Time flies too fast

Before I know it, it's already time for the twins to have their first solids. When Ayden was about to have his first solids I researched into all about weaning and first foods. As now I am an expert, or so I like to think I am, with the twins I just did exactly what I did for Ayden. First taste was organic cereal mixed with breast milk followed by a fruit purée. And in the case of the twins, their first fruit was apple.

As usual I went excited with making purees. I don't know why I like it so much, I just do! I like the idea of feeding nutritious food to my babies that I made myself and its just so easy to do and freeze. As a working mom, the whole Annabel Karmel method of pureeing and freezing them into cubes is a life saver.

And of course I also went crazy with booster seats, just like I did with Ayden. Aaron got his own seat which looks just like his big brothers' and Hannah's got a pinky one which comes with a mini booster for her dolly (not in the picture).



I'll cherish this moment forever as weaning is my most favourite milestone and these babies will be our last, it's also my the last time I will ever be making purees for my babies.

Love you lots my precious.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My birth story with my twins

I promised my birth story of the twins. I was so uncomfortable during my leave before I delivered that I really did not have patients or creativity to blog about it. So now since the babies are out and the dust has settled somewhat, here goes my birth story.
I started my maternity leave, or rather, sick leave when I was 33 weeks. I really was too heavy and cumbersome to plod to work. My colleagues were literally begging me to go home and rest, not because they feel sorry for me, but they really were worried if I was going to go into labour!
So gladly I told my boss that I would like to start staying home until I delivered, and gladly he allowed me.
So stayed home I did.
I was not sure if it was a mistake it the right thing to do. I was more uncomfortable lounging at home than sitting on my office chair! I could not lie on the couch because the weight of my tummy literally squeezed the air out of me, same goes lying in bed. Sitting up was the most comfortable position, for about half an hour at most before I have to shift positions again. Getting up is worst because I have to heave ho myself out of the chair, which used a lot of my inner thigh and hip strength. I could not even get up to get a glass of water, I had to ask the kind assistance of our nanny to do so. I could not fetch my son from school as I fear that my tummy would not fit into the driver's seat in my car. All I could do was sit but changed positions every half hour or so.
Then I found something to distract me. Paint by numbers! I've always wanted to try it!
I bought Van Gogh's starry starry night, which was apparently medium in level of difficulty and started working on it.




The blank canvas
I wake up quite early in the morning as I could not sleep long anyway, because sleeping is the MOST uncomfortable position to be in. So I would start painting early in the morning, with some breakfast in front of me. I would paint non stop for 2 hours straight and not even realise that time had flown by! I'd stretch for a bit in between and maybe take a shower or get something to drink just to get some blood flowing and easing my back for a bit, then I'd continue painting until Ayden gets home from school and continue again the next morning.




Half way through!




All done!
So I managed to finish starry starry night in 5 days and decided to do a other one. By that time I was already 35 weeks and getting way to heavy and uncomfortable. I bought a really cool New York City one with front view of a traffic scene.




This is only how far I got!
The same week, I went for my check up and my doc says, ok, I can deliver the babies this week. They are above 2kg and everything looks ok. We scheduled the delivery for Friday morning, I would be 36 weeks by then.
So Thursday morning I went to the hairdresser to get my hair a good wash, as I am not suppose to wash my hair for a few weeks after I deliver (Chinese confinement rules). I did some last minute packing,made sure everything via ready at home to receive the babies and made sure Ayden's gift from the twins was wrapped and ready for him to open after I deliver. It's an old Malay tradition where if you have an older child expecting new siblings, you prepare a gift for him saying that it is from his new sibling so he does not get too jealous or unhappy when they arrive.
We were all terribly excited. We checked into the hospital at noon on Thursday, just because the room was an awesome room. Almost like a hotel suite which a separate dining and living room from the hospital bed room with an LCD tv in each room. My parents came in the evening too, also to enjoy the room haha! We are an amusing family. Then later that night my aunt and grandma came too just for fun. So everyone was having a good time and the babies had not even arrived yet!




Terrible iPhone shot of us in the room
Early the next morning as early as 5am, the nurses came in to take my blood pressure, basically prepping me for surgery. I was to be the first that morning. Surgery was scheduled at 8am and I was suppose to be at there by 7am. So I took a log hot shower.hubby who spent the night with me also took a long hot shower and got dressed. We were so excited! The long awaited time finally arrived!
I was wheeled down to the OT. There the anaesthesiologist prepared my epidural. It took longer than usual ( compared to my first time with my first born ). As I was bent over the nurse in the OT (and the dr busy poking my spine to get the line in) I saw that they had prepared the warming table for the twins. Pink blanket for the girl and blue for the boy. I was so overcome with joy, fear, sadness, happiness all rolled into one. It was a long journey for us. All our babies were ivf babies and we never ever thought that we could even have one child. We were blessed with Ayden and now we are expecting twins! I cried silently over the nurses shoulder and when the nurse saw me she thought I was getting anxious because of the surgery. In a way I was too!
The epidural this time as very different. Sounds around me suddenly sounded muffled and I was really drowsy. It didn't feel right and immediately told the nurse in case I fell over cos the operating table was really narrow. I remembered looking at the clock, it was already 7.55am. The surgery was meant to start at 8am and it had taken almost 45 minutes to get my epidural done.
They laid me down and I still felt a little panicky. Hubby came in already in scrubs and sat next to me. I was really drowsy then. I also could not breathe properly and I told hubby that. Dr. Guna was already in and ready to perform the c section. I remembered telling hubby, I feel really sleepy. If I fall asleep, please wake me up when the twins come out.
And suddenly... I felt it. A sharp searing pain from below my naval. Like someone used something sharp and glide it along my skin. It was not painful enough to scream out loud, but it was just a little searing pain. I did say aloud "ouch!" and promptly the doctor stopped. Then I told hubby... "Sakit". Then I heard the Anaesthesiologist say, you are meant to feel something but not pain. But I insisted it hurts. The next thing I know, I fell asleep.
In my sleep I remembered telling myself, "oh shoot, the doctor put me down to sleep didn't he". Then I thought, he must have done it for a good reason. Ok if that's the case. I better not wake up before the twins are pulled out or I will feel the pain!
I also had really strange dreams while I was down. Very vivid dreams. It was snap shots of different scenarios. Next thing I know I was woken up in the recovery area. I heard the anaesthesiologist tell me, we had to put you down. You were getting anxious. I was still really drowsy and drifted in and out of sleep. Then I felt I was being wheeled back into my room. I was almost fully awake then.
I saw hubby waiting for me in my room. The room was dim and cosy. Hubby had drawn the curtains so I could rest. I asked him what happened, why I was put to sleep. He said that I was getting panicky so the doc put me down to sleep. Actually he did not notice that I was sleeping until I had not responded when he told me that the twins were out.
Turned out the first twin, our baby girl, was pulled out at 8.22am while her brother followed only just two minutes later! As soon as she came out the pead took her to the warming table and checked her. Meanwhile her brother was already out and the nurse placed him on the other warming table while waiting for the pead to check him. They were both wrapped and brought to me. Since I was sleeping hubby just took a photo with me and the twins while the nurse held them close to my face.



Twin 1 out



Twin 2 waiting for doctor to check him



My first photo with the twins! And just like that, I'm a mummy of twins.




Hannah




Aaron



Both of them together






Their ID tags with birth info


Me tapping on my iPhone telling the world the babies have arrived!


Big brother Ayden opening the present from his new siblings

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

3.5 months old

So here they are today! 3.5 months old. Hannah Sofea and Aaron Omar. 4.4kg and 4.6kg respectively. They were both born at 2.5kg.

I have popped... 3 months ago!

A very late announcement indeed. Yes I have given birth on 21 September 2012 to my twins. At 36 weeks I was literally begging my doctor to deliver. So deliver I did with a dramatic birth story that calls for another post just for it.

It's been a challenging 3 months. If you think one baby is hard, try two, or even three. I honestly don't know how triplet moms do it. Twins is hard enough. But the joy and fun also doubles. It's so great to cuddle two babies at a time. To see two gummy smiles in the wee hours of the morning. Ad best of all to watch them play and interact with each other.

Having twins really means you need extra pair of hands to help. Doing it on your own would require you to wear your red underwear on the outside of your pants. Possible but it is dead tiring. Especially when both babies cry t once. It is prime importance that a twin mummy remain calm and attend to each crying baby as calmly as possible. With practice one will get the hang of it. Don't get me wrong, I've got help. My maid is a wonder with the twins. She is ever so patient with them even though they've been demanding all day. Demanding I mean when Aaron has his tummy ache while Hannah just wants to be carried all day. It tires both of us out leaving other chores like preparing dinner almost impossible. But we take it one day at a time.

Now the twins are 3 months old and they are pretty much more independent. You can actually leave them on the play mat for half an hour and they can play on their own. Both are fascinated with their toy mobiles and smiles and giggle with joy at them. We pretty much sorted out Aaron's tummy ache, or at least know what to do so its under better control than the first two months.

So here are the photos from the birth and their first month.



The night before the c-section. More to tell in a separate post on my birth story.



First photo of me and the twins. As you can see I was completely knocked out!



The first few hours after birth



Our daughter Hannah came our first, therefore she is twin 1




Her brother Aaron followed just 2 minutes later.

It was such a joyous moment although I was really groggy all day from the sedative. But it was such a wonderful feeling receiving not one but two babies! They were really sleepy babies in their first few weeks so breastfeeding was easy to do. They were both exclusively on breastmilk the first 2.5 months but now on mixed formula as I could not keep up with their demand when I started work.

So more of my adventures as a twinnie mum and also to a toddler in his terrible two stage in my coming posts!

In the meantime belated Happy New Year!!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Boosting milk supply

Needless to say you need a heck of a lot of milk to bf twins. And due to cost of feeding two babies with formula, I really want to bf my twins as much as I can!

When I was bf Ayden, my milk supply was just enough for him. I did try the fish and papaya soup which my mum made for me and yes it really worked! It's just that she did not get to make the soup so often because you need young papaya I.e ones that are still green. Markets usually sell those that are already yellow. So now I am in pursuit of finding a friend or neighbour with a papaya tree to ensure constant supply!

I found in Babycenter Malaysia the recipe and would like to share it with everybody.

So taken from Babycenter, here it is:

Ingredients
500 grams of fish bones (preferable to use threadfin - kurau - fish bones)
500 grams of green papaya (the flesh of the fruit is white)
Three litres of water
Four slices of ginger (this will help cut down any fishy taste or smell)
Six pips (cloves) of garlic
Three stalks of spring onion
Salt to taste
Directions
Boil the water, then add in the ginger, garlic and spring onion.
Cut the papaya into small slices. Discard seeds.
Pour boiling water over the green papaya to remove sap, then drain.
Combine the fish bones into the boiling pot, followed by the green papaya.
Turn down the fire, leave to boil for about half an hour to reduce.
This should yield about three rice bowls of soup.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

An obsession with Thomas and Friends

He can play with them all day. He will watch them on youtube. He has tons of books on them and his schoolbag, water tumbler and lunch box is of the same theme.

Its amazing with a bunch of trains can do for a little boy.

He started his interest almost more than a year ago. My aunt gave him a book and a DVD as a gift and everything started from there. I decided to get him the Take and Play set and slowly we built his collection. Though he does not build proper tracks or anything, he just likes running the engines along them, even though they lead to nowhere.

He narrates while he plays, which does wonders for his imagination. Definitely much better than watching tv or playing with the ipad.

33 weeks pregnant with twins

On my last check up, I had gained 19kg weighing at 69kg. Babies are 2kg each and my feet are getting swollen from water retention.

My morning sickness is back but its not too bad. Manageable. Somedays I do have to take medication for it. I have some slight dizziness as well. Still not much pelvic pain, only yesterday I felt like I could not walk as smoothly. No pubic bone pain yet. These are all little blessings as I only have to cope with the weight. If these pains kick in, it would be HELL. It is uncomfortable as it is with the huge belly.

I can still walk in shopping malls but have to take breaks every half hour or so.

I have already started my maternity leave. My colleagues were literally begging for me to stay home. I must look that HUGE at work! I do get strangers saying Woa!! while waiting for the lift at the office! People just can't help it! They just have to ask or say something.

Looking at myself everyday, I don't seem to think my belly is that huge. But since I make such an impression with strangers.... I suppose it really is that HUGE.

So here's me at 33 weeks. I still got to get cracking with packing the hospital bag!!!

Twin pregnancy discomfort

I had a very comfortable second trimester with nausea out of they way. Yes the belly was heavy but generally I could get on with my daily life quite ok. I had some pubic bone and pelvic pain sometime in the early 6th month but that went away after 2 weeks. I look alarmingly large to people but I felt comfortable. I could still go swimming and yup we went to Hong Kong Disneyland.

The third trimester turned out very different. It was like a flip of a switch.i instantly felt like I was getting heavier every week. I had tummy tightenings (as the dr said I would) more frequently and they were more uncomfortable too. They were not painful but I could not move or do anything until it passes over. It lasts for about a minute or two. The size of my belly is also getting unbearably large. It is like literally having a ball on my lap. I cannot sit my my legs together and it is now impossible for me to walk longer than 10 minutes without feeling extremely uncomfortable. Last week I went to Ikea and had to rent a wheelchair. That was a blessing!

Lying down is totally hell. I feel like I am. Being crushed by a huge ball. I can only lie comfortably on my side with a pillow supporting my tummy. I cannot turn over without crying in pain. I got a maternity belt recently and that really helps! Especially when sleeping!

Now am 32 weeks and have 5 weeks more to go before my scheduled c section. As the coming weeks would mean that the babies would be busy piling on weight, I cannot imagine how much more uncomfortable it would be!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad