One month

So we made it past the first 4 weeks and we're still in one piece! I honestly couldn't tell you where time has gone, I really hope it slows down soon or else these babies are going to be grown up before I know it.

Admitedly the first month was always going to be the easiest, Mark had time off work for paternity leave, we spent a good portion of it in the hospital (Evan didn't come home until day 12) and because they were premature, the babies were likely to sleep a lot (even now they are probably sleeping 21 hours or so a day!). I think most nights I'm managing to get about 6 hours of (broken) sleep which is a lot more then I could have ever hoped for. Oh, and the wine I'm now able to drink has really made things a lot easier, too!

Babies are having bottles of expressed milk every 4 hours and pretty soon I am going to be switching them to formula as I just can't bear to spend 3+ hours a day attached to that pump anymore. Long term I knew it would be a challenge to keep up the breastfeeing so I'm happy that in the end they will have about 2 months of my milk and am not going to beat myself up for not continuing it for the 6 months they advise here in the UK-if I only had them I probably would, but it just isn't realistic when you have a toddler and things to do!

Evan is still the more chilled out one, although if you try to sneak a dummy (pacifier) in when it's time to eat he goes a little mental and has already shown that temper that Calum has.... Sienna is harder work but as the midwife said, nothing wrong with a strong personality. They were weighed last on Tuesday and Sienna is up to 5 lbs 4 oz, Evan is 5 lbs 12 oz so slowly she's catching up and with the way she eats, I won't be surprised if that happens soon.

We've managed to go up to London with the family, to Greenwich Park for a day and I have taken the twins out several times on my own. I have yet to go out with all 3 alone, that will be the real test!

Otherwise we're managing pretty well, Calum has been an amazing big brother which has really made things easier for us-he loves to help feed the babies and has kissed Sienna (his favourite) so many times he managed to pass his cold on to her, the first of many I'm sure!

So after all of this, I've probably jinxed myself and set us up for a nightmare in month two but all in all, I think I expected things to be much harder then they are-I'm even managing to make dinner most nights! Looking forward to my Mom's visit (she comes Thursday) and again, appreciate all of your calls, cards, presents and etc.-we're lucky to have you! x

PS-Sorry about the layout, still having issues with posting and moving pics from my laptop....

Spurs

Here in England "football" is a pretty big deal.... Some of Mark's best memories of his Dad surround the team they both followed, the Tottenham Hotspur. It's kind of a given that whatever team your Dad supports, you will support and Mark is dying to share his passion for the Spurs with Calum.

Several weeks ago Mark came home from work and told me he had bought Calum a present and he asked me to guess what it was. Well, turns out he bought Calum this year's new "kit" (uniform) and got a matching one for himself, with Calum's name on the back and the number 24 for Calum's birthday. Mark announced that he and Calum would wear the jersey's every match and so far, he's held true to it.

Pretty cute. Nothing like the love between a father and son. x

Sienna Rose and Evan Paul Verghese, 27-08-11

Well, by now most of you know that on August 27th Sienna Rose and Evan Paul Verghese made their entrance into the world and here is how they arrived....

The morning of Saturday August 27th my waters broke at around 6.30. Mark had taken his office out the night before for a few drinks and didn't get home until late (although was sober thank God!) so we had had about 4 hours of sleep when I came into our room to tell him it was time... I was 34 weeks and 4 days pregnant.

Thank God Rachel, my sister in law, got here in good time to watch Calum and thank God our hospital is a 5 minute drive from our house. We got there and met the midwife and her assistant at the maternity ward and were taken to our room where they took their time writing up our notes since my contractions hadn't really started. A team of doctors came to do an ultrasound to check the positioning of the babies again to determine if we would be going for a c-section or a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). When they did the scan they couldn't quite make out twin 1's head and saw that whilst they were probably both head down, neither was positioned in the middle at the birth canal (fighting already!) so they informed me that in this instance I would have to have a c-section as no amount of time would change this and it could cause distress to the babies.

As I was signing the consent papers my contractions were definitely getting stronger and when it came time for them to put in the IV lead and take blood samples, I felt really faint and nauseous. They had done an examination about 20 minutes prior and I was barely dilated. All of the sudden my blood pressure dropped really low and they lost the trace (heart monitor) on twin 1 so they decided to examine me again and I was fully dilated, twin 1's head was making it's appearance.

I hadn't had any pain medication yet and they barely had time to get the hospital gown on me to wheel me into the operating room where they told me they would give me a spinal injection (due to the limit on time) and try to deliver twin 1 with the ventouse and twin 2 with forceps although it was likely twin 2 would come out via c-section.

Sienna Rose Verghese was born at 10.31 a.m. (4 hours after my waters broke!) with the assistance of the ventouse weighing 4 lbs 11 oz. Evan Paul Verghese was born at 10.36 a.m. with the assistance of the forceps weighing 5 lbs 8 oz. Whilst they were stitching me up (episiotomoy, yikes!) and delivering the placentas, I could see both babies being checked by the pediatricians (there were 16 people in total in the delivery room!). Sienna was handed to Mark straight away but Evan's breathing was really labored and awhile later while we were in recovery they went to hand him to me and noticed he was very blue so he was sent straight to the special care baby unit (SCBU).

I was up and showered by 6 p.m., but had yet to see Evan so Mark wheeled me down to the unit to see him. Initially he was put on a CPAP machine to breathe for him, fed by IV and we were told he would probably be in until his due date.... He then got jaundice and was given photo therapy. Each day was up and down but it looks like today Evan might finally be sent home as he's feeding on his own (bottles of expressed breast milk).

Sienna stayed with me on the maternity ward for 6 very long nights... She also had jaundice and was put under the lights two different times. She's a strong girl though and we both came home on Friday night/Saturday morning at midnight.

The whole time I was in the hospital I wasn't able to have Calum come visit because he had developed a tummy bug that could have been dangerous to Sienna so in addition to being torn between the twins, I also felt especially sad about missing Calum having never been away for him for so long. We arranged a dinner for him and I at the hospital cafeteria which was a disaster and I really dreaded what it would be like when I got home but Calum has been amazing-not only is he a gentle and loving big brother, but he's also seemingly forgotten about me abandoning him and all is going really well so far.

Having premature babies has been a very different experience to having Calum. I've been reminded several times that these babies should still be in my tummy, they are very difficult to feed and sleep pretty much all of the time. It's stressful worrying that they aren't getting enough food and watching them closely to make sure their jaundice doesn't come back. Even holding them is different, they feel so delicate and tiny and have to be kept really warm since they didn't have a chance to develop much fat in the womb.

Regardless, the challenges we have faced since they were born has made me forget about my concerns over how I would cope and focus more on how excited I am to have them home and begin this next phase in our lives. Bear with me over the next few weeks (months, YEARS?!) as I settle into a routine with the babies and thank you all for your cards, thoughts, prayers and etc.

x

34 weeks

33 wks pregnant with the twins

34 weeks pregnant with Calum

Yep, huge-and this pic was actually taken at 33 weeks. Huge as is none of my "maternity" clothes cover my belly anymore (would love to say I chose this top again for consistency but really it's one of about two that cover my ass right now). Huge as in it takes me quite awhile to get up from the couch or out of bed which is especially inconvenient considering I have to get up literally every hour during the night to go to the bathroom. Huge as in I now can't leave the house without getting questioned as to when I am due and in fact even when in the house (think grocery delivery man, postman, etc.), I get the same questions!

I don't have another appointment now until Sept. 5th which will be my last scan, the 36 week scan to check on how big the babies are and reconfirm their position (which will hopefully be the same as they have been, both head down). Depending on the weights of the babies at that stage, we will then make a more concrete decision as to whether I get to go for a "regular" birth or if we are going to schedule an elective c-section. If the babies are 7 lbs or more (which is pretty realistic if I make it that long), we are definitely looking at a c-section. If twin 1 (girl) is in any position other then head down, we're also looking at a c-section.

I'm really hoping for a normal birth this time but realise things are pretty much out of my control at the moment. Feeling very much like I am stuck in a zone, waiting for the next stage of our lives to start and looking for any hint that labor might be coming, in short-driving Mark nuts and probably not being the most amazingly patient Mom to Calum. The hot weather here hasn't helped, you can't imagine how excited I was to see rain today!

The care package from my Mom last week helped though-think two massive bags of Jolly Ranchers, Slim Jims, a couple of nice maternity tops from Nordstrom and a battery operated fan for the hospital (the maternity ward isn't air conditioned and they only allow fans that have been approved by their electrical department so when I was there last, I literally almost died from heat exhaustion!).

All along I've said that if I had to predict, I would say that the babies will arrive on Aug. 30th so we shall see..... x

Going potty....

On one of our first public outings...
Lounging around the house in his pants...

One of many bribery treats

Graduating from nakedness to pants AND trousers! Shirt came later...

So it's been awhile since you heard from me... Would love to say we've been sooo busy doing lots of fun stuff but in reality our life has been encompassed by finishing the nursery and potty training Calum which has been the hardest thing I have done so far in terms of parenting. Maybe you are thinking I thought it was hard because of the mess involved which is partly true (although so far we have had only one "poo" accident....), but mostly it's required a ton of patience which runs short when you are 30+ weeks pregnant with twins and can barely put on a pair of shoes, much less crouch down for the 50th (literally) time that day to read a book whilst your child is on the potty or clean wee off the floor....

Anyway, it's done-and by typing that I have probably cursed myself but thought I would share a bit of how it's gone thus far as it seems like a lot of you are approaching this fun task with your own toddlers or might have done already and can offer some tips for when Calum surely digresses as all the books say he will when the twins arrive.

We started a few weeks ago with introducing the potty at bath time, just getting Calum used to sitting on it with some success (they say the sound of water is an old trick to get them going...). Then we cleared our schedule for the weekend after my birthday and literally spent the first day with Calum running around the house naked, as he had only ever gone on the potty before bath he thought that clothes were not part of the deal so Mark and I looked on horrified wondering if every time he went he was going to insist upon taking all of his clothes off. We had lots of accidents the first day. Day 2 Calum got more excited about his "pants" (underwear here in the UK) but thought that pants were like nappies and that you could wet them as you pleased. A majority of the 18 pairs we bought went in the wash that day. Day 3 was a slight improvement-we kept him home from daycare and I tackled the task by myself, we had a 50% success rate but at least had him in pants AND trousers! Day 4 it all came together, we even managed to get out of the house to the park where he used the potty I had to bring along with, just in case.

Since then every day has gotten better and for the last week we have been totally accident free. I feel pretty proud of Calum for getting it and glad for not having to clean wee off the floor every 5 minutes but is it a massive amount easier not having a kid in diapers (minus nap time and overnight)? Honestly, I don't really think so-in fact, it seems to be more work because the second we hear the words "wee wee" we have to drop everything and take him, sometimes turning out to be false alarms which are particularly annoying but of course you have to keep on your fake cheerful parent face and praise him all the same.

Anyway, C now hates diapers/nappies. Which is great on one hand (less emptying that disgusting diaper pail, easier to pack a bag for going out...) but not so great on the other. You see, Calum has somehow trained himself to only poo when it's either nap time or bedtime-usually first thing in the morning to be precise. This results in frantic screams (from behind his firmly closed door) of "nappy, icky nappy, poo poo nappy" the second he wakes up which don't stop until I go in and change him at which point we might as well forget him going back to bed, resulting in me being up every morning around 7.30.... Great.

So that's that. Yesterday C had his first major accident, falling from a step in the bathroom and hitting his head on the edge of the bathtub. The ER doctor we saw said it can look like a bit of a slaughterhouse with head injuries. He's right. I cried more then he did. Called Mark who rushed home from work to accompany us to the hospital. No stitches required, thank God.

My belly is growing more by the day, so much so that almost none of my maternity tops fit and with 5.5 weeks or less to go, there really doesn't seem to be any point in buying any new stuff so trying to look half way decent these days has become ever more impossible. On Tuesday I have my 32 week scan which will help us plan more for the birth (hoping for a VBAC-vaginal birth after c-section rather than another c-section) and know how the babies have been growing so if they do come any day now, at least I can (hopefully) rest assured they are good weights-at our 28 week scan they were about 2.5 lbs....

Our weather was ridiculously hot and humid this week leading to lots of Braxton Hicks which I never had before and are apparently more common in multiple pregnancies and which prompted Mark to think the babies were coming any day now. Will keep you all posted, of course-have a great weekend x

31....

28 weeks, 4 days preg

This marks my first post as a 31 year old... Yesterday was my birthday and whilst it probably was one of the most chilled out, it was also absolutely perfect. Started my day with sleeping in, something I haven't done since last year's birthday which was a totally difference experience considering the massive hangover I was suffering from! Managed to last until 9.30 but felt a tiny bit guilty, enjoyed pancakes and bacon with my boys (made by me, still working on teaching Mark how to "cook") and relaxed most of the day.

Had the most amazing dinner at Chapter 1, a local Michelin star restaurant-literally the best meal I have had in ages although it would have been slightly better if I could have had two glasses of wine instead of one...

Came home to find out that Calum cried for me the ENTIRE time we were gone and even shut himself in our bedroom to cry which made my heart break a little. Seems like over the last week or two he's been especially clingy, which is pretty bad timing considering he is about 35 lbs and it kills me to pick him up and carry him anywhere. No idea how he's going to cope when I'm in the hospital, much less when the babies come home but for now just going to keep on giving him lots of love and cuddles and hope it gets better soon....

Feeling pretty lucky starting this year out, and hope as many of you said, that my wishes come true x

Just the 3 of us....

As I mentioned in my last post, Mark and I are making a real effort to spend some quality time enjoying the summer with Calum before the twins come and we will undoubtedly find it more difficult to get out of the house or spend long periods of time away when we do.

We started swimming lessons with Calum a few weeks ago which have been a nightmare, whilst he loves the water he hates being told what to do.... The teacher actually said she had never seen such a head strong child before! Tell me about it! Kind of embarrassing/stressful when your kid is having a massive tantrum(read-hitting you, screaming at top of lungs, refusing to give up the toys that have been thrown in the pool to play with) in the pool in front of all of the other parents who are in the stands watching the lessons take place (parents are in the pool for C's class but another class for slightly older kids takes place at the same time). We've got a couple more to go in the term so we will see how it goes, tomorrow I take him on my own since Mark is away so wish me luck!

Last weekend we took Calum to a local farm about 10 minutes away called the Christmas Tree Farm. It's pretty perfect for his age, not too big and the animals are well behaved-you can buy food to feed them which of course Calum gets a big kick out of giving to the animals, especially the big cows whose tongues barely fit in the buckets! We went out for a lovely lunch afterwards and it was pretty much my perfect day-definitely something I can't imagine doing pushing a double stroller all along the way although guess we will have to get used to it!

Otherwise we're going to be taking Calum to see his favourite show (In the Night Garden) live Aug 20th (if babies haven't come yet), have already bought tickets to Calum's nursery outing to pantomime (an English Christmas tradition, it's a play which is sort of overly exaggerated and directed at kids) and even managed to score Olympic tickets for next summer's London games-Calum will be coming with us to not one, but two Olympic basketball events (let's hope we get to see team USA!!).

In addition to our night nanny I've also managed to find a babysitter-a retired baby nurse who lives nearby, who we are going to have once or twice a month to allow us to leave the twins and spend quality time with Calum as well as to allow for at least one day/eve a month for Mark and I as I've read that parents of twins (and parents in general for that matter!) often neglect their relationship more and spend more time one on one with the children rather then each other. Mark's family have all been amazing in offering to help and we're lucky to have them all so close by however I have a feeling we will be needing even more help then they can offer and look forward to having someone independent who I won't feel guilty about asking to babysit....

Anyway, that's us-Mark is in Marbella, Spain this weekend for his best friend George's bachelor party. George is getting married in Cyprus on Sept. 4th so whilst Mark is one of the groomsmen, it doesn't look like he will be able to make it with the babies on the way (I'm predicting delivery by Aug. 30th!). That leaves Calum and I home to get things done, the babies' nursery is looking neglected although lovely now that it's been painted so now I get to do the fun stuff and start dressing it! Also going through boxes of Calum's old baby clothes to see what can be used a 2nd time around-perfect for a rainy weekend which it looks like it's going to be. x

PS-Still having serious layout issues with Blogger-anyone have any suggestions on how to move the pics around?