As it's -2 degrees back home we thought we would head down to the beach for some fun today. Baby A and E have never experienced sand before. Not making the same mistake as last week in the snow we didn't try and take the stroller onto the sand so dear husband and I each carried a baby to the shore.
Tentatively Baby A put her feet down on the sand and climbed back to the safety of Grandma's knee. Daredevil Baby E climbed off my knee and crawled along the sand as if she had done it many times before. Not only did she crawl at a rapid speed towards the huge expanse of sea but she tried to eat the stones, rubbed the sand in her hair and I just managed to grab her before she put a dirty cigarette butt into her mouth. Looking on and realising how fun this was Baby A finally climbed down off Grandma's knee and crawled at the same speed in entirely the other direction.
Whilst I was busy concentrating on the babies I was unaware of the drama unravelling behind me. Boy in the middle had brought a giant inflatable football on holiday with him specifically to bring to the beach. Dear husband took the ball and kicked it towards boy in the middle only the wind blew it towards the sea. The ball landed on the sea and gradually floated away from boy in the middle. Dear husband waded into the sea to try and get the ball, only the further in he went the faster the ball floated out to sea. Tears started to trickle down boy in the middle's face and so dear husband promised to retrieve the ball. The sea was rather cold, he had no swimwear on and a wallet in his pocket.
The ball floated further and further away and Baby A and E were still trying out the beach delicacies. On the rocks a little way out in the sea we spotted a man with a canoe. Dear husband approached the man and explained the problem of the ball. By this time it was so far out to sea we could barely see it and boy in the middle was now making louder and louder sobs.
Then like a guardian angel, canoe hero jumped in his boat and canoed out to sea at an alarming speed. Whilst I was still trying to brush sand from 4 hands in order that Baby A and Baby E could have an edible snack, boy in the middle came charging back up the beach with a huge smile and his huge beachball.
Who knew there could be so much drama from a simple outing to the beach!
Welcome to Surround Sound Parenting - Two became 4 - The ups and downs on life with four kids including identical twin girls.
Sunday 26 December 2010
Saturday 25 December 2010
Always take a bottle with you!
We travelled out of England to get away from the snow and to celebrate the babies first birthday with their family in Israel. There are many parts of my outward journey that I could have chosen to blog such as the nightmare in the airport where security insisted on us collapsing the double stroller to put it through the x-ray machine or how we passed the time at Luton with a 4 hour delay, but the highlight of my journey had to be worth blogging.
We lucked out on the plane and managed to get 5 seats between the 6 of us and we had only paid for 4. When we came to land boy in the middle sat by the window and Baby E and I sat in the middle next to him. Eldest daughter, dear husband and Baby A sat on the row in front.
With plenty of warning that we were going to land we put all the toys and dvd's away, got out a sweet to suck, strapped ourselves in and looked forward to landing. Then with 15 minutes until landing I heard the word every parent dreads hearing at a time like this "Mummy I am desperate for a wee". "Too bad" I reply, "You should have gone when I told you to". "But I'm desperate". Dear husband who was so happy to be on the row in front just having to deal with eldest daughters blocked ears advises distraction techniques. I try all sorts of topics of conversation but my ears are hurting me by this time and baby E really wants to practice standing up.
Eventually when I realise the only alternative is going to be wetting himself I suddenly notice the small empty mineral water bottle in the seat pocket in front of me. Ok needs must. I explain to boy in the middle what is going to happen. He isn't sure. I explain there is no alternative and that no one need know what is happening.
He gets up, we remove the lid, he wees and he really was desperate. As I fear that the bottle may overflow, he stops and relief beams out from boy in the middle. He is no longer in agony and he is rather proud of his achievement. He sits back down, I breathe a sigh of relief as there was no accident and no-one noticed what was happening. About 5 minutes later the plane touches down and we are happy to have reached our destination. As the seatbelt sign switches off, boy in the middle is excited to take off his seatbelt. He grabs the bottle before I realise what he is doing, holds it high up in the air and proudly tells his daddy, his older sister and half the plane how great is was to wee in a bottle!
We lucked out on the plane and managed to get 5 seats between the 6 of us and we had only paid for 4. When we came to land boy in the middle sat by the window and Baby E and I sat in the middle next to him. Eldest daughter, dear husband and Baby A sat on the row in front.
With plenty of warning that we were going to land we put all the toys and dvd's away, got out a sweet to suck, strapped ourselves in and looked forward to landing. Then with 15 minutes until landing I heard the word every parent dreads hearing at a time like this "Mummy I am desperate for a wee". "Too bad" I reply, "You should have gone when I told you to". "But I'm desperate". Dear husband who was so happy to be on the row in front just having to deal with eldest daughters blocked ears advises distraction techniques. I try all sorts of topics of conversation but my ears are hurting me by this time and baby E really wants to practice standing up.
Eventually when I realise the only alternative is going to be wetting himself I suddenly notice the small empty mineral water bottle in the seat pocket in front of me. Ok needs must. I explain to boy in the middle what is going to happen. He isn't sure. I explain there is no alternative and that no one need know what is happening.
He gets up, we remove the lid, he wees and he really was desperate. As I fear that the bottle may overflow, he stops and relief beams out from boy in the middle. He is no longer in agony and he is rather proud of his achievement. He sits back down, I breathe a sigh of relief as there was no accident and no-one noticed what was happening. About 5 minutes later the plane touches down and we are happy to have reached our destination. As the seatbelt sign switches off, boy in the middle is excited to take off his seatbelt. He grabs the bottle before I realise what he is doing, holds it high up in the air and proudly tells his daddy, his older sister and half the plane how great is was to wee in a bottle!
Monday 20 December 2010
Wheels don't turn in the snow
I hadn't been out all weekend. At 12.30pm today I bundled eldest daughter and boy in the middle into Grandpa's car to go and see a couple of hours of seasonal pantomime and eat too many sweets typically allowed on an outing of this nature.
The snow had fallen very rapidly on Friday and Saturday but my dear husband and eldest two kids had been out yesterday and relayed that they had seen a number of strollers out and about. The sun was shining and baby A and baby E were screaming as they are cutting yet more teeth and so I wrapped them up in extra sweatshirts, snowsuits, blankets and a raincover to keep out the wind. In my mind I would assemble the stroller outside in the street and carry out each laughing happy baby in turn and strap them calmly into the stroller. In reality two screaming babies were headbutting the floor so I took baby E and popped in her pacifier. With one hand I opened the stroller in my hallway and I got baby E into her seat only needing to push her arching back down so I could strap her in. I then repeated this whole procedure with baby A.
I grabbed my baby bag, hat and coat and warmed up the leftover soup that was in the fridge which I could drink from the tupperware on my way. I then managed to get the stroller through the doorway into the snow. Cursing my husband for not having cleared the driveway I got the stroller down the two steps. I gave a push but there was no chance of it going forward through this much snow. I went round to the front and dragged the stroller out to where the road used to be and I tried to wedge the wheels between the tyre tracks.
I started off for the shops. The sun was still shining and the babies were still crying. The stroller couldn't go at its usual pace. I walked down the centre of the road with great difficulty. I stopped after a few minutes to have a slurp of the warm soup and considered turning back. This had to be my most ludicrous outing I have been on since the twins were born. However I am a very determined person and I still had to get two babies to sleep so I ploughed on. I reached the main road and found the snow on the pavements to be more compacted so the pushing was easier.
In years gone by I have loved watching the snow fall and heading out in my wellies to build a snowman with my kids. Never before have I really paid too much attention to the consistency of snow. Today however I veered towards the dark slushy unappealing stuff as the wheels turned through this with no problem. The white fluffy snow had to be avoided.
At times I found myself pushing the stroller through a snow consistency similar to sand. I would never dream of pushing a stroller along the beach so why on earth had I ventured out today? I did reach the shops and got my essential supplies of bread and baby wipes. I was amazed that the local shopping park was still full of snow and I couldn't get my stroller from the road up onto the pavement without the help of a kindly passer-by.
A normal trip to the shops and back can be done within an hour which gives me time to clear up the house while Baby A and Baby E sleep on in their stroller. Today it took me two hours and as we neared home they awoke and the crying began again.
As I am writing this I can see a few more flakes of snow falling. Clearly I won't be venturing out again for a while as my stroller obviously isn't designed for these conditions. On the plus side, Baby A and Baby E did have a great sleep in the fresh air and I had a great workout but I have just remembered that I must go and remove the plastic tupperware from the bottom of my baby bag and pour away the cold soup.
Saturday 18 December 2010
How wide is a doorway?
Surely this has to be an easy everyday task. It was freezing cold yesterday but I had two crying babies who desperately needed a sleep and we had run out of bread. I figured I would wrap the girls up with snowsuits, blankets, mittens and the rain cover and take them on a short walk down the road to the local bakery.
We made it out of the house into temperatures of -1 degrees. Baby A insisted on pulling off her mittens in between sobbing. Every few metres I stopped to put the mittens back on or cover her with the blanket. For some reason she was rather determined to have her hands exposed to the elements and they became colder and colder. Baby E was altogether better behaved and kept her mittens on under her blanket.
I battled against the cold and reached the steamed up windows of the bakery. I pushed open the door and took in the fabulous smell of freshly baked bread. With both girls still awake and Baby A still screaming I tried to push the stroller through the doorway. All those inside, quietly sipping a mid morning coffee, turned to see who was disturbing their cappucino.
I got the stroller half way through the doorway but no further. For some reason I couldn't get the back wheels in and it seemed to be too stressful to continue so I reversed. Not wanting to leave the girls outside on their own I asked the owner to put 2 loaves of bread in a bag for me. I pulled out a £5 note and put my arm through the doorway to give it to him. Meanwhile I held open the door for a lady to pass through with a single stroller. She entered in a far more refined manner than I had attempted.
I waited in the cold and out came the owner with my bread and change. As I was fumbling to put my change away the door opened once more and I held it open for the lady with the single stroller to exit. She didn't even thank me. I however am forever profusely grateful for anyone who holds open a door for me and my girls even if we don't always make it all the way through.
We made it out of the house into temperatures of -1 degrees. Baby A insisted on pulling off her mittens in between sobbing. Every few metres I stopped to put the mittens back on or cover her with the blanket. For some reason she was rather determined to have her hands exposed to the elements and they became colder and colder. Baby E was altogether better behaved and kept her mittens on under her blanket.
I battled against the cold and reached the steamed up windows of the bakery. I pushed open the door and took in the fabulous smell of freshly baked bread. With both girls still awake and Baby A still screaming I tried to push the stroller through the doorway. All those inside, quietly sipping a mid morning coffee, turned to see who was disturbing their cappucino.
I got the stroller half way through the doorway but no further. For some reason I couldn't get the back wheels in and it seemed to be too stressful to continue so I reversed. Not wanting to leave the girls outside on their own I asked the owner to put 2 loaves of bread in a bag for me. I pulled out a £5 note and put my arm through the doorway to give it to him. Meanwhile I held open the door for a lady to pass through with a single stroller. She entered in a far more refined manner than I had attempted.
I waited in the cold and out came the owner with my bread and change. As I was fumbling to put my change away the door opened once more and I held it open for the lady with the single stroller to exit. She didn't even thank me. I however am forever profusely grateful for anyone who holds open a door for me and my girls even if we don't always make it all the way through.
Wednesday 15 December 2010
Let's stick with the stroller - car seats seem too complicated
As every parent with more than one child knows there comes a time when it is necessary to convert a car seat from it being used by a toddler with the car seat belt over it back to its original state with 5 point harness intact. My Britax car seat has been sitting in the corner of my hallway for the past couple of weeks and I have been trying to ignore its presence. I dread the exasperation and sweat and arguments that are going to come with re-converting this back so one of our baby girls can use it.
At the start of this week baby A and baby E were happily playing and so I rooted around in the utility room to find the straps, instructions and dvd to equip me in my quest. Being a mummy of 4 and having a basic understanding of car seats and baby equipment I thought I would have a go without looking at the instructions. That was abandoned after a couple of minutes. Not being able to find any instructions in English I popped the dvd into my machine. Now I remembered why I was dreading this task. The only instructions available on the dvd are how to convert it from the baby 9kg set up to 18kg and from 18kg to 36kg. What the manufacturer hasn't factored into these instructions is when you need to convert it back from usage by your 5 year old to your 1 year old again.
The only option I can imagine is to watch the first lot of instructions on rewind pausing to reconstruct the strap system.
My car seat is currently sitting in the corner of the kitchen now with one strap half connected. The dvd has been removed from the machine and replaced with Mary Poppins. I have also realised that it needs a thorough clean with a packet of baby wipes in order to remove the ingrained breadsticks and fruit winders from the shoulder straps and buckles. This job is going to take longer than I imagined.
Since I have twins and require 2 car seats I have decided that I may just order a second identical seat which will come with all the straps fitted to the correct requirements and then I can put them next to each other in the kitchen, arm myself with the Polish instructions and dvd and I am sure my original car seat will be back together in a matter of minutes!
At the start of this week baby A and baby E were happily playing and so I rooted around in the utility room to find the straps, instructions and dvd to equip me in my quest. Being a mummy of 4 and having a basic understanding of car seats and baby equipment I thought I would have a go without looking at the instructions. That was abandoned after a couple of minutes. Not being able to find any instructions in English I popped the dvd into my machine. Now I remembered why I was dreading this task. The only instructions available on the dvd are how to convert it from the baby 9kg set up to 18kg and from 18kg to 36kg. What the manufacturer hasn't factored into these instructions is when you need to convert it back from usage by your 5 year old to your 1 year old again.
The only option I can imagine is to watch the first lot of instructions on rewind pausing to reconstruct the strap system.
My car seat is currently sitting in the corner of the kitchen now with one strap half connected. The dvd has been removed from the machine and replaced with Mary Poppins. I have also realised that it needs a thorough clean with a packet of baby wipes in order to remove the ingrained breadsticks and fruit winders from the shoulder straps and buckles. This job is going to take longer than I imagined.
Since I have twins and require 2 car seats I have decided that I may just order a second identical seat which will come with all the straps fitted to the correct requirements and then I can put them next to each other in the kitchen, arm myself with the Polish instructions and dvd and I am sure my original car seat will be back together in a matter of minutes!
Monday 13 December 2010
First day out in London on public transport!
Following our successful acting debut in October our agent called and said that there was an audition for an SMA advert that she would like the babies to go to. I was told it was in Leicester Square so my first thought was no way. How would I get all 3 of us to Leicester Square? More details were sent through and swayed by the fact that if they got picked they could earn a seriously large amount of money I looked into how I would get them there.
The audition was on a Thursday and hesitant as I was to miss my great weekly twins club I decided that actually a day out in London could be fun. The audition was at 11am so I could get the tube after 9.30am and be back in time for the school run.
I packed my giant baby bag with jars of breakfast cereal, nappies, wipes, bibs, spoons, snacks, more wipes, spare clothes, more wipes and had everything ready by the front door the night before. In the morning the arrangement was that all 6 of us would leave home together at 8am and drop off oldest daughter and boy in the middle at school on the way and then we would carry on to my husbands office and Oakwood tube station.
The morning mayhem was nothing unusual on this particular morning and having fed the babies milk but no breakfast we were all strapped into the car by 8.10am. The day continued as usual with some fighting in the back row of the car, followed by us arriving late to school and signing the late book. At least the babies could stay in the car with dear husband whilst I rushed the other two into school.
With the babies asleep we continued our journey to Oakwood and parked the car outside my hubands office. I then took out the double stroller, loaded in the two sleeping girls, arranged my bag on the back and headed off to buy my post 9.30am travelcard. It's amazing how exciting it becomes to pick up a free copy of the Metro which I haven't read for several years, having not travelled on the tube for ages.
The main reason I opted to take the Piccadilly line from Oakwood to Covent Garden was because there are elevators at both stations. What a brilliant idea. So waving goodbye to my dear husband with promises that he will meet up with me in town for lunch before his meeting in the city I head off to get the lift to the platform. It worked, down we went, in pulled the train, on we got - no worries at all. The babies now wide awake had their breakfast and remained happily fascinated by their surroundings. They sat like little dolls all the way. As is usual we got chatting to a man who had 14 year old triplets one of whom was with him. On nearing Covent Garden he offered to help me out of the station but I mentioned the elevator and that I should be fine. We got off the train and headed for the exit. As we rounded the corner we were faced with a steep flight of stairs up to the elevator. Brilliant. Luckily father of triplets was just ahead of me and kindly assisted me up the steps. Then we were out in Covent Garden. It was only 10.15am and I felt rather chuffed with myself. How hard could this day be?
We pottered about the shops for a while. Baby A had a little moan and got out of the stroller to gaze in wonder at this lovely fairy shop that we found. I resisted the temptation to buy lots of presents for my oldest daughter and we continued on to Leicester Square. I figured I would be early for the audition so I carried on and found the building in Leicester Place. I reversed my stroller up the two steps to the main entrance and pushed the buzzer. The door opened and I took the stroller inside. In the foyer which was just large enough for my double stroller there was a glass door with a sign on it saying that anyone with a stroller should take the elevator to the first floor. Through the glass door I could see a large flight of stairs ahead of me. Feeling like I was in some weird Alice in Wonderland realm I searched for another door to a lift. All I found was a broom cupboard. Leaving the babies where they were I checked out the flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs there was the elevator - brilliant. By this time there were 3 other mums with single strollers all trying to maneouvre passed my giant double stroller in the foyer. Baby E by this point was screaming and inconsollable. Now I had to act fast. I removed my bag from the stroller and took it up the steps and left it outside the elevator. I decided I would take the girls out and then get the stroller up the stairs. Briefly forgetting that this was impossible I lifted baby A and baby E into my arms. The screaming from them stopped and then I wondered what to do with my stroller.
In walked a man to the building. "Do you work here?" I said. "No, I've come for an audition" he replied. "Well do you mind helping me? I need to get the stroller up to the lift". They say there are lots of guardian angels around. Here was mine. Not only did he lift the stroller up the flight of stairs, he put my bags back in it, called the elevator, pushed the stroller in, and accompanied me all the way to the first floor. I left the stroller and headed to an empty seat in order to remove the hats, snowsuits and cardigans from the girls and my own coat, scarf, hat and gloves. I headed over to the reception desk with a baby under each arm. I was given a clipboard and 2 forms to fill out and I had to hold each baby so they could be photographed. I didn't even have time to remove all the snot and breakfast from their faces when they were photographed and I had all those wipes in my bag. I headed back to sit down and put the girls down to crawl on the floor. I filled out their particulars and then scanned the room. There was only one other set of twins there and all the rest were single baby girls of various aged. What I found a little unfair was the adult child ratios of all the other people round the room. Most of the Mums had brought a proud grandma with to help as well!
There were quite a few babies in the room and I really didn't fancy hanging around for hours to be auditioned. The studio door opened and out came a girl with a clipboard who was clearly in charge as she took in a Mum, Grandma and baby combination. I kept my eye on the door as the next time she came out I said "Do you want some twins in now?" In we went, queue jumping the other 10 or so people already there. Having cleaned their noses I went in and introduced them. They had to sit on the floor and be cute. Having been strapped into their stroller all morning they were so relieved for freedom that they crawled all over the place, checked out the toys, climbed over each other and were extremely cute. I apologised to the director that they weren't wearing beautifully ironed dresses with bows in their hair like all the other babies sitting outside, but I did stress that I had come by myself with two babies. They all seemed taken with the girls and they thanked me very much after watching them for 3 minutes and asking me various questions and that was it, we were done. Now I had to exit the building.
A proud Grandma came to my assistance. Obviously she was a twin and had twin sons - I seem to attract twins now. She helped me get the girls back into their snowsuits and then the receptionist called on another member of staff to meet me at the bottom of the elevator so I could get the stroller back down the flight of stairs. I made it out onto the street, feeling ever so slightly exhausted and checked the time. 11.15am. Part of me wanted to call up my dear husband and just go home, but hey I was in central London with my girls and we decided to have fun. We walked up to Regent Street. Baby A fell asleep and missed out on a fun filled hour in Hamleys. Baby E and I had a great time. We pulled all the pre school toys off the first and second shelves on the 2nd floor, we tipped out the build a bear clothes from the boxes on the 1st Floor and we played with the large soft animals on the ground floor. Then it was my turn to shop with both girls back in the stroller and sleeping peacfully I managed to pick up a few items of clothes for myself before lunchtime. I met dear husband for a spot of lunch before he had to head off to the city so he escorted me to Piccadilly Circus to take the Piccadilly line back to Oakwood to the elevator that would take me back to street level.
The return journey wasn't as fun on the train. The girls both had their milk but took it in turns to get out of the stroller, sit with me, cry, be sick and complain. It was approaching 3pm by the time the train pulled into Oakwood so I was on time for the school pick up. I got off the train, headed for the elevator and then I saw the dreaded sign "Out of order"! There were 2 options. One was to sit down and cry, and the second was to head up the two giant flights of stairs with the stroller. There was a large crowd of people getting off the train so I headed for the stairs where a kind man offered to assist me up the stairs.
Now if you have ever had to carry a stroller up a flight of stairs you will know that the person at the back does all the hard work as you basically have to lift the stroller above your head so that it can stay level as you go up the stairs. I now had 3 bags of shopping plus my baby bag on the bag. 2 girls inside weighing 7.5 kilos each and the weight of the buggy. All I can say is thank goodness the girls were strapped in. They went up the stairs pretty much upside down. Thanking the kind stranger at the top of the stairs I felt relief to be almost at the car. I left the station but stopped abruptly as it was torrential rain by this time so I had to fumble around putting the raincover on.
Somehow we made it to school. I was late as usual and completely exhausted. I got home and collapsed. Had it been worth it? Well parts of the day were fun. The girls were so happy to be home they stayed up playing until 9pm that night. They hadn't really used up any energy that day.
As I write this blog I realise that today was the day that was set aside for filming the SMA advert at the London Aquarium. After my major day out in London, and the girls performing so well in the audition, we never even got the part!
The audition was on a Thursday and hesitant as I was to miss my great weekly twins club I decided that actually a day out in London could be fun. The audition was at 11am so I could get the tube after 9.30am and be back in time for the school run.
I packed my giant baby bag with jars of breakfast cereal, nappies, wipes, bibs, spoons, snacks, more wipes, spare clothes, more wipes and had everything ready by the front door the night before. In the morning the arrangement was that all 6 of us would leave home together at 8am and drop off oldest daughter and boy in the middle at school on the way and then we would carry on to my husbands office and Oakwood tube station.
The morning mayhem was nothing unusual on this particular morning and having fed the babies milk but no breakfast we were all strapped into the car by 8.10am. The day continued as usual with some fighting in the back row of the car, followed by us arriving late to school and signing the late book. At least the babies could stay in the car with dear husband whilst I rushed the other two into school.
With the babies asleep we continued our journey to Oakwood and parked the car outside my hubands office. I then took out the double stroller, loaded in the two sleeping girls, arranged my bag on the back and headed off to buy my post 9.30am travelcard. It's amazing how exciting it becomes to pick up a free copy of the Metro which I haven't read for several years, having not travelled on the tube for ages.
The main reason I opted to take the Piccadilly line from Oakwood to Covent Garden was because there are elevators at both stations. What a brilliant idea. So waving goodbye to my dear husband with promises that he will meet up with me in town for lunch before his meeting in the city I head off to get the lift to the platform. It worked, down we went, in pulled the train, on we got - no worries at all. The babies now wide awake had their breakfast and remained happily fascinated by their surroundings. They sat like little dolls all the way. As is usual we got chatting to a man who had 14 year old triplets one of whom was with him. On nearing Covent Garden he offered to help me out of the station but I mentioned the elevator and that I should be fine. We got off the train and headed for the exit. As we rounded the corner we were faced with a steep flight of stairs up to the elevator. Brilliant. Luckily father of triplets was just ahead of me and kindly assisted me up the steps. Then we were out in Covent Garden. It was only 10.15am and I felt rather chuffed with myself. How hard could this day be?
We pottered about the shops for a while. Baby A had a little moan and got out of the stroller to gaze in wonder at this lovely fairy shop that we found. I resisted the temptation to buy lots of presents for my oldest daughter and we continued on to Leicester Square. I figured I would be early for the audition so I carried on and found the building in Leicester Place. I reversed my stroller up the two steps to the main entrance and pushed the buzzer. The door opened and I took the stroller inside. In the foyer which was just large enough for my double stroller there was a glass door with a sign on it saying that anyone with a stroller should take the elevator to the first floor. Through the glass door I could see a large flight of stairs ahead of me. Feeling like I was in some weird Alice in Wonderland realm I searched for another door to a lift. All I found was a broom cupboard. Leaving the babies where they were I checked out the flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs there was the elevator - brilliant. By this time there were 3 other mums with single strollers all trying to maneouvre passed my giant double stroller in the foyer. Baby E by this point was screaming and inconsollable. Now I had to act fast. I removed my bag from the stroller and took it up the steps and left it outside the elevator. I decided I would take the girls out and then get the stroller up the stairs. Briefly forgetting that this was impossible I lifted baby A and baby E into my arms. The screaming from them stopped and then I wondered what to do with my stroller.
In walked a man to the building. "Do you work here?" I said. "No, I've come for an audition" he replied. "Well do you mind helping me? I need to get the stroller up to the lift". They say there are lots of guardian angels around. Here was mine. Not only did he lift the stroller up the flight of stairs, he put my bags back in it, called the elevator, pushed the stroller in, and accompanied me all the way to the first floor. I left the stroller and headed to an empty seat in order to remove the hats, snowsuits and cardigans from the girls and my own coat, scarf, hat and gloves. I headed over to the reception desk with a baby under each arm. I was given a clipboard and 2 forms to fill out and I had to hold each baby so they could be photographed. I didn't even have time to remove all the snot and breakfast from their faces when they were photographed and I had all those wipes in my bag. I headed back to sit down and put the girls down to crawl on the floor. I filled out their particulars and then scanned the room. There was only one other set of twins there and all the rest were single baby girls of various aged. What I found a little unfair was the adult child ratios of all the other people round the room. Most of the Mums had brought a proud grandma with to help as well!
There were quite a few babies in the room and I really didn't fancy hanging around for hours to be auditioned. The studio door opened and out came a girl with a clipboard who was clearly in charge as she took in a Mum, Grandma and baby combination. I kept my eye on the door as the next time she came out I said "Do you want some twins in now?" In we went, queue jumping the other 10 or so people already there. Having cleaned their noses I went in and introduced them. They had to sit on the floor and be cute. Having been strapped into their stroller all morning they were so relieved for freedom that they crawled all over the place, checked out the toys, climbed over each other and were extremely cute. I apologised to the director that they weren't wearing beautifully ironed dresses with bows in their hair like all the other babies sitting outside, but I did stress that I had come by myself with two babies. They all seemed taken with the girls and they thanked me very much after watching them for 3 minutes and asking me various questions and that was it, we were done. Now I had to exit the building.
A proud Grandma came to my assistance. Obviously she was a twin and had twin sons - I seem to attract twins now. She helped me get the girls back into their snowsuits and then the receptionist called on another member of staff to meet me at the bottom of the elevator so I could get the stroller back down the flight of stairs. I made it out onto the street, feeling ever so slightly exhausted and checked the time. 11.15am. Part of me wanted to call up my dear husband and just go home, but hey I was in central London with my girls and we decided to have fun. We walked up to Regent Street. Baby A fell asleep and missed out on a fun filled hour in Hamleys. Baby E and I had a great time. We pulled all the pre school toys off the first and second shelves on the 2nd floor, we tipped out the build a bear clothes from the boxes on the 1st Floor and we played with the large soft animals on the ground floor. Then it was my turn to shop with both girls back in the stroller and sleeping peacfully I managed to pick up a few items of clothes for myself before lunchtime. I met dear husband for a spot of lunch before he had to head off to the city so he escorted me to Piccadilly Circus to take the Piccadilly line back to Oakwood to the elevator that would take me back to street level.
The return journey wasn't as fun on the train. The girls both had their milk but took it in turns to get out of the stroller, sit with me, cry, be sick and complain. It was approaching 3pm by the time the train pulled into Oakwood so I was on time for the school pick up. I got off the train, headed for the elevator and then I saw the dreaded sign "Out of order"! There were 2 options. One was to sit down and cry, and the second was to head up the two giant flights of stairs with the stroller. There was a large crowd of people getting off the train so I headed for the stairs where a kind man offered to assist me up the stairs.
Now if you have ever had to carry a stroller up a flight of stairs you will know that the person at the back does all the hard work as you basically have to lift the stroller above your head so that it can stay level as you go up the stairs. I now had 3 bags of shopping plus my baby bag on the bag. 2 girls inside weighing 7.5 kilos each and the weight of the buggy. All I can say is thank goodness the girls were strapped in. They went up the stairs pretty much upside down. Thanking the kind stranger at the top of the stairs I felt relief to be almost at the car. I left the station but stopped abruptly as it was torrential rain by this time so I had to fumble around putting the raincover on.
Somehow we made it to school. I was late as usual and completely exhausted. I got home and collapsed. Had it been worth it? Well parts of the day were fun. The girls were so happy to be home they stayed up playing until 9pm that night. They hadn't really used up any energy that day.
As I write this blog I realise that today was the day that was set aside for filming the SMA advert at the London Aquarium. After my major day out in London, and the girls performing so well in the audition, we never even got the part!
It's all in the act
I love my kids and never considered signing up my first two to do any modelling or child acting. However I was intrigued to come across a twin agency when the girls were small. It cost me nothing to sign them up so I did. I thought nothing of it until I was asked to send a recent photo of the girls in early October 2010.
As a result I spent 5 brilliant days in late October with Baby A and E who were picked to play the part of one 10 month old baby girl in a 5 part ITV drama. The filming was all local to my house and on day 4 I even got to play the part of a WPC who had to rescue the baby from the house.
On the final day of filming which was a Sunday we had to film at our local police station. All 6 of us arrived early and we had a great time educating the oldest 2 children on the film set. We were really interested and excited to see how everything is done and the kids were keen at first but then were even happier when we took them to the petrol station next door to purchase them each a packet of crisps.
The girls both took part in the filming. Baby A did days 1,3 and 5 and baby E did days 2 and 4 which turned out to be larger scenes each time so they both had an equal go at acting. They had to be wheeled in a prisine single pram with brand new toys - not very authentic considering the baby was 10 months. There should have been some breadsticks and fruit bars squashed into the straps at the very least! Baby E had her nappy changed on a kitchen table and got to be held by me, the WPC who rescued her from her on screen mother who had just pushed her on screen father down the stairs and accidentally killed him.
It looks set to be a rather gripping violent drama series called Injustice and we look forward to seeing it on tv some time next year.
As a result I spent 5 brilliant days in late October with Baby A and E who were picked to play the part of one 10 month old baby girl in a 5 part ITV drama. The filming was all local to my house and on day 4 I even got to play the part of a WPC who had to rescue the baby from the house.
On the final day of filming which was a Sunday we had to film at our local police station. All 6 of us arrived early and we had a great time educating the oldest 2 children on the film set. We were really interested and excited to see how everything is done and the kids were keen at first but then were even happier when we took them to the petrol station next door to purchase them each a packet of crisps.
The girls both took part in the filming. Baby A did days 1,3 and 5 and baby E did days 2 and 4 which turned out to be larger scenes each time so they both had an equal go at acting. They had to be wheeled in a prisine single pram with brand new toys - not very authentic considering the baby was 10 months. There should have been some breadsticks and fruit bars squashed into the straps at the very least! Baby E had her nappy changed on a kitchen table and got to be held by me, the WPC who rescued her from her on screen mother who had just pushed her on screen father down the stairs and accidentally killed him.
It looks set to be a rather gripping violent drama series called Injustice and we look forward to seeing it on tv some time next year.
Saturday 27 November 2010
Flying easyjet as a family of 6!
Summer was approaching and we were all looking forward to our month long trip to Israel to visit my sister and her family and staying with my parents. Flying is always going to be a great joy with kids so I had blocked out the thought of the journey until a few days before hand. Having twins meant that I couldn't fly on my own as 1 adult is needed per baby. In the past I have flown out before dear husband and then he has joined us midway through our holiday. This time however, dear husband flew out with us for the weekend and then came home for 10 days and then returned for a 2 week holiday and then we would fly back together. Sounded simple!
I wouldn't say looking back any particular part of the journey was awful. Dear husband dropped me and the babies off at the terminal and then went to park the car and bring the luggage to the terminal. As we could no longer fit 6 of us and 3 suitcases in our car, eldest daughter and boy in the middle came with Grandma N. They didn't arrive at the airport for ages. Although we know she doesn't like to use the motorway to get to Luton we wondered how it could possibly be taking so long. When they did finally arrive boy in the middle was draped in her cardigan and his pants as he had been car sick on the way! We unpacked some shorts for him to wear from the suitcase and would have to try and buy him a sweater in the airport - first crisis averted.
We went to check in. Having refused to pay for speedy boarding but having checked in online we still had to wait to drop off our luggage. Holding one crying baby and boy in the middle who was looking a little pale we asked one of the staff if he could help and I think to get us out of the way he happily ushered us to the front of the queue - second hurdle achieved!
Upstairs in the departure hall I fed two babies, changed two babies, bought boy in the middle a rather expensive sweater from Monsoon, bought some water and then we headed off for the departure gate. On arriving at the alloted gate we were greeted by a flight of steps to go down and no lift. With the large amount of travel bags and carrier bags we had accumulated dear husband found a member of Easyjet to assist us in getting the babies (1 of whom was asleep) down the steps. 3rd challenge achieved.
At this point eldest daughter needed the toilet so I ran with her back up the stairs half way around the airport to the toilets and back again. We were then all checked through and filtered into the queue for those travelling with children. Challenge 4 - done!
The way Easyjet works is that there are no tickets so first come first served. On the day we travelled in early August it happened to be torrential rain. Once the plane was ready all those who had paid for speedy boarding went on first and made a dash to the plane in the rain. Then it was our turn. Now the only logical way really was for dear husband and I to each hold a baby, collapse the stroller, pick up all the bags including pulling boy in the middle on his trunki and head to the plane. However, due to the rain we decided against this. We decided that dear husband would take the older two onto the plane, get some seats and come back for me. We checked this with Easyjet groundcrew who agreed this would make sense. Little did they know that the staff on the plane wouldn't let dear husband off once they had checked him in.
I waited in the gate hoping the rain would stop as I had to leave the stroller under the plane and also so that the girls wouldn't get soaked getting to the plane. Gradually the passengers boarded the plane but there was no sign of dear husband returning. Finally I noticed a lady sitting reading her book in the hall. Sensibly knowing she would get a seat she had decided to board last as didn't want to rush. She took great pity on me and offered to help. So I put a coat on each girl, took all the bags off the back of the stroller, took the girls out of the stroller, collapsed it and loaded the bags on my back. I then left the stroller with the Easyjet crew and made him promise he would take it to the plane for me. Finally this kind lady ran with one of the girls and I followed. We made a dash up the stairs and onto the front of the plane. 5th major hurdle overcome!
Thanking this lady profusely she passed the baby over to one of the crew so she could find a seat. I spotted dear husband at the far end of the plane and then I stood with my head hanging out of the door waiting to check the stroller made it to the plane. The two guys sitting on the front row of the plane smiled up and me and said "We're twins - it's lots of fun". By this point I just wanted to sit down, dry off and reach our destination.
With the stroller added to the pile under the plane I headed down towards dear husband with the stewardess. Then it happened - the one thing I hadn't considered at all. Once dear husband was holding a baby and I was holding a baby we became completely and utterly helpless. Not realising how reliant I had become on my stroller it was a fun 5 hours. Every time we needed something from the overhead locker it entailed me holding both babies and dear husband getting stuff down, or dear husband passing one baby to the kind lady behind. When one of the other children needed to go to the toilet a baby had to go with or again be held by the lady behind.
Between the 6 of us we managed to cover the plane in fruit puree, drop crisps all over the floor, colour on the flip down table, crawl down the central aisle at a great speed and generally keep everyone else sitting near us wide awake.
The plane was on time and we were so relieved to land and reclaim our damp stroller as soon as we got off the plane. It was a long time to be away from the stroller but we had made it!
Our return flight was rather similar to our outbound flight but we were now wiser and packed our travel bag lighter. Why I had ever decided to put my own book in our rucksack on the outward flight was just wishful thinking on my part. Flying home at night meant that once both babies had been fed they actually each slept on us for most of the flight. Little did we know that the biggest struggle was yet to come.
We landed and waited until everyone else was off the plane as the babies were asleep. We both struggled to put a sling on to carry the babies in. We had one traditional sling which dear husband successfully wore and carried a baby in. I had the other type of sling which is a giant piece of stretchy material which you tie around your body and then pop the baby in. I wore this daily when boy in the middle was a baby and was rather proud of my ability with this. In order to put the sling on though you need rather a lot of room around you, not the few inches available on an Easyjet plane. I gave up and carried the baby with me thinking it was a short walk through to passport control. We had landed at 11pm in early September, and clearly another 10 planes had also landed. We stood in the queue to get through passport control for 1 hour! With no staff around to take pity on us we just had to stay in the queue and put up with it. Boy in the middle was pulled along on his trunki, and the rest of us were grumpy and complained. Finally when we were nearly at the front of the queue a member of staff saw us, and told us that we should have just come to the front with so many children!!
We handed over our passports, rushed through to claim our luggage and were relieved to finally be reunited with our unbroken still in one piece double stroller!
When we travel Easyjet again in December we will be so much wiser!
I wouldn't say looking back any particular part of the journey was awful. Dear husband dropped me and the babies off at the terminal and then went to park the car and bring the luggage to the terminal. As we could no longer fit 6 of us and 3 suitcases in our car, eldest daughter and boy in the middle came with Grandma N. They didn't arrive at the airport for ages. Although we know she doesn't like to use the motorway to get to Luton we wondered how it could possibly be taking so long. When they did finally arrive boy in the middle was draped in her cardigan and his pants as he had been car sick on the way! We unpacked some shorts for him to wear from the suitcase and would have to try and buy him a sweater in the airport - first crisis averted.
We went to check in. Having refused to pay for speedy boarding but having checked in online we still had to wait to drop off our luggage. Holding one crying baby and boy in the middle who was looking a little pale we asked one of the staff if he could help and I think to get us out of the way he happily ushered us to the front of the queue - second hurdle achieved!
Upstairs in the departure hall I fed two babies, changed two babies, bought boy in the middle a rather expensive sweater from Monsoon, bought some water and then we headed off for the departure gate. On arriving at the alloted gate we were greeted by a flight of steps to go down and no lift. With the large amount of travel bags and carrier bags we had accumulated dear husband found a member of Easyjet to assist us in getting the babies (1 of whom was asleep) down the steps. 3rd challenge achieved.
At this point eldest daughter needed the toilet so I ran with her back up the stairs half way around the airport to the toilets and back again. We were then all checked through and filtered into the queue for those travelling with children. Challenge 4 - done!
The way Easyjet works is that there are no tickets so first come first served. On the day we travelled in early August it happened to be torrential rain. Once the plane was ready all those who had paid for speedy boarding went on first and made a dash to the plane in the rain. Then it was our turn. Now the only logical way really was for dear husband and I to each hold a baby, collapse the stroller, pick up all the bags including pulling boy in the middle on his trunki and head to the plane. However, due to the rain we decided against this. We decided that dear husband would take the older two onto the plane, get some seats and come back for me. We checked this with Easyjet groundcrew who agreed this would make sense. Little did they know that the staff on the plane wouldn't let dear husband off once they had checked him in.
I waited in the gate hoping the rain would stop as I had to leave the stroller under the plane and also so that the girls wouldn't get soaked getting to the plane. Gradually the passengers boarded the plane but there was no sign of dear husband returning. Finally I noticed a lady sitting reading her book in the hall. Sensibly knowing she would get a seat she had decided to board last as didn't want to rush. She took great pity on me and offered to help. So I put a coat on each girl, took all the bags off the back of the stroller, took the girls out of the stroller, collapsed it and loaded the bags on my back. I then left the stroller with the Easyjet crew and made him promise he would take it to the plane for me. Finally this kind lady ran with one of the girls and I followed. We made a dash up the stairs and onto the front of the plane. 5th major hurdle overcome!
Thanking this lady profusely she passed the baby over to one of the crew so she could find a seat. I spotted dear husband at the far end of the plane and then I stood with my head hanging out of the door waiting to check the stroller made it to the plane. The two guys sitting on the front row of the plane smiled up and me and said "We're twins - it's lots of fun". By this point I just wanted to sit down, dry off and reach our destination.
With the stroller added to the pile under the plane I headed down towards dear husband with the stewardess. Then it happened - the one thing I hadn't considered at all. Once dear husband was holding a baby and I was holding a baby we became completely and utterly helpless. Not realising how reliant I had become on my stroller it was a fun 5 hours. Every time we needed something from the overhead locker it entailed me holding both babies and dear husband getting stuff down, or dear husband passing one baby to the kind lady behind. When one of the other children needed to go to the toilet a baby had to go with or again be held by the lady behind.
Between the 6 of us we managed to cover the plane in fruit puree, drop crisps all over the floor, colour on the flip down table, crawl down the central aisle at a great speed and generally keep everyone else sitting near us wide awake.
The plane was on time and we were so relieved to land and reclaim our damp stroller as soon as we got off the plane. It was a long time to be away from the stroller but we had made it!
Our return flight was rather similar to our outbound flight but we were now wiser and packed our travel bag lighter. Why I had ever decided to put my own book in our rucksack on the outward flight was just wishful thinking on my part. Flying home at night meant that once both babies had been fed they actually each slept on us for most of the flight. Little did we know that the biggest struggle was yet to come.
We landed and waited until everyone else was off the plane as the babies were asleep. We both struggled to put a sling on to carry the babies in. We had one traditional sling which dear husband successfully wore and carried a baby in. I had the other type of sling which is a giant piece of stretchy material which you tie around your body and then pop the baby in. I wore this daily when boy in the middle was a baby and was rather proud of my ability with this. In order to put the sling on though you need rather a lot of room around you, not the few inches available on an Easyjet plane. I gave up and carried the baby with me thinking it was a short walk through to passport control. We had landed at 11pm in early September, and clearly another 10 planes had also landed. We stood in the queue to get through passport control for 1 hour! With no staff around to take pity on us we just had to stay in the queue and put up with it. Boy in the middle was pulled along on his trunki, and the rest of us were grumpy and complained. Finally when we were nearly at the front of the queue a member of staff saw us, and told us that we should have just come to the front with so many children!!
We handed over our passports, rushed through to claim our luggage and were relieved to finally be reunited with our unbroken still in one piece double stroller!
When we travel Easyjet again in December we will be so much wiser!
Wednesday 24 November 2010
Snow, swaddling and sleeping!
With our two new girls at home everyone had to re-adjust in the family. Not only was there a stream of grandparents and visitors but we also had a nanny every morning and after school to look after the babies so that I could play and give attention to eldest daughter and boy in the middle.
Thick snow meant school was closed for a few days so whilst the babies slept silently swaddled together in their moses basket we all drank hot chocolate, played board games and built snowmen in the garden. Eldest daughter and boy in the middle were extremely proud of their two new sisters and the game began to guess which baby was which.
Baby A was always dressed in pink and baby E wore white babygrows.We became quite conditioned to seeing one pink girl with pink sheets and blankets and one white girl in white sheets and blankets. Both girls after the first few days developed similar patterns and were fed at the same time whilst lying on a giant v-shaped pillow so I could double breastfeed. They were pretty good girls at nightime, waking to be fed together and going back to sleep.
Looking back I can recall only 2 or 3 nights when I was downstairs pacing the living room floor with both girls and watching the rather dull tv that is on in the middle of the night. It was on one of those occasions where I was so exhausted that I realised in an hour they would need to be fed again. There was no chance I would have enough milk, so I finally took out the carton of ready made Aptamil taunting me from the cupboard and gave them both a bottle! Once my guilt subsided we then introduced one bottle of formula a day at a time when dear husband was home so we could both feed one of the girls. Now at 10 months they still get breastfed in the morning and at night but also really enjoy their bottle of formula mid afternoon.
In those early weeks we didn't venture out of the house too far. It was bitterly cold and snowy and so there was little chance of taking them out in the pram. Dear husband did the school run every morning and each afternoon the grandparents shared the responsibility of collecting them.
Once we were able to go out I loved taking them for walks in the big single pram with them wrapped up next to each other. When people glanced into the pram expecting to see one baby the look of surprise on their faces was priceless. I soon took on the role of "proud mummy of twins" when out with them. Navigating through shops was easy with a single pram so I really enjoyed this time as I knew that it wouldn't be too long before the world would have to get used to me and my double stroller.
I recall my first trip to school to collect eldest daughter and boy in the middle. It was quite an excursion. Firstly getting two babies wrapped up in snowsuits and into their car seats. As new born babies don't move or roll it was easy to leave one lying on the sofa whilst putting the other in the car and then returning to get the next baby. Once I had driven to school the pram had to be assembled onto the wheels, the babies each removed from their car seats, laid into the pram , pram cover on and there we were ready. Simple.
Of course eldest daughter and boy in the middle were so excited to see their sisters in school that they had to bring all their teachers out to show off the babies. In the playground I became "proud mother of 4!"
Fortunately the girls were small and we managed a good couple of months before we had to finally put the pram up in the loft. Friends of ours had leant us a great double stroller which folded up to be very compact and fitted into the boot of our 7 seater car. In fact we took the stroller with us before we bought the car to check it would fit in.
As much as I loved the pram and the moses basket I realised that the girls were growing and so at about 3 months old we moved the girls into their own bedroom to share 1 cot and from now on they would each have their own seat in the stroller.
Thick snow meant school was closed for a few days so whilst the babies slept silently swaddled together in their moses basket we all drank hot chocolate, played board games and built snowmen in the garden. Eldest daughter and boy in the middle were extremely proud of their two new sisters and the game began to guess which baby was which.
Baby A was always dressed in pink and baby E wore white babygrows.We became quite conditioned to seeing one pink girl with pink sheets and blankets and one white girl in white sheets and blankets. Both girls after the first few days developed similar patterns and were fed at the same time whilst lying on a giant v-shaped pillow so I could double breastfeed. They were pretty good girls at nightime, waking to be fed together and going back to sleep.
Looking back I can recall only 2 or 3 nights when I was downstairs pacing the living room floor with both girls and watching the rather dull tv that is on in the middle of the night. It was on one of those occasions where I was so exhausted that I realised in an hour they would need to be fed again. There was no chance I would have enough milk, so I finally took out the carton of ready made Aptamil taunting me from the cupboard and gave them both a bottle! Once my guilt subsided we then introduced one bottle of formula a day at a time when dear husband was home so we could both feed one of the girls. Now at 10 months they still get breastfed in the morning and at night but also really enjoy their bottle of formula mid afternoon.
In those early weeks we didn't venture out of the house too far. It was bitterly cold and snowy and so there was little chance of taking them out in the pram. Dear husband did the school run every morning and each afternoon the grandparents shared the responsibility of collecting them.
Once we were able to go out I loved taking them for walks in the big single pram with them wrapped up next to each other. When people glanced into the pram expecting to see one baby the look of surprise on their faces was priceless. I soon took on the role of "proud mummy of twins" when out with them. Navigating through shops was easy with a single pram so I really enjoyed this time as I knew that it wouldn't be too long before the world would have to get used to me and my double stroller.
I recall my first trip to school to collect eldest daughter and boy in the middle. It was quite an excursion. Firstly getting two babies wrapped up in snowsuits and into their car seats. As new born babies don't move or roll it was easy to leave one lying on the sofa whilst putting the other in the car and then returning to get the next baby. Once I had driven to school the pram had to be assembled onto the wheels, the babies each removed from their car seats, laid into the pram , pram cover on and there we were ready. Simple.
Of course eldest daughter and boy in the middle were so excited to see their sisters in school that they had to bring all their teachers out to show off the babies. In the playground I became "proud mother of 4!"
Fortunately the girls were small and we managed a good couple of months before we had to finally put the pram up in the loft. Friends of ours had leant us a great double stroller which folded up to be very compact and fitted into the boot of our 7 seater car. In fact we took the stroller with us before we bought the car to check it would fit in.
As much as I loved the pram and the moses basket I realised that the girls were growing and so at about 3 months old we moved the girls into their own bedroom to share 1 cot and from now on they would each have their own seat in the stroller.
Tuesday 23 November 2010
Welcome to the World Baby Girls
There are two daunting prospects of a twin pregnancy. Firstly will both babies develop normally and will they both make it safely into the the world? Searching the internet whilst pregnant for advice also brought up hundreds of horror stories of TTTS and only the first twin being born healthily and the second being starved of oxygen. After the first initial months of trying to read everything out there on twin pregnancies and birth, a friend lent me a natal hypnotherapy CD to listen to and I stopped looking stuff up. This was a much calmer approach to the pregnancy, birth and beyond.
We made in to Watford hospital in the early hours of the morning and I was indeed in labour. Once the shifts changed at 8am I met a lovely mid-wife who read all of my notes and understood that I was planning on a natural delivery. I did however have to have an epidural in case of emergency later on but that was amazing - no pain! The consultant and registrar on duty both became a bit twitchy as they both wanted to do a cesaerean and get the girls out but I fought my corner and my husband fought my corner and with the mid-wife onside I was allowed to deliver the babies. It may not have been in the serene waterpool but they were delivered in an operating theatre. Baby A was born at 12.30pm and baby E followed at 12.46pm. It was quite a remarkable moment and perhaps only then did it really sink in that we had two babies. Would life ever be the same again?
After all the scare stories both girls came out fine. E took a minute to breathe and had to be assisted slightly as she had gone through more contractions but they both passed their Apgar scores with full marks after 5 minutes and we were all taken back to our room.
Looking back nearly a year on is amazing. Baby A weighed 5lb4oz and baby E was slightly larger at 5lb7oz. No wonder I had been enourmous! Dear husband and I spent the rest of the day looking in complete wonder at these two tiny tots swaddled together in a hospital crib. As I didn't leave the labour ward until about 11pm that night as they were sorting out a room for me we had no visitors that day.
The snow had stopped but it was still very cold but the ward was lovely and warm. However because the babies were very small and slightly early as they were born at 36.5 weeks they were put into a heated water crib next to my bed. It was very snug and cosy indeed.
After several months of not being able to sleep I remember craving some sleep but the midwives kept me up most of the night feeding the girls as they kept on checking their blood sugar levels which kept dropping. Having breastfed my other two children for a year and never having given formula I was intent on doing the same this time round although my sensible head said that perhaps they would have to have both. My hormonal head just having given birth said no no no to the midwives and staff who desperately wanted to get some formula into the girls as they claimed I wouldn't be able to sustain them until my milk came in.
I carried on breastfeeding but by the Sunday evening with sheer exhaustion I conceeded and gave them some Aptamil in a bottle. This did the trick as their blood sugar level was maintained and we were discharged from hospital on the Monday.
Whilst still in hospital their big brother (he seemed really big suddenly) who now became the boy in the middle and older sister came to visit as well as all 4 grandparents and their Aunty and Uncle. Everyone was completely mesmerised by these little miracles - gifts from God we call them!
On a final note surrounding the birth we cancelled our appointment for 7th January with Marcelina Coker! We asked to see her and she came in to see us on the Monday before we went home. She was delighted that our birth had gone according to plan. We mentioned that we had considered phoning her to come in and deliver the girls but she said she had been away that weekend so we wouldn't have had her anyway. As it happened everything turned out well.
At 6pm on Monday 4th January we welcomed Baby A and E to their new home in Borehamwood. Now the fun starts.
We made in to Watford hospital in the early hours of the morning and I was indeed in labour. Once the shifts changed at 8am I met a lovely mid-wife who read all of my notes and understood that I was planning on a natural delivery. I did however have to have an epidural in case of emergency later on but that was amazing - no pain! The consultant and registrar on duty both became a bit twitchy as they both wanted to do a cesaerean and get the girls out but I fought my corner and my husband fought my corner and with the mid-wife onside I was allowed to deliver the babies. It may not have been in the serene waterpool but they were delivered in an operating theatre. Baby A was born at 12.30pm and baby E followed at 12.46pm. It was quite a remarkable moment and perhaps only then did it really sink in that we had two babies. Would life ever be the same again?
After all the scare stories both girls came out fine. E took a minute to breathe and had to be assisted slightly as she had gone through more contractions but they both passed their Apgar scores with full marks after 5 minutes and we were all taken back to our room.
Looking back nearly a year on is amazing. Baby A weighed 5lb4oz and baby E was slightly larger at 5lb7oz. No wonder I had been enourmous! Dear husband and I spent the rest of the day looking in complete wonder at these two tiny tots swaddled together in a hospital crib. As I didn't leave the labour ward until about 11pm that night as they were sorting out a room for me we had no visitors that day.
The snow had stopped but it was still very cold but the ward was lovely and warm. However because the babies were very small and slightly early as they were born at 36.5 weeks they were put into a heated water crib next to my bed. It was very snug and cosy indeed.
After several months of not being able to sleep I remember craving some sleep but the midwives kept me up most of the night feeding the girls as they kept on checking their blood sugar levels which kept dropping. Having breastfed my other two children for a year and never having given formula I was intent on doing the same this time round although my sensible head said that perhaps they would have to have both. My hormonal head just having given birth said no no no to the midwives and staff who desperately wanted to get some formula into the girls as they claimed I wouldn't be able to sustain them until my milk came in.
I carried on breastfeeding but by the Sunday evening with sheer exhaustion I conceeded and gave them some Aptamil in a bottle. This did the trick as their blood sugar level was maintained and we were discharged from hospital on the Monday.
Whilst still in hospital their big brother (he seemed really big suddenly) who now became the boy in the middle and older sister came to visit as well as all 4 grandparents and their Aunty and Uncle. Everyone was completely mesmerised by these little miracles - gifts from God we call them!
On a final note surrounding the birth we cancelled our appointment for 7th January with Marcelina Coker! We asked to see her and she came in to see us on the Monday before we went home. She was delighted that our birth had gone according to plan. We mentioned that we had considered phoning her to come in and deliver the girls but she said she had been away that weekend so we wouldn't have had her anyway. As it happened everything turned out well.
At 6pm on Monday 4th January we welcomed Baby A and E to their new home in Borehamwood. Now the fun starts.
Monday 22 November 2010
Happy New Year 2010
We went along to our appointment a couple of days before New Years Eve. We met the consultant Marcelina Coker and we had a great appointment with her. She understood where I was coming from with wanting to deliver the babies naturally and she was fully supportive of my decision. Twin one was still head down and twin two who had been somersaulting throughout the pregnancy was breech at this scan however she said that babies can still turn or could be turned once the first one is born.
Marcelina wanted to deliver them herself so decided I should come in to be induced on 14th January. I sat in the consulting room and close to tears explained that our older daughter would be 7 on the 15th January and I didn't want to be in hospital on her birthday. My other main concern was that my pregnancy would continue for two more weeks! As her main day on the delivery ward is a Thursday she agreed for us to come in on 7th January to be induced early enough so she would still be on shift to deliver the girls. We were with Marcelina for an hour in total. We came out feeling very excited although it felt a little strange to decide on their birthday. We went out for lunch and devised a plan of action for the due date. We updated the four grandparents and made arrangements for who would look after our oldest daughter and son.
Not wanting to share the arrival date with friends we told everyone that we were to go another two weeks until I was 38 weeks pregnant.
New Years Eve came and we spent the evening with our closest friends at our neighbours house. We were all supposed to have been holidaying in a cottage in Wales but with the news of my double pregnancy this had been cancelled in September. Instead we had take away and watched BBC1 at midnight. I say "we" had take-away, but by this stage in my preganancy I was unable to eat any more. I sat rather uncomfortably for as long as I could at the dining room table and then sloped off to relax on the sofa and eat some chocolate. I did make it past midnight but by 1am was home and fast asleep looking forward to a last weekend as a family of four.
New Years Day was cold and snowy and I spent the whole day in my pyjamas just preparing food for Shabbat. I had heard that there is a Jewish custom to knead bread and make the tradional Shabbat Challah to ensure a smooth labour so I kneaded and baked some beautiful bread that day.
4am Saturday 2nd January
I woke up and wondered if the pains I felt could be labour. It's amazing how easily one forgets. I couldn't remember if it felt like labour or if I just had some more backache. Perhaps I had leant badly kneading all that bread. At 4.30am I woke dear husband up to find out his opinion. He said that he was going back to sleep for an hour and then to let him know how I was getting on. Well he never made it back to sleep as I kept pacing the bedroom. Finally at 5.30am I called the hospital to speak to a midwife. On hearing that I may be in labour and that I was pregnant with twins she told me to arrange my childcare and come to the hospital.
5.30am
I called my parents. My Mum answered. "This is the phonecall you've been waiting for" I told her. My Mum and Dad came round and by that stage I wasn't sure if I was in labour but we thought it best to go before the other two children woke up. Flurries of snow were falling as we got in the car to drive up to Watford. My Mum's parting words were "If you want to get Marcelina Coker to come and deliver them, it may be worth calling her and paying privately".
Marcelina wanted to deliver them herself so decided I should come in to be induced on 14th January. I sat in the consulting room and close to tears explained that our older daughter would be 7 on the 15th January and I didn't want to be in hospital on her birthday. My other main concern was that my pregnancy would continue for two more weeks! As her main day on the delivery ward is a Thursday she agreed for us to come in on 7th January to be induced early enough so she would still be on shift to deliver the girls. We were with Marcelina for an hour in total. We came out feeling very excited although it felt a little strange to decide on their birthday. We went out for lunch and devised a plan of action for the due date. We updated the four grandparents and made arrangements for who would look after our oldest daughter and son.
Not wanting to share the arrival date with friends we told everyone that we were to go another two weeks until I was 38 weeks pregnant.
New Years Eve came and we spent the evening with our closest friends at our neighbours house. We were all supposed to have been holidaying in a cottage in Wales but with the news of my double pregnancy this had been cancelled in September. Instead we had take away and watched BBC1 at midnight. I say "we" had take-away, but by this stage in my preganancy I was unable to eat any more. I sat rather uncomfortably for as long as I could at the dining room table and then sloped off to relax on the sofa and eat some chocolate. I did make it past midnight but by 1am was home and fast asleep looking forward to a last weekend as a family of four.
New Years Day was cold and snowy and I spent the whole day in my pyjamas just preparing food for Shabbat. I had heard that there is a Jewish custom to knead bread and make the tradional Shabbat Challah to ensure a smooth labour so I kneaded and baked some beautiful bread that day.
4am Saturday 2nd January
I woke up and wondered if the pains I felt could be labour. It's amazing how easily one forgets. I couldn't remember if it felt like labour or if I just had some more backache. Perhaps I had leant badly kneading all that bread. At 4.30am I woke dear husband up to find out his opinion. He said that he was going back to sleep for an hour and then to let him know how I was getting on. Well he never made it back to sleep as I kept pacing the bedroom. Finally at 5.30am I called the hospital to speak to a midwife. On hearing that I may be in labour and that I was pregnant with twins she told me to arrange my childcare and come to the hospital.
5.30am
I called my parents. My Mum answered. "This is the phonecall you've been waiting for" I told her. My Mum and Dad came round and by that stage I wasn't sure if I was in labour but we thought it best to go before the other two children woke up. Flurries of snow were falling as we got in the car to drive up to Watford. My Mum's parting words were "If you want to get Marcelina Coker to come and deliver them, it may be worth calling her and paying privately".
Pregnancy
Once the tears had stopped I stared in disbelief at the screen and sure enough there were two little blobs that definately looked like two babies. I don't really remember the rest of that appointment except that I kept saying "I love both of them and are they both ok?". My husbands main question was "Are you sure there are just two?".
There were just the two but our Sonographer couldn't quite tell if they were non identical with a placenta each or if they shared one so we had to go back two days later to meet Professor Nicolaides himself so he could double check.
We left the clinic in a daze and handed over our credit card. Luckily they didn't charge double just an extra £50. This was the start of the increased expense of having twins! We somehow got through the longest 48 hours of our lives and went back to our appointment to meet the Professor. Knowing that he gets accused of playing God we were pleased to be seeing the top doctor but a little nervous. The appointment was 4 hours later than scheduled but great to be able to see the two images again on the screen. He confirmed they were girls and they did share a placenta. He then told us in no uncertain terms that this was a very risky preganancy. The chances of them developing TTTS (Twin to twin transfusion syndrome) were quite high where one baby takes all the nutrients from the other and they will both die. The only real good news that came from that second scan was that they didn't have downs syndrome.
We kept the news of our pregnancy very quiet and only told a few close friends at this stage. We were under the care of Watford hospital but they referred us to the specialist unit at Queen Charlottes until after 20 weeks when the care would return to Watford. We somehow managed to get to our 16 week scan and all was progressing fine. At 18 weeks on holiday we told our other two children the news that they were going to get twin sisters. They were both very excited although our son R decided that they would be boys. At 20 weeks we had a very detailed scan at Queen Charlottes hospital where the babies were monitored including their hearts and lungs and all the measurements were taken. With no sign of TTTS and both growing as they should our care returned to Watford and we went public with the news of our third pregnancy.
The babies were scanned every two weeks throughout the pregnancy. This was a great deal of comfort as I spent the week following each scan knowing that everything was fine and then only a week to wait until I could see them on the screen again. The Consultant we were under explained that it was likely I would have a casaerean at 36 weeks, only I explained that I had total fear of a casaerean and I had given birth twice naturally and thankyou for his input but these two would be born naturally as well. Not wishing to upset a hormonal doubly pregnant woman he went along with me and agreed that he would refer me on to another consultant if both babies were lying in the correct positions closer to my due date.
I was due at the end of January. By early December I felt enourmous. My first daughter was 6lb1oz when she was born at full term and I had a very small bump. My son slightly larger at 6lb11oz, born in the water pool, meant my bump was slightly bigger. This time round I looked and felt enourmous. I dragged myself through those last few weeks of school runs, making supper for everyone and crashing out in bed most nights by about 9pm.
I bought pink blankets and sheets and we got the single pram down from the loft - well they would be small enough to fit in it together at the beginning. Although we knew that the longer the babies remained inside me the more developed and fitter for life they would be but the constant heartburn and backache made me really want to give birth and meet the girls.
At my appointment in mid December our consultant finally agreed that as twin one had been lying in the correct position head down for a number of weeks now, we could meet his colleague Marcelina Coker who advocates natural delivery for twins and our appointment was set just before New Years Eve.
There were just the two but our Sonographer couldn't quite tell if they were non identical with a placenta each or if they shared one so we had to go back two days later to meet Professor Nicolaides himself so he could double check.
We left the clinic in a daze and handed over our credit card. Luckily they didn't charge double just an extra £50. This was the start of the increased expense of having twins! We somehow got through the longest 48 hours of our lives and went back to our appointment to meet the Professor. Knowing that he gets accused of playing God we were pleased to be seeing the top doctor but a little nervous. The appointment was 4 hours later than scheduled but great to be able to see the two images again on the screen. He confirmed they were girls and they did share a placenta. He then told us in no uncertain terms that this was a very risky preganancy. The chances of them developing TTTS (Twin to twin transfusion syndrome) were quite high where one baby takes all the nutrients from the other and they will both die. The only real good news that came from that second scan was that they didn't have downs syndrome.
We kept the news of our pregnancy very quiet and only told a few close friends at this stage. We were under the care of Watford hospital but they referred us to the specialist unit at Queen Charlottes until after 20 weeks when the care would return to Watford. We somehow managed to get to our 16 week scan and all was progressing fine. At 18 weeks on holiday we told our other two children the news that they were going to get twin sisters. They were both very excited although our son R decided that they would be boys. At 20 weeks we had a very detailed scan at Queen Charlottes hospital where the babies were monitored including their hearts and lungs and all the measurements were taken. With no sign of TTTS and both growing as they should our care returned to Watford and we went public with the news of our third pregnancy.
The babies were scanned every two weeks throughout the pregnancy. This was a great deal of comfort as I spent the week following each scan knowing that everything was fine and then only a week to wait until I could see them on the screen again. The Consultant we were under explained that it was likely I would have a casaerean at 36 weeks, only I explained that I had total fear of a casaerean and I had given birth twice naturally and thankyou for his input but these two would be born naturally as well. Not wishing to upset a hormonal doubly pregnant woman he went along with me and agreed that he would refer me on to another consultant if both babies were lying in the correct positions closer to my due date.
I was due at the end of January. By early December I felt enourmous. My first daughter was 6lb1oz when she was born at full term and I had a very small bump. My son slightly larger at 6lb11oz, born in the water pool, meant my bump was slightly bigger. This time round I looked and felt enourmous. I dragged myself through those last few weeks of school runs, making supper for everyone and crashing out in bed most nights by about 9pm.
I bought pink blankets and sheets and we got the single pram down from the loft - well they would be small enough to fit in it together at the beginning. Although we knew that the longer the babies remained inside me the more developed and fitter for life they would be but the constant heartburn and backache made me really want to give birth and meet the girls.
At my appointment in mid December our consultant finally agreed that as twin one had been lying in the correct position head down for a number of weeks now, we could meet his colleague Marcelina Coker who advocates natural delivery for twins and our appointment was set just before New Years Eve.
Sunday 21 November 2010
It's only taken 18 months
I have wanted to sit down and get this blog going since July 2009. On Monday 13th July I went on the train to the Foetal Medicine Centre in Harley Street looking forward to my twelve week scan of our third baby. I had seen the midwife the week earlier and had heard a heartbeat so I was looking forward to seeing the newest addition to our family on the screen and then going out for lunch.
Having had two healthy pregnancies, this time round the sickness was the same, I was a little fatter and perhaps a tad more tired but this was all put down to the fact that it was a third pregnancy.
There is nothing quite like the calmness of this private clinic with lots of couples sitting quietly and nervously on the comfy sofas around the waiting room. We were ushered into our scan by a very friendly Sonogropher and got ourselves comfy and he started the ultrasound. After an initial glance at the screen, the Sonogropher in his German accent asked "How much pregnant are you?" to which I replied, "twelve weeks". Then he repeated himself, "No but how much pregnant are you?". "Twelve weeks" (getting slightly crosser now that he doesn't understand me). "No, I mean how many babies do you have in there?" "Well obviously just the one" I reply. "No you are wrong, there are two".
And that is when I should have started my blog when my world turned upside down - in a good way, but I have been rather busy since then.
Having had two healthy pregnancies, this time round the sickness was the same, I was a little fatter and perhaps a tad more tired but this was all put down to the fact that it was a third pregnancy.
There is nothing quite like the calmness of this private clinic with lots of couples sitting quietly and nervously on the comfy sofas around the waiting room. We were ushered into our scan by a very friendly Sonogropher and got ourselves comfy and he started the ultrasound. After an initial glance at the screen, the Sonogropher in his German accent asked "How much pregnant are you?" to which I replied, "twelve weeks". Then he repeated himself, "No but how much pregnant are you?". "Twelve weeks" (getting slightly crosser now that he doesn't understand me). "No, I mean how many babies do you have in there?" "Well obviously just the one" I reply. "No you are wrong, there are two".
And that is when I should have started my blog when my world turned upside down - in a good way, but I have been rather busy since then.
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