We did it!!

I’m sitting up, in a chair, about to eat breakfast in my hospital room! We did it, it’s done! We made babies! And our’s REALLY are the cutest babies on the planet!! No, really, they are. We didn’t even have to wait for them to get cute – the first glimpses we had of them over that surgical screen were pure cute, adorableness. And now I sit, and wait – knowing that no news is good news. They’re in the NICU you see, for monitoring, and to help them breath more stably. So i’ve seen very little of them while being hooked up to wires etc. Their dad on the other hand has been able to touch, talk to, and take pics and videos which he brings back to the room for me to enjoy.

But today, I’ll get to visit them properly, and there’s even talk of getting some skin-to-skin contact time! Oh what a thought! I think that’s when it’ll all sink in. I’ve been too distracted with pain and trying to sleep until now. I just want to hold them!!! Thank goodness for our little miracles – the next few days will be bumby, but I trust they’ll be just the start of this long and incredible journey we’re all embarking on. (Ok, enough cheesy metaphors! Let’s get this day started!)

Tomorrow’s the day!

Today, we had an almost normal, lovely summer day: I briefly went to the shops this morning, then headed home and spent the day with m incredible husband, sister and brother-in-law around the pool, and eating gorgeous braai (bbq) food and treats.

Looking at us, you’d never think we were about to welcome our gorgeous little ones into the world, in less than a day!  I’m grateful for the normalcy of our Sunday; I’m trying to burn it into my brain, to make sure we always try remember to keep our lives balanced, and ensure our, and our children’s lives are always filled with loved ones, family, fresh air, and happiness!

To my Little Ones,
I feel like I know aspects of your personalities already, but I can’t wait to get to know your unique characters and quirks, and watch you grow and become the incredible beings we’ve been blessed with! Thank you for all the wonder, happiness, love and beauty you’re bringing to our lives.  We’ll be honoured to meet you.. Soon, soon!

T – 3 days! (and bathroom reno in progress)

At this time in exactly three days, my hubbie and I will most likely be standing at the hospital reception, about to start filling out a plethora of paperwork, in order to check in for my caesar!  and I’m hoping that in a few hours after that, we’ll be the proud parents of two healthy babies, coo-ing and cuddling them, with our friends and family around us.

In the mean time, our bathroom has been taken over by a fabulous team of plumbers, builders, tilers and electricians in an effort to upgrade it by the time the babies come home.  Soon after we bought the house last year, we realised the bathroom was completely impractical. Next to no storage, very slippery floors, and a bath that was cracked and leaking. Not to mention the waste of space caused by the wall between the toilet and the rest of the bathroom.

Bath, and the basin unit which is the only storage

Original bath and towel rail area

But, as of yesterday, this is what we have instead:

Rubble from day 1 of bathroom demo

The wall is gone!

So excited for the end product – which should happen in the next 10 days!  Will post updates as much as possible – (when I’m not giving birth, that is).

And finally, we’re off to our final doppler (where they check blood flow, I believe) at the OBGYN this afternoon.  Hope the little ones are still ok.  I can’t help feel very protective towards our little boy, who is smaller and more squashed up than his sister.  I’m even more uncomfortable on that side – so I keep thinking “Just three more days, little ones – then you can stretch your cute little arms and legs!”

T – 7 days!

Ok, so this time next week my man and I will have been parents for a few hours already! It’s my hope that both our little ones will be doing well – all be it needing to be in NICU for a bit.
I also hope I’ll have managed to breast feed, and we’ll all have had a while to bond and get to know each others faces.
We both can’t wait to smell their little heads and check who got which family feature.

Today was my first day of maternity leave! The majority of the day was spent sorting out and following up on admin – health insurance authorization, nanny recruitment, baby room accessories, foreign birth registration enquiries etc. Also managed to squeeze in a much needed physio visit, and was lucky enough to get a visit from a friend sporting tiny baby and 0 – 3 month baby clothes for us. So grateful.

Yesterday we had our parents and my sister and bro’in-law over for lunch, and my MIL brought boxes and bags of baby stuff she got from a friend.

I really have my work cut out for me going through all these donated second hand goodies. But we’re very grateful.

And on top of all this, we have builders coming tomorrow, for the next two weeks, to reno our bathroom! Much needed – but certainly a tight squeeze in the Babies Timeline.

Wish us luck.

Newsflash! Babies are officially minus 9 days old!

Wow! We’ve just made such an overwhelming big step in our babies’ adventure.

Our scan yesterday (32 weeks) showed our little girl doing beautifully (about 2.3 kgs) but our boy’s growth has slowed significantly ( only about 1.7kgs), his fluid levels are way down, and he’s also all squinched up, whereas she’s beautifully stretched out. Poor little angels. So that sinched it – it was time to decide on the best caeser date.

After consulting the stats and giving it much thought, my doc finally decided to deliver on the crucial 34 week mark. Meaning we’ll be proud new parents on Monday the 16th Jan! Yikes! And wow!!

I’m surprised at how shocked and ‘slightly’ freaked out I suddenly am, but thanks to writing lots of lists and all the support we’re getting, I’m sure we’ll be fine!

Just in time then. . .  cause I’ve arranged a photo shoot for my gorgeous hubbie and I this coming weekend, to capture the special experience of us, expecting twins, on camera. I’m so pleased photographer Tiffany Burnham has agreed to help create this lovely keepsake for us.

Better get to bed now! Resting is meant to help these little ones grow lots!
I’ll blog every day in the run up to the big day, so watch this space!

Should waitrons have a say?

Twice in the last couple of weeks I’ve come across waitrons in Cape Town retaurants who’ve either questioned my meal order, or changed it slightly all of their own accord, due to the fact that I’m pregnant!

To illustrate – Firstly, at Maestro’s on Woodbridge Island – I ordered a smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich, and when the lady brought the food, she asked “Should you be eating raw fish?”!  I looked confused, and said “well it’s not raw, its smoked” and she said “Oh”, and walked away. (I must say I didn’t enjoy the meal as much as I could have -as I started doubting whether I should have ordered it in the first place – eek) .

Then at Woolworths at Willowbridge, I ordered a honey nut late, and when that waitron brought it, he said “they made sure to make it a decaf”!  To be honest, I was feeling so parched, with stupid pregnancy brain, that I didn’t have the energy to protest, and just accepted it. (Probably not a bad thing to have had decaf that day anyway – but still – my point stands).

So the question is – Are waitron’s infact trained to make suggestions, or infact change orders, based on their customer’s  ”condition”, or did I just come across two strongly opinionated members of the restaurant industry?

Your thoughts?

 

Amazing blogs – and two more sleeps till maternity leave!

I’ve been delving through a myriad of fabulous blogs, written by mum’s, dads, and soon-to-be mums and  soon-to-be dads.  I’ve lost track of the number of them that I’m now happily following, and my eyes are little red from the sneaky tears that keep making their appearance while I read. (**”No, I’m fine! Just something stuck in my eye” she exclaims when a colleague shoots a concerned look in her direction*** )

Not sad tears mostly – but tears of empathy and happiness!

What an amazing support base!!

I’ve learnt that, much to my surprise, there are women out there who have a man in their life that is “ALMOST” as amazing as mine  ;-) !!  And I’m reminded to show my guy how much I appreciate his unflinching support, the  ’brave face” (although this process can’t be easy for him all the time either), and his infinite patience and love!   I also really appreciated the very frank portrayal of a birth that didn’t go quite as expected – but still turned out wonderfully. Very re-assuring!

• http://themommyjourney.wordpress.com

I’ve discovered a blog by a man who seems to have such love and excitement about the imminent arrival of his daughter, that he’s taken the time to start writing down all those wise things he hopes to teach her.  Again, I see my husband’s emotions, protectiveness, and love in this blogger’s words! Wonderful !

• http://dearskylar.wordpress.com/

I’ve been learning so much from a mum of twin girls born just a few months ago, as she shares her experiences and photos (such CUTE clothes !)

• http://smilingwatermelon.com/

 

I’ve laughed so hard at the very honest posts of a mum who laments the not-so-romantic or pretty side of having babies – although clearly her heart is full of love – and a sense of humour

• http://reasonsmommydrinks.com/

 

And one of the most adventurous blog reads I’ve encountered (including using Google Translate frantically to understand the French posts). This couple have had such a roller-coaster of a pregnancy and birth experience with their two little ones – and finally seem to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

• http://usplus3.com/

 

This is by no means the end of the list of blogs that I’m enjoying or learning from.  Just wanted to say, this beats joining any stuffy Twins support group, or trying to glean all this wisdom from books!

To all of you – thank you!  I can only hope that the experiences I share on this blog help, or at least re-assure other parents that they’re not as crazy or alone as they might feel.

New hair – and serious preggie ankles!

Happy facts of today:

* I’m nearly 32 weeks along – and our twins are still growing well, it seems!

* Today was the last work day of 2011

* I finally went for a great hair cut and colour:

     –  Hubbie tells me the twins are gifting me my fab new hair! (I’m not complaining – just wondering where they’re stashing all this cash!)

* I get to rest and put my feet up now that the new year’s long weekend is here!

* Only four more days at the office till my maternity leave starts!

The only down side of the day: I’m feeling more preggies than ever, and my ankles are suddenly so swollen it hurts:

Thank goodness for all of the previously mentioned happy facts then!

Happy new year! And check back for our next scan update after the 6th Jan! Can’t wait!

Christmas treats!

I’m like a kid with a new toy, except I’m an adult with a new toy! A new Samsung Galaxy tab from my awesome hubbie!

Oddly enough I had been saying to him on Christmas eve that I’d like to be able to post blog entries with lots of pics of our babies while on maternity leave, but my current phone/camera/laptop scenario wasn’t very compliant, so I was considering upgrading one or more of them. Turns out my love had been on the same wave length, and my gift was already wrapped and waiting for me under the tree!

Hence my first post from the WordPress Android App!

Today my lovely sister and bro-in-law have been slogging away painting our baby room! (doing nearly any activity standing up is near impossible at the moment for me, thanks to the pelvic pain I’ve been experiencing), so I’ve been lounging around trying not to look as spare as I feel!

We did manage to get a bit of fun in the pool squeezed in though.

What an awesome day! Thanks guys!

30 Weeks – with a few surprises and milestones

We’ve reached the big ’3′  ’0′!!  30 weeks pregnant that is!  And we’re all healthy and wriggling and growing fast.

The surprise came when we went for our scan at 29 weeks to check that the growth of our little boy had caught up with his sister.  Good news: It has!  Surprising news:  My body is doing all sorts of magical things that means it’s getting read to give birth.. very soon!

Doc doesn’t think we’ll get further than 34 weeks!!   Seems the placenta is showing signs of maturity, and also the fluid levels in the uterus are down from what they should be.

So now we just hope and pray we can get as close to the big “2kg each” mark before they arrive! (as of last week Tuesday they were both a respectable 1.4 kg’s each).  The smaller they are when they’re born, the longer they’ll have to stay in ICU.

I must say though, I’m VERY grateful for living in Cape Town, South Africa, as I have complete faith that our medical system will care for and support our little ones – since we really have top notch care in most of our private hospitals.  So there again, I”m grateful I can afford the health insurance that will pay for their care.  (As annoying as medical insurance can be!)

The thought of having to leave the babies in the hospital for many weeks, possibly, was very sad and heart wrenching.  But a friend pointed out that it has its advantages.  She said that in hindsight, after their little one stayed in hospital for a few weeks after his birth, they had learnt SO much from the nurses!  They’d been able to learn to wash, change, feed and care for their baby, with the supervision of the nurses, AND still be able to go home and get a good nights sleep. By the time they welcomed their little one home, they felt like pro’s!  I like that idea!

So right now, every plan we make and expectation we have is totally in the hands of Fate/the Universe/the Big Kahoona.

We had planned our baby shower, but by the looks of things now, that might be the day before the ‘big day’!  Reschedule!

We’re off to the doc again on Thursday, so hopefully will get a clearer idea of how quickly we’re actually barrelling towards the start of our New Beginning!

Watch this space!