Hello! I am sooooo sorry for not coming on mumsnet sooner to update on the cupcakes progress - I did try a few weeks ago but a baby woke mid post and I never managed to finsh. So here goes...
The cupcakes are here!! Arrived safely at 32+2 weeks after I had been in hospital for 4 weeks on bed rest (that's another story!) and were delivered by emergency c-section on Mothers Day March 14th. How anyone chooses c-section more than once is a mystery to me - bloody hell it was painful and I would rather have pushed them all out if given the choice. Sorry to say it, and I know everyone has a very different experience but personally I was bent double like a banana for days!
Alice Maria @ 1300g
George Richard @ 1900g
Milly Ava @ 1600g
The babies were in intensive care for 4 days and then transfered to SCBU until they came home at 5 weeks old, on DH's birthday!
Now 4 months old (2 months 'adjusted age') are growing well and all the minor health issues that were identified at birth have been resolved (Milly was thought to have heaing problems and George and Alice both had holes in their hearts). They have been scanned, tested and double checked more times than a double-checked-thing!
And how has life been since? Exhausting, check. Overwhelming? Hell yeah! The most incredible and terrifying thing we've ever done? Abso-blinking-lutely!
We have managed to drop the 11pm and 3am feeds so are typically in bed by 10pm once everyone is settled, and although they often still wake in the night a dummy will solve the crying; they take turns to sleep until 6am and have all synchronised TWICE for a full nights sleep - so I know they can do it. Happy days are on their way!
We are lucky to have lots of help from both mums (v. proud grandmas!) and friends, plus we've found some amazing people willing to help out. I went through a very unhappy stage when DH first went back to work after 3 weeks at home together, and was in quite a dark place. But we're out the other side now and fortunately much happier and able to count the blessings in our lives once more. It was just such a shock to have our lives change so dramatically in such a short period of time - and not directly by choice.
Big sister DD1 is being an absolute angel and is my shining star. It was truly horrific being separated from her for the 4 weeks while I was in hsopital, but fortunately we had nearly 4 weeks together at home before the babies were released so she didn't associate my absence with their birth and she has accepted them totally. She kisses them good morning and good night, is highly skilled in dummy replacement and is the best in the house at getting them to smile. Especially George who is a real cool cookie and smiles with a cheeky grin to earn him the nickname 'Fonzie'!
I'm sure there are a hundred things I wanted to tell you that I've forgotten about, so I'll try and come back soon! Thank you all for your lovely messages while I was MIA!
P.S. Did I tell you that we change approx 25 nappies a day?!