Categories
12 Months and beyond

More language and awareness

Julia is now saying “hello daddy” and “bye-bye daddy”, it used to be Daddy, Daddy and yet more Daddy being yelled. Both Julia and Lillian still do that and giggle and get so excited about their daddy and him coming home and when home the cuddles and giggles that happen. Heaps of joy it is just so fun to watch.

Lillian is finding daddies mobile phone, even if it is not lost (daddy has put it on a table for example) and bringing it to daddy and says when she presents it to him “daddies phone”. All very cute and she knows who’s mobile is whose. Very smart indeed.  Lillian even goes and finds a cd that is sitting near a computer and thinks that she needs to give it to daddy so that it is protected. She then takes the cd and other items and gives it to daddy or mummy and then says “Ta”. She is so helpful.The girls are so happy that they are being more understood that they giggle and say oaky and clap their hands when you understand what they are saying or wanting. Their language is hard sometimes. When they say “knock knock”, it does sound like a foreign language. When they both say “sit” it vaguely sounds like shit, but I know it is sit, as they promptly sit down.Julia did go through a phase of having temper tantrums and the word “shit” became her anger word. Now it is “Oh dear”, much better than the former one.  April or March of this year, we had an appointment at the dietician at Katoomba Hospital. Our paediatrician thought that they were underweight for their age range. (Look they are twins, they were born 6 weeks early and they will always be small. I am not a big person and the girls have a small frame. So I dare say they will be petite girls.) So we were recommended to go to the dietician.At this appointment Julia fell off a plastic chair that is small for kids and she got very angry at the chair. She tried to bite it and started kicking it and yelling. She then said “shit” multiple times and I was so embarrassed. However the dietician was nice and then said, it is impressive she is using the word in context. So mother not all bad there, good that she is using the word in the right way. I just did not want her saying it at all. Glad that she is not doing that anymore, well just waiting for the next inappropriate word to get embarrassed about.It is just amazing to see the development of the girls in regards to language and piecing it all together. Words are becoming sentences and ownership is now an understood part of their vocab. This was understood before as they have being doing this is mine, no it is mine with each other since about 8 months old or earlier. I do believe that as they are twins and are sharing everything it seems that they pick up on this a lot earlier than singletons.

Categories
12 Months and beyond

Words and yet more words

Today the girls said “Aunty”, and “dinosaur” . Julia seems fixated with saying Up, Down, Up, Down. When she says Up, Down she stands up and then for down she sits down. All very cute. We keep on getting professionals and other people comment on how advanced their vocabulary is for their age. Soon they will be 20mths, turning 20mths on James my husband’s birthday, the 13th of May, 2010.

Julia has also taken to putting up her hand and pointing and saying “Naughty”, this seems to happen when you take her away from something she likes to be doing. Lately Mummy and Daddy seem to be very naughty.

As we have never had kids before we don’t know what to expect or what is normal for word development. We were glad that they were understanding what we were saying and that they were communicating so we did not think that they were advanced, just maybe normal.

The girls go to childcare each Thursday and every time I pick the girls up I have the ladies that work there mention how they are so clever and talking so well. They mention that they just explain things once and they understand and repeat.

We knew they were smart but had no idea that they were doing better for their age group. During a recent trip to the doctors it was noted again that the girls are forming sentences and they are doing as instructed. I asked Lillian to walk to the door and come back to the seat I was in. This was so that the doctor can see Lillian walk and look at her bowed leg. She said that at their age, they normally say a couple of words, Mummy, Daddy, and some others not what they are doing.

I asked how do I keep them interested and promote learning. I don’t think I have genius children just worried that if they are so ahead of the pack that they might get bored with things that they already know. It is hard to keep a smart kid interested in learning and making sure that you keep the love of learning. The doctor just said that I should keep on doing what I am doing and did not suggest anything else.  I find it rather annoying that when you go to doctors now that when you ask a question you don’t get any answers to help you, seems like a wasted outing and effort if you ask me. Does anyone else have this problem?

The girls both like books, and I have purchased more flash cards. If they get something out of the cards that is a bonus, if they just look at the pictures at least it is entertaining. If the cards allow them to learn more that is just icing on the cake.

I am just glad that the girls are doing so well and are on track for their age group and seems like they are doing better than I expected in this regard. I had no idea what to expect as these are my first children.

I am just going to promote educational television shows, reading more books, I explain to the girls what I am doing and tell them of any new thing or item that crosses our path. I take them to new places and they get introduced to new people.

Categories
12 Months and beyond

Aunty Kay

We visited Aunty Kay today. She is my younger sister and works and lives in the Northern Beaches. I was going that way as I had an interview with Starfish kids. Starfish kids is an model/talent agency for children and babies. We are currently with Brats however we have had no jobs and in May it will be a year that we have been with them. Thought that I would see what another agency could do.  So as Starfish kids is in the northern beaches we all thought that after our interview we would go and visit Aunty Kay for lunch.

Kay was very excited to have us come to her work as she does not see the girls often as we live so far apart. I live in Katoomba and she in Beacon Hill. Might not be so bad, but she does not drive or own a car. Hard to have a car if you don’t drive. So we were happy to come to her.It took us a while to get to the Northern Beaches as the traffic was so bad that day. I was not late, actually on time for everything but was in a bit of a panic as thought I would be late. After our interview at Starfish Kids we took about 15mins to drive to Kay’s work. Kay had organised some great food for us and I had organised sandwiches and apple for the girls. I had also packed water bottles and their milk (we call it milk even when it could be formula – the girls are on toddler formula, they also drink full cream cow’s milk).After saying hi to everyone that Kay works with and she showed the girls off, we found a place to have our picnic on the grounds of her work. It was a lovely day, hot and a nice breeze. As the girls were dressed up and looking hot and bothered, I decided to change them from long sleeve dresses to short sleeve tops and just a nappy. They are in nappy pants and have been for a while. This is so much better as they take off the nappy if they are in regular nappies. Have learnt the hard way. If you don’t want poo and wee wee everywhere nappy pants are your friends.With that the girls were running around as they were so happy to finally be free. You should have seen the smiles on their faces. Julia would say bye bye and then smile at us before she walked behind bushes and a tree, that then made us leave our picnic to make sure that the girls did not hurt themselves. Where we were there was paths that lead to houses on the property and also to the road that they could wander off to. So we had to be on the look out.Throughout the picnic Julia kept on yelling for “sister”, Lillian to come with her or for Lillian to come with Julia. I then explained to Kay that Lillian had not once said Julia but Lillian calls Julia Lillian. She points and says Lillian or Lilly. She even pointed to a tree and called it Lillian. She has done this before off and on, she points to things and then says Lilly or Lillian. I do correct her when she does this and when it comes to Julia I say, “No you are Lillian, this is Julia.” Then Lillian laughs like crazy.   She knows but she is just playing I think. Not sure. She did do this with Daddy, she kept on calling him mummy until about 3-4 months ago, then she called him daddy. She knew who he was but insisted he was mummy, then he would say daddy and she would laugh. She might say it once and then say he was mummy.So the girls had a great time at Aunty Kay’s work and even tried tabouleh, did not like it, and pulled a very funny face before spitting it out. They stuck to cheese sandwiches and apple.Before we got to Kay’s the girls were saying Kay in the car like the word was going out of fashion, however once we arrived and all picnic they did not call her Kay. I was hoping that they would surprise her but they did not. I hope one day they do say it to her face as that would make her day.We will have to go and visit Kay next time, it is just such a long day to travel to that side of Sydney but it is good to get out and about, and the girls just love to go places.

Categories
12 Months and beyond

Playful Girls

Julia and Lillian were feeling very restless in the house. I offered that we all go outside to run around and it was met with giggles and Yes and nods from both of them. So off we went to the backyard. Once we got there, Lillian took to the ball and started bashing it around. Forgot to mention that she brought the brush from the brush and pan with her, so she was using this to move the ball around.

Julia was picking the ball up and then giving it to me and then I had to give it back to her, all in between eating leaves and me trying to get them out of her mouth. I mentioned to Lillian that she should be kicking the ball like she was doing in hospital. (See other post on hospital stay with Lillian) She thought about it and started really getting stuck into the ball by kicking it. Very good kicks that had some weight behind them. Julia had the ball and it had fallen out of her hand, it fell right next to the path and she then attempted to kick it. However there was no room as it was so close to the concrete. She then bent over to move it so that she could kick the ball. Very clever if you ask me.

Today, I noticed that Julia was having problems with a corn I think that is on her foot. It has not been causing her any issues until now. Or maybe I just have not noticed. She was walking on tippy toes on that foot and kept on saying “sore foot”. Lillian has the same thing on the same foot but has not gotten as bad as Julia’s. It is not too bad in the scheme of things, it is just the dilema and the annoyance of now that it is causing issues, we will now have to get it removed. More cost, appointments with doctors, and an unhappy baby but hopefully that part is just short term.

I did go to doctors about it but no one can make up their mind about what it is and the way to remove it. Being a little baby at the time did not help matters. Now she is older it might be easier but I don’t think so.

We all have had a very busy day. We went to the chriopractor and the girls ran around his office while I was looked after and then off home for a  much needed sleep. While out today the girls said the word, “exactly”. They are speaking so well and I am sure there are others but they will come to me later. Then as mentioned we ran around the backyard and played with the balls and had just a great time. Both the girls kept on going to a newly planted tree to give me dirt as a present. All very cute and messy and obvioulsy not needed but I accpeted my presents. Hard when they wanted the dirt back and it slipped away between my fingers.

Still cannot get over how grown up they are and how the time has flown.  It only seems like I have just had them, but they are just so independent and active.

Categories
12 Months and beyond

Shoe Fetish

Both Julia and Lillian have a shoe obsession. It started when I gave them their first shoes.  This occured around October 2009. They were walking more and needed to be protected. We had just been to Octoberfest at the Carrington at Katoomba and they were running around the grass lawn. I was worried that they might step in more things later and decided when out next to get them shoes.

As I was not sure what to buy and the sizes (the girls were not with me when I bought the shoes), I ended up buying a size that is small but fitted just.

We put them on the girls and to great delight they ran around the house pleased with their new additions – SHOES.  Now they say shoes, socks, and shoe, shoe all the time. This week they have tried on mummies shoes and walked around with one of them on each of their feet and today and yesterday they put on their own shoes. One pair is way too big for them, howevery they have mastered the skill of walking with big shoes and not letting them fall off.

This is all very cute. It was also cute to see Lillian put her shoes on the horse rocker and give them a ride. She got quite upset when one fell off the ride and she could not reach it to put it back for another go. Mummy had to step in to help the sad shoe that was missing out on the fun.

I am not sure if this obsession will last till adult hood or if it is just something that girls go through.  As I have never had kids before I have no idea. Maybe this is why some girls grow up to have massive shoe collections. Is this the start of fashion like Sex in the City for my girls????  I have no idea and think it is just so curious.

No matter what the shoe they calm down when they have one regardless if they are wearing one, carrying it or chewing on it.

Categories
12 Months and beyond

Biters and Walking

Today Julia really bit Lillian very hard. Skin was marked and broken. Not good and of course there was tears and she was not happy. This biting thing has been going on for ages now, but is getting worse as they have more teeth now.   I really believe that due to the fact that they are twins and have had to share things, mummy and their toys and wait turns they get quite annoyed.

This biting thing has been going on since about 5-6 months. Had no idea how to manage it in the early days, but think I have hit the nail on the head. I am using time out. I take the injured child and comfort them but before that I put the trouble maker in time out. This is done by putting them in their cot as it is the only space that will be good enough for a time out.

They are so active now and want to go walking everywhere. They look at you with their cute blue eyes and say walking, walking, walky, walky. So you relent and let them run around the house. I did this again today and now the house is littered with items that were not in the living room before and also in the kitchen and dining room. I still have not found my brush for my brush and pan. I had to get a new one. I am sure that it will surface one day or maybe it was dumped in the garbage and has been thrown out. I will never know. Currently it is a mystery in our house, Where did the brush go?

Lillian also put her shoe on all by herself and both the girls are trying to put their feet in my shoes and go walking. Hard in big shoes that don’t fit. All very cute and funny.

I just am glad that I am finally getting the hang of dealing with biters and coping with walkers and feeling exhausted after all the activity today. Mostly making sure they don’t injure themselves.

So I am going to continue with my time out, it seems to have made a difference and they don’t bite as often as they once were. However it is a drama when it happens. The time outs are not for long about a minute to show that you cannot do what you have just done, and to also make the poor child that was biten calm down.

If anyone else has any ideas on how else to manage this that would be great, currently what I am doing is working. Would be interested on other strategies.

Categories
12 Months and beyond

Weetbix

 

Julia said Weetbix today. I have been feeding the girls Weetbix with banana for a while now. At first they did not like it not one bit.  I explained this to James my husband and he thought that was great, he hates Weetbix and was glad to hear that his girls hated it.I grew up on Weetbix and wanted the girls to eat it. It is so much easier to eat this for breakfast rather than something else that you need to buy from Heinz or some other manufacturer.Now the like it so much they finish nearly all their food. Sometimes they don’t and sometimes they eat it all. I give them 2 biscuits with milk and a banana.

I was so pleased when Julia said Weetbix. Explained this to James and he is now a bit upset as he has realised that he is loosing the battle to not have them eat Weetbix. It helps when you are home all the time and making sure they eat well. 🙂

How has your child gone eating things that you have thought are good for them? I have found that it does take a couple of goes or more than that. Being persistent is the key.

Happy eating and I hope your child will like and eat Weetbix too, or something that you have been trying to get them to eat.

Categories
Katoomba Hospital Uncategorised

Lillian's hospital stay

Lillian had a very bad fever all weekend , 27th and the 28th of March.  It was not getting better. We were giving her Nurofen and it was not making a difference, you are supposed to give Nurofen every 6-8 hours. However she seemed to want and need more every 2-3 hours. So I hugged her and consoled her and she slept, however she was burning up and just so hot and not herself. During this period she did not eat and was off her food completely.

As it was not getting better I decided to go the hospital on the Sunday after lunch. I thought that they would say she was teething and that she was o.k. and to go home and to give her more painkillers and just do what we were doing.  When I got to the hospital, mentioned to the nurse that she has been like this all weekend, off her food and just all over the place.

We then waited to see the triage nurse. The triage nurse took Lillian’s temperature and it was 39.7, at home it was 39.5 and that is what made me take her to Katoomba Hospital. They then gave Lillian panadol and we went back to the waiting room to wait to see the doctor. We waited for hours, afternoon turned into evening and then finally we went to a room to wait for the doctor.

We saw a nurse before we saw the doctor and even then the doctor took hours and hours, so it was about 10pm before we saw the doctor. The nurse took Lillian’s temperature again and it was still in the 39 degree area. It was not going down. At 8pm we were given Nurofen and the nurse decided to put a bag on Lillian to capture her urine to see if it would show why she is so ill.

I explained that  months back that their paediatrician wanted to collect urine and we had no luck. He thought they were under weight and said that they were in the bottom third percentile (all based on the graph in the blue book), I did not see an issue and they were hitting all their milestones and doing things that some singletons are not doing. However everyone develops at different rates and I was not concerned. This doctor thought that as they were underweight there might be a reason for it, like a food intolerance or having CF, but glad that the girls don’t have a food intolerance or CF.

 So mentioned to the nurse that if we were to get any urine that I would like to make sure that she is o.k. as we were not successful in the past to get any. She agreed that it would be good to check. 10pm came and the doctor came in to look at Lillian. I was so tired and just wanted to fall asleep, however Lillian was active and playing with all the toys in the room.

The doctor found that the throat, ears were o.k., however the left one was a little red. He could not tell if that was just due to the fever or if it was an infection. Then was telling me that it was all viral or the beginning of a middle ear infection and if Lillian had a fever on Tuesday to come back. He also mentioned that we might need antibiotics. I asked if he could prescribe these now and if we needed them I could then go to the chemist to fill it but he would not. I told him that I have another baby at home and it is difficult and especially if they are sick to have to go to doctors to get a prescription when I get one now. So he concluded that she might have gotten through the worst and it is just a virile thing and it will past, if it is the ear infection just come back and get the prescription from him. So we were going home. Doctor left and we were packing up.

I thought that if we were off home it might pay to do all the terrible things that will disturb Lillian at the hospital so that we can just go to bed when we get home.  I was changing her nappy and noticed that we had been lucky to collect urine in the bag that the nurse had attached earlier in the night. The doctor told me to throw it in the bin and not to worry about it. I wanted to have it tested as we had it and thought it might help on making her better. The nurse took the urine and did the PH test. It came back saying that it was high in nitrates and in white blood cells.

We were not going anywhere, they now needed to get blood to check if there was a high amount of white blood cells there as well. This was pointing to a Urinary Tract Infection. This is dangerous if left untreated. Can cause kidney damage and make children/babies go off their food and have high fevers.

Lillian had to have the pads put on her where they wanted to take blood as it numbs the area and makes it easier to take blood. As she is a strong little girl it took 2 nurses, a doctor and me to hold her down to get blood. The doctor was taking ages to get blood and tried in one arm and it was just terrible to watch and see Lillian scream.  Since they noticed the veins on the left hand on the back were good,  they decided to put a canella in the back of her left hand in case the blood came back with the same type of results as the urine. 

Blood turned out have a very high count of white blood cells so Lillian was given a room in the children’s ward. She was hooked up to a drip to get fluids and to have antibiotics given intravenously. It was hard, she wanted to go walking everywhere, but she could not as she was hooked up to the drip. Every time anyone came in the room to even just check temperature or anything else she would scream.

I had to wait while she settled in and then had to leave as I could not contact James my husband.  As I had Julia at home, I was not sure if James needed to go to work on Monday or if I needed to come back and get her and take her with me to the hospital. They mentioned that she could stay with me there as well. James was lucky that he could take some time off work and he looked after Julia. However as a contractor if you don’t go to work, you don’t get paid. But it was important that he was there and that was the priority.

I went back to the hospital and Lillian did not know that I was gone, she was so tried.  I spent the next 3 nights with her and only missed a couple of hours.  Julia was pinning for her sister while she was in hospital. She kept on walking around the house yelling “sister”, and she looked lost. When she came to visit us at the hospital she hugged and kissed Lillian and this has never happened before. However they have never been apart until now. So they obviously felt lost and lonely alone.

It is just so interesting to see the connection between the girls. Twins really do share a connection that I can never understand, and it is very special. Near the end they took her off the drip and let her walk around the ward. This was good but could have turned out to be a disaster. Lillian nearly walked in on a birth. The doctors were putting on their gowns and she was off running and talking. I just grabbed her and walked away very fast before they could ask me who I was and why I was there.

Lillian took to the play area like a fish to water. When you are stuck in a room without toys you can understand the joy it gave to her. She saw some plastic balls and got the plastic golfing clubs and was batting them around the room. She enjoyed them so much that I took them back to our room.

Lillian is much better now and back to her giggly, smiley self. I am so glad that I took her to the hospital and that they gave her the antibiotics. I am even more grateful to the nurse that put the bag on to capture the urine as the doctor did not think it was necessary. I also don’t know why the ultrasound that they said they were going to do was not done. They normally check the kidneys to make sure that they have not been damaged. It would have been a quick test, however the doctor on duty said it was not needed. Also the doctor that was on duty on the day we left hosptial said that they don’t investigate a first issue with a UTI.

Again just so happy that we went to the hospital and that we had a nurse who did the right test to fix my little girl.  Thank you lovely nurse, I don’t know your name and just so happy as it could have been worse.

Categories
Katoomba Hospital

Lillian’s hospital stay

Lillian had a very bad fever all weekend , 27th and the 28th of March.  It was not getting better. We were giving her Nurofen and it was not making a difference, you are supposed to give Nurofen every 6-8 hours. However she seemed to want and need more every 2-3 hours. So I hugged her and consoled her and she slept, however she was burning up and just so hot and not herself. During this period she did not eat and was off her food completely.

As it was not getting better I decided to go the hospital on the Sunday after lunch. I thought that they would say she was teething and that she was o.k. and to go home and to give her more painkillers and just do what we were doing.  When I got to the hospital, mentioned to the nurse that she has been like this all weekend, off her food and just all over the place.

We then waited to see the triage nurse. The triage nurse took Lillian’s temperature and it was 39.7, at home it was 39.5 and that is what made me take her to Katoomba Hospital. They then gave Lillian panadol and we went back to the waiting room to wait to see the doctor. We waited for hours, afternoon turned into evening and then finally we went to a room to wait for the doctor.

We saw a nurse before we saw the doctor and even then the doctor took hours and hours, so it was about 10pm before we saw the doctor. The nurse took Lillian’s temperature again and it was still in the 39 degree area. It was not going down. At 8pm we were given Nurofen and the nurse decided to put a bag on Lillian to capture her urine to see if it would show why she is so ill.

I explained that  months back that their paediatrician wanted to collect urine and we had no luck. He thought they were under weight and said that they were in the bottom third percentile (all based on the graph in the blue book), I did not see an issue and they were hitting all their milestones and doing things that some singletons are not doing. However everyone develops at different rates and I was not concerned. This doctor thought that as they were underweight there might be a reason for it, like a food intolerance or having CF, but glad that the girls don’t have a food intolerance or CF.

 So mentioned to the nurse that if we were to get any urine that I would like to make sure that she is o.k. as we were not successful in the past to get any. She agreed that it would be good to check. 10pm came and the doctor came in to look at Lillian. I was so tired and just wanted to fall asleep, however Lillian was active and playing with all the toys in the room.

The doctor found that the throat, ears were o.k., however the left one was a little red. He could not tell if that was just due to the fever or if it was an infection. Then was telling me that it was all viral or the beginning of a middle ear infection and if Lillian had a fever on Tuesday to come back. He also mentioned that we might need antibiotics. I asked if he could prescribe these now and if we needed them I could then go to the chemist to fill it but he would not. I told him that I have another baby at home and it is difficult and especially if they are sick to have to go to doctors to get a prescription when I get one now. So he concluded that she might have gotten through the worst and it is just a virile thing and it will past, if it is the ear infection just come back and get the prescription from him. So we were going home. Doctor left and we were packing up.

I thought that if we were off home it might pay to do all the terrible things that will disturb Lillian at the hospital so that we can just go to bed when we get home.  I was changing her nappy and noticed that we had been lucky to collect urine in the bag that the nurse had attached earlier in the night. The doctor told me to throw it in the bin and not to worry about it. I wanted to have it tested as we had it and thought it might help on making her better. The nurse took the urine and did the PH test. It came back saying that it was high in nitrates and in white blood cells.

We were not going anywhere, they now needed to get blood to check if there was a high amount of white blood cells there as well. This was pointing to a Urinary Tract Infection. This is dangerous if left untreated. Can cause kidney damage and make children/babies go off their food and have high fevers.

Lillian had to have the pads put on her where they wanted to take blood as it numbs the area and makes it easier to take blood. As she is a strong little girl it took 2 nurses, a doctor and me to hold her down to get blood. The doctor was taking ages to get blood and tried in one arm and it was just terrible to watch and see Lillian scream.  Since they noticed the veins on the left hand on the back were good,  they decided to put a canella in the back of her left hand in case the blood came back with the same type of results as the urine. 

Blood turned out have a very high count of white blood cells so Lillian was given a room in the children’s ward. She was hooked up to a drip to get fluids and to have antibiotics given intravenously. It was hard, she wanted to go walking everywhere, but she could not as she was hooked up to the drip. Every time anyone came in the room to even just check temperature or anything else she would scream.

I had to wait while she settled in and then had to leave as I could not contact James my husband.  As I had Julia at home, I was not sure if James needed to go to work on Monday or if I needed to come back and get her and take her with me to the hospital. They mentioned that she could stay with me there as well. James was lucky that he could take some time off work and he looked after Julia. However as a contractor if you don’t go to work, you don’t get paid. But it was important that he was there and that was the priority.

I went back to the hospital and Lillian did not know that I was gone, she was so tried.  I spent the next 3 nights with her and only missed a couple of hours.  Julia was pinning for her sister while she was in hospital. She kept on walking around the house yelling “sister”, and she looked lost. When she came to visit us at the hospital she hugged and kissed Lillian and this has never happened before. However they have never been apart until now. So they obviously felt lost and lonely alone.

It is just so interesting to see the connection between the girls. Twins really do share a connection that I can never understand, and it is very special. Near the end they took her off the drip and let her walk around the ward. This was good but could have turned out to be a disaster. Lillian nearly walked in on a birth. The doctors were putting on their gowns and she was off running and talking. I just grabbed her and walked away very fast before they could ask me who I was and why I was there.

Lillian took to the play area like a fish to water. When you are stuck in a room without toys you can understand the joy it gave to her. She saw some plastic balls and got the plastic golfing clubs and was batting them around the room. She enjoyed them so much that I took them back to our room.

Lillian is much better now and back to her giggly, smiley self. I am so glad that I took her to the hospital and that they gave her the antibiotics. I am even more grateful to the nurse that put the bag on to capture the urine as the doctor did not think it was necessary. I also don’t know why the ultrasound that they said they were going to do was not done. They normally check the kidneys to make sure that they have not been damaged. It would have been a quick test, however the doctor on duty said it was not needed. Also the doctor that was on duty on the day we left hosptial said that they don’t investigate a first issue with a UTI.

Again just so happy that we went to the hospital and that we had a nurse who did the right test to fix my little girl.  Thank you lovely nurse, I don’t know your name and just so happy as it could have been worse.

Categories
Birth

Ultrasound to check fluid

I was very worried that James my husband would not be with me when I got taken to get my ultrasound. No one could give me a time. However I was lucky to have a nurse let me know a possible time frame. This was good as I then told James to come and then we could wait for the nurse to take me to get the ultrasound. I could not walk there, I had to have a wheelchair and a nurse take me and James.

We were getting quite concerned as the orginal hosptial that we were meant to thave the babies in worried us and told us we needed to check to see if they are o.k.  The doctors at Neapean seemed concerned but not overly and were not putting any rushes on things.  Finally we were at the right place and waited our turn. A lady came out to greet us and then took us into a room where the ultrasound machine was.

I was lying down and found it hard to see the screen as my head was facing the other way. Neapen did not have large screens so that the pregnant woman can see too, very annoying. While she was looking, she paid attention to their fluid levels, but mostly with twin a as that was the child that had the waters breaking. She also looked at their height, and weight.

It was not long after that we ended up back in my room and later that afternoon a visit from a doctor that I saw once on Sunday night and another doctor I had never seen before. The doctor that I had met on Sundy said that they were good sizes and the doctor that I had not met said that there is something, and we said yes… thinking it was bad. He then said, “They do have very small heads”. I said that their weight is fine, though. Both doctors agreed. I was not fussed or concerned about head size as this would be a bonus to have small heads, why would want a big head that you then have push out of you.  I asked if the fluid was o.k and they said that the levels that they have are fine.

I was happy that and quite pleased that they were small but good weights.  I was doing the count down to when I could stop taking the pill not to have the babies.  Wednesday night is the end of the 33rd week and Thursday is the start of the 34th week. When the nurse came to give me the drug on Tuesday I mentioned that I wanted to check when they had me listed to stop taking it. She had no idea. I then said that I should not be on this drug on Thursday and as it was Tuesday, Wednesday is the last day, Yes. It will finally happen. The babies will be coming, I was so scared but knew this needed to happen.

The nurse came back and then happily told me that my last drug for not having babies was 12 midnight Wednesday night. I then told her that is the same as Thursday morning, and I would not be taking any of these pills on Thursday as it was the start of the 34th week. She did not get this. I then asked her to go speak with a doctor and make my last pill on Wednesday. Finally after what felt like ages, she came back saying that the doctor has finally written in my file that my last pill to not have babies would be 10pm Wednesday night. Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At last getting off these annoying tablets.

So stay tuned for the Start of the 34th week

Categories
Birth Uncategorized

Waiting in Antenatal at Nepean Hospital

When we came from Katoomba Hospital we were told that we would have an ultrasound to check the babies. As I was losing fluid they wanted to make sure that they were doing fine. Until my waters broke I had no idea that you make more, I thought that once they break and the fluid escapes so to speak then that’s it, you must have the baby or babies in my case. Well Monday came around and we did not have the scan, they forgot about us. It was then apparently scheduled for Tuesday. So more waiting …..

Monday night at the hospital was so strange. A nurse came in at 12 midnight. She asked me if I had my babies. I asked her to look at me and then tell me if I had any babies. I looked big and still very pregnant. Understand it was dark, late, and the fact that she might not have seen me before. However it just goes to show that she did not look at my chart or think to look. I then realised that I had to be on the ball with what drugs they were giving me, and what information nurses and doctors had, I had to be focused on making sure that they did not mix things up, drug wise or patient.

Once she then realised that I was still very much pregnant and waiting to have the babies, she then asked why I was on the medication she was giving me. She suggested it was due to blood pressure. I then explained that it was to not have the babies. I was still on drugs not to have them. Until I got to 34 weeks I could stop the drugs. I could not wait.

I forget the name of the drug that I had to take but it caused me to go dizzy as it lowered my blood pressure, turned my skin all red and hot, gave me the sweats and made it just uncomfortable. Some people have these reactions and I was those some people. Very annoying, as all throughout my pregnancy I never had any issues about my blood pressure it was normal, no heat problems other than earlier on in the pregnancy and every nurse that came in just assumed that I had blood pressure issues.

After the nurse went away , I tried to get some rest. This was not very successful as I then felt the strangest thing. You know how a cat scratches it’s head and really violently , it has both legs up and paws going. Well it sort of reminded me of that for some reason. It felt like the baby that was on my left side had dropped down further into my pelvis and was moving their arms, at the same time the left on did that the one on the right moved their arms I think as well. It felt very strange and don’t know how to explain it to this day.

I ended up getting rest, but was constantly woken by the nurses for more drugs, temperature and blood pressure checks.

Stay tuned for the news of the ultrasound

Categories
Birth

Lead up to birth

The girls (we had no idea they were girls until they were born. We knew we were having either 2 girls or 2 boys)  were supposed to be born at 33 weeks and 2 days. Julia’s water broke then, this was Fathers Day, 2008. Interesting though that my husband’s mother had her waters broke with him on Mother’s Day. However the doctors did not think that was a good idea that they were coming so early. I was just pleased that things were progressing and that they might leave my belly and I can finally relax and sleep better. It was getting quite difficult to get comfortable and to also do anything with 2 babies inside you. Hard to walk anywhere, constantly out of breath. Could not use my hands, had a severe case of carpel tunnel syndrome. Was told that after the birth that my hands could get better and there was a small possibility that they would not. I was hoping on them getting better. It was so upsetting to not be able to do anything. 

Even though I was glad that the pregnancy was all finally coming to an end, I was very scared and nervous as I had never done this before and did not know what I was in for. I knew it would be painful and might take hours but I was just so worried and scared. I was so glad that James my husband was with me. However I was not prepared for what I had to do, which was wait for a week to have the babies.

My mum and step dad were at our house in Katoomba and due to work we were renting a house in Lugarno in Sydney. We went to stay at the house in Katoomba and visit mum and Gerry my step dad. We were all off to see a play in Blaxland on the Saturday about giving birth and public versus private hospitals. We had decided to have the babies in Hurstville Community Hospital. It is a small boutique private hospital. We had paid up and were just waiting for d day. Little did I know that 4 am the next morning my waters would break and I would be at the emergency section of Katoomba Hospital waiting for someone from maternity to come and get me.

I should tell you though that James my husband has leather seats in his car, and it is a nice car. We were told that the amniotic fluid is like bleach and is not good for leather. He made me wait while he put about 4-5 towels on the seat before I could get in to go to the hospital.  Oh well, we made it there and I ended up getting a wheelchair to the maternity section. James had parked the car by this stage and gotten to maternity to meet me there and to make sure I was o.k.

They asked how far along I was and what had happened. I then explained that I was 33 weeks and 2 days with twins. Explained that they had been head down since 26 weeks and that they were good weights and were well. Frightened that they were just going to cut me open as I did not have my doctor and it was way too early.  After hearing that I was carrying twins and I was that early the expressions on the head nurse and the other nurses was priceless. They looked so shocked and worried.

They then explained that I could not have the babies at Katoomba Hospital as they did not have intensive care for babies that are born that early. While I was waiting for the doctor, I had steroids to help with the lung development, drugs to not have the babies – they supposedly stop the contractions and in some people the babies still come but it slows it down. These drugs have other side effects that I ended up getting after a while of taking this medication. It causes your skin to be red and flushed, lowers blood pressure and makes you dizzy and also makes you hot and bothered. Until taking these drugs, I did not have a problem with the pregnancy other than complaints that most other women have, water retention and just uncomfortable.

The decided to ambulance me to Nepean Hospital in Penrith. Before they moved me a doctor who still had a beanie on his head, as it was rather cold that morning. Remember I got to the hospital at 4am. They then wanted to put me on the stretcher to go to the ambulance. Before this could happen the ambos’ wanted to make sure that I was not going to have the babies going down the highway. They then took a dolphin torch and looked up me with my slippers still on and me freezing as I was still leaking fluid. All very glamorous. I thought his is just terrible, but then realised that there was going to be more of this and only worse if the babies were going to get out of me. It was a sad and horrible realisation. Child birth is not glamorous or something that one can be modest about. I am sure all women who have gone through this can attest to this.  It was just a shock as this was my first child birth experience.

A lovely nurse I think by the name of Deena came with me to Nepean to make sure that I was o.k. and got checked in. I went into a delivery suite to see if I was to have the babies but it did not happen. So on the Sunday night they transferred me to a room in Prenatal.

So after seeing a play of a woman who was supposed to go to a private hospital and ended up in a public one, the same thing was happening to me. I then signed papers to register for having the babies at Nepean and we got a refund from the Private Hospital in Hurstville. Just a pity that I never experienced it, but at least we saved some money. As my waters broke the hosptial would not let me leave in case of infection and if I have the babies, so was stuck at Nepean.

Stay tuned for my next couple of blogs about my week long stay and then the day the girls were born.

Categories
Pregnant

Valentines Day News – 2008

We found out we are pregnant. We are so happy. I am 4 weeks pregnant today. I tried calling James (my husband) but did not want to leave a message. Thought something was feeling a bit weird as I was feeling very ill and not 100%. Did not know that I was pregnant and was trying not to think about it just in case I wasn’t.

I was on my way to David Jones to buy a lovely bottle of wine for Valentines Day and a card when the doctor phoned to tell me the news. I could not stop crying. (We only thought we were pregnant with one child at this stage). Very happy but annoyed that I could not drink the expensive bottle of wine that I bought, 🙁

While I was at David Jones I bought a card for  new parents and wrote in it that James was going to be a Daddy. I went to meet him at his work so we can go to dinner. He was so pleased when I told him in the car, I just could not wait. You could not wipe the grin off our faces.