It's the final countdown!

30 weeks today and we're officially on the final countdown until these two little babies decide to turn up and share our lives. I don't know where the time has gone but I have a feeling the last stretch will probably drag as I'm struggling in the evenings now and generally very uncomfortable. I had an appointment with my midwife at just gone 28 weeks and my bump is already measuring "full term" of a single pregnancy. No wonder I'm aching everywhere and only set to get bigger! The twins are so active and I've had the amazing experience of watching bony little hands protrude through my tummy and trace backwards and forwards under my skin.

I've also had some frustrating moments with the Spanish healthcare system over the last week. First off I had yet another different midwife who again never bothered checking my notes. She almost fell off her chair when she measured the size of my bump and I thought she was about to send me straight off to the hospital, until I pointed out it's a twin pregnancy. Why don't they check these things? She then tried to locate the heartbeats and couldn't find one, even though there are two in there! It was obvious they were fine as my tummy was kicking out while she tried to find them, but still she insisted on trying. Not happy she then got the scanner out and reassured herself they were ok... After the appointment I went to book myself in for another set of appointments for 3rd trimester bloods, blood pressure control as I'm at risk of high blood pressure due to my pregnancy with Bella and finally an Anti-D vaccine which I was assured would be ordered in for me.

The Anti-D vaccine is because my blood type is Rhesus negative. It's important to have it administered around the 28 week mark. My appointment was arranged for yesterday so a little late but at least I was getting it. After having my blood pressure control I waited half an hour with Bella in tow for the vaccine only to be told they'd given it to somebody else! This was after they thought I was there for a tetanus shot... I can't believe the health centre doesn't hold at least one spare vaccine in stock. I asked what would happen next and they said they'd have to order another one which would take approximately 2 weeks due to the holidays. I feel it's absolutely ridiculous to make a person with a high risk pregnancy (who is at risk of bleeds and early delivery) wait until 32 weeks for a vaccine which should have been given at 28! I ended up arranging to have it done privately which I'm not happy about but I don't want to put my babies at risk. I feel a complaint coming up.

Anyway, it's Christmas Eve and after a few worrying moments earlier with the onset of some contractions, everything is calm and tranquil now and I'm looking forward to sharing tomorrow with my gorgeous family. The last one as a family of 3! Bella will be so spoiled tomorrow and I'm getting so excited, and maybe a touch nervous too ;)

Wishing a Merry Christmas to all my blog readers and I will be back posting on Thursday with an update from a 3D scan, hopefully with some lovely photos.

3rd Trimester I welcome you!

Here I am today at 28 weeks and have just been to the hospital for a scan. I have to confess I was very nervous about the one today as I've had pain and bruising on one side of my bump and was worried something was wrong. Apparently it's nothing to do with the babies or placentas coming away so must be down to the relentless cough that I have, pulling all my muscles.

We had a lovely sonographer who was very kind and patient, the first I've come across on the social system! Both babies are doing very well and are now measuring identically at 27 weeks and 5 days. Twin 1 is 2lb 4oz and Twin 2 is 2lb 5oz. That's a whole lot of baby weight to be carrying around already! The downside of todays scan is that both twins have turned breech and are happily sitting there with their heads together wedged under my ribs. I just hope I can get these little ones to turn back again by the next scan at the hospital in a months time. I have a private 3d scan booked for 30 weeks to have a last decent glimpse of them, so maybe I'll have some good news then. In the meantime it's back to the spinning baby techniques of inversion, muscle relaxation, crawling around on all fours (which I do spend a lot of time doing with my daughter anyway!) and maybe the odd bag of peas on the top of my tummy as you never know!

All in all, a big relief for me today and I'm just so thrilled that both babies are so content. Chances of survival outside of the womb rocket up to 90% at 28 weeks. I found out the hospitals procedure on when to deliver today and if Twin 1 is head down and both babies are growing well then they will leave me until I go into labour naturally... any guesses on when that will be?!

Now I'm off to fill party bags, ice Bellas birthday cake and make her Daddies ready for their party tomorrow!

Happy 2nd Birthday Princess Bella!!!

It's amazing where the time has gone but the love of my life turned 2 today. It's hard to believe I was laying in the hospital 2 years ago suffering through a 36 hour labour desperate to meet my little bundle of pink delight!

The birthday girl had a leisurely lie in and then came downstairs to lots of "Wow's" as she discovered her new toys. We decided to go with a kitchen/food theme this year and bought a gorgeous little kitchen for her complete with fridge, microwave, oven, hob and sink. Apparently she was too busy for breakfast. "No mummy, I playing kitchens". She really got the hang of unwrapping presents this year, ripping off the paper with a "What's inside?". Of course she had a little practice the day before by helping to open her Daddys 30th birthday presents. We had to take a break a couple of hours later to get her to sit still and eat and drink!

The afternoon was spent as the toddler Christmas party at our local soft play where we discovered that Bella does not like Santa Claus one little bit. As soon as the big guy turned up ringing his bell she went in to hysterics, crying and screaming. We have been unable to mention him since or even show her a picture of him as she "No want Santa!!!" I wonder if that means I need to return all her presents to the store?

We're having a joint party on Saturday for her and her daddy so I will put together a photo slide show of the Bella turning 2 in a couple of days time.

Happy Birthday Princess!!!!

It's V Day!!!

Today I reached 24 weeks which if you've ever been pregnant you know it's one of the huge milestones where the babies become "viable". Not the nicest word to use, but basically means that if the babies came now they would have a chance of survival outside of the womb and more importantly this is where the medical profession actually care and do their best to save them, but lets hope these two keep cooking for a good while yet!

So, since my last post I'm transitioning from private health care with my all singing and dancing 3D scans to the free health care provided by the social security system. Private twin scans are expensive which was part of my reason for changing but I also feel I want to be registered and known by my local hospital now, rather than just turning up to deliver the babies on the day. It's a bit of a minefield here with lots of queueing up and form filling. I haven't seen the same person twice yet and it appears as though nobody really knows what the other is doing! In the last week I've had 2 different midwife appointments and the 24 week scan. Normally I love a chance to look at my babies but this was such a disappointing scan! I wasn't allowed to look at the screen while I was being scanned and when I tried to peek round at it, I got a telling off. I did get to look at both babies at the end of the scan for about 1 minute per baby, but the images were so rubbish I was hard pushed to know what I was looking at!

The good news is both babies are perfect. They are growing well with one measuring 2 days ahead of the EDD and the other 3 days behind. There is a difference in weight between them of 110g with Twin 2 being the bigger one. I'm relieved that one of the placentas which was covering the cervix at the 20 week scan has now moved up and twin 2 has turned from breech to head down the same as Twin 1 so at the moment I'm on schedule for a natural delivery :) The scan was such a relief after I had a horrendous stomach bug last week where I couldn't keep anything down, even water, so it was reassuring to know that neither baby has suffered because of it.

In the coming weeks I have 2nd trimester bloods to be taken, glucose tolerance test, anti D jab and the 28 week scan so busy busy! Time is flying by maybe a bit too fast... My bump is huge now so I must get round to uploading a couple of recent photos.

"Whoa, we're half way there...Whoa"

Yes, we are officially half way to 40 weeks today, although over half way until the babies are classed as term at 36 weeks. I'm now starting to feel regular kicks, some high and some low and Chris has even felt a few of them too. Whenever I pick Bella up one of them always starts kicking me. I don't know if it's under protest of their big sister squashing them or enthusiasm about wanting to say "hi!" Health wise I'm feeling great and have finally entered the "blooming phase".

Yesterday we went for the 20 week scan..the big one! This is the scan I have excitement and nerves over as they check every piece of anatomy and internal organ thoroughly to pick up any potential problems. It was a mammoth scan lasting around an hour and a half. The twins were assessed in turn and I'm delighted to say they are both absolutely perfect! Such a relief. They are growing well and Twin 1 is weighing in at 277g while Twin 2 is 295g. We had genders confirmed finally although I'm still not revealing until the big day! Twin 1 (the one who will be born first) is already in a head down position and Twin 2 is currently breech although it has plenty of time to turn. Apparently around 30 weeks I should have a clearer idea how they'll make their big entry to the world. We're just hoping for one placenta to move up out of the way of the exit! I also need to find out my hospitals policy on delivery dates and how long they'll let me go to.

The scans are nowhere near as clear as Bellas at the same stage as it really is just a jumble of limbs in my tummy at this point. I'm so happy I got the lovely pictures of them laying side by side at 12 weeks as they'll no longer fit on a screen together. We did come away with some cute shots of both their faces though:

Twin 1 - first born

Twin 2

I'm starting to feel as though this pregnancy is rushing by and they'll be here before we know it. Bella is slowly warming to the idea of the babies I think. Yesterday morning she came and laid her dolls rattle and a dummy on my tummy and said "for the babies" which was very cute but I think she's probably happier that they're in my tummy than in her home!

I feel at this point I also want to dedicate more of the blog to Bella and her progress as she is growing up so fast and I want to record every moment. She is so bright and smart and her vocabulary and sentence structure is coming on in leaps and bounds. She has started to put whole sentences together and yesterday used two sentences in a row. She came downstairs in the morning and said, "Good morning Jingle Jangles. Lets go play ball!" It sounds so funny hearing her speak like that. She also has a very posh accent and very english sounding. She gives us a running commentary on everything throughout the day. We make our way up the stairs and she's either counting or telling me what she sees. She still has a lot of confusion over up and down, and her colours can be a little mixed up but she can now count from 1 to 16 (that's the amount of stairs we have between each level) and can say the alphabet from A-Z. She sings most of Baa Baa Black Sheep and Twinkle Star. She is so affectionate and gives lots of "huggles" as she calls them with kisses while saying "I like mummy/daddy/Lola etc" She constantly amazes me and I couldn't be more proud of her.

I have a heap of photos to upload of her so will work on a slideshow of the last few months to show her recent changes.

16 weeks and going strong!

Today I'm 16+5 (where has the time gone?) and all is progressing well. We went for the routine 16 week scan on Monday to check the growth and state of play. Both twins are still absolutely perfect and growing well. The brain and heart are developing properly, the kidneys were visible, the spinal column showed no problems and all is looking good with the placentas. It is getting difficult to get clear images now as they are right on top of each other and I assume they will get more and more jumbled in there. It is still very overwhelming to see two babies swimming around. I am so in awe of them and what we have managed to create, but equally a bit scared about the enormity of it all!

I think the term often used is "twin shock". For some it goes away quickly and you adjust to the idea which I did initially, but the further into the pregnancy I get, I sometimes find myself thinking... oh.my.god! I worry about my bond with my existing little princess and how the arrival of the babies is going to radically change our family dynamics. Bella was my longed for and much awaited and anticipated first baby and our bond is very deep and strong. It is no secret how completely head over heels I am with her. At the moment it feels hard to imagine loving not just one but two more babies as much as I do her. I have spoken to some fantastic mummy friends (thank you girls!) who have 2 or more kids and have been assured that you just find even more room in your heart to love the extra ones without taking away from the others. A difficult thing to imagine right now, but my heart which currently belongs to Bella will be split 3 ways. How vulnerable am I going to be?!

I've had quite the emotional time in the last week with certain things troubling me, like the bonding with the new babies and the delivery. Scared just about sums it up! I've found out that I have to deliver in an operating theatre with a team on standby for any eventuality, which if that isn't enough to have a room full of strangers and highlight all the things that may go wrong, I have to do it alone. In Spain they have a policy of not allowing partners into the theatres for the delivery. I know it will only be a brief (hopefully) moment in time and we have the rest of our lives together as a family unit, but still I would have preferred Chris to be there. He does get to stay with me through the labour and I guess the last stages are a bit of a blur before the actual delivery but already it is playing on my mind. I think a new dose of double hormones must have kicked in this week as I find my eyes getting very weepy quite easily! Shares in kleenex anyone????!

Tell me, what's your flavour?

Last Thursday we went for an anomaly scan of the babies to see if there is any indication of potential genetic problems. Because we have non-id twins we were advised against the screening blood tests as they can throw out quite obscure results and also we would be unsure as to which baby had a problem, so we opted for the detailed scan instead. Both babies were thoroughly checked over, spending half an hour on each one where they were measured in length, head size, nasal bone, long bones, nuchal fold, heartbeats and valves checked, umbilical cord, abdomen, placentas, you name it, they were checked. I'm happy to say both babies passed with flying colours and it appears we have two very healthy little ones. They have both grown loads and my due date has been fast forwarded 4 days. I'm currently 13+2 as I write this.

My gynecologist loves to pride himself on early detection of gender so didn't hesitate in asking if we wanted to know. If it had been a single pregnancy I would have opted for the element of surprise this time round but being a twin pregnancy we decided that was surprise enough for us and that we need to know. After getting the all important shots between the babies legs in 2d and 3d we have been given a very clear insight into who we have entering our lives...and no, I'm not going to tell you! I feel nowadays in pregnancy we know so much about our little ones before they are even with us, so I would love for everybody else to have the surprise, even though we won't. Initially I thought I would divulge the genders but I have since decided that it would be far more lovely to announce upon their arrivals. Of course the speculation has started with the favourite being a "purple" bump of one boy and one girl, but is it? Or do we have a pink or blue bump?! Only another 6ish months to wait and find out ;)

In the meantime here are a couple of pictures. It was so lovely to watch them as they tended to mirror each other on movement and the way they laid: