Final two weeks....

So only 2 weeks to go and I am absolutely fed up!!! I look like I'm carrying a beach ball up my dress and have gone from a 28 inch waist to a 45 inch waist..... argh!

 

I am getting lots of rest, sleeping loads and loads and pretty much spend all my time on the toilet! I constantly need to pee, honestly... all the time! It is worse at night and I am up literally every 1 hour to pee, so frustrating. The little bambinos move around a lot too which is quite uncomfortable. The big baby moves around a lot more than the smaller but I think that is due to the way they are positioned.

I'm busy getting everything sorted for their arrival as you never know when they might make an appearance. I am so glad we know the sex so we can actually plan everything.

Getting comfortable in clothes is a bit tricky now. I need the warm weather to come so I can live in maxi dresses. Everything else is so uncomfortable

As before whilst pregnant with Sienna, my heartburn is crazy. I luckily got a prescription from GP for Peptac which is the most amazing heartburn medicine! A godsend.

I took Sienna to her first dentist appointment, bless her. She was an absolute star and was so good,

Unfortunately Sienna's childminder Rachel is no longer able to have Sienna from end of July as she is going back to work so I need to find her a nursery quick sharp!! I think I am going to send her to Brightsparks where Ava goes and is only up the road. They can take her from Sept which means I will have her for whole of August, with newborn twins, yikes!! Lets home the weather is good so we can spend time in the garden.

Christening

7th September 2013

I didn't really want to get the girls baptized this early as I was still constantly exhausted and not really wanting to think about anything else but I felt pressured to do it as they need to be baptized before 6 months to get into a Catholic school. They preparation wasn't too bad as I had so much help from Mum, Frances and Chris, they were all fab. We hired a bouncy castle for the garden however the weather was awful, wet and freezing! It was a disaster!! The kids just got on with it but such a shame that we couldn't enjoy the garden. There were some sunny spells but still quite cold, in comparison to the gorgeous weather we have been having. To top it off Sienna was feeling under the weather and actually had an awful ear infection and needed antibiotics the next day.

The girls looked adorable in their matching Mama and Papas outfits and were as good as gold in the church.

Mum and I made an awesome cake. It looked fab but tasted rank, it was so heavy! Haha!

  

1st Two months

Well what an experience!!! Raising twins is HARD work!!! I have been lucky enough to have had Dan for a couple or weeks, then mum and then Frances on school holidays as I couldn't have coped on my own otherwise. A newborn baby is tough enough but having two of them really is double trouble, especially with a toddler around.

 

Sienna holding Cailtin and her kissing Georgie.

During the day is ok as the weather is good so I have the gazebo up in the garden and I put the twins in a moses basket asleep under there, Sienna has the paddling pool out and I sit in my sun lounger!! The twins are quite good at feeding and I feed them separately, which works. I am so lucky the weather has been good and that we made the decision to do the garden, it's so nice spending time out there!

The girls started sharing a moses basket in our bedroom but after a couple of weeks it was becoming a squeeze and they were quite noisy so we moved the big cot into our room. A week later we realised that they were so noisy during the night, snuffling away so we moved them into their room, still sharing a bed. Haha, relaxed patents or what.... 3 weeks and already in their own room. They advise that they stay in your room up to 6 months! It worked well as we only got woken when they actually needed feeding!

 
Georgie on right, Caitlin on left in both photos.

I'm doing the night feeds on my own now, Dan would usually do the 10pm feed then I do all the night feeds. They tend to only wake once a night, about 3am. I feed one then feed the other. Even if the other hasn't woken I still feed. The thought of going back to bed to only be woken an hour later for the other feed. I think people do it differently but its the Gina Ford way and it worked for Sienna and works for us now. I am so exhausted though, it's tough going!!! No one will understand that feeling when you are feeding one baby at 3am and look over and there is anther baby waiting to be fed.... it honestly is the most deflating thing in the world and many a time, I sit there and have a little cry to myself. I am lucky that once they have fed, they burp quickly and tend to go back to sleep quite quickly

I think being a twin and raising twins, you have to be very organised and very regimented otherwise you would not get a chance to do anything else. I think they babies grow up use to that and just adapt and understand they can't be cuddled every second of the day.

Sienna absolutely loves her little sisters, constantly kissing them and wanting to help, she loves it!

Georgie on the right, Cailtin on the left

Overall, its been ok, we're very tired. We're not enjoying it too much as it's sooooo intense but we are coping and getting through it. It's awful to say but are wishing their lives away as as they get older and bigger the easier and less demanding they should become (hopefully!).

Georgie & Caitlin's 1st week!

So after bringing the girls home after 3 days in hospital, I was finally in the comfort of my home with help around me (the staff at hospital were useless and it was so difficult trying to feed both babies as well as recover from a c section). 

Sienna at Nana's being told her baby twin sisters have been born!


 The identical twin sisters sharing a moses basket!

I got home and pretty much wanted to sleep! Mum and Dad came down for the day to meet the girls but I was so knackered I said hello and then went to bed. I didn't however remind Dan about how to steralise or prepare formula so the babies start crying, I'm asleep and Uncle Laul pops in.... perfect timing as Dan had to send him to shops to buy some ready made formula! Ha, his first trip down a baby aisle. Then back to ours to help with the feeds. They did a fab job though!

In the meantime, Sienna was sleeping and I had woken up, however due to my operation I was unable to pull myself up from the bed and I didn't have my phone to hand and couldn't shout for help as I would wake Sienna up. After about 15 mins I managed to maneuver myself to roll out of bed, in a lot of pain but I was up!!! 

I have been so uncomfortable for the last week, heavy bleeding (as always with childbirth) and having to wear Dan's old boxers as they were baggy enough and high enough so they didn't irritate my scar. Honestly, the most unflattering thing ever! 

The girls have been good, the first couple of weeks babies sleep quite a bit but having 2 babies is a handful. Both Dan and I are doing night feeds, so we are both knackered as they are feeding at 10pm, 2pm and 5am, then Sienna is up at 6.30am!!! Exhausted!!!!

D-Day!!

Happy Birthday Georgina Rose and Caitlin Olivia Hawkes!!!

Born on Summer Solstice 2013
Start Sign - Gemini (yikes!)

So.... natural birth over c-section.... discuss.....

The c-section process was actually very relaxing and less stressful than the natual way however the recovery is SHOCKING!!! I was in so much pain for the first few days that I was demanding morphine on top of the pain killers they were giving me. I was so sore to move and that with trying to sit up and care for teeny tiny twin babies next to my bed was a nightmare. They were understaffed (never go to hospital at the weekends) and they had about 32 babies on the ward. Note to self.... once they know you are bottle feeding and not breast, you get handed a couple of bottles and left to your own accord.....

 

Back to the c-section.... I didn't feel a thing! The spinal was similar to the epidural I had for Sienna and once that kicked in I couldn't feel anything. To the point that I had to ask Dan whether they had cut me open yet (he then looked and yep... felt pretty sick at what he saw...).

The whole process was very quick....

8.54am - first insition
8.58am - Georgie born
9.02am - Caitlin born
45 mins later - sewed back up

We spoke to the surgeon afterwards and said that we were surprised it was so quick. She told us that it was pretty slow and that she had pulled babies out from first insition to baby out in 30 seconds! WOW!

  
Cailtin in photo on left, Georgie in the right photo

I was moved to recovery for an hour where we got to cuddle our babies and that's where we chose which was which. The nurse handed the bigger baby to Dan and I held the smaller one. As Dan chose Georgie's name he had her, and I chose Caitlin! They were so small it was crazy and the fact there were two as well......

We were moved up to the maternity ward and given a private room (privileged of having twins!). Then the feeding and nappy changing began. It's funny how it all comes back how to hold a baby etc. It's all a natural thing really.

The epidural began to wear off after an hour or so but the morphine etc still kept the pain at bay. I had a catheter in so I didn't need to get up for the toilet. Later I realised that once the painkillers had worn off there was no way I could move to get to the toilet. I asked for the catheter to remain in overnight to help.

I get asked whether I would choose to have a c-section again, the answer is simple... No! Although everyone has different births, the recovery from the c-section was so long and painful, I would opt for a natural (with epidural) next time for sure. Actually, take that back.... we now have 3 beautiful girls and I can safely say we have no intention of producing any further children. We have done our part for humanity ;0)

Final days....

35.4 weeks

My c-section has been booked for Monday 24 June. Yippee! Scary times but glad I only have a few days to go. I need to get organised with all my hospital bags, Sienna with nana etc.

However..... I went to hospital week on Tues 18 June for blood tests and my final midwife chat in preparation for D-Day. I told them how I was experiencing ichy hands and feet. They were a little concerned so said they would call me when the blood results came back. I received a call later that day saying there may be a risk of OC (a condition on the liver). Another appointment was then booked for Thurs 20 June for further blood tests.

I had to attend the next appointment on my own as Dan couldn't take time off work. They did further blood tests and dropped a bombshell that my liver condition wasn't improving and although they can treat with medication the fact that babies are due Monday they move my section to Friday (TOMORROW!!!). I was in shock......

I couldn't sleep at all the Thursday night., I kept freaking out that the babies weren't moving (one of the risks of OC is stillbirth) and kept getting up and being really restless (not the ideal situation before giving birth!) All the doctor information was messing with my mind and I just wanted them out, safe.

We had organised for Sienna to stay with Nana for the weekend whilst I was in hospital and once the babies were here Dan could bring her up to meet them. Sienna, bless her then started getting a diarrhea bug and we decided it was best to keep her out of the hospital and away from the babies for the time being. I missed her so much whilst I was in hospital those 4 days.

The Wedding at Villa Palazzola

32 weeks pregnant

So I have managed to get to Rome, woo hoo! Well that's what I thought until I realised that travelling when heavily pregnant and carrying twins is not the relaxation I was after.....

To top it off, the weather in Italy was appalling, it was pretty much a English winter, cold, wet and miserable! We had seen this on the weather forecast before going but were hopeful so packed only for hot weather (and really the only clothes I could fit into were maxi dresses!). Bad move, we were totally unprepared and no where was selling jumpers as it was their 'Summer'.

My feet had swollen a ridiculous amount and walking around Rome didn't help either. I was knackered most days so it was early nights for me and in addition to all this Sienna came down with a cold and was so poorly she didn't really get to see much of the wedding day :0(

The wedding got moved from the Saturday to the Sunday as the weather was forecast to be better. This was the right option as the sun did shine for a while and we managed to have the wedding breakfast outside on the terrace which was the selling point of hing the place in the first place. A beautiful day but shame Sienna was ill to enjoy it. She spent most of the day in our bedroom asleep in her cot.

I am so glad I bought the Serephine dress as it was so comfortable and warmer than if I had gone for something different. Also glad I was wearing flat sandels!

Sienna was a bit poorly for the whole trip (again!! she always seems to be poorly on an event!). She slept a lot and wasn't the happiest on the wedding day. She looked adorable in her little dress though. Shame the weather was a bit nippy though :0(