Category Archives: twins

Weekend Rewind – RSV

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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.

Happy Birthday Mum

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Dear Mum

I am writing to wish you a very happy birthday. I hope that the weather is being kind to you back in Spain. Here it is a balmy and sunny 15 degrees. Esther and William are having their morning nap and then we are going to have a play and some lunch before I take them out for a long walk in the springtime for their lunch time nap.

We are missing you very much. It is only now that you are gone that I realise just how much you did for us in the three weeks you were with us.

Now I am back to unloading the dishwasher, tidying up after 6 meal times a day, loading and unloading the washing machine, sorting the clothes, sweeping the floors, playing with the litle ones. You helped with all of this and it feelslike a mamoth task now that you are gone.

I have no one to talk to or share things with throughout the day, no one to just be here keeping companiable silence and enduring the songs of the jungle gym, and those flowers!!!

We loved having you here with us. I loved the company, even if I did not show it all the time. I loved the freedom that you gave me as I was able to get out and go places with Esther and William, rather than being stuck home alone. I wish I had made more of that opportunity. I wish I had been nicer to you, made the most of having you here. You know that I am bad at that x

Esther and William are missing you. They miss your funny voices, your energetic play and the faces that you pulled. They miss being picked up whenever they cry and not having to wait their turn for their Mummy’s attention.

I wish you could be here all the time.

As always your birthday card is late but is on its way and is sent with heartfelt thanks, love and gratitiude for being a wonderful Mum and Nanny. Thank you for making us laugh and making us smile. Thank you for coming when we needed you. Thank you x

We are counting down the days til July now.

We love you and miss you so so much.

Here are some photos from your stay x

Photo 365 Introduction and 001/365

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Today I am starting the Photo 365 Challenge. I know that it is usual to start this in January but I am in need of a new challenge and photography is something that I long to be better at so this seemed the right way to go. I am going to try hard to take good, different photos and improve my skills and my blog in the process.

To start the challenge I am going to introduce two young models who I think will feature quite heavily in my photos to come. My very nearly 8 month old twins, Esther and William.

Esther and William were born at 27 weeks and 3 days gestation on 24th July 2010. In 8 months they have come on in leaps and bounds. At their corrected age of very nearly 5 months they are rolling at will and caterpillar crawling around the floor. They can sit independently for a few seconds a a time and have in the last few days developed a love of bubbles and balloons. They are becoming quite chatty in their funny little way though it is hard to make out separate sounds when they have all of their fingers stuffed in their mouths!! Poor teething babies! I hope to get lots of improving shots of them as they change and grow.

I hope you will stick with me throughout the challenge.

Here is Photo 001

Introducing Esther and William to 365

Reasons to Be Cheerful

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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.

Jenny Craig – End of Week 1

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The end of my first week with Jenny Craig is here.

Jenny Craig is not a diet but a weight management programme it consists of a calorie controlled menu, physical activity and lifestyle coaching.

At the beginning of the week I had a 15 minute chat with my Jenny Craig consultant. She talked me through my hamper which had arrived bursting with edible goodness to last me through the weeks ahead. 28 days of breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks delivered directly to your door! In this case, to my door!

Next my consultant talked to me about expectations of the programme and of myself. She said that the programme is designed by a dietician to help you lose weight steadily. Eating six times throughout the day maximises your metabolism and aids weight loss. She explained that each day on the menu was nutritionally balanced and so though you could do the days in any order to follow the programme correctly you had to reach all the foods from each day and not mix and match. She also advised taking a multi-vitamin supplement which I do anyway as I am breastfeeding the twins.

So how is the food? It is a diet after all even if it is part of a programme. The snacks are great. The best part of the diet by far. However, as my best friend pointed out to me there are actually similar amounts of calories in Wotsits and Quavers as there are in Jenny Craig Potato Snacks. The cereal bars are tasty, very similar to Special K bars in taste and calorie content. The chocolate wafers and digestive bars are great ways to feel naughty ad get that chocolate fix. So though the snacks are good I am not sure that cheaper, perhaps tastier alternatives cannot be bought as part of your usual weekly shop.

The meals themselves are fine. I supplemented mine with a lot of vegetables and chillies and this masked much of the taste. The foods do all taste quite similar with something of a faint after taste?? They were not horrible at all and I look forward to tasting more of the options next week but they were not what I would call bursting with flavour. I am certain that they are more than good enough if you are desperate to lose weight and have a lot to lose. They are actually very filling for the portion size given.

I have struggled with the diet this week as I have had a bad week with the twins and I am not sure that 1200 calories is enough when breastfeeding twins but with what I have done I have lost weight.

This morning I weighed 9 stone 8 pounds and I started the week at 9st11lbs. So one thing has to be said for Jenny Craig so far, it works, and if I had been following it religiously I think that it would have worked very well indeed.

One thing that I am certain of is that if I do not continue with this diet afte the 28 day trial I will definitely continue with the methodology particularly relating to portion sizes. I know now that though I eat very healthily I do eat far too much and this is why I was not able to lose the baby weight without this help.

I also feel that the available consultations and support are needed to make the initial weight loss a success and to help keep the weight off. At home I have my mother for support who just keeps feeding me biscuits!!

Anyway, onwards and upwards to next week when I have another consultation and a new menu to explore.

If you would like to find out more about this programme then you can visit their website by clicking the picture below.

JENNY CRAIG

Answers on a Postcard Please!

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Well, this is a new one for me.

It is 4.30am and I have given up trying to get any sleep and come downstairs with Esther.

I went to bed nice and early last night as I know that sleep deprivation is really starting to take its toll on me. I am becoming very grumpy and emotional and I am worried that when my Mum leaves this time next week I am going to struggle to cope on my own again.

Not sure why Esther can’t sleep?

But here we are, 4.30am, in the lounge. Esther playing on her gym and me tapping on my laptop, waiting for the kettle so that I can have a cup of tea. Herbal. I have given up the good stuff for Lent! Bad idea! And biscuits. Supposedly on a diet but needs must!

So anyway, after having this early night I was woken for feeds at 11pm, 12am, 2,40am and I have not been back to sleep since!

I think my total sleep is somewhere in the region of two hours!

William and David are now sleeping soundly. And I just do not know what to do with my wired little girl, or with this problem long term.

Esther and William are 7.5 months old and I am still up every 90 minutes on average at night feeding one or both of them. I feel like I am never going to ever sleep for longer than this again.

They are being weaned now and eat 3 meals, albeit small meals, a day on top of their considerable milk intake.

I don’t think that it is hunger keeping them up at night.

So comfort, or habit?

What do we do to break the cycle? If that is what it is.

David wants me to go away and stay in a hotel for a night, leaving him to feed both babies for a night, even though William has always refused a bottle. He says he will manage with a cup or a syringe.

I am sure that cannot be the answer, short or long term.

Answers on a postcard please. Or in the comments below will do.

Kettle’s boiled.