The first 6 weeks

Hi Auntie Sophie,

well, there simply isn't the time to write to you every week, we are very busy growing, eating, sleeping and pooping! and boy can we do all of the above!!

so we're going to try to do a monthly update for you and hope that we cover everything.

so to re-cap, we arrived early, 7 weeks to be precise, although now we know there would have been no way we could have stayed in those cramped conditions for much longer than we did.
we spent the first week and 2 days in neonatal where all the nurses looked after us ever so well. we had to have some help with getting air into our little lungs (mummy did have 2 massive steroid injections to make our lungs strong enough to cope outside quickly) and we had our formula and any milk mummy made for us delivered right into our tummies with tubes going in through our noses. for the first few days we were in incubators and gradually we moved into open bassinets, Noah first and then Florence the next day.

on our second Monday in the world we moved upstairs to Special Care, its a bit like neonatal only not so many nurses are needed as the babies there don't need as much attention as they do downstairs, and there are only ever 4 babies in there at a time. mummy came in to sit with us every day and daddy came in straight from work for cuddles and to take mummy home for dinner and sleepies.
On the Wednesday, Auntie Sammy came in with mummy and they had loads of bags and stuff. it turned out that mummy was coming to stay in with us, so that afternoon all 3 of us moved into transitional care for 2 weeks.
Auntie Sammy took some pictures of us that day, we hope she doesn't mind us showing you

Florence with mummy's hands

Noah trying to be a big boy and watching Auntie Sammy

Side by Side in our new room.

So we settled in to one big room (Room 3), there were 3 big beds but we didn't share for ages.the point of transitional care was to get us into a good feeding routine and off the feed tube, we did that on the Sunday and stayed off them, then all we had to do was put weight on. we had a good weigh in on the Sunday night and Emma with her baby Joe moved in  that afternoon and Alison and her baby James moved in a couple of days later.
unfortunately all of us babies lost quite a bit of weight and eventually ended up all being topped up with formula to help us all get bigger and stronger.
the mummys all went totally mental for a few days each, thank goodness they went on different days, so now they are all good friends and we're all going to meet in Ikea's cafe for coffee and baby cuddles.

we eventually got out on the Monday, almost a full 2 weeks, we think they'd have let mummy out anyway as she was quite scary having been in there for so long and especially as we'd proved we had gained weight, she was very happy to be taking us home with daddy.

so another move for us, we said we've been busy! we moved home. mummy and daddy took us on a tour of our house, showing us the nursery we'll sleep in when we're bigger, the cotbed in their bedroom which we sleep in, they showed us the garden we'll play in and the lounge we'll have movie nights in and then they introduced us to or Flashy cat. she doesn't seem to like us very much but mummy and daddy say she'll be our friend if we don't squawk at her!

mummy and daddy had a quiet first week with us, so daddy could get to know us properly, mummy could get some sleep in her own bed and we could all learn to be a family together.
we've had lots of cards and presents, thank you so much for our t-shirts, we can't wait to wear them and send you pictures.

the first weekend, grandma and grandad Booker came to visit with Auntie Vicky and Uncle Jack. it was very nice and we had lots of cuddles but that does actually really tire us out, we were pooped!
then over the next few days we had more visitors. by the end of the week mummy and daddy had worked out that we need to have visiting hours at home like we did in hospital, otherwise it gets too much for us and we become little buggers at night time.
the thing is, we have a little bit of colic because our tummies and guts are still growing it means we sometimes have troubles taking our milk and keeping it happy in our bellies, so we get sore tums and get grumpy and don't sleep, we just need to be cuddled by mummy and daddy. so being cuddled and passed around a lot in the day time doesn't give us time to charge our tummy batteries.

we've had 2 visits from different health visitors, mummy doesn't care for them much at all, she thinks they are a very silly breed and can't understand how these women even get out of the house of a morning.
first one was late and pretty much ignored everything mummy and daddy told her about us and then asked if we were identical, mummy wasn't amused. the second one was even later and mummy couldn't wait for her to go. but we've put on plenty of weight, Noah is now 7lb 5.5oz and Florence is 6lb 8.5oz. mummy and daddy are so proud of us.

mummy and daddy picked up the bump shoot picture, and we got to meet Julian and Sue who took the pictures. we all spent an hour there, doing absolutely nothing, just having cuddles!!
so this is the finished set of pics of our bump home which is going to go up in our nursery...

daddy says he can't understand how without even saying anything we both seem to be able to just hemorrhage money out of his wallet, the men he works with say that it gets worse when Florence wants shoes and Noah wants a bike!

tomorrow we're all going to meet the friends we made in transitional care. the mummy's are going to have coffees and talk a lot and all us babies are just going to be lovely!!!

so as we don't really have much of a pattern at the moment, it looks like we'll just be updating every few weeks or so.
for now here is a picture of us chilling out in our rocker chairs, it helps us to bring wind up and is a different chill out place than always going back in the cribs or our cot. mummy and daddy can't believe how much we've grown in such a short space of time.

Noah being a big wide awake boy and Florence dreaming about more food probably!

will write as soon as we can again
lots of love
from
The Beans xx

Week 1 (Should be week 34)

Hello Auntie Sophie,

mummy and daddy say we are the most amazing little beans ever.
they say that each time they see us, wether its the morning after last night or just a couple of hours of mummy being back in her hospital room, we seem to have made massive progress each time.

Saturday was out first day out. mummy got to meet us in the afternoon as she was still very woozy after the epidural and the operation to get us here. it was lovely to see her and daddy and we recognise their voices, so we all know we belong together.
we are spending all our time in incubators to help keep us warm and as part of the process to make us nice and strong so we can go home.
Florence is on a little machine that puts good oxygen into her lungs, but she can breath it in and out on her own, Noah is able to just breath the good clean air thats in his incubator. both of us have feeding tubes for milk to go straight down into our tummies. mummy is going to express milk for us to have but for now we're supplemented with preemie baby forumla to help us grow, grow, grow! And we both have littel cannulas in our arms to help get extra fluids into our bodies.
we both have little stickers on our chests and tummies with wires to tell the nurses how we're doing.

On Sunday mummy and daddy came down to the nursery to see Florences Face! she doesn't have her oxygen mask on any more. mummy and daddy say that we are the most handsome and beautiful little Beans they ever did see. they thought it was just because we're their beans but even the nurses tell them how lovely we are, so it must be true.
mummy has started expressing milk for us, it's much nicer than the formula and hopefully it won't be long before we're only have milk from mummy's tanks as she puts it. that will make us big and strong!
must be working as Noah was moved to Nursery 1 today as he's getting so much better.
we met Auntie Amy and Auntie Sammy this afternoon, we thought we knew their voices, but couldn't really tell as it sounded like they were crying, maybe we'll recognise them a bit better when they're happier, although mummy says they were happy, how strange.

on Monday, we met grandma Booker and Auntie Vicky (daddys sister). it was a bit difficult as Noah is in Nursey 1 with his blue lights on as he has a little bit of baby jaundice and Florence is all the way still in Nursery 4 as she's much smaller and needs a bit more looking after but she did have her  cannula removed as she is getting enough fluids from her feeds now and both of us are doing well. Auntie Vicky said she could stare at us all day and said we're like watching Bean TV! Florence got to have some lovely skin to skin cuddles with daddy this evening.

on Tuesday mummy had her weepy  day. the midwife Katy, who delivered us, said it was the baby blues and she'd been expecting mummy to get it. she gave mummy some pain killers and a cup of tea, they had a nice chat for an hour or so before mummy went back to sleep
later on mummy and daddy had abit of a surprise, they went syraight down to Nursery 4 to drop off some milk for Florence only to find she wasn't there. She had caught up with Noah and was in Nursery 1 next to him, hooray!! they spent all day with us, it was so nice and we got to have skin to skin cuddles with mummy and daddy, thats our favuorite. we get to smell them and their skin keeps us nice and warm and snuggly. Daddy has to go careful if he has Florence in the mornings though, she's a little piggy and snuffles his chest for milk! she settles after a while and then pulls out his chest hairs whilst she's sleeping, mummy thinks it's hilarious and wonders if she'll pluck the whole lot!!

Wednesday was mummy's morning rest. she came down to see us before the nursery ward is closed for the big doctors rounds every wednesday. mummy helped to give Noah his milk in his feeding tube and worked out that if she stroked the side of his face, he stops frowing which makes him look much more handsome, his blood sugars are a bit high but the nurses are going to check him before every feed and see how he progresses. mummy changed Florences nappy as she was grumpy, she was a much happier Bean afterwards though. mummy promised us cuddles when she came back, and off she went to her room for some more sleepies and to relax for while.
in the afternoon Noah had another surprise for daddy, he was out of his incubator and in an open top bassinet, like a proper baby, mummy knew when she came in this morning but we decided to leave it as a suprise for daddy!! we had more cuddles with mummy and daddy when he came in after work. Noahs sugars are fine so he can stay on his feeds. we're both on 2 hourly feeds now, how good are we!!
mummy has to go home tonight, we don't really like that, neither does she, but we know she'll be back tomorrow.

On Thursday we had another all day mummy and daddy day, we love those. they had a surprise from Florence today, she's in an open bassinet too! mummy cried when she saw us both being so big and strong but daddy told us she was really, really happy and not at all sad, we think this is most strange.
Noah is on a heart rate monitor just to make sure he keeps it nice and level, it goes quite high when he has a poop, so they nurses need to keep an eye on it. and Florence is on a little apnia monitor for her breathing. she is a bit naughty like mummy and takes a few regular breaths in and out and then every now and then forgets to do another one properly, so the little alarm goes off as a reminder to make her breath again.
Grandma Warland and Auntie Nicki (mummy's sister) came to see us today, mummy kept having to tell them to shush as they were talking ever so loud.
mummy and daddy bought us new cardigans, this is us wearing them...

Friday Auntie Clare came to see us with mummy, she's bonkers and loves us ever so much. mummy stayed in with us and then daddy came by after work. we can't wait until we can go home with them and see Flashy cat and our house, daddy says hes going to get his friends round to help put lots of stuff in the loft as mummy can't lift anything more than us until her scar is healed in about 6 weeks. this is us wearing the hats from the outfits Aunti Clare bought for us.

 
Saturday and Sunday mummy and daddy both got to spend all day with us, we love it when it's all day time because we get lots of cuddles, none of us do much else but cuddle, it's great!
Saturday afternoon we were moved to the other side of nursery 1 to bays 14 and 15, it was all twins on Saturday, and a bit of a change around on Sunday.
On Sunday it was Fathers Day, we got daddy some cards from us and 2 different blends of his favourite whiskey.  Florence was a very clever girl and breastfed for a whole ten minutes, she had so much that she didn't need all of her tube feed. Noah was a little bit more sleepy so will try tomorrow. mummy is making us enough milk so that we get to have 2 whole feeds just of mummy's, which is much nicer than the low birth weight formula we have to help us.
Noah got a bit upset in his bassinet on his own this morning so we are now in one together, it's much nicer and we're both much happier in here, although mummy and daddy said because we looked so cute they didn't want to disturb us and take us out for cuddles, Tanya the burse who has been looking after us today told them to just get on with it so they picked us up and cuddle time began, yay!

This is us on Fathers Day (Sunday)

we hope to have more amazing things to tell you next week.
Write soon
lots of love
from
Noah and Florence
xx

33 weeks

Hey Auntie Sophie!
Well, this is a very late blog from us, but all will become clear as we have a very good reason....

another exciting week in Beanville this (last) week. (we did actually start writing bits of this blog on a few days last week as we knew we wouild be doing so much, so there is a lot that reds day to day, bear with us, it'll make sense next week, promise!)

on monday mummy had a nice sleepy day and finally her poor feet got to deflate a bit so she has been much more comfortable since then, they still swell up but not as much as they did at the weekend. She just knows now that she has to put her feet up when they get bad, we try to tell her but we can't speak yet.
Flashy cat tried her best to sleep on mummy's lap and she took a photo because it looked so funny..

which is bigger? Bump or Flashy Cat?

Tuesday was a busy day for everyone. mummy's friend Jo came by and they went for a lovely coffee and a catch up. then mummy met daddy at Romsey Hospital to see the consultant. he was happy with all mummy's readings and said that we seemed quite comfortable in our bunk beds position. he also said we don't have a lot of room left in here, like we needed telling! so mummy has to see him again in 2 weeks and we might all have to go for another scan to see if we need to be hatched a bit earlier. it's not good for us or mummy if we get too big in here.
after the consutlant mummy and daddy went to see the pictures from last weeks bump shoot. they picked their 4 favourites and daddy will pick the big print up as soon as its ready.

on Wednesday mummy and daddy went to the hospital in Southampton for our latest scan. mummy didn't see us as she wasn't facing the screen this time, but daddy said he could see us and we look very squished in here but he got to see our feet wiggling about lots. good news is.... we've moved! both of us had quite a busy night and moved round so we're both head down now. we're going to try very hard not to kick mummy's ribs lots, but it might not work out that way. so, in advance.. we're sorry mummy.
mummy said she's glad we moved because it exlpains why she had such a horrible and uncomfortable nights sleep and felt completely rubbish in the morning. so our bump is a bit of a different shape now, mummy has 2 bottoms where Bean 2 used to lie across at the top of the bump. and the bottom of our bump is all pointy (ish) where our heads our.
they didn't get any pictures this time as they don't come out very clear now we're so much bigger, but Bean 1 is down mummy's right hand side and Bean 2 is on the left with feet and legs a bit snuggled over to Bean1's. so unless the consultant sends us for an earlier scan, we have to wait until 6 July for the next one.
the sonographer lady told mummy and daddy that she thinks we'll be 7lb babies when we hatch.. mummy said no thank you!!

On Thursday there was lots of noise! mummy picked up grandma and they drove down to a place called Fareham to meet with Richard and Lin, mummy and Grandma have known them since mummy waas only 9 years old... thats almost forever!
they all drove out together to Port Solent and had a lovely time catching up, eating lunch and drinking coffee.
then Auntie Hayley arrived. mummy went to school with her and hasn't seen her in a few years so it was lots more excited noises, laughing and chatting. they all went for a walk around but there wasn't much to see and mummy had to get home quite quickly as she was seeing another friend, busy busy.

so Thursday evening, mummy's friend Rachael arrived. she is the lady who owns Mollie Fish in the kicthen. mummy and daddy have been looking after her whilst Auntie Rachel and Uncle Steve travelled all around the world for the last 2 years. when they settle here again they will have Mollie Fish back as there won't really be room for all our stuff and a fishy, plus mummy says it takes 'chuffing ages' to clean the fish out.
they all had a nice time chatting and hearing about the travel stories, mummy was feeling quite uncomfortable and very tired so she went to bed a bit early and went straight off to sleep.

and this is where the fun starts...

at 3 am on Friday morning mummy woke up with tummy ache, she thought it was probably the naughty cheese baguette she had a lunch time, silly mummy isn't supposed to eat cheese. after a couple of trips to the bathroom she didn't want to keep daddy awake so went to sit downstairs until she felt better. daddy checked in on her and she said she thought she might be having some practice contractions too which didn't help on top of a poorly tum, so she will stay downstairs and go back to bed when she feels better.
ten minutes later daddy went back down, mummy told him she didn't think it was the baguette or practice contractions so they phoned the midwife. the midwife told them to phone the Princess Anne hospital (the one where they film 'One Born Every Minute'), one phone call later and they were loading up the car with mummy's bag, leaving a note for Auntie Rachael who was still asleep and off they went to the hospital.

mummy said  there was a beautiful sunrise that she could see through the trees which made her feel better.

they got to the hospital a little after 5am, thats about our usual waking up time, but we were already well awake by then. they got us all in very quickly as they were a bit worried as mummy was only 33 weeks and there are 2 of us. there weren't any big rooms but we still had a nice room to stay in.
mummy was given a hospital gown to wear, and then another one as the first one didn't do up around mummy's bump!
after the midwife had been to see mummy she said that mummy was already 3cms dilated and that the babies were coming wether she liked it or not!!! mummy had to have a whacking great big shot in the top of her left leg, it was a big steroid injection to help make sure our lungs were strong enough to cope on the outside as we might be coming soon.

after 22 hours in labour, (inlcuding the 2 hours mummy was apparently fidgeting and moaning in her sleep before she woke up) gas and air, some other pain killers but not pethidine, and finally an epidural mummy thought she was on the home straight. The midwife said everything was progressing nicely and we should be delivered normally. then we got naughty!!
mummy had a few big contractions which she could still feel at the start of the epidural, we didn't like that at all, not one little bit, so we dropped our heart rates, lots, every time there was another one.
the doctors, midwives and nurses all started running around and making phone calls and generally making a lot of noise and off we all whisked to theatre. at 8cms they were going to try to get mummy to deliver us, and then they realised that Bean 1 was holding onto the umbilical cord up at the side of its head, so no natural delivery for these Beans.

at 0022 on 11th June 2011 Bean 1, now known as Noah Philip Stephen arrived by emergency cesarean, weighing a dinky 4lb 2oz followd up very quickly at 0024 by Bean 2 who is now known as Florence Jane Ruth weighing an even dinkier 3lb 15.5oz.

SO WE ARE HERE!!!!!!

we have to spend at least the next 3 weeks in hospital as we're so little. we will be in the neonatal unit where the nurses will make sure we get nice and strong. to start with we're going to need a bit of help getting oxygen in, but we can breathe ok, and we'll probably need to have help feeding as we were only just starting to work properly on our sucking reflexes this week.
these are our first outside pictures, it looks a bit scary as we're so little and there are a lot of tubes and wires just making sure we're ok

Noah Philip Stephen, 6 hours old

Florence Jane Ruth, 6 hours old.

we will send outside updates next week on how we're doing. but mummy and daddy are ever so pleased we arrived well and pretty safely in the end, even if we are 4 weeks earlier than they expected to meet us. we love them very much and we're ever so glad to be their Beans.

so it's very nice to meet you and mummy said when we're home we can talk to you on Skype and say hello, we're looking forward to that.

will write soon and tell you all the amazing things we've done, although you'll have to wait again a bit as mummy says the blogs might not be written on time for a while, but they will still be for a week each time.

lots of love
from
Noah and Florence (we're still the Beans)
xx

32 weeks (and 2 days) a much better week indeed

Hey Auntie Sophie,

well this week has been much better.
Flashy cat is feeling better too so mummy and daddy are happier which means we are as well.
we have been layering on more squishy fat and are about 4lbs each now. mummy's middle is 127cm!
we can regulate our own body temperature too, so with each week we are stronger and stronger and if we arrive before too long, we should be ok and not need much help. we have been doing lots of moving too and mummy says its nice that she can feel Bean 1 moving about more now, especialy at night when the feet stick out by mummy's right hip and kick daddy!
this is our bump this morning...

on Monday mummy did some more laundry of all the baby stuff they've been given and a few of the new bits mummy and daddy have bought. mummy says she's not sure when the washing will ever end, and perhaps it won't until we leave home in a gazillion years!!

Tuesday mummy had her groceries delivered. she likes that very much as it means she doens't have to go to the supermarket ever again and daddy gets to have his weekends too. After mummy put everything away, she was strangely excited about doing it too, we went over to see Jess and her baby Lucy.
mummy used to work with Jess from HQ but both of them are on maternity leave now, yay! mummy liked Lucy a lot and Jess says she can't wait to meet us. it will be nice to meet her too.

Wednesday was mummy's pampering day, she had her hair cut which was nice and relaxing, then went and met Grandma W in Romsey for some general mooching about the shops and some lunch. mummy bought another different packet of nappies for her and daddy to do the soft test on... they want to make sure that we have the comfiest bottoms possible for the first month or so before we get to wear the nice soft reusable nappies. mummy also printed off a lovely picture of Jessy cat which is now in a nice frame in the lounge. when mummy got home she was pooped, so we all had a little afternoon sleepy with Flashy cat.

on Thursday we went to the doctors and saw the nurse so she could take mummy's blood pressure, it's back to where is should be now. and the nurse said that the high reading the week before was actually the same as mummy's normal reading 2 years ago. as for mummy's huge swollwen feet, well she's just going to have to put up with them until after we hatch. then they'll got back to normal, but she gets to paint her feet in calamine lotion every night which stops them from getting too hot and itchy. mummy says 'thats nice but it doesn't stop them bloody well swelling up though does it'! daddy says he's happier as he gets to sleep at night because mummy isn't all scratchy.
mummy went into Winchester for a starucks with Auntie Amy whichshe said was lovely, and she only misses cathicng up with Amy and not actually being at work. mummy then met Kate and Annie for a picnic lunch for Kates' birthday. it was very nice to sit in the sunshine with mummy's friends, and then go home for another afternoon sleepy!!

Friday was mummy's excited day... she had another delivery which was the big twin feeding pillow for us...

it's huge, but we'll be able to snuggle in for feeds together to make a bit more time for mummy. she also got some care planners for us, a book about caring for us and some free bibs, again for us, although both mummy and daddy tried them on the big sillies! mummy packed the hospital bags, one for her and one for us.
on Friday afternoon, daddy came home early and they went off for a bump shoot. mummy and daddy had lots of pictures taken with our bump as mummy says a set of nice pictures will be much much nicer to look at in years time than her great big maternity pants!! They get to see them and pick the ones they want on Tuesday.

on Saturday Grandma & Grandad Booker and Auntie Vicky & Uncle Jack came over.  Auntie Vicky bought mummy a paddling pool so she could put her hot fat feet in it, mummy said it was absolute bliss...

daddy and grandad took the old bike shed down and put up a shiney new one which daddy is much happier to keep the bikes in. Uncle Jack cooked the food on the BBQ and us, Grandma B and Auntie Vicky all sat in the sunshine watching all the boys do all the work. Mummy had to go upstairs and put her feet up as they were lovely and cold but swelled up so much she almost couldn't walk...whoops!

On Sunday we went into Southampton for a coffee with Auntie Sammy, it was very nice to see Sammy and hear her talking to us. mummy bought some more bits for our hospital bags, she just needs some lovely soft baby towels for us and we're set. Daddy needs to pack his bag too now.

so thats our week this week.
we've got a busy one coming up with visits to the consultant and a scan too. Auntie Rachel is coming to stay on Thursday, mummy hasn't seen her for 2 years because she's been travelling all over the world with Uncle Steve, we're excited to meet her.

can't wait to show you our pictures from the bump shoot and the scan...
speak soon
lots of  love
from
The Beans xx

31 weeks, a new start next week

Hey Auntie Sophie,

poor mummy hasn't had a very good week at all this week. so she's written this one off and has said she will start her maternity rest/leave next week.

Mummy's cat Jessy got sick on Tuesday morning and mummy has been ever so worried about her all week, on Friday Jessy cat went to heaven which sounds like it might be a nice place as mummy told Jessy she would be able to chase as many gerbils and birdies as she liked and there wouildn't be any glass tanks in the way and no one would shout at her when she catches them. mummy and dadday said it was terribly sad that we won't get to meet Jessy cat as they think we'd have all been really good friends, but they still have Flashy who is just going to have to get used to the doubled up attention.

so, what have we been up to this week? well, we've tried to be nice as we can tell mummy has been upset, but we have had to practice our wiggling and stretching to make sure we're strong. we're piling on lots of that squishy baby fat that mummy and daddy are looking forward to kissing and blowing raspberries on and we've made our bump to make 125cms now!

we are both a bit more than 3lbs and will be adding to that quite a bit over the next couple of weeks, so can expect to make our bump even bigger... mummy said today that she hopes we don't go mad as the tape measure only goes up to 150cms!

On Monday mummy stayed in for the shed base to be built and the boiler to be serviced, then she went for a walk with daddy in the evening, and they saw this little bunny...

it wasn't frightened and stayed there for ages. mummy and daddy said they think we're all going to like going for walks in the woods together.

on Wednesday mummy had to go and see the midwife, even mummy is in daddy's camp now and is annoyed with her.  mummy was there on time and a lady who turned up over half an hour late was still seen before mummy. once in there mummy told the midwife which way round we are after the scan (heads on mummys left, same way we've been for the last 10 weeks) but the silly lady still thought that Bean 1's bottom was the head... mummy wonders if the midwife might be a little bit deaf, she said that would be better than being plain stupid. there was a trainee midwife in there too, she couldn't find either of us and then kept losing our heartbeats. honestly we kept nice and still for that bit but she still swooshed the recorder stick thing all over the bump, she's as silly as the real one!  mummy's poor feet and hands have swollen up a bit more, her blood pressure was very high and she has been really, really itchy this week. daddy said he'd get a bear post in the garden and she can just go and scratch against that, mummy said she'd like that very much please. so the midwife decided mummy had better have her blood tested to make sure there was nothing wrong.
mummy says that even that was a cock up. apparently the lady didn't tie the strap around mummy's arm tight enough so thats why the trainee stuffed up the first blood sample. and then dropped the vial on the floor anyway, so even if it was a good one, it was going in the bin. so over to the other arm, strap a bit tighter, ok, 2 goes at getting the needle in, fair enough she was probably nervous (the trainee not mummy) and then finally the bloods were taken. hoo flippin ray mummy was thinking.

so mummy's bloods were ok in the end, and she thinks that the blood pressure was because she was worried about Jessy cat and the swelling and itching is because she wasn't really taking it easy this week, no need for the stupidness after all. but mummy does have to go and have her blood pressure checked next week at the doctors.

so on Thursday mummy got up and Flashy cat was sick, she had blood in her wee, which mummy only noticed because Flashy cat went for a tiddle behind the tv unit! so back to the vets mummy went. Flashy has another bladder infection, becuase she's fat and also because the different food she's been on. 2 big injections later mummy was able to bring her home again. daddy bought some fancy food for her, and they have to give Flashy a tablet every night as well. today she seems to be better which is good. mummy said at least she was home this week otherwise they might never have known what the cats were up to.

Friday was a bad day, mummy and daddy went to see Jessy cat for the last time and said their goodbyes and told her how much they loved her. Mummy says it wasn't really her catty anymore and that she'd probably had her last cuddle with her Jessy cat on Monday before she got really sick.

mummy said we're not allowed pets because it's too sad when they go, but daddy said we can because it's so lovely when they're here and a part of our family. we can wait a while and we're sure that Flashy is going to be enough cat for us all for a few years until we decide what critters are our favourites and what we'd like to take care of and love so much.


this is our bump today...

mummy has tried to hold her shirt in to show bump but says there are lots of things difficult these days, including trying to look small. she says she's not going to do so well at any games of hide and seek for a while.

we'll start proper, nice maternity leave next week and hopefully mummy will be nice and relaxed and we will be practicing all our wiggling and getting stronger for when it comes to us hatching.

write soon
lots of love
from
The Beans
xx

30 weeks, 2 days. no more work

Hey Auntie Sophie,

we've had a very exciting week this week and its been mummy's last one in the office

we've been sort of meeting people too.
On Monday we decided to be ever so wiggly and thats how we're probably going to be until we hatch!

Auntie Sammy had her hand on mummy's tummy and Bean 2 kicked her, then Auntie Nicky came around the desk to feel too. It turns out that Auntie Nicky has never felt a baby kick from the inside... she screamed and ran away. everyone laughed so we weren't frightened. Mummy met Auntie Annie for lunch and had a big cheese toastie, we couldn't her what they were talking about, but they laughed a lot.
Mummy and Amy had a lovely frappucino from starbucks on the way back to the car park, we liked that.

Daddy has been in London all this week so mummy got to pile all her pillows up like a big nest on the bed, it made her more comfortable, but we still didn't let her sleep as much as she'd hoped. sorry mummy.
Mummy met Auntie Rachel for a coffee on Tuesday, she's cooking a Bean too and  they're both looking forward to meeting for lunch once we're all hatched, Rachel's Bean is due out in August so we're all going to be lovely little summer babies.

On Wednesday Auntie Emily felt us kick too, that made her jump but at least she didn't scream like Nicky did! Mummy was so tired after her walk in from the car, it is a mile and a half you know, so she managed to get some parking at the office for her last 2 days, even if she still walks like a duck that rode a horse all the way to work! thats mainly because Bean 1 just scooches down onto mummy's bladder, its very comfortbale to sleep on, but not so easy for mummy to walk. Mummy met Auntie Clare for lunch, she had lots of shopping bags but said mummy couldn't see what was in them until we were out! mummy says Auntie Clare is naughty for doing so much shopping for us, but we know how excited she is to meet us.

On Thursday mummy was in lots and lots of meetings, there wasn't a single comfy chair until later in the afternoon. at lunchtime she went to starbucks with Auntie Amy and Auntie Sammy who had a bean seance! they both sat either side of mummy with their hands on our bump. And they were both freaked out as Bean 2 gave their hands different kicks. Auntie Sammy had warm hands so got more tippy taps and hiccups, Auntie Amy had cold hands so got the bigger kicks and rolls.

Friday was mummys very last day in the office before we hatch. she was quite glad of that because she's now ever so tired and her poor feet have swollen up like a hippo's. she thinks there is a hippo at marwell zoo wondering how on earth its meant to walk around on the silly little ankles it suddenly has!
there was a good luck balloon tied to mummy's desk and a washing line with lots of pretend tiny baby clothes strung across her desk. mummy made lemon muffins for the office and they were tasty, we're glad she managed to eat one for us yum yum.

at the end of the day all the office aunties and uncles gave mummy some lovely presents to pamper herself with before we arrive, then we all went to the Black Boy! it was lots of fun because the pub is so odd, there are lots of things all over the place and it's mummy's favourite because there is so much to see.
mummy got some more presents, inlcuding a book to read to us so we can learn our numbers up to 5, we like it when mummy reads to us, and a comforter each from the Auntie A-Team. one is a cow the other a sheep, they're really, really soft and we're going to like snuggling with those. Auntie Julie gave mummy and daddy a lovely bottle of fizz to celebrate our hatching with, mummy says that it will be nice to have something other than lime and soda but had better not have too much as she hasn't had anything stronger than a cup of tea since September so will probably fall over!

lots of people had to go but Amy, Sammy and Annie stayed on with mummy and daddy and had dinner. we made mummy accidentally eat all Annie's cheesy chips so had to get her some more!

mummy and daddy can't believe that in 8 weeks at the best, we'll be here. how mad is that from so long ago and all mummy's injections and funny moods.

on Saturday mummy and daddy tried to sleep in but we had other ideas, daddy talked to us for a while which we really liked but it didn't make us go back to sleep. so they got up and went to Winchester, bought some breakfast pastries, went home and had a lovely afternoon nap. in the evening they went into Southampton to watch a street show, it wasn't very good so they went back to Auntie Lucy and Uncle James' house for a cup of tea. Bean 2 was extra wiggly so mummy put her phone on her tummy so Auntie Lucy could see it move, she didn't like it so we just had to wiggle without the phone. we like freaking out people!

Sunday was another early start, sorry mummy and daddy. Daddy tidied the garden, mummy did loads of laundry and then we all went to Auntie Mel's for her birthday party. it was lots of fun. Mummy is looking forward to starting her leave on Monday, but we're not sure that we're going to chill out much.
we like wiggling and it makes us nice and strong.

so this is our bump this week...

we are now the size of butternut squashes, about 40cms long, mummy's middle is now 123.5 cms.
And we could be here any time from about the next 5 to 8 weeks. hooray!!

speak next week
lots of love
from
The Beans xx

29 weeks, acrobatics and curry strops

Hey Auntie Sophie,

we've had quite an eventful week this week.
mummy was still a bit poorly on Monday so she stayed home and slept lots, even through all our moving and growing we've been doing. her spots on her arms have now gone but her feet still swell up lots, we think thats now more to do with us than cooking fish for daddy.

On Wednesday we went to see the Midwife Kate who listened ot our heartbeats and said they're very good, and then tried to work out where we were, she thought we both had out heads up by mummys ribs and feet at the bottom. after that we went over to Southampton to have our pictures taken.
we're both in the same bunk beds we've always been in, heads on mummys left, bums and feet on mummys right! 

Hello, it's me Bean 2! I got my picture taken first because I'm easier to see wahey!! it's a good job I'm at the top because I'm littler than Bean 1. The sonographer lady was able to get all my measurements and estimates that I'm about 2lb 7oz right now and I'm almost as long as I'm going to be when I hatch.
this is my photo, mummy says it's easier to see if you look at it on the side and then you can see my little face looking back.

I have really chubby cheeks and a little round head. the sonographer lady says my nose isn't really as wide as it is in the picture, it's just I was wiggly so make it look a bit blurry. mummy and daddy puffed their cheeks out afterwards to see who they think I look like, they don't know! but because I'm littler than Bean 1 I've still got plenty of room to move about.
also because I'm in the top front bunk, it means most of the wiggles mummy and daddy see and feel are me!

Hey! it's my turn... Hello, I'ts me, Bean 1. gosh Bean 2 doesn't half squish me, even if I'm the bigger one. I'm 2lb 15oz and I don't have so much room to do the crazy jerky moves like Bean 2 does. but I do like to make myself comfortbale on mummys bladder, it's like a big cushion, aah. and sometimes when I stretch my legs out a bit I push on on of mummys nerves and make her leg feel a bit funny. she doesn't mind too much unless she's walking down the road to the shops because she bends over a bit and gets worried that people might think she's having us in the street!!
this is my picture, it was much harder to get because of sprawly sprawlerson upstairs, what a camera hog. so poor mummy had to do loads of acrobatics again to be able to tip Bean 2 out of the way a bit so they could see me...

so this is my profile, mummy and daddy say I am definitely a thumb sucker as I'm at it again. what can I say, I'm comfy on this squishy bladder so I might as well chill out, I can't do much else down here.
the sonographer lady says I look like I might be thinking about getting into the right position to hatch, mummy and daddy are very pleased about that. they'll know better at the next scan on 8 July.

mummy and daddy are quite surprised at how quickly all the appointments are stacking up now, we'll see Kate again before the end of May and then the consultant a week later, then a week and another scan and it's just a whirlwind. mummy says its a good job she's finishing work next Friday otherwise she'd never be there anyway with all the appointments she has to go to now.

so we've been doing lots of growing, we're still like big cauliflowers so you can see us when you do your groceries. we respond to light when mummy shines her phone at her tummy and generally we just do a lot of moving.
poor mummy had a couple of nights of good sleep and now we're back at it stretching and kicking and wiggling about. daddy says the feet wiggling comes from mummy and the rolling around all snuggly is from him.
on Thursday evening Bean 2 went for a mental stretch, arms and legs out in all directions made mummys tummy stretch out wide and not forwards like it usually does. after about a minute all bump shape went back to normal. phew!

Friday mummy and daddy went for a naughty curry, it's what mummy fancied for dinner, but we didn't. boy did we let her know about it too. Bean 2 kicked and pushed back on mummy's stomach so she couldn't get any more in, and Bean 1 rolled around on the bladder and the leg nerves to make it nice and uncomfortable for her. then we kept her awake for most of the night with our moving around. well what does she expect sticking all that rice and spices in here with us, it's not like she didn't know on Wednesday that we're short of space in here.
so even though it was a Saturday morning and we all should have been having a lie in, we woke her up at 5.30!! we couldn't really hear as we were tucked up under the duvet but we think she might be booking in an afternoon sleepy today. Daddy did speak to us for a little while and asked us to play nicely so mummy could have some more sleepies this morning, we did, for a bit.

so thats us this week. we're moving around a lot more now and sleep for just a couple of hours at a time, in fact we're having a wiggle right now!

P.S..... This is our outside this week, all 119cm's of it!!

have a lovely week and we'll speak to you next week
bye for now
lots of love
from
The Beans
xx

28 weeks and cooking

hey Auntie Sophie,
we're only writing a little bit this week as mummy is poorly.

we haven't really been up to a lot, except keeping mummy awake, which keeps daddy awake, layering up our squishy baby fat and learning to blink.

mummy and daddy met their consultant on Thursday,  mummy didn't think much of him as he didn't even know we were twins, but he told daddy to make sure mummy takes it easy and rest up in the evenings. We're going back to see him in 4 weeks.

even though we're only 28 weeks, we've made mummy's tummy measure as if she's 32 weeks!! and we've still got maybe another 10 weeks in here.

mummy and auntie sammy went to the shops and mummy bought 2 little outfits for us, they're lovely and summery and we're going to like wearing them. mummy folded the arms and legs in towards the tummy bit when she showed daddy, they're going to fit nicely!

mummy and daddy went to a class this week, save a babies life. they knew some of the other mummy and daddy's there too. they learned how to give us cpr if we stop breathing and what to do if we're choking. apparently mummy used to fall asleep with sausages in her mouth and grandma used to have to fish them out, yuck, we'll try not to do that but what if we like sausages and sleeping too?

so thats been our week, when you're next in the supermarket, pick up a couple of cauliflowers... thats about us!!

so the reason mummy is poorly and why there isn't a picture this week...
mummy made daddy a delicious salmon and asparagus tart for dinner on Friday. she didn't eat any because she's allergic to fish and eggs, but it turns out that handling the ingredients was enough to make her sick. not enough like last time, so she hasn't had to go to hospital, but her poor feet and hands are really swollen and itchy and she has a rash on her arms. she's not very impressed. she phoned the midwife just to make sure we'd be ok, and we are, phew!

so mummy is resting up for a little bit, and hopefully its just her tummy thats going to stay swollen up.
we're having our picture taken on Wednesday and mummy is going to have to give the midwife Kate some of her blood to check, we'll let you know on Friday how we are and what we look like too.

speak soon
lots of love
from
The Beans
xx

27 weeks, no more shopping

Hi Auntie Sophie,

we hope you're having fun, even if you're just going into Winter.

we've had loads of sunshine here, we like to wiggle around when it's sunny and mummy sits outside, although we don't like it so much if the sun shines straight at mummys tummy, it's too bright.

we are now the size of cauliflowers all cuddled up. but we don't look like one! we have hit the 2lb mark, so mummy has noticed how much more weight she's carrying around. we're quite heavy and sometimes she wears a special belt to help hold our bump up.
this week mummy's middle bit measures 117cm, thats more than half how tall mummy is!

we're layering on our baby fat which is going to help us to keep warm once we're hatched, which is also making mummy very warm too. everyone in the office has been saying how cold it's been, mummy has been more than toasty.

daddy puts his ear on mummy's tummy and can hear our heartbeats and hear us moving around. sometimes we give him a little kick in the head. we think its funny and so does mummy.

mummy has done what she hopes is her final shop this week. we've made her quite a bit bigger so a lot of her clothes she's been wearing have gotten a bit tight.
so her shopping list this week has been... under crackers as she claims the other ones were in danger of cutting off the circulation to her legs! 2 new bras for her expanding boobs and then, good shopping stuff...
some nice vests, a floaty orange top, some cotton cropped trousers in a beigey colour which she really likes (and wears with a belt now so they'll last until we arrive) and then the blue birdy dress she bought today...

blue birdy dress... it's got pockets!

mummy really likes it because it's got pockets, her favourite thing on clothes. ever! and the hanger number was labelled wrong so its actually only a size 12, she's very pleased. but she said she'll have to wear it over leggings if she's wearing it to work.

this is the view mummy has, her feet are under there somewhere

 

 

mummy and daddy saw lots of clothes for us today that they really like too, but haven't bought any yet.

mummy and daddy went to a class on Tuesday. it was a breastfeeding class and mummy and daddy thought it was very helpful and also really, really funny. the lady gave all the mummy's wolly, knitted boobs to use for the feeding practice. mummy and daddy said they looked like little french berets and hope that none of the grandmas make berets for us!
the midwife taking the class gave mummy 2 of the baby dolls, poor mummy was a bit frightened as she couldn't even scratch an itch on her foot without dropping the dolls. the midwife showed her the best way to feed us would be to put our legs under each of her arms and have us down her sides with our heads up front, a bit like carrying rugby balls! this seemed to work ok for mummy.
daddy said it was funny because at 8.30pm all the mummys suddenly got really tired and started yawning and looking sleepy, it was past our mummy's bedtime so must have been for the others.

the following evening, daddy had his turn to be worried.... he made mummy show him how she'd be able to feed 2 babies on her own when daddy goes back to work. she had to get all the cushions on the sofa how she wanted them and showed him, we think she's going to be fine. we'll try to be good and feed at the same time so that mummy gets a break, otherwise it's going to take her 2 hours to feed us both and then she'll probably have to start again.

we've been enjoying another long weekend, mummy wakes up when we do at 5 but she's been able to go back to sleep as she's not had to go to work. we make her ever so tired by about 3 in the afternoon, sometimes she's quite amazed how she even gets home of an evening.

mummy and daddy have their appointment with the consultant on Tuesday afternoon so they're looking forward to what he has to say and any advice they can give them about when and how we arrive.
we could be hatched in ten weeks, we're very excited, mummy and daddy are too.

looking forward to seeing you on skype when we're hatched.

write again soon
lots of love
from
The Beans
xx

26 weeks, 2 days, 3rd trimester

Hi Auntie Sophie,

well we're into the last bit now.
mummy and daddy have been told we could be here any time from the next 10 weeks, even we think thats mental!!

we are now the size of cucumbers! we have been opening our eyes when we're awake, and closing them when we sleep. when mummy goes outside, if it's sunny and too bright we blink and move our heads away. it's not pitch black in here, more like a strange dark orangey light.
mummy is now 114cm around the middle, and we're going to have to make her get a bit bigger as we're running out of space again.
we haven't got as much fluid each in here now as we've had, it's ok though, we've got enough. but it means that mummy and daddy should be able to really see when we stick our hands and feet out soon.
talking of which, our feet are now 4cm long, they look massive to us, but mummy and daddy said they're really diddy still and made aaaah noises when they looked at the tape measure.

mummy and daddy heard our heartbeats on monday, they were able to record them on mummys phone but can't load it for the blog.
the midwife is happy with mummys blood presusre and wee and says she thinks we must be very happy beans in here. we are! even if she did give us a good poke in our heads.

our car seats are here! hooray. they are a lighter grey than they looked on the computer and mummy and daddy really like them. they've got little mint green bubbles embroidered on them and funky little sun shades that come out of the back and hook onto the handles to help to keep the sun out of our faces on our road trips. we're looking forward to trips out and to see our grandparents.
when we're out and a bit bigger, we're going to Monkey World. Yay!!

mummy and daddy have been enjoying a long weekend in the sunshine. they got lots done on Friday too but still have more to do for when we get here. our room is going to be great, it's going to have all the stuff we need and then some.
Auntie Clare bought us some teddies from Croyde this week. we have to wait to have them but mummy says they're lovely and all woolly. And Auntie Vicky is really excited about some levitating baby picnic chairs she saw and wants us to have. we think she had too much cider, but mummy will ask her tomorrow.

mummy and daddy got all dressed up last night to go to a wedding party in Winchester. Daddy wore his wedding suit and mummy wore her new dress and her wedding shoes. this is mummy in her dress, with really curly hair...

a bit of a wonky photo because mummy was laughing that she looked like a dodgy Mariah Carey impersonator all dolled up

they had a lovely time and mummy even stayed out until 10pm, thats the latest we've all been awake in ages. mummy and daddy saw some friends there too who are having 1 bean and we might all arrive at the same time! the mummys were very excited by this, they planned to spend some of the start of their maternity leave together.while the daddys thought they could go to the pub together...that made the mummys laugh. we think 1 bean might be a bit lonely, we're glad we've got each other in here for the company.

so mummy and daddy will spend more time in the garden in the sunshine and then do quite the same next weekend. they're going for a walk in the bluebells near home tomorrow so that mummy doesn't turn into a hippo.

next class is on tuesday, it's all about feeding us, hooray, we hope it mentions rich tea biscuits, we like those.

bye for now.
speak soon
love from
The Beans
xx

25 weeks 1 day (Saturday)

Hi Auntie Sophie,

we heard you yesterday. we've grown our ear bits well enough to be able to hear stuff now, although everything is still a bit muffled in here. we're looking forward to saying a proper hello when we're out.

this is the outfit we made mummy put on yesterday, so you can see that as well as filling the screen when mummy was talking to you, we're making good progress on the doorway filling too!

we are now the size of aubergines. about 9 inches from the top of our heads to our bottoms. we've made it to over a pound and a half and this week mummys tummy has added a new cm and a half. but she says its good because it means we're going in the right direction to be just the right amount of squishy. she also said it might have had something to do with her eating biscuits and crisps this week instead of her fruit and vegetables. she'll eat those next week.

we know we've got a bit more space in here as we've been moving around loads more this week than the last few weeks. mummy  and daddy can see on her tummy where we're moving. they can't tell which bits are hands or feet but they can see lumps when we poke bits out.
we've wiggled a bit lower down now, so mummy has had to wear a bump belt this week which helps to carry some of our bump weight and makes it a bit more comfortable for her.

and we are teaching mummy what times we like to be awake. definitely 5.30 every morning. then again around about 11 ish, 4.40 in the afternoon as mummy walks back to the car and then at 8 and 10 at night. so now she knows.
Bean 2 in the top bunk keeps waking up with the hiccups. mummy felt sorry for me the other morning as she said I was hiccupping so much it was making the entire bump shake, and as I'm only little she said it must have been a really big deal for me as all of me moved with each hiccup.
I slept through it at first on the bottom bunk, but when I start to roll around, if it makes mummy's tummy hurt, she taps the bottom of her bump lightly and it makes me, Bean 1, move a different way so I don't squash her bladder or make her think I'm trying to move it.

when we stretch our legs we make the whole bump change shape, especially down mummy's right hand side, we make it feel quite hard and then as mummy tries to work out who it is, just when she thinks she's got it,we move, ha ha!

mummy did get to have a foot fight with Bean 2 this morning, mummy tapped her bump and Bean 2 kicked back for a little while. mummy and daddy said it made a change from being booted in the ribs.

mummy only has another 5 weeks of work, so has said she needs to make sure she goes for 2 mile and a half walks every day so she doesn't turn into a hippo.

daddy bought our car seats today! we're having grey ones with bubbles embroidered on them and fancy bases that stay in the car to make it easy to get us in and out quickly. and mummy and daddy are going to get the summer covers to brighten them up and help to stop us from getting too hot. when it gets cold we can have fleecy covers to keep us snuggly on car trips. Daddy is already picking out toys to hang on the seats for us to play with.
so just our cot beds and wheels to buy.

mummy and daddy are going to see the midwife Kate on monday. they'll get to hear our heartbeats and Kate will check that mummy is still healthy as well as making sure we're alright. (even if she did scoff crisps and biscuits this week). they got a letter today to see the consultant in a few weeks time, he will be the man who will look after mummy and make sure we arrive safely on D day.

Daddy said this is the first time in months that mummy hasn't known days in advance what she wants to eat, all she can tell him is what she doesn't want, and apparently thats not very helpful.

so thats about it for this week
we'll let you know how our heartbeats go and maybe if we're awake, we'll have a bit of fun with wiggling for the midwife so she can't catch us!

speak soon
lots of love
from
The Beans
xx

24 weeks and 6 weeks

Hey Auntie Sophie,

thanks for sending us some sunshine!

we've had a lovely week doing lots of growing this week. we are now the size of corn cobs before they get taken out of their fuffy leaves. we have been practiing our breathing and have had some little hiccups which makes mummys tummy shake.

we're moving around a lot more now which mummy notices pretty much every time she's not walking or moving about herself. because we've created a bit more space for ourselves not all of our movements can be felt on the outside for the next little while, poor mummy did get her extra 1 cm this week, but says whilst it was a shock it was better than 2cm's.

we each weigh around 1 and a half pounds now so we're starting to fill out our skin and get our chubby cheeks ready for squishy kisses. daddy read that if we arrived now we'd survive but would need some special care. daddy told us we are not allowed out yet and must stay snuggly and safe where we are for the next 12 but preferably 14 weeks.

Daddy was in Italy for work this week so we didn't hear him for a few days, he was very surprised to see how much our bump had grown in the short time he was away and we gave him lots of kicks to say hello.

mummy has been sitting in the sunshine with our other aunties... Amy, Sammy and Annie, they had a picnic lunch on Friday and were all laughing lots so we guess they had a nice time. mummy took a really big bag so she could sit on the grass and get up without too much struggle this time. She is learning fast.

mummy got her cup cake top out thinking it was going to still be baggy. silly mummy, but it was nice and summery for her.

she must have liked it because she wore it Saturday too!

mummy must have liked the picnic beacuse her and daddy went for another one today at Royal Victoria Country Park. they were joined by Clare and Rich and their little girls. Clare gave our bump a rub hello so we kicked back but it was only a little one.

mummy has a bit of hayfever but can't take anything for it so she says she's going to be a snot monster for this summer. Mummy is only at work for another 6 weeks. daddy is going to help her make our room ready and then they are just going to chill out and wait for us.

no scans, midwife appointments or classes for a while so they're going to take it easy and enjoy the sunshine while mummy can still move without a wheelbarrow!!

hope you're getting lots of sunshine too

write again soon
love from
The Beans
xxx

23 weeks and crap bags

Hey Auntie Sophie.

no picture this week, mummy has a cold and says 2 things, 1) she feels like a bag of crap and so 2) there is no way she's putting herself up for all the world to see until she's feeling better.

we're trying to make her feel better by kicking around lots so she knows we're ok. we aren't sure if that is helping much though.

we can hear stuff now, it's a bit muffled but we can hear the songs mummy dances to and feel when she's dancing to them. our inner ears have formed well enough so that we can also feel when we're upside down, and when mummy is laying down or walking around.

we are the size of papayas, and if you could measure us from the top of our heads to our toes we're almost the same length as a 30cm ruler!! so as far as those measurements go, we're pretty much as long as we're going to be, but we are soooooo skinny.
mummy and daddy say we are like little saggy baby bags at the moment. over the next few weeks we're going to start getting fat! we've currently got more skin than anything else so we've got to concentrate on filling out so we have lovely squishy cheeks to kiss when we get out.

we now weigh in at just over 1lb each which has taken the last 23 weeks to do. over the next 4 weeks we're going to reach the 2lb mark, so we're going to be very busy growing. mummy's tummy is going to grow by 1 to 2 cm a week. this week it's 109cm. daddy was trying to make her feel better until she held the tape measure around his tummy to show him what he'd be in 4 weeks time at our growth rate, its like adding a whole other daddy to him.

we are still practicing kicks, punches, stretches, sucking our thumbs and grabbing. we can both grab our own hands and feet and sometimes we grab our cords, not too tight though because we're still only little.
our tiny little lungs have been busy too, we've made little pockets which when we get out will fill with air so we can breath just like mummy and daddy do, we're just pretending to now.

this week we have been awake for longer than we've slept each day, and beacuse we're moving around better now, mummy has also had less sleep. we think that might be why she has a bit of a cold, sorry mummy!

Auntie Amy felt us kick on Wednesday, she went with mummy for a coffee and as soon as mummy sat down we started wriggling. we don't wait for it to be evening time now, we wiggle when ever we feel like it. and our wiggling is much stronger now...mummy puts her lip gloss tin on her tummy and we try to kick it off, sometimes we just make it jump a bit but we've kicked it right off a couple of times now.

so thats it for this week, just plenty of wiglging, getting nice and strong and hopefully not making mummy too tired.

will write again next week
lots of love
from
The Beans xxx

22 weeks 1 day, factor 15 and then some

Hello Auntie Sophie.

we've been having fun this week!

but firstly... mummy went mental at the nosey old bag in boots... mummy was buying some more of the calcium tablets she has to take to make sure her bones and our bones are stong. the cashier after looking mummy up and down asked mummy (very rudely) if she should be taking them. mummy said yes so the lady told her she should be drinking glasses of milk and not taking supplements especially in her condition. mummy wasn't too pleased with the shop assistants version of a medical degree, so told her... if she'd like to get her the milk then mummy would drink it and show her exactly why she had to take calcium supplements. and if she was finished with this not being any of her business she'd like to buy the supplements she so very much needs and if purchasing them was going to be a problem she'd happily discuss the issue with the cashiers manager. mummy got to buy her vitamins and now refuses to go to the nosey ladys till point!

daddy says the silly lady clearly hasn't read the same book he has, where on the first page it simply says
'don't f**k with the pregnant lady'

so back to us...we started off being fairly quiet, a few of our usual little wiggles and still making mummy have the hiccups in the morning. yep still 5.30am.
Then on Thursday we made mummy feel really, really tired after working a 12 hour day on Wednesday with no breaks. daddy told her off and said she had to look after herself and us and we told her off by making her tired and stupid all day.

when mummy got home on Thursday, her and daddy had dinner and then mummy just vegged out on the sofa in her pj's. she calls them mamma jammas!

once she was nice and relaxed, we started our fun new game. mummy's arms were resting on top of our tummy so Bean 2, thats me at the top, I kicked hard enough for mummys arm to move! she then asked daddy if he wanted to feel a Bean... she put his hand in the right place on her tummy, and I kicked that too, lots!
mummy and daddy laughed, and daddy said he'd remember that forever.
Hey what about me, Bean 1? they tried feeling my kicks down here, but I've got so much else in the way that I have to give a really good boot for them to feel it.

On Friday morning we both were having our usual early morning wiggle and daddy got to feel both of us kicking, he told us not to kick too hard and hurt mummy, but she said she doesn't mind. So Bean 1 has more space for kicking when mummy is laying down.

Auntie Sammy and mummy had lunch in the sunshine on Friday and mummy was trying to make us move, but she was so squished over sat on her silly carrier bag (so her bum didn't get wet on the grass) that she could barely move herself let alone get us to. She was quite pleased that she didn't need any help getting up though, even if it wasn't the easiest thing to do. Mummy has decided there will be no more sitting on the grass, she will have to find a bench.
when they got back to the office, we eventually had space to move about a bit more. once we were definitely going for it, Auntie Sammy put her hand on mummy's tummy and we both gave it a good kick!

this is what mummy wore on Friday, she says its her favourite bump outfit because it makes her bump look big and she doesn't feel like a whale in it...

so this is our new game when mummy is nice and relaxed, we kick to let her know that we're growing big and strong so that her and daddy don't have to worry about us.

today we all went to the beach with Auntie Vicky (daddy's sister) and Uncle Jack. mummy put sun cream on all the bits that we showing, her neckline arms and face. she had a nice thin white cotton vest on that makes our bump look lovely and was nice and cool too. we all had a nice time, ate a big tasty picnic and had ice creams and lollies. then the big old fluffy clouds came over and made it a bit cold, so we went back to Grandma and Grandads house in New Milton for cups of tea.

when mummy and daddy got home, mummy changed her top and noticed that her bump got a bit of a tan even through the vest! she knows that her skin is super sensitive to the usn right now and that she has to go careful as it can burn quicker while she cooking us and also might leave scars if she gets red, but no one thought she'd tan through her clothes!


we're all going to chill for the rest of the weekend and we're going to practice our stretches and leg kicks.
no more appopintments for a few more weeks, but we'll have some more next month.
will write again soon

lots of love
from
The Beans
xx

21 weeks lots of pictures

Hi Auntie Sophie,

we had 2 lots of pictures this week because twin 1 on the bottom was camera shy on Wednesday.
so Wednesdays effort only got twin 2 on the top bunk...

it's my leg, really, really. I'm just super bendy, I don't have loads of room as I'm tucked up under mummys ribs, right up over the top of her belly button. and the little blob above my head is my hand, I'm waving 'Hello!' mummy and daddy say hooray that I've grown into my nose.

so we had our pictures taken again on Friday
this is twin 1 on the bottom

I have turned right around today. not only was I face down having a nice sleepy on Wednesday, but up until a few weeks ago, my head was also the other end! I've got my head the same side as my twinny now. we've both got our heads on mummys left side.
I was sucking my thumb whilst my picture was being taken, and I was good enough to look right at the scanner when the nice lady wanted to check my face. mummy and daddy got to see right up my nose!!!
mummy and daddy are also pleased that I don't have either of the family noses yet too.

so everyone is happy that all our measurements are ok and as they should be. twin 1 on the bottom is a tiny bit bigger, but right now every millimeter counts when we're only 19 cms long!

we're quite happy with that much excitement for one week. we move around a lot, especially when mummy is being still, and we do like to wake her up at around 5.30 every morning. usually top Bean makes mummy hiccup just before she wakes up and sometimes daddy says it happens really loud in the middle of the night! and if that does't work, then bottom Bean has a squish around on mummys bladder. that gets her out of bed soon enough.

we have to wait until May 11 for our next picture and we'll be so much bigger then, can't wait to see what we look like then and show you.

lots of love
from
The Beans
xx