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 😄
