Category Archives: pregnancy

Bump Watch: Waiting for Nap Time (written on 11th October 2011)

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10 weeks and 3 days today.

I am utterly exhausted and full of cold.

William is incredibly snotty and Esther is miserable with her teeth.

All in all we are not in a good way.

Because of our combined germ spreading capabilities we have not been out to any baby classes these past few days and the change in our routine, topped off with illness, has made us all a little crazy.

I am really wishing that I could drive today as I would take us for a walk around Leeds Castle or drive to this lovely bakery in Lenham that I know where they sell the most fabulous cakes. Not that I really have the appetite for cakes, but, well, perhaps I could manage one!

Because the babies are not feeling one hundred percent they are struggling with independent play. They need me to be there and involved the whole time. It is so draining particularly when all you really want to do is curl up under a thick blanket with a good book and a steaming mug of tea.

I have no patience today. I am feeling sorry for myself because I am so ill. I feel that I should be allowed to have a sick day but that is not an option as a full time Mummy, even lunch breaks can be hard some days!

And so we all plod on, bunged up and miserable, waiting for nap time, at least, I am.

Bump Watch: Second Time Around

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Esther and William are IVF babies. When I was pregnant with them doctors advised a belt and braces approach to ensuring the pregnancy worked. I had to take steroids, aspirin, clexane and oral progesterone support. I only drank bottled water and ate mostly organic food. I did everything by the book. I took so many minerals and vitamin supplements. I rested everyday with a relaxation CD. Everything there was to do to make the pregnancy work, I did it. I read every book, every website. I was totally focused on preserving the pregnancy and making my babies healthy at the end of it.

I was only working part time and I had no children so I was able to completely relax. I did not do anything that might put the pregnancy or our babies at risk.

So far with this new pregnancy I have been so much more relaxed.

I’ve drunk some caffeine and eaten mussels in a restaurant. I heave a double buggy round all day and the only supplement that I am taking is folic acid as part of Pregnacare.

Second time around I cannot afford the luxury of long mornings in bed with a book.

Second time around I have my beautiful 15 month old twoddlers to look after and I don’t want them or me to miss a thing. They are at such an exciting stage of their life and development. We have to be out and about every single day to make the most of their time.

I am hoping that because this is a natural pregnancy, I can behave more like a normal mummy to be. That now my body has been through this once it will know more readily what to do.

I hope that a few months down the line I will not be regretting the decisions I have made.

Were things different for you the second time around?

One Year Ago Today: Pre Birth Trauma

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One year ago today. Saturday 10th July 2010. I was 25 weeks and 3 days pregnant. With twins. David had invited his Dad round to help us start preparing the house for the arrival of our babies in 15 weeks … Continue reading →

Flashback Friday – 14 weeks and counting!

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This time last year I was 14 weeks pregnant with Esther and William. Because we knew it was twins and because we had IVF we had lots of early scans showing us our babies developing. We really were very lucky in that respect. From 12 weeks they started to look less like aliens and more like babies. Things started to feel real. We were going to have not one baby but two!!

I loved going for scans though I was alway anxious that something would not be right, we had been warned by our clinic about vanishing twin syndrome and a higher risk of miscarriage throughout the pregnancy. It was a time of joy but also of worry. I did not have a very active pregnancy as I was so frightened that something would go wrong.

The scans were like a window into another world. A private silent world that Esther and William were already sharing and learning about each other.

When the babies were born at 27 weeks we were given another window, an opportunity to see first hand how babies develop at such an early stage. We saw with our own eyes what most parents see only on a scan photo. It helps to look at prematurity in that way sometimes, an opportunity to witness human development at its earliest stages.

Esther and William were so tiny and so perfect and it was a privilege to be able to watch them grow from kidney beans to aliens to mini athletes to proper podgy babies.

Today for the Friday Flashback I wanted to think back to those earliest of days and to remember the excitement of being pregnant and the thrill of growing new lives inside of me. It really is a wonderful thing we do.

Here are Esther and William at 13+5, less than 14 weeks later they were born x