Our Twin Pregnancy Diary is now a real book!

Twin Pregnancy Diary - out now!

We get a lot of people finding our blog after searching for twin pregnancy information and know that they may not want to read through everything else just to find the diary entries.  

We are pleased to announce that our Twin Pregnancy Diary is now available to buy in paperback, so they don't have to!  Pop on over here to get a 30% discount off the list price.  In a few weeks it will also be available to buy on Amazon as well. 

The Twin Pregnancy Diary is available on Kindle too, and also as an EPUB, which means you can download the Twin Pregnancy Diary eBook to your e-reader, iPad, iPhone, Nook (and lots of other techie things) or even directly onto your PC or Mac, so you can follow our journey any way you want to!

We've also got some more very exciting things to tell you about very soon, so make sure you come back to get the news first!

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Our family has grown - meet the new additions

They say a picture paints a thousand words.  As I haven't yet got myself coherent enough to put together a wordy post for you I thought I'd share some pictures instead.

On October 18th, 2011 we welcomed our newest additions into the world.  First came Elizabeth Florence at 3.37pm weighing in at 5lbs 12oz and measuring 50cm long...

... followed by her sister, Anna Teresa, weighing in at 5lbs 2oz and measuring a dinky 44cm...

Here they are shortly after birth, reunited and together.  

Sisters.

Very non-identical.

As non-identical as can be.

And each one so very beautiful.

*Sigh*

Here is Anna at a day old...

And her sister, Elizabeth at a day old...

... and then again at two days old...

Anna and Elizabeth - 2 days old

I am sure I'll be sharing plenty more with you very soon but for now I have two beautiful, sweet, gorgeous babies to cuddle so I hope you'll forgive me for not posting as much at the moment.



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Twin Pregnancy Diary - 32 weeks 5 days

This morning was the first one in the last six days that I haven't woken with a headache. Three and a half hours later and I can feel it starting up now. Still, at least I had a little respite.

I have been prescribed codeine to help with the headaches but I don't want to be popping pills. I don't like taking medicine and I can't be taking pills constantly to numb the pain in my head. Surely it wouldn't be good for the babies. I try to put it off until the pain is completely unbearable before I give in.

I have been taking the antibiotics as prescribed and am feeling much better than I was yesterday so that's a bonus. I haven't had any more vomiting or nausea and the dizziness has subsided for now so I am hoping the symptoms were just down to the urine infection and nothing else. Having never had experienced a urine infection throughout all my previous pregnancies, I'm quite surprised at how awful it can make you feel. Then again, I'm pleased to never have had any major issues during pregnancy and while I am prepared for things to get a little more difficult and for a higher risk of complications to arise I am thankful that I have so far had such an easy time of things.

Later today I will be off to the hospital once again, this time for a growth scan to check on the twins' well-being. Mike and I have made our guesses to today's estimated weights for each baby. I think 4lb 8oz for Twin 1 whereas Mike thinks it is 4lb 14oz, and I estimate Twin 2 to be 4lb 5oz to Mike's guess of 4lb 9oz. If you want to play along just make your guess in the comments below or over on our Facebook page and I'll update either later or tomorrow.


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Sick

A quick update as I'm not feeling very well today.

Felt ill and went to hospital yesterday. They found a small amount of protein in my urine and a water infection. They weren't too worried about the protein at the moment as it was only one + and they prescribed antibiotics for the infection and codeine for the headaches.

Came home, went to bed and woke up with a headache, feeling dizzy and vomiting. Called hospital early this morning and have agreed that if I'm not feeling better later today that I will contact triage to see whether I need to go in later to let them check me and the babies over.  Better to be safe than sorry and I'd rather be sent home and be told there's nothing wrong with me than it to be flaring up into something more serious.

Mike's gone into work to collect his things and he'll be back in a few hours. That's it for him work-wise for the rest of the year.

The kids are coming down with colds too.

If I go to hospital later I'll update through the Larger Family Life Facebook page and Twitter.


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Hi-ho, Hi-ho, It's off to hospital I go...

Despite the jolly tune of the title of this post it's not for a jolly reason at all but simply for monitoring and tests. Well, actually, I'm not entirely sure that I will be heading off to the hospital but I have a strong suspicion that the midwife will insist.

After the fourth continuous day of chronic tiredness and a crippling headache, well, not exactly a headache but more like pressure and pain in the back of my head, I succumbed and called the midwife. She insisted that I went straight to triage at the delivery suite at the hospital. I burst into tears.

I didn't want to go to hospital. I still don't. I can't bear the thought of being admitted, unless it's to have the babies and it's far too soon for that. I hate wards and most of all I don't want to be away from my family.

And then the sensible side takes over from the emotional side and tell myself the one reason that I should be checked over. It's for the babies.

The midwife told me to take two painkillers and if I still wasn't feeling better I could go and see her at the surgery this morning. I took the painkillers, laid down for most of the day and still there was no improvement so I called her back. She was reluctant to see me herself, saying that I needed more thorough checking over and that I really should go to the hospital. I cried again and offered that if I could just see her for the checks she could do, then if she was still concerned or found anything at all indicating I needed to be seen there then I would go. She said I could stop by the surgery at any time before midday to see her.

I am so frustrated to have got so far and now seem to be falling at the very last stage. I haven't had very much to worry about or be concerned about. My health has for the most part been pretty good, apart from the old iron issues. It would be such a shame for things to go pear-shaped now.

So this morning I am bracing myself. I am getting ready to go to the surgery to see my midwife yet I know I'm going to be sent on to the hospital. I'll be very surprised if at this stage they don't want to rule out things such as pre-eclampsia (which I don't think it is) or check on my iron (which I do think is the culprit). I just hope I am not admitted. Then again, if I am, I am. Logic tells me I need to do what is best for the babies and for my health. Unfortunately, logic is fighting a battle with hormones and the hormones seem to be winning.

I'll try to keep you updated through the Larger Family Life Facebook page and Twitter (which will be my main source of updating if I am admitted and when I go in to have the babies. Have you joined up yet?).


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Twin Pregnancy Diary - 29 weeks 4 days

I went along to the hospital to see my consultant following last week's growth scan for the twins.  As always, finding a parking space was a joy except it wasn't and the whole fuss and bother of waiting and looking for a place to leave the car took longer than my journey to the hospital.  Still, I suppose if that is my only gripe then I shall consider myself lucky.

Clinic was running a little behind schedule but the wait wasn't as long as I had expected it to be.  I saw a new doctor yesterday, another on my consultant's team, who was once again ever-so lovely.  I feel so very lucky to be under the care of such pleasant and nice professionals who make me feel at ease.

All the checks for the babies were fine.  Both are growing well, my uterus now measuring 33cm and both babies have remained in a head down position since last week's scan.  The doctor looked over the scan results and stated how everything looked perfect, with no cause for concern at all.  Then we discussed how I have been feeling, to which I explained that I had been a lot more tired and feeling exceptionally unwell the last couple of weeks in particular.  I assume, I told her, that my hb levels had dropped but I wasn't sure as the midwife hadn't informed me of my blood test results.

The doctor left the room to find out and returned with the news that indeed they had dropped, from 9.3 in the first trimester to 8.5.  This is not a good level to be at and most certainly does explain why I have been feeling so dreadful and uncontrollably sick, tired and breathless.  We have four weeks of the maximum dosage I can take of folic and ferrous tablets and if there is no improvement it looks like iron infusions are a real possibility as these levels really do need to be brought up.

I'm not quite sure what the infusions will involve.  As far as I am aware they take a while to work through via IV and while I am not averse to having the infusion as I feel so awful, I am going to make a concerted effort to take my pills as prescribed and see what happens.  I'm not holding out much hope that my body will suddenly start absorbing the iron like we need it to though.  Wish me luck.


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Finally....

I finally got on with it and brought the baby clothes out of storage where they've been for, ooh, all of the best part of the last eleven months.

Due to limited space I stuck to digging out only the smallest sizes of clothes for now which are all mainly white with a few blue and no pink at all.

A few weeks ago Persil had sent a bottle of their 2-in-1 with Comfort over to try so I thought I'd use it on the baby clothes.  Once the wash had finished and I was folding the lovely, soft, tiny clothes I kept getting a whiff of passion flower.  Looking at the washed, dried and neatly folded pile I can't help but feel there isn't enough for two babies at once though.

Getting newborn clothes out of storage always makes me stop and think.  Pregnancy gets to a stage where it feels never-ending.  The discomfort sets in, especially when it's hot and humid, and it gets difficult to get to any level of comfort at all.  To me, getting the teeny, perfect clothes ready is the marker that it will all be over soon.

I look at Joseph and even though he is not yet a year old, he already seems so big when I compare him to the newborn outfits.  Soon, he's going to be promoted to big brother status.  My baby will be a baby no more.

So at least one more thing has been ticked off the to-do list.  Perhaps today I might make a start on packing the hospital bags.

Perhaps.


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Twin Pregnancy Diary - 25 weeks 2 days

25 week twin pregnancy belly photo

Yet another week has passed and I have achieved nothing much in terms of preparing for the twins' arrival.  Their clothes still remain in storage, unwashed and unsorted.  Nothing is ready to be packed for the hospital and there is still plenty to be done organisation wise.  I know it seems that I have ages to go but I'm noticing a week by week decrease in energy levels and I am sure that I need to get things done sooner rather than later, lest they end up not done at all.  You can't really bring babies home with nothing to wear and nothing to sleep in.

On the positive side, I have ordered two new crib mattresses which I found at a reduced price.  Really speaking, only one needed replacing (the one for the second hand crib we bought), but I decided that I'd replace both seeing as the last one given they were in the sale.  We also collected the cot-bed that Mike's cousin kindly gave us and I've ordered two cotton wool pleats for the hospital bag.  Every little thing I do counts, doesn't it?

Hopefully next weekend we'll be able to sort out our bedroom, take down the old cot and replace it with the cot-bed which the twins will share for the first few months.  I still need to get the divider so they can each have one half of it, so I'll shop around for the best price on that this week.  During the next week or so I'll be topping up our cloth nappies, replacing those that are too worn and unusable, and I'll also be ordering the triple height bunk bed.

I had an appointment with the midwife last week.  I'm really not feeling very well connected with her.  She's nice enough but I don't feel as comfortable with her as I have done in the past with previous midwives.  It makes me feel uneasy.  Nevertheless, everything was ok.  Blood pressure was fine, babies sounding good and all in all nothing to worry about.  She now wants to see me every two weeks.

I'm going through a little worry at the moment as I had a fall last night and landed on the left side of my bump. I'm feeling sore and upset still.  I still think I'm able to rush around and obviously am not as light footed as I expect myself to be.  The toy that I tripped over on the way to sorting out an argument didn't help either.  I got the doppler out soon after the fall and heard both heartbeats which was reassuring.  That little machine has provided me with so much reassurance and comfort over the years, I can't begin to describe.  Anyway, I'm still a little sore and getting a bit of pain this morning so not really feeling my best.

As far as the babies are concerned, well they are meant to be measuring approximately 35cm from head to foot and weighing about 660g each.  They are starting to lay down their fat stores now, and I would love to have another 4d scan just to see if they've changed at all from a month ago.  That though, would be greedy and financially unwise, with everything else that we need to pay for first.

If you are a new reader and would like to catch up on this pregnancy diary from the start you can go back to where it begins with the Twin Pregnancy Diary - The First Nine Weeks (Part One). 

If you've caught up, or you've already been following to date you can continue to keep up with our journey by subscribing to a full feed in your reader.

And don't forget, if you'd like to chat with me or keep up to date with all the little stuff in life you can leave a comment after any post or join Larger Family Life on our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter too.

(You can also share posts on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble them or Digg them too so don't be shy! It's good to share, after all!)



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