25 week update

How far along? 25 weeks

Baby size: TW1 was 555g and TW2 was 622g at last weeks scan.
Babies positions:TW1 was head down and TW2 was lying across my belly (up near ribs), head on the right.  By the end of the scan TW1 was in same position as TW2, bunk bed styles :).

Total weight gain/loss: current weight is 59kg. So 6kgs so far.

Maternity clothes? Wearing maternity pants, tops and normal leggings these days.

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. and rolling over hurts :(Best moment this week: Julies dress fitting was a lot of fun. Dragged ma along too.
Movement: Feeling lots of kicks or little flailing arms, from both inside and outside. And occasionally feel a hard bottom or leg or head pressed up against my tummy.
Food cravings:  No real cravings at the moment.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing much :)
Have you started to show yet: Yes! No hiding it. Measuring about 4 weeks ahead at the moment.  
Gender: Uncle Steve has predicted girls, but still anyone's guess at this stage
Symptoms: Had another nosebleed at work, but only a little one. Need to pee alot. I feel a bit slower in general (physically, not mentally!). really sore in groin area which is making me limp. oweee.  and cramping in calf muscle argh. sounding like a whinger these  days.   

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. And missing water walking this week as my water walking buddy is currently recovering from hip replacement surgery.

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

Looking forward to:  growth scan next Thursday

Let's go for a drive...

I decided to take mum and Josh on a quick "surprise" drive tonight. Just told them to rug up and hop in the car. Lots of speculation as to what we were going to see, but no-one guessed right.

About 10 minutes later, we pulled up in One Tree Hill, outside the cherry blossom lane which is in full bloom.  So pretty!

 Here I am, sticking my puku out. This shot is for you Shaza.

 Mum and me. I love how tall I look next to her haha

And Joshyyyy x

Babies health update

So we had our usual fortnightly scan yesterday and here is the latest:

1. twin 1 is still smaller than average. Actually measuring about a week behind. But the blood flow through the cord is normal this week, which is positive news.
2. both babies still have prominent kidneys. TW1's is measuring 6mm and TW2's is measuring 8mm. So TW1 is at the very high end of normal and TW2 is bigger than normal. They still don't know what is causing this.

So basically, things haven't changed and so we are all still concerned. But not enough to put me in hospital and pump the babies with steroids. So that's good. Seems like my womb is still the best place for them.

However, my OB does want us to start having weekly scans now so we can keep a closer eye on them both. I'm still feeling very looked after, and definitely not as freaked out as I was 2 weeks ago.  Just trying to keep them inside as long as possible and I just keep hoping that they grow as much as they can.

I've banned myself from looking things up on google as it just gets me worked up. Instead, I'm going to try and put my feet up, lie on my left hand side and try and increase my protein intake.  These are some theories that people have tried out for IUGR, but have never been medically proven. I guess they can't hurt though.

Grow babies, grow! Especially you, twin 1!

Two things

that I am very excited about.

My lovely friends T and S are organising my very first baby shower. Such fun! Will be happening in a couple of weeks.

AND

My mum is arriving tomorrow hurrah! I can't wait.

24 weeks update

How far along? 24 weeks

Baby size: TW1 is 555g and TW2 is 622g at yesterdays scan.
Babies positions:TW1 is head down and TW2 is lying across my belly (up near ribs).

Total weight gain/loss: current weight is 57.85 kg.

Maternity clothes? Wearing maternity pants, tops and normal leggings these days.

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: Coming home from work and finding my living room and dining room looking completely normal! No more desk/stools/baskets/speakers. Woohoo! Thanks so much Joshy x
Movement: Feeling lots of kicks or little flailing arms, from both inside and outside. And occasionally feel a hard bottom or leg or head pressed up against my tummy.
Food cravings:  No real cravings at the moment.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing much :)
Have you started to show yet: Yes! No hiding it. Measuring about 4 weeks ahead at the moment.  
Gender: Uncle Steve has predicted girls, but still anyone's guess at this stage
Symptoms: Had a nosebleed the other night. 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. And missing water walking this week as my water walking buddy is currently recovering from hip replacement surgery.

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

Looking forward to:  my mum arriving this weekend yippeee!

23 weeks update!

How far along? 23 weeks

Baby size: TW1 was 400g and TW2 was 430g at last week's scan. Their sizes were not measured this week as the Professor thought it was too soon to look at that (even though I thought that was the whole point of this weeks extra scan...apparently not).
Babies positions: both babies are head down, lying head by head. Legs up near my rib cage :) So all those kicks that I've been feeling down there must have been hands or some serious  head moshing

Total weight gain/loss: current weight is 57.7 kg.

Maternity clothes? Wearing maternity pants, tops and normal leggings these days.

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: Going for the extra scan this week and being told that the babies kidneys are still "prominent" but within normal range now woohoooooo!
Movement: Feeling lots of kicks or little flailing arms, from both inside and outside. And occasionally feel a hard bottom or leg or head pressed up against my tummy.
Food cravings:  No real cravings at the moment.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing much :)
Have you started to show yet: Yes! No hiding it. I'm 23 weeks, but measuring same size as if I were 27 weeks with a singleton.
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. And missing water walking this week as my water walking buddy is currently recovering from hip replacement surgery.

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

Looking forward to:  Next weeks scan and finding out how much T1 has grown. Hopefully he/she has caught up to his/her brother.

Today was a good day

We had the follow up scan today with the Fetal clinic instead of with the Maternity clinic.  The difference is that my current clinic deals with mothers that have health issues (ie., me and my heart), whereas the fetal clinic mainly deals with fetus' that have issues. 

The professor and radiologists were lovely people, totally put us at ease. The only weird thing is that they told us that they weren't going to check the babies growth as it has only been a week, and that will be done during my usual scan (happening next week).  Instead, they were mainly keen to check out the kidneys.  I thought the whole point was to check their growth but oh well.

And hurrah, both baby's kidneys are within normal range! Still prominent (i.e. on the big end of normal), but NORMAL. We still don't know why they are so prominent, and so we will keep checking this at every scan and probably once they are born. But in some cases it just corrects itself. So hopefully we fall into that category.

The best news of all though is that the professor is pretty certain that the babies don't have Twin to Twin Transfusion syndrome. Which I actually didn't think they had, as I've been researching it all week and the babies don't seem to have any of the symptoms except that T1 is smaller than T2.  What I am now worried about is IUGR, which the doctors haven't mentioned yet.  But I'll ask them about it at next scan and fingers crossed that T1 doesn't have it, and is just a slow bloomer.

So there we go. Feeling a bit better, but still a bit worried about T1.  I can't wait for next weeks scan and hopefully its just all good news.

The hardest thing about the past week is that I'm starting to really understand what being a mother is really like. And I so don't feel ready. It's just heart-wrenching to think that something could be wrong and that I can't really do anything to fix it.  So much fear and worry and all this weight of feeling responsible for two little people.

But all in all, today is a good day.  After our scan, we went to visit my m-i-l who just had hip surgery yesterday. And she is doing awesomely!  Wiggling her toes, been for a little walk/shuffle and looking great! She'll be up and running in no time :)

And then we drove to the bach at Tindalls. One of my fave places in the world. And ate take away thai in the sun and walked on the beach and lounged on the deck.  So yay for the positive stuff and hopefully it keeps on coming our way :)

The weekend: Rotovegas and a baby shower

The 3 hour drive down was uncomfortable, but the rest of the weekend was fantastic! Lovely, comfy beds (twin beds, but we pushed them together and it was all good). Yummy breakfast was included (pancake stack, bacon, egg, hash browns, sausage, fruit and yoghurt yummmmmmm), and we got to have a luxurious swim in the outdoor heated pool. Felt like we were in tropical Fiji, until we got out of the pool. Then it was f-f-f-f-freezing. And smelly. But that's Rotorua for you.

We had a bit of a drive along the waterfront and walked through some of the wooded areas.

After a cruisy hour or two back at the hotel, we headed to The Luge for Josh's soundcheck.  All we had been told was that we had to be there by 4:30. And in typical J + K style, we got there at 4:30 exactly.

We got handed some wrist bands and were then shepherded onto the Gondola up to the top.

 Me and my cheese-ball of a Husband :)

Once we were up there, we got told that the soundcheck time had changed, and Josh and the drummer were in fact late. So we had to get on the Luge and hurry to the venue, which was halfway down the track. 

We quickly donned helmets, had our "go/brake" lesson and then we were off! Josh and Deano leading the way, with me yelling out "how do I know when I get there?" to which I was told "you'll just know". Right. Okay. That helps.


The ride down was so fun, but I quickly lost sight of the boys. And so I enjoyed the lovely scenic route, hoping like mad that I really would know the venue when I saw it. And sure enough, I did. I rounded a corner and spotted a white marquee with fairy lights twinkling amongst the trees. Oooooh so pretty and magical looking!

The soundcheck went well, and they managed to wrap up just in time before the client showed up. And then it was time to watch the All Blacks vs the Puma's on the big screen, followed by an interesting buffet and some music from Josh and Deano.  Thankfully, the event organisers arranged for a van to take me back down to the carpark after dinner, and so I got to relax back in the hotel room whilst the event carried on till after 1am.  Lovely, lovely day and night.

Sunday was a bit of a rushed affair - early wake up, buffet breakfast again and then back on the road to Auckland. We arrived back in time to attend Caroline and Jeremy's baby shower (boys and girls were invited). It was more like drinks and lunch in a pub, but they did have one baby-related game - we got to decorate a onesie each.

The talent in that room was amazing (lots of artists. and people that should be artists), so J + I had to resort to shock tactics to get maximum impact:

Unfortunately, our efforts weren't that well received. So whilst the winner hasn't been announced yet, I have a sinking feeling that we aren't even in the running...

On the flip side

I've been feeling so good and all the news has been good thus far that I guess I've started to take it all for granted. Unfortunately, yesterday's scan wasn't quite the happy feel good appointment that I am now used to.

The main concerns are:
1. T1 is 30 grams smaller than T2
2. The blood flow through to T1 isn't as good as the doctors would like, and is possibly the reason for T1's smaller size
3. They both have "more on the large side" kidneys, but T2's is now bigger (and possibly outside the normal range now. I forgot to ask)

All of these things could be nothing, or could be a sign of the onset of the dreaded Twin to Twin Transfusion syndrome, which is what they warn you about as soon as they tell you that your twins are mono/di twins (i.e., sharing a placenta but have their own amniotic sacs).  This is one of the scariest risks/complications of the type of twins that I'm having, so these were dreaded words.

However, the doctors say that all of these things can be explained away:

1. difference in size may not be much at all as the scans have a 10% error margin, and the babies were moving quite a bit during the measurements.
2. the blood flow may not have been great if T1 had yanked on the cord or rolled on it or whatever just before the scan
3. they both need to pee? Also, the doctors looking at my charts don't know the babies sex, and its not recorded anywhere but they asked our permission to find out at the next scan. Apparently, one gender is more likely to have larger kidneys or knowing the gender may go some way in explaining all this.

So yeah, some concerning things, but no real reason to worry just yet. Instead, I have to play the waiting game and we'll have another look at them next week instead of fortnightly. Fingers, toes, everything crossed that the babies are fine and growing healthily. Cos the doctors told me not to worry, and I didn't. Instead, I flipped straight to freak out mode. Frickin fantastic. I'm obviously going to be terrible in a crisis! Anyway, I'm going to go away this weekend with Josh and rest as much as possible and put my feet up and hopefully T1 has a growth spurt and catches up to his/her sibling by next Thursday.

Life these days minus all the baby talk

Argh, so I've turned into one of those annoying people that only talk about babies. But I'm not really like this in real life, I promise! I guess as the majority of my friends aren't in the baby making stage of life yet, if anything, I tend to avoid baby talk as much as possible and so this blog is a great place for me to let it all out.

But just for my own sake when I go to read these posts in months (years?!) to come, here are some other things that have been happening in my life:

• We got a heat pump installed about a month ago. I was really worried that our electricity bill would go through the roof.  I'm a real scrooge, and so we normally just sit around in jumpers and use hot water bottles. But it has been so damn cold this year that we've ended up using the heater alot. Anyway, I'm pleased to announce that the heat pump has actually resulted in a $100 cheaper electricity bill! YEAHHHHh! And Josh whinges alot less about being cold. And me being a scrooge. phew. And britney is loving the warmth.
• Josh got flown to Queenstown last weekend for a corporate gig. And stayed at the Hilton too. I was insanely jealous as I've never been. And he wouldn't let me go with him because he said it was a work trip. Gah! Instead, to make up for it, he's invited me along to this weekends out of town gig - in Rotorua. and we are staying at the Holiday Inn. Not quite the same Joshyyyyyy.  But I'll take it anyway.
• We got our bathroom renovated and it looks fabulous. The reno's ended up costing more than expected as we had to get a new extractor fan as the old one wasn't working so well. But it didn't break the bank (or us) and yeah, looks so much better.
• Celebrated Julie's 30th birthday party at Vivienne's flat in town. Was fun except everyone got insanely drunk and I felt a little lost at some point as I just didn't know where I fit in. But hey, I partied till midnight, even had a little boogie on the dance floor. And I outpartied the birthday girl, who was rugged up in bed by 10ish. At least she put herself to bed :)
• We did a bit of work in our garden and it actually looks good. Not so wild at the moment!
• Went to see the ballet last night with Vivienne, Nathania, Amy and Sarah. Lovely night out with the girls, and absolutely loved the sets. I think Sarah was inspired to arrange this girls night after I organised the viewing of "Magic Mike". Which was an awful movie but oooh the eye candy totally made up for it  :)
• Curry club with the usual crew is still going strong. Latest meetup was at "Little India" in Kingsland, arranged by Simon. Best curry we have had in a while.
• Been spending a bit of time at T, Siza, Ben and Geoff's place. Love hanging out with those guys.
• Currently reading the 3rd book of the "50 shades of Grey" trilogy. These books suck. How the hell did the trilogy become so popular?
• At one point last month, I had 2 different friends and my niece all in Hawaii all at the same time. And they were all posting photos on facebook and updating their status' with really jealousy inspiring updates. But my m-i-l got me a flash pedicure and manicure voucher. And OH MY GOSH, if I couldn't be in Hawaii, lazing by the pool/ocean in the hot sun with a cocktail in hand, then this pedicure was the next. best. thing.  I've only ever had pedicures in those little asian places in malls. Or in Bali/Vietnam. So I thought i would be in there for 1/2 hour max. and would end up with pretty toes. But oh no. THey took me to the massage room, which is such a relaxing spot. And i got to lie down with a tropical herbal tea, and pretty music and incencse. And the therapist massaged my feets and ankles and calves for about 45 minutes before painting my toenails. Pure bliss, I tell ya! I may even have dosed off.
• That's all that I can think of for now. Work is soooo quiet. If i wasn't pregnant and looking up pregnancy blogs or advice sites, I'd be going insane with boredom. But it's working for me in my current state. And actually I don't have that much longer to go before I go on maternity leave. CRAZINESS. Then, if all goes well financially, I'll be a stay at home mum for a year. Wow.

22 weeks update

How far along? 22 weeks

Baby size: TW1 is 400g and TW2 is 430g at this week's scan. The difference in size is getting a bit concerning, but hopefully its just one bigger baby than the other, and not a sign of something more serious.
Babies positions: both babies are head down, lying head by head. T1 is lower and curled up on my right hand side, whilst T2 is lying kind of diagonally across my belly (head more on the left hand side with legs on the right hand side)

Total weight gain/loss: current weight is 56.8 kg

Maternity clothes? Wearing maternity pants, tops and normal leggings these days.

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: Water walking and having a float on my tummy. As far as non-baby related stuff - really enjoyed curry club at Little India in Kingsland with the crew and Cinderella (ballet) with the girls last night
Movement: Feeling lots of kicks or little flailing arms, from both inside and outside. And occasionally feel a hard bottom or leg pressed up against my tummy.
Food cravings:  No real cravings at the moment.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing much :)
Have you started to show yet: Yes! No hiding it.
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:  our trip away to Rotorua and resting in the hotel room. And hopefully going for a swim in the heated hotel pool. And maybe even baby sitting little Ollie (Deano’s little boy).

Packed to the rafters

I woke up in the middle of the night as I had a strange sensation in my stomach. It wasn't sore; was more of a feeling of lots of pressure. I put my hands on my belly, and wouldn't you know it, right in the middle was a huge, hard bulge. Not like a little bottom or tummy as a baby rolled around, but more like both babies crammed in the same spot.   I rubbed it a bit and went back to sleep, only to be woken up again a bit later with the same feeling. Only this time it was on the right hand side of my stomach. I fell asleep with my hands on my belly, and left them to it.

Thankfully, by the time I woke up, my stomach was back to normal, so I guess they figured out who should go where. Be interesting to see where they are positions tomorrow at the scan.  Geez, the weird and wonderful things they get up to! 

Grumble grumble

I'm just going to put it out there - so far, I have enjoyed being pregnant. The pukiness of the first trimester is but a hazy memory, and now I love that people will pull out a chair for me or tell me I don't have to partake in the food preparations before a family event cos I'm pregnant (I still did make the food, and cleaned up too, just for the record. Unlike other family members that sat on their fat bottoms and acted like they were the guest of honours).  Or that I always get told to get first in line for food when we are lining up :).  And I feel good and I love feeling the babies kick and roll around in my tummy.

What I don't like is the fact that alot of people feel the need to talk about the size of my belly and haha isn't it funny how big I am going to get. Cos I'll be huuuuge and I wont be able to reach the steering wheel. Haha and I'll be so big I wont be able to get out of bed without Josh's help, and isn't it funny that I'll be so big that I probably will need assistance to get in and out of the shower.  And ooohhh we can't wait to see how big you get.  Actually, no, I don't find it funny. Not at all. I find it very scary actually, so much so that it makes me tear up thinking about it.  And I don't want to see how big I get.  Cos whilst they all sound like amusing scenarios for everyone else, they sound like a prison sentence to me. I mean, who wants to be so dependent on people cos their belly is so huge that they can't do simple things for themselves?  Maybe if they'd googled twin pregnancy bellies, they'd realise why I'm so terrified of the size I'll get. And if they googled post-twin pregnancy bellies, they'd be even more scared. But that's a whole other kettle of fish.

So yeah, that's my rant for the day. I know people don't say things to be mean, and I'm taking things too much to heart. But I do feel like people say things that they wouldn't dream of saying to someone that was just big from weight issues.

Luckily I have a very supportive husband that says all the right things. And I can still tie my own shoe laces for now. As long as I stretch my leg up and to the side. But that's just a minor detail.