Catch-up

It's been far too long since I updated the blog. Life just flies by so fast with twin babies.

Swimming
We have taken the babies swimming twice so far, both times to Langley Leisure Centre. LLC is one of the few places that has a dedicated baby and toddler swim time at weekends. Most pools are full of larger children at weekends so it's less appealing for little babies. I really liked the pool itself and the changing room te,temperature was very good but I'd like to try somewhere else next time as the water being 31 degrees was just a bit too cold for Carl so we barely managed 10 mins each time. Must try to research other pools soon.
Good news is though that they boy loved their swims. They both felt very comfortable in the water and moved around a lot. Both were happy to have their faces in the water and we did a little swim underwater both times which went very well. I really want to keep this up as a regular feature now that we've got the hang of the logistics of getting 2 babies and 2 adults in and out of the water in the least stressful way possible!

Cranial Osteopathy
We've been very concerned about Ella only turning her head to the right, never looking left and only rarely looking straight ahead. This resulted in her having a very lopsided shaped head with the right side being quite flat. It's called Flat Head Syndrome and is more prevalent in twins and babies who have been in incubators. Opinions on treatment differ from some doctors who say do nothing to those who believe in helmet therapy where the baby wears a helmet 23 hours a day. That was obviously not top of my wishlist. Our doctor said not to worry as it would eventually right itself but we weren't too happy with that as even the health visiting team thought it essential to check the neck muscles were OK. A large number of people suggested Cranial Osteopathy to me. I admit to not really knowing much about it or even what it was really but after so many recommendations I couldn't ignore it. We booked in for an appointment in Windsor and the osteopath immediately felt that Ella's neck muscles on one side were extremely tight. A 30 minute session later and Ella was looking straight ahead and to the right in equal measures. The second session this week now has Ella looking left as well and one more session next week should be the last one. We have also been using Mimos pillows that help align her head favourably and her head shape is SO much better now. In comparison with other people who I know have experienced this issue, I feel C.O. has got us a solution in the most timely manner and at a fairly reasonable cost. Carl has also had 2 sessions to try to improve his digestion issues but we're not seeing much improvement in him yet. He does however have a Paediatric Consultant appointment on Thursday (finally) so we're hoping they may have some answers for us to help him with this.

Baby Incredible Years /  Funeral of a dear friend
I have been given the opportunity to take part in a 9 week course along with the babies called Baby Incredible Years. It's run by the children's centre and is entirely free. The first session was this morning and I met some other lovely mums and their babies. The course itself felt a bit basic today, a tad patronising i.e. parenting for dummies but apparently that's just the first session and it should get better. Dan will be going in my place next week as sadly I will be attending a funeral in Scotland so Dan is the stay-at-home dad for 3 days. RIP Marlene. It's a shame you didn't get to meet the twins. We'll all miss you.


Twins Group
As well as the privately run Gemini group near Maidenhead that we have attended, the local children's centre has a special Stay n Play session on a Friday for multiples. We've been twice now and I have to say I really like it. It's very chilled and only a few families attend so it's nice in that we can have a good chat. Most babies there are under a year so they are not to far apart in age. We have a play and a chat and I look forward to these sessions very much. Hoping Dan will take them next Friday in my place.

Back to Work
I went back to work last Saturday, examining at the University of Reading. Dan looked after the babies and sent me a photo during the day. It proved to be a great photo for challenging friends and family on Facebook to try to identify which baby is which! They really are starting to look alike, especially as Ella is now catching up and putting on a good amount of weight.

 Can you tell who is who? Please do feel free to comment at any time. Apparently the comments section wasn't working at first but it should be now. We'd love to hear from you.

Weights
They are due to be weighed this week but it's not easy to get to the clinic as I have things on including my NCT reunion which I'm really looking forward to. SO these weights are 2 weeks old now. Carl - 10 lb 15 oz (4.98 kilos) Wearing 0-3 months clothes and Size 2 nappies Ella - 9 lb 5 oz (4.24 kilos) Wearing Newborn clothes and Size 2 nappies

Vaccinations
2nd set done 1 more to go this year. Carl went off his food 2 days later for a couple of days. We're fairly sure it was due to the vaccinations. Got a bit worried about dehydration with him not taking any milk but he did then take some water and steadily increased his milk intake thankfully.

Developments
Both babies smile away now. Ella has smiled and chuckled all day today which is a massive difference. I do wonder if it is the release in tension from her osteopath session yesterday. She's smiled non-stop and snuggled in for cuddles more than she ever used to. A much happier baby today all round.

This week has also seen both babies working on hand-eye co-ordination. They've started taking a lot of notice of the toys that hang on their bouncer chairs and have been trying to touch them constantly. Carl is working on using his hands to put his dummy back in his mouth too!

They have been sitting in their bumbos as you can see in the picture further up.

Carl looks as if he is about to roll at any time whereas Ella has pretty good head control.

Hoping to update more frequently but I have twins so who knows....

Happy New Year

Happy New Year 

from all of us.

We had a wonderful Xmas with 4 days of family gatherings and 2 overnight stays.

Having never taken the babies anywhere overnight before, we were rather shocked at how hard it was to fit everything we needed into the car. They're just little babies but the accompanying equipment takes up a lot of space. Thanks to the Copperdells and to Mum for allowing us to take over your houses with all our stuff - do you miss the smell of Milton now?

Anyway, the babies' 1st Christmas was wonderful. They were very spoilt and received lots of presents from family and friends.

I've only just finished putting things away. They've been dressed up as a penguin, a Xmas pudding, Mrs. Claus and in a Xmas tutu dress, (Ella of course). They've been held by all the family and have smiled, laughed and cried a lot.

The babies saw New Year in with us although Carl was asleep.Godparents Karen and Owen joined us and we sang Auld Lang Syne and thoroughly indulged. They weren't keen on our lie-in mind you but we insisted, getting up only for feeds.

We've managed to get a fair bit of work around the house done over the last couple of days which is great and will free me up to spend more time with the babies when Dan is back at work, rather than trying to fit that in around feeds etc. We've sorted out the cot bumpers and put their name posters on the wall (thanks Nanny Maureen).

Between the books I've been buying for them and those we've been generously given, Carl and Ella have quite a good library building up now. Can't wait until they learn to read!

Tomorrow we are planning on taking them for their first swim. Fingers crossed all goes well.

WEIGHT / CLOTHES SIZE
They have both been putting on weight despite fluctuating appetites due to the blocked up noses and sniffles brought by their colds. The last weigh in was on 22nd December and  Carl was 4.48 kilos / 9lbs 14 oz. Ella was 3.85 kilos / 8lbs 8oz. Carl is now moving into the next size of clothes (0-3 months) and Ella is moving up to Newborn. Carl now wears big boy clothes in the daytime and sleepsuits at night!

                                             

Merry Christmas to you all

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to be establishing our own family traditions for Christmas this year. Too many years have been spent wishing and wondering if and when we might be this lucky and now we are. To say we already have the best Christmas presents ever is such a cliche but so so very true.

Today (Christmas Eve) we had our Swedish Christmas at Nana and Grandad's house.

This time Ella wore a Christmas dress and Carl was the Christmas Pudding!

They both got plenty of attention from their cousins, aunt, uncle and grandparents...

I think we are now ready for our first family Christmas. Carl and Ella have a sack of presents ready for them and we've left out some treats for Santa and Rudolph. Mummy forgot to buy Rudolph's carrot so he will have to make do with a mushroom! I wonder if Santa likes Baileys?

Oh my goodness! Would you believe it? While I was writing this, Father Christmas must have come. Look what he left behind - filled stockings and presents left by the fireplace. I can't wait till the morning to see what's in them.

Oh and he did like the Baileys! Only half a mushroom eaten though...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL 

from

Karen, Dan, Carl and Ella

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

1st Christmas Party

We all attended the Gemini Plus Christmas party this morning, the first for the babies. It was fantastic with lots of friendly people, some new friends and 60+twins/triplets. Father Christmas came and we were all entertained by the Cheeky Monkey man. http://www.cheekymonkeyshow.co.uk/biography.htm

Carl and Ella met Fr.C for the first time and got a present from him. They weren't scared at all!

They looked fab in their Xmas outfits - Carl the penguin

and Ella the Christmas Pudding.

They are both smiling now. It's very hard to catch on camera but just occasionally....

All followed by their first night in the pub! I went to my book group's Christmas meal with the babies. They were well looked after with cuddles galore.

Carl and Ella get a mention in the local newspaper!

Carl and Ella get a brief mention in this news article

Weigh ins / Xmas prep / Vaccinations

I got discharged from hospital Sunday night and we made it to the Xmas Fayre. Old Windsor did get more people wearing Xmas jumpers than the previous world record did but Guinness doesn't confirm anything for many weeks so no-one really knows. We had a lovely time though with David and Saffy too and started to feel very festive.

The babies got weighed on Monday and as expected they are really putting on weight well now.

Carl is now 4.05 kilos (8lbs 15oz) and wearing Newborn/First Size clothes although it won't be long until he is in 0-3 I'm sure

Ella is now 3.25 kilos (7lbs 2oz) and wearing Tiny Baby up to 7lbs clothes. Again I don't think she has much longer left in them

We are getting ready for their first Xmas. Stockings and sacks have been purchased with their names on. Now I just need to find some time to wrap up some presents for them.

The tree is up thanks to some help from Mum last week and the lights seem to have been catching their attention.

Can't believe it's only two weeks away. I haven't even started writing cards.

Post has been arriving for the babies - how cute is that?

They had their first vaccinations today. Mum came to help which was very much appreciated. They both screamed and needed lots of cuddling but calmed down quickly too. They didn't seem too bad during the day but got a bit grouchy and clingy this evening. I gave them their first ever dose of Calpol - sure there'll be more to come over the years and they got quite sleepy. Fingers crossed it lasts through the night.

I have Swedish nursery rhymes stuck in my head from a CD we've been playing them in the car! Think I had better start playing the English versions soon too or they might get some strange looks when they start singing.

Busy couple of weeks

IIt's been a busy couple of weeks in many ways.

Think they have both had growth spurts. The last weigh in saw a big increase and they are getting weighed again on Monday with the Health Visitor. As of Thursday 27th Carl increased to 3.6 Kilos / 7lbs 15oz and Ella increased to 3.02 kilos 6lbs 10oz I expect Monday's weigh in to also show quite an increase. They are booked in for vaccinations on Tuesday morning which I'm a bit nervous about. Hope they don't get too distressed.

Here's a picture of them both sleeping in the chairs, both with an arm sticking up 😄 Ella is in the blue chair and Carl is in the multi coloured one.

From a practical point of view as they are both over 3 kilos now they can both go in the carriers which helps a lot. They are now I think too big to share a carrycot so we either take the buggy in its side-by-side configuration and risk the odd door here or there that we can't get through or we could have one in the carrycot and one in a carrier. I tried that this week and it worked ok but it was just a short distance. Not sure how practical it would be for long walks. 

I am thinking of purchasing a cheap tandem buggy so that if I know I'm going somewhere without a wide door (like the GP surgery) I can take them in that instead. I'm not a fan of these up and down types as I think one baby gets a raw deal at the back with not much view. I can imagine arguments over who sits in the front when they are older and I have a sneaky suspicion I know who would win! Any guesses? I have seen one I like on EBay for £60 so am tempted....

Achieved a few firsts recently. I have pushed myself to get out of the house and attend a couple of parent and child activities run at the local children's centre. I tend to spend a fair bit of time beforehand googling to figure out where I am going and what kind of buggy access they have etc. logistics are very important these days. So we went to a Nurture Group in Datchet which had lots of mums and babies on cushions playing with toys and Health Visitors around for any questions etc. I knew one mum and baby from NCT which was great and made it less daunting. Think the babies enjoyed the stimulation but seemed bemused at best at the singing section at the end. I need to start learning the actions to all these nursery rhymes. Then later in the week I braved another activity and took them to the Sensory Room in Eton Wick. Another fantastic free opportunity put on by the borough. So many sights sounds and things to touch. They seemed to enjoy it and I think it tired them out quite nicely! Ella in particular was fascinated by a big light tube thing with bubbles.

I bought the babies a Sit Me Up As they get bigger it will help them sit up as you can configure it in different ways for sitting support but for now I have it configured as a kind of day bed. They both love snuggling up in it and it's especially good for Carl as he can snuggle on his side which is better than his back for the reflux issue. 

They have been getting used to Dylan the dog too. 

He comes round on Tuesdays with Mum now. He likes to sit in between them both and if one cries he moves across and sits next to the crying one! If we don't come and attend to the crying one quickly enough he comes over to us and whines - very cute 😄

Sunday will see us go to the Old Windsor Christmas Fayre where we will hopefully meet Santa and help break a Guiness World Record. They are attempting to have the largest number of people in one place wearing Xmas jumpers. The current record is 634 and there was a failed attempt this week in Kent. We all have our jumpers ready. Dan's lights up, mine is simple and the babies have matching reindeer ones. Fingers crossed we beat the record.

That's if I actually make it though. As I type this I am sitting in bed in a ward at Frimley Park Hospital again hoping to get discharged later this morning. I had some pain developing just above the belly button since Wednesday but on Friday the pain became quite severe and I could feel a lump under the surface that was incredibly painful to touch. By the evening I was struggling to go from seated to standing especially if holding a baby. Once Dan got home I called 111 and was directed after a while to the out of hours GP. He referred me straight to the surgical team at Frimley and I was seen immediately when I arrived at A&E then admitted to the surgical ward early hours of Sat. Operation went ahead around 8pm Sat night and now, Sunday morning I am waiting for breakfast and the doctors to come to tell me what they did. They seemed to think it was a hernia but wouldn't know until I was under the knife. They also warned me I could well lose the belly button. I guess my bikini wearing days are long since over so it wouldn't really matter would it? 

Claire H if you are reading this, FPH has the most amazing A&E - like a private hotel! Think you should consider working here. Lots of military doctors here. My op was carried out by a Colonel!

Hoping I can update later with some positive news on the op and the Xmas jumpers. Wish me luck for a speedy discharge 😄