37 + 2

by Bex

I obviously meant to post this back when the babies hit the milestone of having been on the outside as long as they were inside me.  I asked Dad to take some photos of us in a lovely corner of diffused light I found in their house (as we were still in Saudi at the time).

I also put on my new T-shirt which had the perfect quote for such an occasion ;) and here are the iPhone snaps of me with the twins at 37+2 inside and 37+2 outside:

"Completely and perfectly and incandescently happy"

I loved the light so much, I then sat Priya on the stairs to take a few more photos and when she was starting to get fed up, swapped for Kalyan.  She started off a bit unsure of sitting on a step but soon got all excited and loved kicking her legs - and just look how brown they are!

Kalyan was similarly unsure at first but was clapping his hands and grinning away once he got used to sitting on the step :)

I then even managed to get a couple of quick shots of both of them before K had had enough.

Summary of 2014 - the BEST year of my life!

by Bex

So much has happened this year, it's hard to know where to start!  We've been through so many life changes including moving house (450 miles away no less!) and having babies (twins no less!) and a new job for Nik.  There has been a lot of stress involved of course, moving when 6 months pregnant with twins wasn't fun and trying to get the new house sorted in time since we were very aware that most twins come early gave us quite a deadline!  Anyway, here is my 2014 summary, it's pretty much all about the babies!

This is quite different to last year's recap!  This time last year I was feeling pretty low after our year of failed IVF attempts.  I was losing all hope of having a family and the start of 2014 was my lowest point.  What a difference a year makes!  If you could have told me we'd be a happy family of 4 by the end of this year I could have coped so much better with our two years of traumatic treatment failures.  Sadly, life doesn't work like that but looking back over this year has been SO MUCH FUN now we've had our happy IVF ending!

We'll forget about January & February but in March we finally had our successful implantation!  That alone made me so happy, even though I was expecting that stage to fail, we finally felt we'd had our chance at becoming pregnant.

Little did I know that our wee strong embryos were clingers but Kalyan & Priya hung in there making our dreams come true!  We found out just before Mother's Day and I was so excited to share our news on the blog on such an apt day :)

A few days later, in April, we headed off to Thailand (our post-treatment getaway in case of yet more disappointment) just 5 weeks pregnant!  We ended up seeing very little of Thailand due to my horrendous morning sickness kicking in after 3 days in Phuket.

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It ended up being less of an exploration of a fabulous country and more of an R&R getaway as I mostly just wanted to sleep and often had to hide in the hotel room from strong smells and smoking guests!  I lived on baked potatoes and dry cereal until we returned home and I mostly lived on ham sandwiches and potato waffles for the first few weeks!

Such bad nausea and vomiting was a clue to the fact we were expecting twins!!

The first glimpse of our twins at 7 weeks!

We were so excited, our little 2 for 1 bundles!  This year has gone SO fast, I loved documenting my pregnancy and getting excited about my growing bump - even when it wasn't visible to anyone else, I was so proud of my teenie bump as I started to show.

http://olivedragonfly.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/12-weeks.html

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At 18 weeks we bought a house.  After a couple of false starts, we ended up with the perfect place and we finally had a date for our move!

It wasn't long before we got to see the babies again at 20 weeks and found out the amazing news that we were having a boy AND a girl!  It felt like all our good luck had been saved up for so long and we were getting it all at once.  Still are!

After that it was all go as we had scans every 4 weeks and had to get organised for the big move south!  Although I couldn't buy much for the twins due to moving, I still had fun buying a few small bits and pieces and of course, had lots of Pinterest inspiration and started making plans for their room.

Of course I had to get some gorgeous images to record my amazing pregnant body and I absolutely loved all the maternity photo shoots with Louise and Lauren in Glasgow and then Laura just a couple of weeks before the birth down in Sussex!  I also took lots of selfies of course to record the bump at all stages...

We had a great leaving party in Glasgow and celebrated our pregnancy with a fantastic baby shower in Sussex and a last minute babymoon near our new home, all of which gave me some great excuses to get dressed up.

Glammed up for our leaving do

And baby shower

It was a bit of a rush to get our new home sorted in time for the birth but with Mum's help and some fantastic tradesmen, we had it pretty much as we wanted it with just minor things still to do.  I have lots to blog about the house and will eventually get round to it.  I'm so glad to have been able to finally get the nursery done and photographed though, I just love it!  :)

And then the babies were here!

Since then my instagram has become the ultimate baby spam!  I can't stop taking and sharing photos of our gorgeous babes, it makes up for not having time to blog properly.  Being a Mummy is just the most amazing thing, I feel blessed every day.  I can't describe the feeling I get watching them sleep, grow, change and develop their little individual personalities.  Their smiles are so infectious and I don't need to tell you how cute they are, just look...

I haven't had much time to blog about all the things I want to but I am making notes and hope to write more soon, once I get into my own routine without the luxury of having Mum here to help - she goes home on Friday, eek!  I've just been spending any spare time (i.e. when they're asleep) taking/editing photos of babies, sleeping or just catching up on every day stuff.  Christmas has certainly been a bit thrown together this year but we did have a beautiful tree and a few new decorations which I hope to share before Christmas is forgotten entirely for this year!

What a difference a year makes!  Life is just so different now and we couldn't be happier!  I cannot wait for everything this year brings :D

The last pregnancy update! Eeeek!

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.

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!!

Bump all wrapped up (JUST) after another tiring shower.
I often feel quite pathetic these days with my lack of energy!

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!

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!

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!

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!

Last Minute Babymoon!

by Bex

I'm hoping I'll have time to write about this after the fact as well but we've just booked a little babymoon night away!  With so much going on over the last few months - coping with sickness, house hunting, Nik moving down to start his new job, us both moving hundreds of miles, sorting our new house, preparing for babies.... a babymoon wasn't a priority or an expense we could really afford.  I'd have loved a long weekend in Paris or a week in Italy enjoying the food after my sickness wore off but it just wasn't to be.

As it happens, now we're feeling more settled and the big jobs are done (house and baby related), I thought it would be nice to just have a wee night away from home to really relax and enjoy a lovely meal and maybe have a wee relaxing spa treat.  I think with everything that's been going on, a night away is the perfect idea for the two of us just to have some us time together before we forget what that's like in the deluge of nappies and feeding!  Obviously we are rapidly running out of time to do this and given how close we are to the birth, it makes sense to stay nearby.

I initially looked at hotels in Brighton as Nik could meet me there straight from work giving us maximum relaxation time together but the timings for that fell apart after he was offered a lucrative day of work that weekend.  Plus I found out the hotel didn't have a pool in the spa meaning all the spa facilities were off limits to me (thermal rooms and the like) and I just really fancy a float about in a nice pool with this heavy bump!  In the end it was getting tricky to find something (Nik only had one other day he was off before the final weekend pre-babies) and I didn't want to leave it too late so tonight we are off to a very old hotel in a nearby village (half-way between us and our chosen birthing hospital, the car will be well packed of course!) which we're assured by locals does VERY nice food.  All of the rooms have four poster beds and are very traditional and the hotel has quite an interesting history.  I can't wait to review it.

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Nik wasn't that bothered about the spa part so rather than trying to squeeze that in when he's not working, Mum and I are going for a spa day instead!  She's been so helpful and is doing so much for us so it'll be nice for her to have a chill out break too :)

We've booked a place 15 minutes away in Ashdown Forest which looks lovely, has a pool (as well as thermal rooms for Mum to enjoy) and we're having the Afternoon Tea Spa Day package with a 50 minute treatment each.  I can't wait!  (Unfortunately due to leaving this all so late, there was no availability until next Thursday so I'm hoping I'm still feeling generally OK by then!  I certainly could use the massage on my aches already!)

Maternity photo shoot by Laura Aziz!

by Bex

So, we had our 3rd and final maternity photo shoot on Sunday, this time with Laura Aziz (baby, picture this).  I was first introduced to Laura by Kirsty via email as we were both pregnant and both moving to Sussex!  When I mentioned a few months back that I'd be looking for a photographer down south to capture the bump when it's properly big (if the babies stayed inside long enough!) and Laura was instantly recommended to me.  It was great to have an excuse to meet up and Laura was so helpful in fitting us in as she had her daughter just over 4 months ago!  It was so relaxed which was just what I needed at 35 weeks with twins as I am obviously pretty tired and immobile after a certain point these days.  It helps to have someone who understands that and is happy to be flexible.

We've actually booked Laura's Bump-Newborn package so we'll be seeing her again in a few weeks to take some photos of us with the babies on the outside too!  Again, I'm so pleased as we don't need to worry too much about when that will be until the babies are here and we have an idea how we're managing.  We're hoping to do it within the first 2 weeks after they're born if I'm feeling OK and will obviously communicate with Laura as soon as we know when will be the best time for us.  The best thing is that she comes to us, just what we'll need a couple of weeks after a caesarian and with two babies!

So, as I hoped, we got some great photos of us waiting for the babies in our new home and new local surroundings.  It's lovely having some photos taken in Glasgow previously where so much happened for us, particularly in our wedding park but I'm also glad we got some taken down here where life is changing way more than it ever has or probably ever will.  A proper grown up house, complete with garden and we're about to become parents to two babies at once.  Eeek!

Anyway, as for the photos, I am delighted with them - Laura has really captured the gorgeous autumn surroundings as well as our happiness and excitement.  This time I did my own make-up and put my hair up with plenty of hairspray in case of rain.  Luckily the rain held off although so did the sunshine but the photos are just stunning.

There are a few here taken in the nursery but I'm keeping most of them back until I blog about the whole room (after the babies are born).  Laura has captured some lovely details and I can't wait to share them all with you but only after we've announced the babies' arrival and their names ;)

Seriously, LOVE THEM ALL!

I wore a New Look maternity top (borrowed from Roz) with my MAMA from H&M overbump jeans before changing into my MAMA teal tunic dress from H&M over leggings with a good old Bex style statement beaded necklace (from a craft fair years ago).  I also wore my comfy new boots from Clarks (bought with a TAMBA 20% off code) which only just fit now as my extremities are starting to swell!

P.S. Nik's matching teal jumper wasn't actually planned but being me, I do kinda like that we match ;)

As with our shoot with Lauren, we paid for our package with Laura, I'm so glad we managed to have a shoot towards the end of this pregnancy with the BIG bump too.  I'm clearly just obsessed with maternity shoots!!  I wanted to share all the gorgeous photos here for obvious reasons and again would highly recommend Laura's services if you're down in the South East!