Life with Twins + 1: Long Overdue Update

So I don't know whether this blog continues to get any traffic, but it suddenly occurred to me that there should be an update of sorts.

Our twin boys Quinn and Liam were born at 30 weeks and 4 days (10 weeks early) on December 29th, 2014 after a very complicated pregnancy. I had TAPS (Twin Anemia-Polycythemia Sequence), which is a rare subset of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. This started developing at the 16 week mark of my twin pregnancy, and I was monitored fortnightly with ultrasounds until 24 weeks, then it was weekly, several times a week and DAILY by the end. I wasn't admitted early to hospital on bedrest purely because of 3 year-old Rowan at home. But I did spend half of my day at the hospital by the end of it.

Being a mother to premature twins was confronting and our boys spent 6 weeks (Quinn) and 10 weeks (Liam) in the NICU, followed by Special Care Nursery. Liam was diagnosed with Neonatal Chronic Lung Disease and spent eight months on home oxygen before being weaned from it in August 2015. Quinn suffered a minor brain bleed (IVH)  in the early days after birth but scans have showed that there is no longer any evidence of a bleed... phew!

Both boys are now 15 months old (12.5 months adjusted age) and are currently walking, learning to talk and being extremely cheeky to 5 year-old brother Rowan, who continues to adjust to his life being turned upside down by twin toddlers on a daily basis.

4 days before I delivered our twins (30 weeks exactly here)

Liam and Quinn shortly after birth, TAPS confirmed upon delivery via emergency c-section.

Leaving hospital for the last time, 10 weeks later!

3 months old (Liam is on the left in all pictures from here down)

6 months old

8 months old

10 months old

Happy 1st Birthday!

14 months old with big brother Rowan at Easter 2016

While I don't really update this blog regularly anymore (it was there for me back when I needed the outlet), I post regularly on Instagram as Aurian82. If by some chance you're reading this and want to connect, you can find me there. xx

18 Weeks Pregnant... and a Reveal!

I have long neglected this blog due to life being crazy chaotic around here. I am thankfully still pregnant with our twins, and simultaneously navigating selling our home (a two bedroom apartment won't cut it for our soon-to-be family of 5!) and parenting our 3.5 year-old son, Rowan.

Twin pregnancy has been very different to that of my first pregnancy. Everything has stretched faster, ached faster, everything has in fact been faster - including baby movement, which I felt the first flutters of at 12 weeks pregnant! Now, at 18 weeks, flutters have become pokes and I can distinctly feel a baby on each side of my tummy which is kind of fun. 

I am carrying monochorionic-diamnotic twins (or Mono-Di for short), which basically means the babies are each in their own amniotic sac but share a single placenta. This means extra monitoring via ultrasound (scans every two weeks starting at 16 weeks, and will progress to once per week from 24 weeks on). The extra scans are to ensure that both babies are growing as they should be and that one isn't getting more or less blood flow than the other. So far so good with our scans, but I'm always cautiously optimistic as I've been told that things can change very quickly in mono-di twin pregnancies. 

So, want to see our babies? Since 12 weeks, Baby A has been in a better position for photos (the twin closer to the front of my uterus, therefore easier to scan) so we've gotten some great shots. Baby B remains a little more elusive and is very wriggly (but I know we'll get that gorgeous profile shot at some point!).

Our twins at 12 weeks (Baby A on the left, Baby B on the right)

Baby A at 16 weeks (with a profile and nose just like Rowan!)

Baby B at 16 weeks

Twin bump growth at 12 weeks vs 14 weeks (when I started to really pop quickly)

16 week twin bump (see what I mean??)

And lastly, at our 16 week scan we were able to find out what we were having, I'll leave Rowan to fill you in with the details! ;)

It's BOYS!

Rowan at 2.25 Years Old

Rowan, our little Pickle - today you are two-and-a-quarter years old. You are so cheeky, vivacious and energetic, and love to dance, sing and you are learning to jump at the moment.

Car trips have become big adventures in recent months as you give us a running commentary of everything that you see: "Look Mummy, a digger!" "I see two tractor!" "Wow... a big bus. And look, a tram too!" "It nighttime, the cars have lights on" "The car have a 'P' on it. Where the 'B' for bunny??"

Are you sensing a theme here? You absolutely adore vehicles at the moment and are happiest when playing "car parks", or with "Hannah, Dan and the caravan" (a game you made up with toys from the toy library). You will line up your cars, send them down ramps, take them on trips around the house (mainly to Coles, shopping centres, Aldi or the petrol station at the moment; all places that you have been to close to home).

It was as if the moment you turned two, you figured out that you could sing. You have a remarkable memory for songs, and sing loudly an confidently! Some of your favourites are The Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (and the Daddy Drives a Motor Car version), Three Cheeky Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and Bananas in Pyjamas. 

You go to childcare on Mondays and Tuesdays, and these are very big days for you. I drop you off at 7.45am and pick you up at 5pm. I would much rather we spend our days home together but you really love childcare and talk about your teachers often (mainly Kacey and Jackie). I ask you about the things you do at childcare, and I hear all about the sandpit, playdough, nap time, food times and your Bunny. You also spend Fridays with Nana (my Mum) and one of your routines is to go out for coffee (babycino) and a muffin together for morning tea.

Speaking of Bunny, you are still lovingly attached to your bunnies (you have 4 now!) and they must ALL come to bed with you at night. You make loud 'cuddle' sounds (which sound a bit like "ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh cuddlecuddle") and occasionally share them with us too. You are starting to learn about possession and if someone picks up one of the bunnies to put them away you say "that's MY Bunny!". In fact, we all hear a lot about "that's my...." at the moment.

Your two year-old molars are just starting to come through, and besides lots of saliva, chewing objects and a red cheek you're coping well with them so far. We play a game together where we look at each other's "new teeth" and you enjoy looking in our mouths (and we get to see inside yours too).

You are 93cm tall (36.5") and weigh 13.6kg (30lb).

You were quite sick in June, which started with a cold that didn't get better. You ended up with bronchitis, a chest infection and ear infection, which resulted in your first course of antibiotics ever (I'm proud that you didn't need any until you were two year old).

Getting an x-ray to rule out pneumonia (you were very brave!)

Your favourite foods at the moment are dried cranberries, "warm milk" (cow's milk), bread, honey, macaroni-shaped pasta, apple and country cheese biscuits. You have a big appetite and often surprise us with how much you eat (especially when you go through a growth spurt, as you are at the moment). 

You currently have two breastfeeds per day - one first thing in the morning before breakfast, and one before bed at night. You cut out the feed before nap in the last month (Mummy helped with this one), as you were getting distracted from growing sleepy. It has surprised us with how quickly you got used to your new routine of watching an episode of Peppa Pig on the tablet, having a cup of warm milk and going into your cot. I could see you learning to give up your other feeds too, but there isn't really any need to right now so I think they'll remain for the time being while you're still interested in them.

You are very interested in asking questions, and you constantly ask "what's that noise" or "where Daddy/Mummy going?". You are highly inquisitive and notice minute details of things that as adults we tend to miss. You also like to exert your independence and tell us you'd like to walk instead of being carried, what books you'd like read to you, foods you do or don't want to eat, or what you want to do at any given moment!

You have grown up so much in the past three months and it will be amazing to see what you're interested in in another three months time.

Love Mummy and Daddy.

Rowan at 23 Months Old

Just a quick few notes about Rowan at 23 months, next month will most likely be the last of the monthly developmental posts (as I originally started noting things down here for his baby book... which turned into the second year album also).

Rowan started rote-counting 1-10 this month, which surprised us as it happened out of nowhere (childcare, maybe?).

He is starting to incorporate more verbs and is getting more consistent with sentence syntax, eg:

"Mummy come go see Daddy"

"Rowie look at digger"

"Mummy stay home"

"Lay down milk on the bed" (a breastfeed)

Rowan likes to point out happy and sad faces on pictures in books, and is beginning to recognise these on people too.

The discovery of emotions is upon us, and not just happy and sad, but scared too. If something happens in a book or on TV, Rowan can often be heard saying "oh dear, oh dear!", "uh oh!" or having a cry (which was the case while reading the book Belinda, by Pamela Allen, recently).

There are more angry tantrums too, and more excitement. Emotions are up and down, with big extremes. He will get really excited when anticipating an event (sometimes meaning no nap!), and will tell you first thing in the morning about what is happening that day.

Current favourite foods: Rice Bubbles, sour cream, chocolate, hardboiled eggs (whites only), watermelon.

Rowan likes to have a say on the clothing and shoes he is wearing, and quite often packs a bag (without prompting) to take out and about. It usually contains a drink, a toy or two, and something random like a piece of paper from the floor). He'll put it around his neck or over one shoulder, very cute!

Water play is still a favourite pasttime.

I am so glad that most nap times since Rowan's birth have been taken
with him having a breastfeed to sleep. 23 months strong!

Pretend play and serving food with a toy library party set.

Feeding Daddy while out at lunch.

Kisses for Mummy on her birthday. :)

Next stop.... TWO!

Sleep is for the Weak

So here is the situation... Rowan has been early to hit a lot of his milestones (physical and developmental), sleep has been no exception. He dropped to 2 x daytime naps at 5 months old, and was down to a single nap by 12 months. Now, at 18 months, I suspect that he may be preparing to cut the daytime nap out altogether.

At 10-12 months old, when Rowan was starting to take shaky first steps (walking full-time by his birthday), he went back and forth on 1-2 naps. He was getting more tired as he used more energy during the day being so active (while calm and placid in his personality, physically he is a very active child). Once walking got easier he stayed at the one nap per day - and it has been a decent-length one: 2-3 hours most days. 

With the other nap-dropping, there was warning because previous naps got longer or the second/third sleep got shorter, but it's different this time. There's toddler defiance (wall kicking/banging; so I'm unsure whether it's stubbornness or what), and more consistent night sleep. Our pre-nap routines are the same so I'm not sure what it happening here.

Time will tell, I suppose. I just wanted to make a note of it in here so I can look back in later weeks/months in case there's a "a-ha!" moment somewhere. ;)

For the time being, I shall lament the loss of the daytime nap/tea break!!

15 Months Old

Rowan is now 15 months old, my little man is getting very cheeky and vocalising a lot more (and I'm starting to see the beginnings of frustration when he's trying to communicate his needs and I don't understand). Since he mastered a lot of the physical milestones over the past few months, it's all about communication these days... and that is pretty fun to watch. He's a little sponge when it comes to absorbing sounds and he'll attempt to imitate most things you say.

He is starting to learn about right and wrong, and often gives the game away before doing something he knows he shouldn't (such as pulling washing off the clothes rack or hitting me in the face in frustration). In the case of getting physical, I sit him down and tell him "no" firmly, which usually results in crying and occasionally the flailing of limbs.

There have been so many new words and sounds this month, it's difficult to keep track of them all - in the past two weeks there has been at least a new word every day, it's a pretty amazing time to witness! A lot of food and animal-related sounds (we're thinking of taking him to the zoo sometime when the weather gets better, Matt and I both think he'd love it!). Some of the new words are:

• cuddle "cuul"
• shoe "ooo"
• cheese "kee"
• crashing "caaar"
• light "aigh"
• door
• bib "bii
• car
• bye bye "buh-bye"
• yoghurt "yoyoyo"
• sheep "baabaa"
• snake "sssss"
• bird "biiiir"
• dog/cat/duck/cow (see, lots of animals!)

Rowan gets very excited about going out and will excitedly yell variations of Go! Key! Door! Car! (imagine everything being said in exclamation... that's Rowan :P)

He also now uses the words Mum (Mumum or mama), Dad (dadada) and Nan-Nan in context, which is fun too. He plays a game with us where he 'talks' into his toy phone and says "lo Nan-Nan", imitating games we play with him. I'm looking forward to the imitation becoming real pretend play in the coming months, and we give him lots of opportunities to copy us and have a go himself (whether that's pretending to 'feed' us, vacuum the floor, or taking his plates and cups out of the dishwasher).

So all in all, it's been a very vocal month indeed!

Brushing his own hair

laughs with Daddy after dinner

my blonde boy with the unruly curls at the back!

Rowan LOVES water!

We love him so. <3

14 Months Old



Rowan is now 14 months old and the past month has seen an explosion in his comprehension and language, as well as his developing sense of humour (ie, doing things differently on purpose and laughing afterwards, like wearing a placemat as a hat).

For my own records, here is what Rowan has been up to developmentally in the past month:

* Tries to climb everything!

* Does a lot of imitating the sounds that other people make (both words and noises)

* Is learning to differentiate (ie, not everything served on a white sideplate is cake, although he's ever-hopeful)

* Makes hand signs to ask for songs: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, If You're Happy & You Know It, Pat-A-Cake, Incy Wincy Spider

* Knows how to unlock my iPhone

* Has definitely dropped down to one nap during the day, and will regularly go 4-5 hours in the morning before getting tired for a nap

* Gets excited about helping with home routines (ie, washing clothes, hanging clothing up, brushing teeth/hair, putting on shoes and socks)

* New words this month: App (as in a phone application!), cake, teeth, up, Mummy, key, milk ("mi") and Bunny ("buh")

Busted playing with the bookshelf!

Clapping hands to a song

We recently put a big-boy doona (what we call a duvet in Australia) in Rowan's cot for Winter, he's testing the softness here. ;)

A friend of mine took our picture at a farm during May.



Baby Loves to Walk

Rowan at 11.5 months old

I'm so proud of Rowan, who has made the transition from baby to toddler (unofficially) seemingly overnight, he's suddenly given up crawling on the most part, figured out how to stand up on his own without pulling up on people/objects (straighten your legs, stick your bottom in the air and pull up the top half!) and likes to chatter away while other people are talking... loudly!

This seems to have coincided with complete and utter exhaustion by night-time on Rowan's part (all this growing will definitely do it) and he has been sleeping more solidly at night.

Do I dare say that I am extremely clucky for another child? We're waiting for at least another 1-2 years though.

11 Months Old

Rowan turned 11 months old during the week... and on my 30th birthday, too! So it was a celebratory week for us both! Unfortunately Rowan was quite unwell with a cold at the time, which meant neither of us were able to enjoy the big day very much and spent it quietly (though my Mum had us around for a little bit). Needless to say, Rowan has gotten better in the week since, and passed his illness onto me - which I'm still in the process of getting over. If how I've been feeling was how he felt, no wonder he was miserable and barely sleeping!

Here is a snapshot of Rowan's development at 11 months:

• Is now walking more than crawling (but still pulls to stand on objects and people, rarely standing from a sitting position on his own yet
• Babbles a LOT - lots of mumummum, dadadad, yayaya and the chaining of various syllables together, clapping at himself after he's 'said' something particularly loudly and/or lengthy
• Rowan not only took his first proper steps this month but also said his first word (yep... it's been a big month!). And the word? BOOK (the teacher in me is so proud). Rowan loves to read a "gook" and will bring them to you at any time of the day. His attention span for books is pretty amazing (or so I think), he likes bright colours or rhythmic sentences.
• Has a big appetite, eating three full solid meals a day and four breastfeeds (plus 1-2 feeds during the night; the boy burns up a lot of energy being so busy!). His favourite foods at the moment are green grapes (cut in half), watermelon, corn on the cob and rice cakes with peanut butter.
• Loves to cuddle his Soft Bunny (as well as other soft items, and will seek out people he knows to cuddle/pat on the back)
• Tries to climb everything.
• Is starting to be wary of new or unfamiliar situations by withdrawing, often becoming clingy towards Matt or I. The same goes for situations with larger groups - more than 4-5 people.
• Bedtime is between 8-8.30pm most nights, we went through a stage during the month where he seemed to be developing some night separation anxiety and would cry and cry when Matt put him to bed (as he has done since Rowan was a newborn, no routine change). It would get to the point where Rowan would finish his milk feed with me and start to fret. After a week or so of this, we made the change that I would put him into bed instead, and this seems to have solved the problem. It's a shame that Matt doesn't get that last cuddle anymore, but if it helps Rowan to feel secure at night, then we both have said we don't mind this change.

Pictures of Rowan at 11 months old:

Comparision between Matt at 12 months (right) and Rowan at 11 months (left).

Enjoying a Weetbix breastfast

It was a bunny kind of day on the 7th...

Yes... I so went there! And I think Rowan looks cute with his hair in a ponytail. We then went out for coffee like this, much to Daddy's later dismay. ;)

Drool monster!

See... cute! <3

And on a closing note, I was surprised on Friday night by my Mum's Group friends with a birthday cake, and celebrated with high tea at a posh hotel in the City with my Mum on Sunday:

I feel very lucky. <3



Where O Where Has My Baby Gone?

...Where o where can he be?

Of all the odd things to hit me tonight, it was while reading the blog of someone who had recently photographed three brothers in their home. As I looked at the pictures of these boys with their arms around each other, it occurred to me that one day Rowan was going to grow up into someone as tall and robust as them.

And that he might have a brother (or brothers! Or even a sister...!) one day and that he would be the oldest. As I watch Rowan toddling around, piece of toast firmly clasped in one hand and making lopsided grins, how is this even possible.

Oh god, he's going to be turning ONE in six weeks. Where's my baby gone?! o_O


(video from this morning)

10 Months Old Today

... and with it comes a new milestone:

Yes... he is starting to walk!

Rowan took his first steps a week or so ago and since then he's been gaining confidence in letting go of objects/people and trying to walk... although 1-2 steps is all he can manage at this point (usually into someone's arms or onto another object). I can see the wheels turning in his brain as he sizes up whether or not to let go of something, it's quite endearing. ;)

He still much prefers to crawl, stand and/or cruise around (he's very quick with cruising!), I wonder when he'll have the balance to walk more regularly? Another skill he's gained recently - again, in the past week - is climbing. I didn't believe him when Matt told me he climbed up our couch on the weekend, then I got to see it for myself... seriously, this baby is keeping me on my toes!

Last month I mentioned about Rowan's nap times and whether he was attempting to drop from two naps to one. It looks as though my hunch was correct - about 75% of the time, Rowan is having one sleep during the day (which has taken some getting used to on my part). It makes it a bit trickier to do things over lunchtime - ie, being out and about - but it does free up our mornings and mid-afternoons... so it's a pretty good trade-off. Mornings have been progressively getting earlier too, which means by late afternoon he's in need of a short nap (just an hour or so), I've been having a bit of success with that.

Other interesting discoveries from the last month have been:

* Tapping objects together regularly (this has almost replaced gumming objects as #1 pasttime)

* Beginning to understand a few words we say - book, sippy (cup), Weetbix, milks

* Rowan will bring you a book when he wants to be read to (which is very sweet!)

* More outwardly signs of affection - cuddles, crawling into your lap, kisses on the cheek (with and without teeth! :P)

Pictures to mark reaching double-digits for the first time. ;)







Waiting patiently for breaskfast (Weetbix) this morning

Looking way too much like a toddler for my liking!

Very typical Rowan at the moment, always having a Bunny or two in his mouth.

Walking with Daddy at the park

Family picture from the weekend (plus children's-sized hat)

Rowan's first artwork

Yes... there was plenty of mess to be had! (I took paper prints of his highchair tray painting too, since he decided early on that paper belonged on the floor, not the tray)

Painting with Rowan. ;)