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.