Silent Sunday

fed-up and ready to go home

Daunting task ahead....

I must entertain not only two toddlers on a four hour boat journey but also a husband with a short attention span.

Eeeeeeeekkk!!!!!!!!!!

At least I've got the girlies sorted, well at least I hope I've got them sorted with a colouring book each, a drawing pad each, some stickers and a whole load of crayons, but the hubbie is a different matter all together. He can't sit and read the way I love to, he can't go for a dander because all three of us would have to go with him incase he sees something that he must absolutely share with us, and I can't push him over the edge of the deck because knowing my luck we won't be allowed out.

I'll have plenty of snacks with me, we can get cups of tea and juice on the boat and as a last resort I've a secret stash of chocolate already in my bag just waiting on the first squeal of grumpiness to be heard (this more than likely will be from the hubbie and not the daughters).

I'm completely and utterly dreading the boat in the morning.

Then they were 2!!!!

Tomorrow our twins turn 2!!!

Oh my goodness where on earth has the time gone?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Just thinking about the past two years makes my caesarean 'wound' (as the midwives kept referring to it) ache.

(Picture taken 27th February 2012 with their Great Nana & Great Nanda, it was Nana's 80th birthday)

Tomorrow is just for the four of us, though we will be doing the rounds visiting Grandparents and Great-Grandparents and I'm sure my sister, the self-proclaimed favourite Auntie (she really is the favourite Auntie and the girlies make sure everyone is aware of it) will be up after work to see her girlies. Inbetween visits we'll be taking them to Victoria Square to have a nosy round the Build-A-Bear Workshop and see if anything catches their eyes and then onto Frankie & Bennys for some nom noms.

Fingers crossed between all the visiting and dandering about we'll knacker the pair of them and they'll sleep through the night as they've a busy weekend coming up with a bouncy castle birthday party being held in our Church Hall for them both (courtesy of the favourite Auntie). 

Monochorionic Diamniotic Twin Pregnancy

Monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) twins share a single placenta with a single outer membrane and two inner membranes. MCDA as described by the NHS 

 From the day we told everyone I was pregnant everyone joked that we would be having twins, my Mother being the biggest culprit and more than likely the ring leader of it all and when the Midwife told us she could see a second blimp on the screen and had to go get the Consultant we still thought she was joking, until the Consultant Mrs Scoffield confirmed that yes we were having twins. I started giggling, I couldn't help it. Hubbie just sat there with this weird look on his face. We were then taken to Mrs Scoffield's room and again I was covered in the horrible gel and our twins were examined then we were told that they were MCDA twins and as straightforward as possible we were told the facts, what my ante-natal care would be, what the worst case scenarios were and what actions would be put into place should the worst happen.

We left the clinic feeling completely and utterly drained we were on an emotional high after just finding out we have conceived identical twins naturally but we were also terrified about what may happen to them but that wasn't the end of our day cause we then had to go and get bombarded with all the healthy eating info etc from another Midwife (and I must admit I don't remember a word of what she said).

Our twins shared a placenta and even though there were two inner membranes the dividing wall between them was far too thin and we were at a risk of Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome and our babies would need constant monitoring to ensure that if it did happen they caught it in time to act on it. Coupling TTTS with my history of high blood pressure I was going to be poked and prodded every chance they got.

That was the start of having an appointment every Wednesday fortnight until Christmas to make sure both our babies were growing at a rate they deemed acceptable, I was taken off my blood pressure tablets and it was watched constantly and I was put on aspirin and iron tablets earlier than I was expecting because of our twins (the 1st time I had a pee after taking those was quite a shock!!) and instead of being scanned by a Midwife I had another Consultant doing the honours and the only thing he really said to me was don't worry if I don't talk, that's a good thing cause it means everything is ok with your babies. Some talk would've been good as it would've put me at my ease a little more but he was doing his job and I can understand he couldn't be distracted.

We managed to get to Christmas without any fear of Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome and for that we were grateful but as soon as I thought I'd be able to have a semi-normal pregnancy I was told I still had to have fortnightly appointments, but at least this time I was allowed to go to the normal ante-natal clinic and not the Specialist upstairs so I got to feel a little more normal at least.

We were really lucky in that our twins didn't suffer any problems, we were able to avoid TTTS and our girls were born healthy at 36 weeks, because they were MCDA twins I wasn't allowed to go over 36 weeks as it posed too great a risk for them. My caesarean was planned for 1st March 2010 and everything went smoothly with our girls as perfect as possible

Catherine (L) born 9.46am 6lb and Anna (R) born 9.48am 5lb 7oz

And now in a fortnight's time they'll be 2!!

My Valentines

It started off with me losing my temper with my hubbie, followed by my in-laws down for lunch and the afternoon, I took my mummy-in-law to Tesco for a dander round then up to theirs for tea and now I'm sitting in the house all on my lonesome because I left the girlies with their granny and granda and hubbie is still in work.

Such a romantic day.

Fingers crossed Saturday will be much more romantic when hubbie and I go out for a meal and do a bit of shopping (I get to spend his money, yippee!!).