I had intended to continue writing this blog regularly, but caring for two babies is absolutely exhausting. I genuinely didn’t believe it would be this hard.
That said, my twin girls are adorable and worth every bit of the exhaustion I feel.
Exhaustion is the word that sums up the early days for me. And I did have help — not just from my husband, but my mother-in-law gifted us a live-in maternity nurse who specialised in twins for the first few weeks.
When we arrived home from hospital, my husband had to rush off to collect her from the station. I was left standing there with two babies in car seats, not knowing what on earth I was doing… and then they both started crying. A lot.
The maternity nurse arrived about 45 minutes later and calmly took control. She set up a changing station downstairs, made sure we had a cot both upstairs and downstairs (brilliant advice — saves endless trips on the stairs), and helped us create a simple routine.
With twins, this was golden advice: stick to a schedule. It gives you a sense of control when everything feels overwhelming.
In the early days, the girls needed feeding every three hours. I would breastfeed one baby, hand her to my husband or the maternity nurse for a bottle top-up, then feed the other — and repeat.
When I wasn’t breastfeeding, I was expressing to try to encourage more milk. It was relentless. On top of that, both girls suffered from silent reflux, which meant a lot of crying and very broken sleep.
Eventually, I took them to see a craniosacral therapist, which helped immediately, and changing to a specialist reflux formula was a complete game-changer.
Although I didn’t suffer from postnatal depression, I did completely lose my confidence. I became so reliant on having help that I felt genuinely scared about coping on my own once the maternity nurse left.
We talked it through and created a gradual “step-down” plan, where she reduced her days slowly until I felt able to manage alone. It worked brilliantly — but even then, it took me a long time to build the confidence to leave the house with both babies and go into town on my own.
One of the biggest turning points for me was discovering our local twins and triplets club. It ran every two weeks and was full of parents with twins from newborns up to about age five.
The first time I arrived (after the usual epic effort of getting two babies out of the house, into the car, out of the car, into the buggy and up the steps), two twin mums appeared, took one baby each, handed me a cup of coffee, and led me to the sofa.
Bliss.
Being around people who get it is everything. If you’re expecting twins, find your local twins club while you’re still pregnant.
Baby classes were another source of sanity for me. They forced me to get out of the house instead of becoming a hermit.
Yes, it was hard being surrounded by mums with one baby when I had two — but it was still comforting to connect with other new parents and feel part of the outside world again.
A few things that really helped me during pregnancy and the early weeks:
A specialist pregnancy pillow
A twin nursing pillow – an absolute must
Massage and body products that are safe for pregnancy – relaxing/comforting
Essential oils for a diffuser – uplifting in the early days
A Snugglebundl – a genius carry blanket for lifting sleeping babies into car seats
Join your local twins group during pregnancy (often great for second-hand baby items)
If you’re expecting twins, enlist help for when you come home from hospital
Even 48 hours of support can make a huge difference
Failing that, stock your freezer with healthy meals
And above all… try to enjoy the ride. It goes frighteningly fast. 💛
]]>I may be an aromatherapist but I'm still female and have the same pregnancy niggles as the next pregnant woman! Being pregnant is a big deal and being pregnant with twins is (literally) an even bigger deal especially when they are MODI twins! I'm 46, it's my first pregnancy and it's classed as high risk. This blog charts my highs and lows and I hope it can be of help to others in a similar situation!
I'm so utterly relieved and delighted that we've got the 20 week anomaly scan out of the way. Because of my previous history of miscarriages, my age, and the fact that we are expecting identical (Modi) twins which come with more risk, I never completely allowed myself to relax and enjoy the pregnancy. I think its more a case of self-protection should anything go wrong. Up to this point we had only told family and close friends that we were expecting.
We were with the Sonographer for 1.5 hours! Can you believe that? And he took such care checking every single part of their bodies - checking that everything looked present and correct. From the tiniest membrane that separates the two, to the position of the placenta and ensuring that the blood flow looked even and correct, to the heart. I found the heart absolutely fascinating. At a mere touch of a button, the Sonographer can see what is venous blood flow and what is arterial!
As well as physical anomalies, one of the key things they are looking for is the twins rate of growth. Because they are identical, they share a placenta. So there is a real risk of something called TTTS - or Twin to twin transfusion syndrome. What happens is that the placenta may be shared unequally by the twins and one twin may have too small a share to provide the necessary nutrients to grow normally or even survive. This means that I will continue to have scans every two weeks so that they can monitor the growth. This is both reassuring as I get to see them every 2 weeks, but also scary as well as it shows how serious a condition this is. Apparently it happens in about 10-15% of pregnancies.
Anyway this aside, we feel like we've reached a major milestone and we now feel that we can start to enjoy the pregnancy and tell the world, so we've put it on Facebook and have been overwhelmed by all the positive messages! My next milestone will be 24 weeks when they are considered 'viable' - this means, that if they are born from this point onwards, despite spending approx 3 months in special baby unit/intensive care - 1/3 of all babies born will survive with no long term problems. This figure increases to over 90% at 26 weeks (although still a chance of cerebal palsy and other difficulties such as respiratory problems as the lungs still aren't considered mature), and 32-34 weeks, where babies born generally have a good chance of survival although again may need help on the respiratory side of things. At 37 weeks the babies will have full lung maturity which is good as our Consultant has already said that the babies will need to be delivered by then because they share a placenta and apparently with twins the placenta starts deteriorating from this point!
As far as I'm concerned, I'm feeling great! I've had no morning sickness during this pregnancy and apart from being a bit tired and alot of back pain which has meant that I've had to stop massaging sooner than I would have liked, and evil heartburn (pretty much from the word go but getting worse as the pregnancy progresses) ... plus sounding like I've run a marathon whenever I have to walk up a hill - things have gone smoothly. I'm very much looking pregnant now rather than just fat! I had a big growth spurt in the last 2 weeks and am now living in leggings and maternity tops! I'm still trying out the best solution for heartburn and if I find it, I'll post it online ... :)
]]>Well, it didn't happen on my birthday but the day after, at 21 weeks pregnant I started to feel them move! Its quite an odd feeling. A bit like a gentle flutter or something brushing gently against you but I've been waiting for it. Its amazing! I'm so excited! :)
]]>I'm well over half way and getting increasingly bigger! My husband felt them move for the first time yesterday which was really special! I'm feeling their prods and kicks much more now - they are still gentle but its definitely noticeable! The twins are currently both head down and facing each other but they are moving around like crazy so I'm sure our next scan will show them in a different position!
Clothes-wise, I'm living in leggings and maternity long sleeved tshirts with a jumper. I can't wait for it to get a bit hotter and I can start wearing more flattering pregnancy clothing. I've just invested in some more bra's although the bra extenders up until now have been really helpful. So far, I've gone up a cup size - and my ribcage has expanded - so I'm a 36D from a 34 C. The saleswoman says I'll definitely need to go back again before they arrive in July. She advised me to buy a combined maternity/nursing bra to save money. Not the most beautiful but soooo comfy.
I don't have stretchmarks yet and my tummy button is still an 'inny'! However I think its just a matter of time! Things like putting on shoes are now becoming much more of a struggle, and sitting up in bed is now a bit of a palaver ... I now have to roll onto my right side, swing my legs over the side of the bed and then push myself up. That probably sounds easy but when you have to avoid my 20 year old blind, diabetic cat- it becomes more problematic! I was given a pregnancy pillow - one of those really long ones in the shape of the letter 'c' and its been invaluable! If I don't have the pillow between my legs and tucked around the back, I get really bad back ache. However, I cannot sleep for a long stretch on my side. My nights are now spent alternating between lying on my left side and my back and frequent trips to the bathroom!
My legs are now swelling up during the day and by the end of the day my ankles have basically disappeared. I think this may be quite early so I'm making an effort to put my legs up whenever I'm sitting down. I also have early signs of varicose veins. I know they are hereditary and my mum suffered really badly from them in pregnancy. I'm massaging in my Simply Pregnant body lotion and massage oil like crazy in the hope that it keeps them at bay - fingers crossed! Its certainly working for the stretch marks!
My biggest and by far the most annoying symptom is Heartburn. Ugh. I've had this pretty much since finding out that I was pregnant. I think this is payback time for not suffering from Morning Sickness! However its now got to the stage whereby I get it after every meal and also after exercise! I'm taking Gaviscon tablets after each meal (ugh), drinking lots of milk (Goats) which helps temporarily and keeping my meals small and avoiding fatty, spicy foods. I'm currently experimenting with essential oils and other natural solutions so I'll let you know if I find anything that works!
The other thing that has been getting steadily worse is my breathlessness! I know this is caused by the increased blood volume. With twins, by the end of my pregnancy I will have double the amount of blood that I had before ... which means my heart has to work twice as hard which leads to breathlessness. I feel and sound like an old lady after walking up hills and up stairs!
I still have good amounts of energy however I'm noticing that I am getting tired in the afternoons/evenings. I guess that's to be expected! Anyway more soon .....
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I'm 24 weeks pregnant! All is well. Twin 1 (on my left) is behaving and is head down and twin 2 is currently bum presenting ie breech. However they are moving around so much I'm sure this will change again at the next scan. The hospital have said that because there are currently no signs of TTTS, which normally presents itself by this stage, that my next scan doesn't need to happen for 4 weeks! eek! I do quite like the reassurance of regular scans. Having said that I'm feeling them move much more strongly now which is in itself reassuring so I guess I'll be OK.
The midwife explained that from 24 weeks the pregnancy is considered viable, meaning babies born from this stage have a chance of survival with specialist care. I thought this was just for singletons but she seemed adamant that it was the same from twins! OK - that's also v. reassuring. 6 months pregnant - eeek. It still doesn't feel real yet. Although I'm looking pretty large already!
What was scary was that she said my hospital bag should be packed! Err. I'm nowhere near! We have however found a larger car which arrives in 2 days! (had to be big enough to fit a twin double buggy, 2 x labradors, the twins, their kit and our kit as well! Didn't leave us with too many options bearing in mind we need a 4 x 4 to get down the road that leads to us! We also went to a nearly new sale at the weekend and I bought 4 babygrows! My first clothing purchase!
The carpenter is hopefully coming some time next month to put in a fitted wardrobe in the twins bedroom which is currently "the room where everything lives"! We don't have any storage in our house, so we need this wardrobe with big cupboards above to give us a bit more storage.
Next week we are off to do some serious kit shopping - car seats, cots, linen, well basically everything. I've been working on a master kit list which I'm just refining at the moment. Tamba - the UK twin's charity offer good discounts with several stores so I'm trying to make sure we save as much as we possibly can. We've been so lucky being given twin kit from my sister in law (who's boys are now 6 this year!) - and we are also taking advantage of being given just one of things - as that minimises the amount we need to buy.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm still feeling good with good amounts of energy. However the heartburn is a real problem. It was really bad today having to lie down for the scan ... I thought I was going to be sick at one point. I'm still doing research to find out best things for it but I'm not there yet. Maybe there isn't a cure but it makes me feel better trying to find one! My legs are starting to swell up by the end of the day. I’ve been using my Simply Pregnant Body Lotion daily to help keep my skin comfortable as everything stretches. The midwife's advice was to make sure the legs were raised higher than the heart. This makes for an interesting position bearing in mind that I'm supposed to stay sitting up to avoid aggravating the heartburn!
I had my first pregnancy yoga class which was also interesting. It was fantastic in terms of teaching you deep breathing which you can call on in times of stress/labour, however again I couldn't do any of the exercises lying down because my heartburn started! So I was the one in the class who had to have specially adapted exercises to suit me!
]]>Well my tummy seems to resemble a football more and more. From behind I don't look pregnant at all but from any other angle its unmissable! I still have good amounts of energy as long as I don't push it and pregnancy yoga this week was good as I avoided doing any of the exercises that involved lying down so managed to keep the pesky heartburn away.
Things that are becoming more noticeable: Swollen legs/ankles. For some reason this affects my left leg more than my right - but if I sit at a computer all morning, by lunchtime my ankle has ballooned so I'm making a concerted effort to put my legs up (ideally higher than my heart) in order to minimise this happening. Its common at this stage to have swollen legs but its also a sign of pre-eclampsia so I need to be aware. Drinking water will help as well which I'm rubbish at but making myself do it!
Horrible hormones! I really thought I'd got away with this but they all ganged up on me this weekend and I found myself literally sobbing at things I would normally have been fine with. I feel much more vulnerable and sensitive than normal and I think my translation of conversations has been a bit wonky so my poor husband has had to cope with near hysteria for seemingly innocent comments. This has happened more than once! Sadly I didn't have any essential oils to hand as I'm sure that would have worked.
Aside from that its just the evil heartburn which I guess I'll struggle with until the twins arrive. Would love to find out what everyone else tries to make it go away.
The kicks are getting stronger and I'm finding that its easier to tell which one is Twin 1 and Twin 2. Having said that - twin 2 moves around alot and sometimes when she is facing twin one and is just kicking twin one, I don't feel the kicks and that's really worrying - then she moves again and I relax! I guess that's something else I have to get used to!
Midwife appointment next week so will report back after that!
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I think one word sums up this week and it’s “expanding”! My tummy seems to have hit overdrive and I’m wondering how on earth it’s going to keep stretching until the end of July. People are still saying I’m very “neat” – which is lovely to hear, but I do think they’re just being kind!
I’m liberally applying my Simply Pregnant Body Lotion as it really helps with the itching (which I think is caused by the rapidly expanding skin).
👉 You can find the range I created for pregnancy here: Simply Pregnant aromatherapy collection.
The other things that are continuing to expand are my feet – as per last week, it’s the left foot that’s the culprit. I’m drinking lots of water to try and compensate, which has the net result of frequent bathroom trips (generally in the middle of the night). Epsom salts baths are my solution to this and when it gets really bad I top up with magnesium, which is supposed to help with swelling. I even made myself a gentle blend with added juniper and grapefruit – it smells gorgeous.
I was warned about this happening in the third trimester – and even though I’m just shy of that, it’s starting to happen. I get to sleep OK, always trying to sleep on my left side with a pillow between my legs. However, after the second bathroom trip at about 3am, that’s it – I can’t get back to sleep again. Hip pain kicks in, so I toss and turn trying to get comfortable, then the heartburn starts and I end up trying to sleep sitting up. Not ideal!
Oh how I hate you! It’s been so bad it’s made me feel sick. The Simply Pregnant blend helps but only so far. A lot of the essential oils I would normally choose aren’t suitable during pregnancy, so my options are limited. My GP prescribed ranitidine, which I’ve just started taking – apparently it takes a few days to kick in, so I’m still topping up with Gaviscon. Fingers crossed it helps me get some sleep!
My midwife appointment went without fuss. Twin 1 is head down and Twin 2 is breech. Twin 2 is always the more active one, so it’ll be interesting to see if this continues after birth.
Next milestone: the 28-week consultant appointment and another scan. I haven’t had one for a month so it’ll be lovely to see them again and find out whether we’ll be given a date for an elective C-section. Eeek!
]]>🧡 This post is part of my Twin Pregnancy at 46 series.
Start from Week 20 →
https://www.freyanaturaltherapy.co.uk/blogs/my-twin-pregnancy-over-40/20-week-twin-scan
Wow – I’m entering the third trimester! We had our scan and consultant appointment yesterday and all went well. Twin 1 was very difficult to measure as they were head down and facing towards my spine. Twin 2 was posing – face up and halfway between transverse and head down. They’re doing really well weight-wise (which would explain my rapidly increasing size!). Twin 1 weighs 2lb 6oz, Twin 2 weighs 2lb 8oz.
I’m so pleased they’re so close together in weight, although slightly terrified that because they’re identical, I won’t be able to tell them apart when they first arrive! The consultant is still recommending a C-section, mainly because they share a placenta… and I suspect because of my age too! We’ve been provisionally booked in for 29th July. I have a hunch things may happen naturally before then, but we’ll see.
So how am I doing? Well… I’m definitely getting slower. I’m probably about the same size as someone who’s 40 weeks pregnant with a singleton. Everything is so much harder work now – shoes, stairs, picking things up – all leave me out of breath!
I mentioned my swollen left ankle and foot to the consultant, who thinks it may be because my uterus is lower on the left side. So now I have these completely unsexy dark green compression tights to wear from toes to knee. Not ideal heading into summer! I wore them for the first time last night and had the most excruciating cramp just below my knee – I was shouting to my husband to take them off! I think I need to up the number of Epsom salts baths I’m having – magnesium really helps with cramps.
I’m also getting more tired. Most evenings I’m tucked up on the sofa by 6pm and often fast asleep after supper. Not great company! My hormonal headaches have also made a comeback. I had a nasty one this morning and even coffee didn’t touch it this time.
We’re finally making progress with clearing out clutter. The twins’ room was very much the “room where everything lives”, but after lots of trips to the local hospice shop, eBay, and shifting things around, it looks like we may actually fit a cotbed in there!
We’re picking up the cotbeds, car seats and final baby paraphernalia next week. It’s all becoming very real – and I’m hovering somewhere between excited and terrified.
Our next scan isn’t until 32 weeks. No doubt I’ll be the size of a small building by then! 🙂
]]>I’m continuing to walk (even though it’s more of a waddle now!) as it helps circulation, and in the afternoons I try to put my feet up for a couple of hours. In the evening I have a gentle self-care ritual which involves massaging my Simply Pregnant massage oil over my now rather large bump - I can't reach my legs so if my long suffering husband is around, I get him to do my legs! It really helps me to relax.
Amazingly, I still have reasonable energy levels, but sleep has become more of a struggle. The main culprit is heartburn. I get to sleep initially lying on my left side with pillows everywhere, but after an hour I’m woken by heartburn and then spend the rest of the night trying to sleep sitting up – which is easier said than done.
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Hmm… where do I begin? I still have horrendous heartburn, my feet no longer resemble feet because they’re so swollen, and by the end of the day they’re incredibly painful. Night-time bathroom trips (which are frequent) have become an event in themselves – it takes me a while to walk properly because the skin on my feet is so stretched that my ankles don’t bend properly!
Two late entrants to the race: lower back pain and rampaging hormones.
I suffer from lower back pain anyway and, to be honest, I’m surprised it’s taken until 34 weeks to really flare up. I think that’s largely thanks to having McTimoney chiropractic treatment every three weeks. It’s a tiny adjustment – just a flicking movement – and because ligaments and muscles are looser in pregnancy, that’s all that’s needed. Importantly, it doesn’t hurt.
However, when you’re carrying over 9.5lb of baby (according to our most recent scan), even this isn’t always enough!
This completely took me by surprise. I thought by the third trimester my hormones would have settled into their heightened state… but no. They’ve multiplied!
Cue crying for no apparent reason, finding anything my lovely husband says or does either incredibly irritating or deeply upsetting, and don’t even get me started on watching TV. We watched Ted the other night – a silly comedy about a teddy bear who comes to life. When Ted gets ripped to pieces (don’t worry, happy ending!), I was literally sobbing uncontrollably. Pregnancy hormones are no joke.
So all I can do is take each day as it comes. I’ve been diffusing uplifting oils in the evenings (bergamot, neroli and lime are my current favourites) and spraying lavender on my pillow at night to help me at least fall asleep – which actually works a treat.
The good news? My belly button is still technically an innie (just about!), and unbelievably I still have no stretch marks. I thank my Simply Pregnant Body Lotion every day for that.
I’ll be amazed if we make it to the C-section date at the end of July. I’m seeing the midwife tomorrow to check my blood pressure, as my swollen feet need monitoring. The pitted oedema (where the skin stays indented when pressed) can be an early sign of pre-eclampsia, so we’re keeping a close eye on things.
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Well… I’m writing this four weeks late because our identical twin girls arrived bang on schedule at exactly 37 weeks by C-section! Needless to say, these little bundles of joy take up rather a lot of time, and blog writing has slipped well down the priority list – somewhere behind reheating the same cup of tea several times.
To say I was ready to meet my little girls by the 37-week mark is a complete understatement. I was over being pregnant!
The last couple of weeks were tough. Sleeping was difficult despite my trusty pregnancy “sausage” pillow (or “Berlin Wall” as my husband called it) supporting between my knees, under my bump and my head. Turning over in bed became a full-body operation, and the frequent bathroom trips were exhausting.
My heartburn had reached epic proportions. I survived on Ranitidine and Gaviscon (the liquid worked far better than the tablets – and yes, drinking from the bottle became the norm). Sadly, by this point even aromatherapy couldn’t help much with the heartburn.
What did help me drift off (until the first inevitable bathroom trip) was a lavender pillow spray. It smelt heavenly and felt incredibly relaxing – watch this space, as I may well add something like this to my range if the demand is there!
The worst symptom by far was the swelling. By the end, I was swollen from toes to thighs (thankfully my hands escaped). I put on a total of 20kg during the pregnancy – and reassuringly lost 15kg in the first three weeks after giving birth. A lot of that weight was clearly fluid.
Even four weeks later, my feet and ankles were still swollen by the end of the day. What helped bring some comfort:
Gentle leg massage with grapefruit and juniper essential oils in a sweet almond oil base (at low dilution) – when I could persuade my husband to help, as I couldn’t reach my toes!
My Simply Pregnant Body Lotion massaged into my feet at bedtime – cooling and refreshing, even though the massage itself was painful at times
Drinking lots of water
Cold compresses using wet flannels (with a couple of drops of grapefruit and juniper essential oils added for aroma)
A refreshing facial mist made with neroli floral water (and a drop of grapefruit oil added for scent) – surprisingly uplifting when I was feeling very fed up
I would have loved to soak in an Epsom salt bath, but by this point I wasn’t confident I’d be able to get out again – even with my husband’s help (I weighed more than him by the end!).
Oh – and the snoring! I’ve never been a snorer (is that a word?)… but this wasn’t delicate, lady-like snoring. It was so loud I actually woke myself up with it!
So yes – the last few weeks were… character building. But absolutely worth it. I am completely in love with our girls.
👉 Read my next blog post about the C-section and those first few days with twins.
]]>In the final weeks of pregnancy, I was on a serious countdown to my elective C-section date. It honestly couldn’t come soon enough. Everything was uncomfortable. Twin 1 had dropped very low and was pressing on my bladder, which meant even more frequent bathroom trips.
And because we live on a very bumpy farm track, every car journey felt like torture as we rattled down the lane. I genuinely prayed I wouldn’t have to face going down it while in labour!
The big day arrived without any drama. Hospital policy required all women having elective C-sections to arrive on the postnatal ward by 7am, having been nil-by-mouth for the previous 12 hours. I’d had my pre-op meeting with the consultant anaesthetist the day before, which helped calm my nerves a lot.
I was third on the list, so I think I walked down to theatre around midday. Walking into an operating theatre is a very surreal experience. Everyone was warm, friendly and introduced themselves, explaining their role — although I was still amazed at how many people were in the room! There was a separate paediatric team for each baby.
I had to sit very still on the edge of the bed while they inserted the IV line, catheter and epidural. I’ll be honest — the epidural needle did hurt, and the anaesthetist had to try a couple of times to find the right spot. After that, it just felt strange: a cold, numb sensation travelling down one leg and then the other.
They laid me down quickly and monitored my blood pressure closely. A large blue screen went up in front of me. Behind it I could see the paediatric teams’ faces, and on my side was my husband and the anaesthetist.
The team at Frimley Park Hospital were brilliant. They talked me through every step (which I’d asked for), and before I knew it, I had my twin girls in my arms.
They weighed 5lb 7oz and 5lb 6oz and were born within about a minute of each other — although in reality it felt more like seconds between them.
After recovery, I spent about 30 minutes on the main postnatal ward before being moved into a side room. I think this was partly for everyone else’s peace and quiet (two babies can be noisy!), but also incredibly helpful for me after a C-section.
Having a side room meant space for two cots — one for sleeping beside my bed and one for nappy changes. My husband and I were completely clueless (twins really don’t come with a manual!), so having midwives on hand was invaluable — especially at night when my husband went home to look after the dogs and give insulin injections to Tammy, our diabetic cat.
I breastfed the girls one at a time and then handed them to the midwife for a bottle top-up. Breastfeeding wasn’t easy for me. Both girls favoured one side, and from day one I ended up doing breastfeeding followed by expressing and topping up with a mix of breastmilk and formula.
It was exhausting — but also deeply rewarding knowing they were getting the best start I could give them. I honestly don’t know how common exclusive breastfeeding is with twins, but in my case there simply wasn’t enough milk to do that alone.
I stayed in hospital for four nights. Physically, I was encouraged to go home after three — but mentally, I wasn’t ready.
What nobody really prepares you for is day three after birth, when your milk starts coming in and the hormones hit you like a tidal wave. The pregnancy tears pale in comparison — these are full-blown, Oscar-worthy hormonal meltdowns… for absolutely no reason at all! And they lasted around five weeks for me.
Strangely, this didn’t get much of a mention in our NCT classes!
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