21 week update!

How far along? 21 weeks

Baby size: TW1 was 275g and TW2 was 280g at last week's scan

Total weight gain/loss: 3kg's at last week's check up

Maternity clothes? I've still only got 1 maternity top and 1 pair of maternity pants. Which I love!  Other than that, still living in my leggings and loose dresses. I must buy more comfy pants and more maternity tops.

Stretch marks? Nothing yet.

Sleep: Sleeping well although my back hurts a bit now. And it feels like it takes ages for me to roll over.
Best moment this week: Cuddles with Josh. I have a fancy pregnancy pillow now, but nothing beats wrapping my arms and legs around Josh. Or resting my head on his shoulder. Always gives me the best sleep ever.
Movement: Feeling lots of kicks or little flailing arms, from both inside and outside. And occassionally I'll feel a hard spot on my tummy, and I'm pretty sure its a head or bottom :)  I usually pat or rub it until the baby moves into a different position.
Food cravings:  Salt! I have started eating green apples with sea salt. So random. And actually tastes really yum! Almost as good as the half ripe mangoes with salt and chilli that is popular in Fiji and S.E. Asia.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing much :)
Have you started to show yet: Yes! No hiding it. Love the shape/size I am now :) I must make the most of this "cute bump" stage before i get MASSIVE.
Gender: Uncle Steve has predicted girls, but still anyone's guess at this stage
Symptoms: Need to pee alot. I feel a bit slower in general (physically, not mentally!). Bit achey around back and pelvic area.  But generally feeling great :)

Labor Signs: No signs yet 

Things I miss:  sushi and alchohol. I pass a sushi place every day and it looks and smells so yum.  Drinking as much tea as I want. Sleeping on my belly.

Belly Button in or out? outie. No denying it now.
Wedding rings on or off? On

Looking forward to:  the weekend and having a bit of a sleep in! And water walking tonight.

Just a tad sad

J and I watched "one born every minute" for the first time last night, and it showed two contrasting births -
one of a 2nd timer who'd had a bad experience the first time. And as a result, was terrified of giving birth again, and seemed to scream and cry and throw a tanty every couple of minutes.

The 2nd birth was of a first timer in a water birth in the same hospital. Just her, her husband, and a midwife that popped in and out every now and then. She had a pretty bikini on that she'd designed herself, listened to their own playlist and hardly made a sound through the whole process.  It was beautiful and so emotional.

Unfortunately, I didn't end up watching the whole thing as I got a bit sad and went off to have a little sook on my own.  When I first found out I was pregnant, I started reading up on birth stories and watching them on youtube. And I really loved the idea of the water birth (in the hospital, just in case you know, something went wrong). And the more I read, the more I was convinced that I would at least try to stay drug free, as the drugs they give you for the pain slow down the labour process, so they give you more drugs to get it going, and you are more likely to tear when drugged up cos you don't know how hard to push or when to stop pushing.  To be fair, J poo pooed my ideas straight away. Said I should TAKE THE DRUGS.  And after reading about people being in serious pain having an epi and then feeling so much relief they have a nap, I wasn't entirely sure I'd be able to stick to my guns to remain completely drug free.

But finding out that I'm having twins has kind of changed everything and taken alot of decisions out of my hands. Sure, some women do still have water births with twins. But there's just a more increased risk of needing intervention. And apparently, at least in NZ, its just standard practice to get an epidural with twins, in case you have to have an emergency c-section.  I don't think I'm brave enough to put my foot down and go all au natural with this pregnancy. If I'm going to have an emergency c-section, i'd prefer not to feel it :)

And so, it was bittersweet watching that beautiful, calm water birth, knowing that it wasn't on the cards for me.  If this really is my only ever birth, I wish I could have the experience that I want. However, at the end of the day, my main goal is to give birth to happy, healthy babies.  If that means I have to be cut open or have all the drugs they throw at me, then that's fine with me.  I just needed to have a bit of a sook about it first.

ACMBA playgroup

We woke up to a beautiful, almost summerish day on Saturday, and after a yummy egg on toast breakfast (well, for me anyway), we strolled down the street to joined the Auckland Central Multiple Birth Associations playgroup for the first time ever.

Was a great and slightly overwhelming experience.  There were only two other Mother's to be at the playgroup, whilst everyone else had kids ranging from 12 weeks up to about 5 or 6 years old.  Great set up, with slides, bouncy castle, water toys, sand box and indoor area.  They also had a sausage sizzle going (to give the fathers something to do), and a mini library had been set up indoors for parents that wanted to borrow books on twins, pregnancy, sleep routines, etc.

It is always a little bit daunting walking into a place full of people you don't know, but everyone was so friendly and keen to talk.  And it was soooooo good to talk to people in our position and have a little whinge to each other about the insensitive things people say when they hear we are expecting twins.  Also fantastic to hear first hand stories from parents that have been through it. Interesting to hear that some people swear by routines, whilst others said that that didn't work for them. I guess it really is a case of whatever works for you and your babies. There is no right and wrong.

Sometimes I feel like we really are entering unchartered waters, as no-one in our family/friends group have had twins. So whilst we are getting lots of advice on how to look after A BABY, no-one can really give us the inside scoop on looking after two at the same time. So far, all my info is coming from books and online blogs that I am constantly finding and devouring. But nothing beats actually meeting someone in person and hearing their story.  And I'm happy to report that everyone seemed very positive about their experience. Although everyone did stress that it will be very, very hard for the first 3-6 months. And we will get no sleep. Gah!

The highlight of the morning for me was when we approached a lady to ask about her buggy. She had 12 week old b/g twins in there (soooo cute!) and she blew us away when she said "oh yes, I love this buggy. But I didn't have it with my first set of twins".  Ummm what now?! You had TWO sets of twins? And you look this good? And then she went on to tell us that she has 7 kids, so I guess it just puts things into perspective for us - of course we can handle twins! Some people have 2x sets of twins and 7 kids and they still manage! 

Looking forward to being able to take my little babies along to this awesome playgroup in the future.

20 week update!

How far along? 20 weeks - More than halfway for twins!!!!

Baby size: TW1 was 275g and TW2 was 280g at Monday's scan

Total weight gain/loss: 56.25kg, so a gain of around 3kg's since I got pregnant

Maternity clothes? I've still only got 1 maternity top and 1 pair of maternity pants. Which I love!  Other than that, still living in my leggings and loose dresses.

Stretch marks? Nothing yet.

Sleep: Sleeping well except for the occasional need to get up and pee. And I seem to wake up every morning with a damn headache. Not a bad one though, so no need for pills.

Best moment this week: Getting the all clear for the anatomy scan and the fetal heart echo. Hurrah!

Movement: Feeling lots! Kicks and rolls. Loving it :)  And you can feel them from the outside as well.

Food cravings:  Craving tuna quite a bit, so had it twice this week.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just brushing my teeth. Not the taste or smell. Rather, I think it's the whole position of leaning over a sink. Makes me gag but only lasts a couple of seconds.

Have you started to show yet: Yes! No hiding it. Love the shape/size I am now :) I must make the most of this "cute bump" stage before i get MASSIVE. Only downside is that my boobs are huge (compared to what I've had all my life), but they don't look that impressive cos of my big belly. Damn.

Gender: Uncle Steve has predicted girls. So tempting to find out now...

Symptoms: Need to pee alot. Wake up with a slight headache everyday. I feel a bit slower in general (physically, not mentally!)  But generally feeling great :)

Labor Signs: No signs yet 

Things I miss:  sushi, blue cheese, feta, ham, alchohol. Drinking as much tea as I want. Sleeping on my belly.

Belly Button in or out? half innie and half outie

Wedding rings on or off? On
Looking forward to:  going to the Multiples Birth club playgroup this Saturday. Off to see first hand what sort of chaos and mayhem we have to look forward to!

confessions of a shopaholic

Well, i'm not really a shopaholic. Far from it actually. But today, i popped into the cotton on clothing store as they had a big sale on. Now, i only popped in to see if they had colourful chinos/jeans for my husband as he needs some new funky clothing for all these tv interviews/tour he has coming up....

and i got distracted by all the lovely, bright colours. And next thing ya know, i'm walking out the store with 3x different coloured jackets. Gah! Not maternity wear. Noooo, why would i buy maternity wear when I'm increasing in size on a daily basis? That would just be too sensible. Instead, I bought 3x extra small jackets. So here's hoping my back and arms don't grow otherwise I'll feel terribly guilty for these purchases.

I'll post pics soon, cos the jackets do look pretty nice, and they were only $20 each! Bargain!

Oh here are the pics! Yellow, blue and black.

Oh, I'm going to miss my own income once I go on maternity leave :(

Kickin'

Okay, forget the tap taps! The babies are a-kicking! And I can definitely feel it from the outside as well. Let the fun times begin!

The big heart and anatomy scan

We had the big fetal heart scan today, along with the usual 20 week (or 19 weeks in my case) anatamy scan.

Had the loveliest radiographer called Kathy and she gave us the great news that the babies are both looking well and no visible problems with the hearts (or other organs). So huge sigh of relief! Now just to keep these babies inside me until 36/37 weeks and all will be well hooray!

One is measuring at 275g and the other is 280g, so definitely growing :). 

We kept the gender a secret, although Kathy did say she could see what they were. Ooooh so tempting, but honestly, I love surprises and my main priority right now is just to have healthy babies. Will worry/think about dresses/bow ties + suspenders after they are born.

I've read a couple of blogs where women have had to go on bedrest due to "shortened cervix" so i asked about that and she said mine looks fine. So i'll keep on water walking and walking up the stairs instead of using the lift.

19 weeks - pics in the sunshine!

I

It has come to my attention that this may be my one and only time of being pregnant. And I've been so terrible at keeping a photographic record of this whole experience. So we made the most of today's beautiful weather and stopped off at Mission Bay to take a few quick pics in the sun.  19 weeks 1 day.

Stuck in the Middle - Josh Leys

Josh's latest music video and single! So proud of him :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EJ7PGvuiF0&feature=BFa&list=HL1345013674

19 week update

How far along? 19 weeks!

Baby size: TW1 was 194g and TW2 was 221g at last weeks scan

Total weight gain/loss: 55.2kg's at last weeks check up. Although I sat on Josh's lap  last night and he said I was HEAVY. I think he's just imagining it :)

Maternity clothes? Wore my first maternity top on Monday and oh my gosh, it was so comfy! no more riding up my belly! But today I'm back in my skinny jeans, thanks to a trick my mum showed me with a rubber band. Woohoo! Love my skinny jeans!

Stretch marks? Nothing yet.

Sleep: Sleeping well except for the occasional need to get up and pee. And I seem to wake up every morning with a damn headache. Not a bad one though, so no need for pills.

Best moment this week: Hanging out with the fam bam in Sydney! And changing a diaper for the first time and realising its not that hard. And water walking. I feel so good after a bit of a stretch/walk in the water, and I always end it with a quick float on my belly. Ahhh bliss.

Movement: Feeling a couple of tap taps and last night Josh says he felt something when he put his hand on my belly! Normally I'd say he's imagining it, but I felt a tap from the inside at the same time, so I guess he really did feel it! Still doesn't feel like a proper kick though, like the other preggie girls have described.

Food cravings:  I was craving tuna with avocado and pasta last night. Had it and it was yum!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just brushing my teeth. Not the taste or smell. Rather, I think it's the whole position of leaning over a sink. Makes me gag but only lasts a couple of seconds.

Have you started to show yet: Yes! No hiding it. Love the shape/size I am now :) I must make the most of this "cute bump" stage before i get MASSIVE. Only downside is that my boobs are huge (compared to what I've had all my life), but they don't look that impressive cos of my big belly. Damn.

Gender: It's going to be a surprise!  But my uncle Steve has predicted girls. And he has a gift apparently, and has never gotten it wrong thus far.

Symptoms: Need to pee alot. Wake up with a slight headache everyday. And butt gets sore just from sitting on it. And slight achiness in the hip/leg area.  But generally feeling great :)

Labor Signs: No signs yet 

Things I miss:  sushi, blue cheese, feta, ham, alchohol. Drinking as much tea as I want. Sleeping on my belly.

Belly Button in or out? Well, I say its flat or flush or whatever you call it. But mum and Sharen both said it's an outy now. I think it was just TW2's belly pushing it out, cos I'm sure it has gone down a little bit now

Wedding rings on or off? On
Looking forward to:  Getting my house back! Currently got a bathroom vanity in the dining room, a big ass desk and office chair in there too, double buggy and a suitcase full of maternity clothes that we need to find space for. Arggghhhh! Give me my house back! 

Gender prediction

my lovely fam bam are a bunch of superstitious, irish women. and they informed me that my uncle has a "gift" for being able to tell the sex of an unborn baby just by looking at the expectant mother. they believe this so much that they didn't want my uncle to tell me as they don't want him to ruin my surprise haha.

i told him to go ahead and tell me and he said we better get the shotguns ready to chase away the boys as we'll be having girls. (just writing that sounds really wrong. I don't condone violence at all and would never use a gun as a threatening weapon. actually, would never use one full stop as we don't own one. that's just how my uncle talks and he really is a sweet, gentle man!)

anyway, so there is his prediction. he has a 50% chance of being right, but only time will tell.

my cousin's little boy (3 years old) also predicted girls, although he started off by saying "it's a boy!".
then we explained that there are 2 babies in my tummy, so he said "boy/girl!". and so we explained again that they have to be the same as they are identical twins, so that's when he yelled "girl and girl" and then proceeded to say "girl and girl and girl and girl and girl" for about 2 minutes.

No one else offered up any guesses as they all believe in my uncles prediction too much hahaha.

boys or girls, we will be delighted as long as they don't come too early and are healthy x

Visitng the Fam Bam

We had a whirlwind trip to Sydney/aus to visit my fam bam.  caught the red eye early on Fri morning and got back home around midnight on Sunday.

Absolutely brilliant weekend! stayed with my gorgeous sister and her husband and got spoilt rotten. yummy food, snack packs and lots of trips to different baby stores. and ikea. (on a side note - i. love. ikea. so.much.   why oh why haven't they opened a store in Auckland)

mum hung out with us as well all weekend and my niece came shopping with us on the Sat. and managed to squeeze her 17 year old body into one of the buggies. she's a strange one!

had a family dinner at my aunty's house and my tummy popped out just in time for the trip, so got a few belly rubs. This was the first time i've had people rubbing my belly, and i thought i would hate it. but i guess cos it was my family, it didn't matter at all. it was public property for the night!

my cousin had a baby boy about 3 weeks ago, so they let both josh and i have a go at changing his pooey nappy. First time for both of us! it was a lot easier than what i thought it would be, even when he cried through the whole change. maybe cos my cousin and her husband were so relaxed, i felt relaxed. i did constantly apologise to the poor wee bubba though, especially when i felt like i was fumbling and taking longer than normal. Josh was an absolute natural and the bubby didn't even make a peep through the whole change when it was his turn.

Got loads of baby stuff and maternity wear from my sister, mum, cousin and some $$ from my brother. All felt a bit like christmas, especially with the feast that my aunty made.

it's good to be back home now, but i do really wish i lived closer to my family. there's just so much support and the family get togethers are so loud and fun and relaxed. hopefully we'll be able to take the twins over to sydney next year for a few weeks.

18 week update

How far along? 18 weeks (well, really 17 weeks, 6 days but I'll be travelling tomorrow)

Baby size: They didn't give us measurements this time, which was strange. But apparently TW1 is 194g and TW2 is 221g

Total weight gain/loss: close to 2 kg agin! 55.2

Maternity clothes? Still living in my leggings!  And I really need to find some maternity skinny jeans.

Stretch marks? Nothing yet.

Sleep: Sleeping well except for the occasional need to get up and pee. And now use a pillow between by knees if i sleep on my side.

Best moment this week: The scan today. Babies were lying facing each other, so cute. Didn't get a photo though :( And then heard Ed Sheeran's new song on the way back to work. A song about a baby and how he's just a bump now but in 4 months he'll be in his arms. and i was bawling my eyes out. And then I think the baby died at the end of the song! Nooooooo! Too much to take in within 2 minutes of listening to a song and just after a scan.   Oh oh oh and a really good friend of mine just told me she is 5 weeks pregnant!!! Squeeeeeee!

Movement: Feeling lots of strange movements, but i can't tell the difference between my stomach digesting food and the babies kicking :(

Food cravings:  nothing really. All food is good with me.

Anything making you queasy or sick: So damn sick of water. Hot, icy cold, whatever. OVER IT.

Have you started to show yet: Yes, have now had 2 people comment on my bump :) I love it! I must make the most of this "cute bump" stage before i get MASSIVE.

Gender: It's going to be a surprise!  But we are guessing boys for now.

Symptoms: Need to pee alot, HUNGRY all the time. Tired. Wake up with a slight headache everyday. But generally feeling great :)

Labor Signs: No signs yet 

Things I miss:  sushi, blue cheese, feta, ham, alchohol. Drinking as much tea as I want.

Belly Button in or out? In but looking weird! I think it will pop out pretty early on.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Looking forward to:  Getting the bathroom reno's sorted. And sorting out a dryer and laundry

Road Trippin'!

Last Friday, Ivy, Julia and I loaded up the car and headed to the National Park (about 4 hours away) to join some other members of the photography group. 

I was both excited and nervous about this trip, as it would be the first time I would be going out of town without my husband whilst pregnant. And i was worried about getting hungry with no food at hand, or needing the bathroom or feeling sick, and not having my own car to get around. But as usual, my fears were totally unnecessary.

I had a brilliant time and actually had food supplies left over!  I got to sit in the back seat on the way there and slept for about 2 hours. so felt great by the time we arrived at the backpackers and met up with the others.

we all got up at about 5:20am the next morning and headed out to try and get some sunrise shots. unfortunately, the sky didn't really co-operate so i wasn't too impressed with my shots. but next up (after breakfast) was a 20 min walk to the tauwhai falls. this was a beautiful spot, and as the group had split up, it wasn't too crowded. talked to some of the more expert photographers that were on site and managed to get my first "long exposure" shot of the falls and the river flowing over the rocks. awesome!

next up, we headed to the Chateau for a bit of a nosey as Ivy and co had not been inside. I've been lucky enough to have stayed here with Josh some time last year as he played there for a wedding. but was still nice to sit in there lounge and enjoy the spectacular view of the snow capped mountains. and use their bathroom :)

after meeting up with the rest of the crew for lunch, we all split up again and headed up to the mountain to get some snow shots. my fave thing about winter in nz is the snow, so i've been a bit gutted about not being able to snowboard this year. but it was so good to just walk in the snow and then sit down and watch all the other snowboarders/skiers. love, love, love the snow!

in the arvo, 5 of us did the silica rapids walk, which is about 2 hours return. gave us great views of the surrounding areas, so we decided to stay up there for the sunset. again, the skies just weren't being co-operative, and so eventually we headed back to the backpackers to meet up for dinner.

dinner was at the Shcnapps bar, which was packed as for some rugby finals game. great atmosphere and great food as usual.  Everyone decided to have a party afterwards, and the whiskey came out. always a dangerous move! i slipped away before midnight and decided to sleep in the next morning whilst everyone got up for a 2 hour hike at about 6:30am. had such a nice, relaxing morning before our drive home.

awesome, awesome weekend with some like-minded people!

17 week update

How far along? 17 weeks

Baby size: Measured 125 mm and 134 mm at latest check up. Will be measured again on the 9th August!

Total weight gain/loss: 2 kg! Back up to 53.65

Maternity clothes? Still living in my leggings!  And I really need to find some maternity stretch jeans.

Stretch marks? Nothing yet.

Sleep: Sleeping well except for the occasional need to get up and pee.

Best moment this week: Water walking and seeing all the baby clothes that Shaz sent over. So, so cute!

Movement: Nothing since the 2 or 3 flutters that I felt around the 14 week mark :(

Food cravings:  Just pita's :) And Chocolate milk.
Anything making you queasy or sick: OATS! These babies really  do not like oats. And my water needs to be icy cold. Drinking a gallon a day is HARD
Have you started to show yet: Yup. For sure. 

Gender: It's going to be a surprise!  But we are guessing boys for now.

Symptoms: Need to pee alot, HUNGRY all the time. Tired.But generally feeling great

Labor Signs: No signs yet 

Things I miss:  sushi, blue cheese, feta, ham, alchohol

Belly Button in or out? In but looking weird! I think it will pop out pretty early on.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Looking forward to:  Getting the bathroom reno's sorted. And sorting out a dryer and laundry.

Scans

Fortnightly scans have started! yippeee!

 just got a letter from the hospital today saying i have a scan next week to check their growth.  hoping they are doing well as they were both measuring on the small side at the last scan (still within normal range though). but then again, both J and i are little people, so makes sense. anyway, i now say to my tummy on a regular basis "grow little ones, grow!" Hopefully they listen to their mummy x