"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.