Category Archives: mummy

To Do!

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I have decided to make my To Do list public to motivate (or shame) myself into getting it done.

The timetable for this list is the month of January!

Things I would like to do before the end of January

1. Encourage William to take a bottle so that I can have some baby free time and to allow David to be more involved with feeding.  Esther guzzles a bottle down but so far William has resisted.  My attitude needs to change for this to work as I need to accept that them having a bottle of expressed breast milk is just as good as or nearly as good as straight from the mothership!  This is definitely a number one priority on my list as it will allow me to do number 2.

2. Make some time for me.  I would like to go to our local spa for a day and enjoy the pool, sauna and steam room as well as have some treatments.  It costs £80 to do this but I think I am going to use my Christmas money to treat myself to this one day out and I am sure I will not take the whole day anyway, just a half day.  Daddy will enjoy some quality time with his children after being away for a few days this month. 

3. Read a book and not Twilight AGAIN!! During IVF, pregnancy and breastfeeding I keep rereading these books as they are so easy to read but I have a whole stack of ‘real’ books waiting to be enjoyed when I have the concentration and energy!

4. Spring clean the whole house and at the same time sort out all baby belongings to ensure have useful baby stations in each room to allow for further cleaning and sorting – e.g. bouncy chairs in bedroom, tummy time mat and toys in bathroom, swing in kitchen etc … We have so much stuff that could be made much better use of to allow me to be busy around the house rather than confined to one room

5. Get dressed everyday and go outside every day with or without babies. 

6. Start and sustain healthy eating plan

7. Start working towards going out for a night with David while his parents babysit – I am setting my sights on March for this happening.  We are going to get really dressed up and go out for a posh dinner with lots of wine!

So much to do but all such positive things that will make life better for me and so for everyone around me as I can be such a grump!

2011 is going to be a great year and this list is the start.

I will keep you updated as to how I get on x

Thank You William Harvey! You Saved Our Lives!

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2nd January 2010

Name someone who deserves more credit than they get. And for bonus points, how to change things so they get more

This is an easy one!  The staff at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent.  Particularly a midwife named Fiona and the whole NICU/SCBU team, each and everyone of them provide care above and beyond their call of duty.  And I thank them all from the bottom of my heart.

On the 10th July 2010 I was rushed into the William Harvey Hospital.  I was almost 26 weeks pregnant and feared the worst.  I was losing my babies.  We were taken straight to the Labour Ward where it was discovered very quickly that actually the babies were fine, the problem was with me.  I was given steroid injections to mature the babies’ lungs just in case I did go into labour, but that wasn’t to be.  Not yet.  It took 2 days of agonising pain and absolute fear for my fiance before I was operated on for a twisted bowel.  Before this stage he was sure that we were going to lose the babies and there were times when we thought that I might die.  I wanted to die rather than have anything happen to our babies.

The surgeon miraculously cut me from just below my chest bone to just below my belly button without disturbing the twins.  It took me 10 long days in hospital  and a blood transfusion to begin to recover from the op.  I was nil by mouth and then had to drink yoghurt drinks before being reintroduced to solids.  My whole body was swollen from pregnancy and water retention.  I was on oxygen and in and out of consciousness.  I was a mess!  I stayed two days in ITU before being kept on the labour ward for 8 days where my care was overseen by Fiona.  She was amazing, really looking after not only me but my fiance too.  Everyone who cared for us was wonderful and steered us through a very rough sea.  After 12 long days I was allowed to go home.  Everyone wished us well and said they would see us again in 13 weeks for the babies to be born.  72 hours later we were back and this time I was in preterm labour and I was terrified.  Once again Fiona was there, this time to welcome our children in to the world.  It was so fitting that she should be there to welcome Esther and William.

I went home from hospital just hours after the birth but at 27 weeks gestation it was without my babies.  For 59 long days and nights they were cared for by the fabulous doctors and nurses in NICU/SCBU.  This expert team cared for our babies and also looked after me as I adjusted to life as not just a mum, but a mum of twins and extremely premature twins at that.  You can read about them in this blog and understand what a fabulous job they do for very little recognition or thanks.

Thank you to everyone at William Harvey Hospital, Ashford, Kent.  Thank you for helping my family get such a fantastic start and for supporting us, giving the babies time to grow bigger and stronger before we brought them home.  Thank you x