12 weeks, 5 days

Twelve weeks. The second big milestone is finally complete (the first milestone was actually getting a positive result in the pregnancy test!)

So the second trimester is only two days away and so many things have happened on this week!

1) We resolved that we couldn’t keep it secret* for much longer and decided to go live finally. We made sure that all the family knew first and then we published it on Facebook. The response was overwhelming and the fact that it is twins has really caught some people by surprise. A very nice surprise.

2) The day after we announced it on Facebook I also told everybody in my office (since I have work colleagues as friends on Facebook too, it just made sense). The reaction in this case as well was overwhelming and everybody was ever so pleased. Some of them know me and Jon quite well and I am pretty sure that they feel genuinely happy for us.

Funnily enough, Kate – the Duchess of Cambridge, also announced her pregnancy on the same day, so in a way it’s like she was trying to overshadow me and take some of the spotlight from me (only kidding, of course!)

3) Last weekend we decided to go to a NCT Nearly New sale in Fleet. I just wanted to go along for the crack, to have a look and see what kind of stuff is available in those sales. There were loads of clothes (and I mean “loads“) and tons of toys too. I was expecting a tiny bit more variety on the products on offer, for example more gadgets (like baby monitors, chairs, stands, etc) or even maternity clothes.. But the whole thing was just cramped with toys and baby clothes.

We had a good look at the clothes and, to be honest, I don’t know why someone would pay full price for baby clothes, especially for when they are really tiny. Babies grow so quickly that they very rarely get to “overwear” clothes, so they always look pretty much new. We found lots of items that we would have been so interested in buying, but I want to wait until after Christmas before we go crazy buying stuff. Just to be sure.

Still, Jon found two matching tiny GAP jackets, and at £2 each, it was very difficult to resist the temptation and we bought them! We also bought one set of super cute dungarees and top and one book on feeding/cooking for babies.

4) On Wednesday (yesterday) I had my first ultrasound scan at the prenatal unit at the Hospital! I had been looking forward to it so much that now that it’s over I am kind of sad… I want to have another scan again soon!

We got to the Prenatal unit, I got weighed again, gave answers to some questions (silly me, I forgot one piece of paper that the midwife had given me to take to the appointment) and then I went into the scan. Also, before that, whilst we were in the waiting room, the receptionist said that if we wanted extra copies of the scan photos we could get them via a machine in the reception area. Ok, we thought and didn’t think much of it then. We went into the scan room, I got the sticky cold gel in my belly, and off she went with the scan. The nurse was actually surprised when we said that we were expecting twins, because apparently it didn’t say on my notes! And, surprise surprise, when she put the scan in my belly, there they were! Both of them. Pixie and Dixie (although Jon prefers to call them Itchy and Scratchy)

It was fantastic seeing them both there. I don’t know why but I have never stopped worrying about the “little one”, the embryo that looked too small at the beginning. But they both looked good! Definitely the nurse didn’t say that one of them looked weird or different or too small… Pixie, the one in the top bunk was having a right old party in there… He started moving his legs up and down, and even his torso was moving up. At one point I thought he was going to do a somersault!

Dixie is in the bottom bunk bed and she looked to be hiding a bit. The nurse had a bit more bother trying to get her to show. And she definitely was more quiet than Pixie. She was probably sleeping and was completely unaware of all the commotion happening around her.

(By the way, I have just randomly decided that -until told differently- Pixie is a boy and Dixie is a girl… just to make referring to them a bit easier)

Well, it turns out that if you wanted extra copies of the scan photos, you had to go to the machine and pay for the tokens before you went in for the ultrasound scan! So we only got the one copy. But that’s okay because I was able to scan the photos at work and we can print more copies at home… But it’s something that we’ll know for next time.

And nothing much to tell! I am absolutely showing bump now. I am still fitting into two of my work trousers, but only one pair of jeans (and only if I use the hair band trick!). I can feel a maternity wear shopping spree coming on over Christmas! The bump is, however, not big enough to show it off… it mainly looks like I’ve got a considerable beer belly… I suppose in the next few weeks it will properly start to show!