Weekend Rewind – RSV

This weekend the Rewind takes us back to October 2010.

Esther and William came home from hospital on the 21st September 2010 so October is a hazy fog of memories of getting to know our babies. One thing that we learned a lot about was RSV, we were terrified that Esther and William might get a cold or flu and so we did everything we could to protect them. Mainly we cut ourselves off from the world with an extended babymoon.
The post I have decided to share today is a copy of the letter we used to explain RSV to our friends and family. It was written on the 29th October 2010.

Here is the post and below are some pictures of Esther and William from that day.

Reasons to Be Cheerful

Reasons to be Cheerful at Mummy From the Heart

In a week when many people around the world are holding on to hope with their bare hands I feel quite selfish gloating about my cheer. And yet here I am, because this week I do have genuine reasons for cheer and pride. My little miracle babies are doing so well and I cannot hide how I feel about that after the terrible start to life that they had.

My Reasons to be Cheerful this week:-

Esther and William are above average in their general development
This week we had a clinic appointment for Esther and William at the hospital. At this clinic they are weighed and undergo a number of developmental checks that I do not pretend to understand. What I do know though is that the Consultant told us that she is very very pleased with both babies. William is just above the 75th percentile for development and Esther is just below. This is marked against their corrected age of 4.5 months. I was so proud watching them work thorugh the exercises with the physio I thought that I might burst with pride and they did everything with a smile too. The session was topped off when one of the nurses said to us, “We always knew these babies would be clever ones!” Proud Mummy moment!

Esther and William loved their first baby class, Baby Sensory

Today we went to Baby Sensory for the very first time and Esther and William both loved it. In particualr they loved helium balloons and the ball pool. I was so impressed with the class leader, Julie Reynolds, and her welcoming manner that I signed up for 10 weeks straight away and we start next week!! I am so excited!!! I am going to review the session on my blog so please watch this space x

Esther and William have moved into their very own BIG cots!!
After William crawling on top of Esther in his sleep a couple of times we decided that the time had come to move Esther in to a cot of her own. It has only been one night so far but again it is a really proud Mummy moment though I am also sad that they are not sharing anymore. My babies are growing up. Next move will be into a room of their own and no longer with their Daddy and I. That will be a big moving day. This was just a small moving day but a big reason for cheer.

Need more stories to make you smile? Hop on over to Mummy from the Heart’s blog and share your Reasons to be Cheerful.

We Wanna Be Together!!

This weekend the Rewind asks us to think back to August and share a post from then.

August 2010 saw me spend every day in NICU/SCBU with Esther and William.

The post I have chosen to share reflects on a very special day when the twins were reunited for the first time outside of the womb.

Please read REUNITED

Twin Teethers!

Esther and William are now almost 8 months old!!  I cannot believe how quickly the time has flown.  They are growing bigger and stronger everyday and developing very distinct personalities.  This has become apparent recently as they have started teething. 

Parenting premature babies can be very confusing as you are always trying to provide for them to two ages, their actual age and their adjusted age and you are never sure which to apply to what, for example weaning, sleeping, routines and teething. 

I am now confident that I know that anything related to feeding and digestion, including teething, is marked against their actual age whereas anything that is developmental such as crawliing, rolling, talking etc is measured against their corrected age. 

And so at almost 8 months actual we are well into the zone of teething though have nothing to show in the way of teeth.  I am quite distressed to learn of some prem babies who started going through the motions of teething at 6 months, as ours have done, but not been rewarded with teeth until well into their first year!

The reason I find this idea so terrible is that our twins, and William in particular, are really struggling with growing their teeth.  They are very unsettled during the day, constantly chomping and chewing anything that they can get their mouth on apart from their food.  They often seem to find feeding painful particularly their solid food.  William has had an earache linked to his teething and repeatedly tugs at the infected ear.  Both babies have struggled to get to sleep and to stay asleep once finally gone.  It has been very tiring and emotional for all concerned and is still going on.

One of the problems I have foudn is finding anything that can be used to soothe Esther and William’s tiny mouths.  Though they are really now quite old babies they are still very tiny, Esther only weighs 11lbs.  Finding teething toys to ease their gums has been impossible.  I twitted about this a week or so ago and was very pleased to receive a helpful reply from @Amber_Pumpkin

Amber Pumpkin suggested that I might like to try an amber necklace for the twins to soothe their teething symptoms.  I naively asked if they would be able to fit the beads into their mouths as we had been struggling with other products.  Amber Pumpkin kindly pointed out that in fact amber necklaces are not chewed but worn so that the healing properties can work their magic.

Babies do NOT chew on the amber – it works by warming against the skin and releasing minute amounts of soothing oils which is absorbed into the bloodstream.

A natural analgesic, amber will help calm a baby without resorting to drugs.

Amber is a resin, not a stone. It is therefore warm to the touch, as well as very comfortable and light to wear.

Scientific investigation into the therapeutic effects of amber is ongoing.

Currently, there are two different theories that attempt to explain how wearing amber on the skin can have a soothing and calming effect on teething babies and toddlers.

One theory suggests that when amber is worn on the skin, the skin’s warmth releases minuscule amounts of healing oils from the amber which are then absorbed via the skin into the bloodstream.

Amber’s anti-inflammatory and therapeutic properties are also recognized by allopathic medicine. In Austria, Switzerland and Germany, you will find amber teething necklaces sold in local pharmacies. Pharmacists and doctors have long known about the healing properties of amber which include calmative, analgesic, antispasmodic, expectorant, and febrifuge (anti-fever) functions.

A second theory is based on scientific findings which have shown that amber is electromagnetically alive and therefore charged with a significant amount of organic energy. Its special attribute is the fact that it is electronegative. Wearing amber produces negative ionisation on the skin’s surface. This, in turn, has a positive influence on the human body. The negative ions assist in the in the prevention of illness. These health-promoting effects apply to babies, children and adults alike.

http://www.amberpumpkin.com/amber-teething-necklaces-do-they-work.html

David and I have tried Calpol and teething powders on Willim and Esther with very little effect and so we were, or I was, keen to try something new.  I asked Amber Pumpkin if I might trial one of their products and wrtie about our experiences on my blog.  They kindly agreed and sent me two tiny amber anklets for Esther and William to try.  They sent anklets rather than a necklace to ensure that the babies could not pull them off of themselves or each other as the anklets will be safely hidden in their baby gros. 

We are going to start wearing the anklets tomorrow and I am going to write on my blog each day about how we are getting on.

I have to admit to being a bit sceptical but also really hoping that they do work as I love the idea of them.

If anyone else has exprience of using amber jewellery to help with teething then I would love to hear from you.

If you would like to know more about Amber Pumpkin then you can visit their website at http://www.amberpumpkin.com/

Here’s hoping that an end is in sight for the terrible twin teething troubles!

I Am What I Am!

Mummy Beadzoid has tagged me and asked me to ‘Fill in the Blanks’ and explain a little about who I am.

So here goes …

I am a worrier.  I have always been a worrier for as long as I can remember.  And the thing that I worry about most is what other people think about me.  Pathetic, I know.  I worry about what people think about what I wear, what I do and how I do things.  I worry about what kind of teacher I am, what kind of parent I am, what kind of blogger I am!  I let these worries impact on what I do.  It leads to a lot of loneliness actually and to an inability to really be myself in front of others.  Very few people know the real me, I do not let people close.  A fear of ridicule, a fear of rejection.  I can come across as rude to some people, I know, but it is not rudeness, it is shyness.  People find this hard to believe as I am confident on a stage or when teaching a group of children but among a group of my peers this confidence leaves me.  Deserts me and lets me down.  This worry is quite a handicap for me.  It leads to irrational thinking and over reactions to silly situations.  Sometimes it is like an out of body experience as I emotionally react to a situation I am telling myself to stop.  But I can’t! This worry causes me stress but I cannot stop it.  I should be able to but I can’t.  I am a worrier and it is something about myself that I hate.

The bravest thing I have ever done is have abdominal surgery whilst 26 weeks pregnant with my twins.  Although this is not something that I chose to do, I had no choice, I have never been so scared in all my life.  David and I had tried for so long to get pregnant, we had come so far in this twin pregnancy and we were about to lose everything because of me, because of my body.  I was letting him down.  I was letting his parents down, my parents.  I was letting down our children, before they had even been born.  From being admitted to hospital to being cut open took 3 days.  3 days of tests and assessments, pain killers, blood, vomit and terror.  David was far braver than me, he did not know if any of us were going to survive, no one seemed to know what was wrong or what should be done.  I told him that if it was a choice between me and the babies then I wanted to be the one to die.  It was awful but worse for David as my recollection of those days is blurred and I know for him the memories are still very clear.  After the operation I was in hospital for 7 days recovering.  I was heavily pregnant.  My bump had been cut from top to bottom to allow the surgeon to save my twisted bowel without disturbing the babies.  I could not eat, I was on oxygen.  David had to help me in a way a husband should never have to help his wife, let alone fiance to fiancee.  I was so swollen with water retention I could barely sit, stand or walk.  I had to fight on to get fit and well for the babies.  When I was discharged on the 21st July I did not expect to go to hospital again until October but in spite of my best efforts and those of all the doctors the babies were born on the 24th July 2010 at 27 weeks plus 3.  I am so sorry babies that I was not able to keep you safe inside me for longer x I will always feel sad about that.

I feel prettiest when I forget to worry about what other people think. 

Something that keeps me awake at night is my son, William.  Bless him. Born at 27 weeks, now 7 months, there is nothing my little man likes more than Mummy’s milk.  Every 2 – 3 hours right around the clock.  I always complain about this but actually I love feeding him and will miss it so much when this special time is gone.  But it does mean a severe and prolonged lack of sleep. 

My favourite meal is fajitas.  David and I started eating fajitas regulalrly when we started IVF as a good way of eating lots of vegetables.  When I make fajitas they are filled to bursting with veg – peppers, onions, mushrooms, chillies, tomatoes, spinach.  We have lots of different varieties of mushroom and they are really filling and flavoursome.  We started IVF in January 2009 and we still eat fajitas at least once a week even now.  Yum – Yum!

The way to my heart is to surprise me.  Tell me something nice, make me laugh, write me a story, cook me a meal.  Be thoughtful and kind and spontaneous.  Treat me in some way, make me smile.  Show that you have been thinking about me enough to plan a surprise no matter how small.  Do this and my heart will be yours x

I would like to be thinner.  Since starting IVF and being pregnant I have gained over a stone in weight.  It is coming off slowly but I still have a way to go before our wedding in September.  I am struggling to lose weight and tone my stomach because of the scars from surgery.  I will keep working at it and hope that by September I will be somewhere near to where I used to be in tone and weight.  If not, well, I have two beautiful babies to show for it, and at the end of the day, I am alive.

This is me, I am what I am.

Thank you Mummy Beadzoid for the questions x