some super cute clothes in the bottom and I love the elephants on on the burp cloths. Such lucky babies!
As for other things, we've been stocking up a bit more on various things as advised by TAMBA following their brilliant Practical Parenting course we all went on last weekend. It was only £5 each and Mum joined Nik and I since she will still be here to help for a couple of months after the babies arrive. It's run by twin parents who can speak from their own personal experience and know exactly what having twins is like. Our speaker was fantastic and very helpful with increasing our understanding of what we might expect life to be like when the twins arrive. Since we were unable to get on any antenatal course after moving down here (NCT was fully booked and there are no NHS courses in our area!), this certainly helped make us feel more prepared!
I'm also finalising bits in my hospital bag after receiving advice from the midwives preparing us for our section too. Eeek, it's so close now!
Oh my goodness! If you're reading this, we've made it to 37 weeks - full term, particularly for twins! Since this is week 37-38 we will be meeting the babies THIS WEEK! OMG! Obviously I will update you all when there is news and I am feeling up to it, I'm not revealing which day we're booked in for as it could all change if things start happening earlier or if we're bumped due to emergencies.
I've actually had quite a few more unpleasant symptoms this past week but considering we're so close to the end now, generally I've been pretty lucky. Especially if you read this post by Cara when she was waiting for her twins' arrival Kirsty sent me via Twitter this week! (Cara's hilarious Nursery post also made me feel VERY organised despite still having quite a long to do list. At least our house is pretty much all finished with the builder, plasterer, tiler, plumber and painter all finished and gone as of Thursday.) More details below on the symptoms BTW!
I've been doing a lot of reflecting these last couple of weeks as I sat working on little, fun, untaxing projects like hand sewing felt hearts, painting our homemade cloud shelf and cutting out rainbow coloured raindrops for a cushion cover (which is STILL to arrive after ordering it from H&M 10 days ago and them saying it was dispatched 8 days ago, very annoying as I probably won't have time to finish it now).
When I think about how convinced I was at times that this would never happen, it makes it even more surreal that we are about to have two actual babies placed in our arms very soon! I find it hard to express how grateful/relieved/happy/excited I am that everything worked out for us after the preceding difficult couple of years. I have thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant and all of the things I have been able to experience as a part of that (with a few exceptions - see the new symptoms below and not forgetting those 4 months of sickness!) and I am SO excited to actually double Team Olive Dragonfly next week! There is just so much for us to look forward to and despite the inevitable challenges of two brand new babies, I'm sure we will be utterly full of love and awe when we finally get to meet our babies!!
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| Bump all wrapped up (JUST) after another tiring shower. I often feel quite pathetic these days with my lack of energy! |
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| It helps that I'm not the only one who gets tired ;) |
How far along: 37 weeks! FULL TERM, well done babies!!
Size comparison: As long as swiss chard (bit of a rubbish one to finish on really). Oh, I found a better one on The Bump rather than my babycentre app. They're the size of a winter melon (apparently some kind of gourd):
Weight gain: 18.4 lbs. I am now 203.4lbs and pretty pleased with that. I still feel I haven't put on any weight on the rest of my body other than the bump. The bump, however is particularly heavy now with these huge babies (apparently 6lbs 6oz and 6lb 3oz last week!) and making sleeping difficult as well as generally being up and about! Enforced rest after every little burst of going somewhere or doing something is essential.
Mum and I went for our spa day treat this Thursday and oh wow, it was utterly blissful. I would have been happy just floating around in the quiet pool all day - it felt like the babies had taken a wee holiday and I was able to lie on my back in the water. Mum supported my head and began dragging me round the pool, it felt lovely and soooo relaxing! It was quite a shock walking up the steps out of the water as I suddenly felt the full weight of the bump again!
.JPG) |
| At the spa - 17 weeks and 36 weeks! |
Cravings: Various liquids - Skimmed milk, fizzy water, orange juice, even non-fizzy water which I usually hate!
Signs & Symptoms: Major thirst these last few days which we're putting down to my steroid injections. I had to have these most stingy steroid injections to prepare the babies' lungs since they won't be squeezed through the birth canal which helps get rid of any liquid. We think this is why I suddenly have a HUGE almost constant thirst and resultant excessive peeing (hoping it's not late stage gestational diabetes).
We're also blaming the steroid injections (I had to have two jabs 24 hours apart) for my sudden very bad reflux and heartburn. Again, I was extremely lucky not to have this earlier as plenty of ladies on my Twitter feed warned me about it or were suffering after the horrendous morning sickness stage but I have managed to avoid it until recently meaning I've been able to really enjoy food again for the last few months which I've definitely indulged in :)
I also developed PEP (Polymorphic Eruption of Pregnancy - a rash over stretch marks) this week, luckily in a small round area under my belly button and not all over as I have rather a lot of stretch marks now! I've been in the hospital a lot this week anyway for various checks, the twin clinic and prep for the section next week so have been able to ask about most of my symptoms and confirm that google is correct ;) Unfortunately, despite it being a small area, when it itches it is insanely itchy and drives me mad, especially in the evening and in bed at night.
I've also started having Braxton Hicks contractions, something I never thought I'd experience since we were told we'd need a section but then it's always been a risk we could go early so that was a bit silly of me! (And we've since heard from a twin mum who had Braxton Hicks' regularly from as early as 21 weeks and carried on for another few months!) Mine started on Friday as I was driving myself to the hospital (Mum left at home waiting for parcels and Nik at work) so I was able to ask the midwives when I arrived if I was correct in thinking they were Braxton Hicks'. I only felt them in my lower back and for just a few seconds but it was a pretty intense pain (luckily not too bad as I managed to keep driving through the two I had in the car) and I had 3 over a half an hour period every ten minutes - the third being while I was sat talking to the lovely two midwives who had made it possible for me not to miss my spa day with Mum (as I hadn't known about the second steroid injection when the 1st appt was made). They agreed it sounded like Braxton Hicks contractions and just said if they became more intense, travelled to the front and more frequent then I was to obviously phone triage and go back in.
After that I was actually fine and just had a couple more twinges later that day but it was a weird sensation and a bit scary that it could have just built up into full on labour! They reassured me I'd still have a section as the fact is, babies can't come out sideways via the usual track! The problem is, being a planner and having a date in my head, I'd feel even more unprepared than I already do to have these babes out in the world with us before the plan now!
There are still some fun signs & symptoms too though, we love seeing and feeling various heads, bums and limbs sticking out in various places all over! I still love my (usually) round bump despite its hefty weight and I will miss the squirms and watching the babies moving around the bump but I'm definitely ready to say goodbye to the discomfort of the bump now and hold the twins in my arms!
I've also just finally finished the cloud shelf with Nik's help which should be on the blog in more detail this week if all goes well timing wise ;)
And of course, my felt heart garland (all that essential resting time means plenty of time for fun hand sewing of rainbow items) will also be making an appearance - I love it!
We received an amazing parcel yesterday from my cousin FULL of fantastic things for the twins! We had SO much fun unpacking it - lots of rainbow toys and some super cute clothes in the bottom and I love the elephants on on the burp cloths. Such lucky babies!
As for other things, we've been stocking up a bit more on various things as advised by TAMBA following their brilliant Practical Parenting course we all went on last weekend. It was only £5 each and Mum joined Nik and I since she will still be here to help for a couple of months after the babies arrive. It's run by twin parents who can speak from their own personal experience and know exactly what having twins is like. Our speaker was fantastic and very helpful with increasing our understanding of what we might expect life to be like when the twins arrive. Since we were unable to get on any antenatal course after moving down here (NCT was fully booked and there are no NHS courses in our area!), this certainly helped make us feel more prepared!
I'm also finalising bits in my hospital bag after receiving advice from the midwives preparing us for our section too. Eeek, it's so close now!
2 comments:
Delighted to hear it is all going so well and best of luck for the week ahead!! Can't wait to see the lucky babes when you get them settled and home xxx
ps never asked if your obstetrician happened to be a Dr Vuivun Wong?? He is married to one of my best friends and they live near Brighton!
Worth phoning NCT once babies arrive explaining you are new to the area and can they put you in touch with any new mums. My friend did this and is still close friends with the girls she met for coffee with their babies many years later.
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