20 September 2016

Big News!


It is a very exciting time at our house.

You may have noticed over the last few months that I have been missing in action a little - not so many blog posts and over on Instagram only every now and then?

You are probably thinking its the new house build plans that have been keeping us busy? 

Not quite!

You see 1.6.2016 was a very exciting day for Nathan and I. 
It was the day we signed the contract to buy our new renovator and build our dream home, but it was also memorable for another reason. 
At 10:30am that day, we found out we were pregnant.

P R E G N A N T.


We were so thrilled, completely over the moon. 

The morning all day sickness kicked in very early, from 6 weeks. I was spending hours at a time horizontal on the lounge, unable to move, for fear of being sick. I would have an hour or two at a time where I felt well enough to stand and I would squeeze some work in, before retiring to my horizontal position. 

Dry crackers, popcorn, mandarins and ginger was all that got me through. 

Our blood tests revealed that our hcg levels were very high and we joked about being pregnant with twins - which the high levels can sometimes indicate. 

It came as a complete shock to us then, when we had an early ultrasound at 7 weeks and discovered two strong little heartbeats.

Yep, we are expecting TWINS!
Soon those three footprints in the sand will be five...

No wonder why the all day sickness was so bad, I had two bubs on board!

From early on, we discovered that they were identical, meaning the one fertilised egg naturally splits and develops two babies with the exact same genetic information. Our babies Monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) twins and are sharing the one placenta and one outer membrane, but they each have their own separate amniotic sac. This also means that they will be the same gender - either girl/girl or boy/boy.

So, currently I am 20 weeks pregnant and now over the halfway mark of pregnancy (full term twin pregnancy is 37 weeks). I cannot believe how quickly time is flying and in the last few weeks we have really started getting organised - buying cots, prams, car seat capsules and all the big ticket items. 
Next job on the list is to start clearing out the spare room, which will become their nursery and starting to assemble furniture. That is certainly something you don't want to do under pressure! 

Here is our latest scan of the twins, both hiding their face from us, with their backs to us and the twin on the left has their little hand up - can you see the teeny tiny fingers?

We will be starting our house build (hopefully!) around end of November and babies are likely to be delivered around Christmas, so it is going to be a busy couple of months ahead of us! We envision at this point that we will be living at our current home until around April, when we will move to our new home. Not ideal, but hey, we wouldn't have it any other way!! 

Telling the Family
Sharing our news with our parents and siblings was the best part. I had a baby onesie printed (see below), with the news that we would be having a baby (if it was a singleton baby, our actual due date is 2/2/2017). I had it made before our 7 week scan, as we had decided that as soon as we had heard baby's heartbeat, we would share it with the family. We just wanted to play it safe first. It had been such a long hard journey to get to this point and we also had a miscarriage, so we were keeping it a little under wraps and not shouting it from the rooftops initially. When we found out that it was two babies and our due date wasn't now going to be February 2017, we wanted to still use the onesie as the announcement to our family anyway. Isn't it just the cutest?!

So we had our 7 week scan and couldn't wait to share it with our parents and siblings, firstly handing them a bag with the onesie inside and telling them to open it. There was squeals of absolute delight, tears and lots of "Oh My Gods". Once over the initial shock, we then produced an envelope, showing the ultrasound and the two little peppercorn sized dots on the scan, telling them there wasn't just one, but two buns in the oven.

Their reactions were priceless and we even recorded it. It was just so much warm, fuzziness and amazement all in one- it was the best moment EVER!


Here is how we shared the news with family and friends...


We are so smitten and excited to become parents and feel so blessed to become parents of twins. Such a miracle!

 Clearly this is all very new to me!
 Feel free to give me any advice mamas or pregnant ladies! 
Be sure to let me know your first time parent advice, tips, tricks and must have things I need to buy?!
I am told the white square cloth nappies are a must for spew rags and clean ups, any other great tips?!

I promise to post another update soon x

PS: any guesses on the gender?:P
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31 comments :

  1. OH MY GOODNESS YES I'M SHOUTING!!! I am so excited for you both, such wonderful news. Tears streaming down my face, you will make wonderful parents. YAY!!!!! xxxx

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    1. Oh thanks so much Nicole - I can't wipe the smile off my face. I am so over the moon and feel so blessed. Hopefully I can be a super mum like you xx

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  2. Such wonderful, happy, exciting news. Congratulations x

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    1. Thanks Kirsten for the love and congrats xx

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  3. Oh my goodness me!!! This is so freaking exciting!!! My brother had identical twins sharing the same placenta but separate sac. They are 18 months old now and oh so cuuuuttee!!! I'm so happy for you. This is going to be one fun ride xx

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    1. Thanks Renee for the love and congrats. I love hearing twin stories, are they boys or girls? Eeek very exciting, one fun ride and a non stop learning journey too I think! xx

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  4. I have a friend who had identical twin boys. She and her hubby chose their names ahead of time, deciding to name the first Nick and the second Chris. On the day of birth, after baby number one was born, she looked at him and said, "Nope! This one isn't Nicholas, this is Christopher." She knew. Finger on the pulse. Identical boys and she knew which one was which. Always did. Being a mumma is the best thing in the world, until you become a grandma. Blessings to you and Nat.

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    1. That is what we are wondering - will their names suit them once they are born, or will we totally change our minds? We need a shortlist I think!! :) thanks so much for the love and congrats xx

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  5. Yay how exciting! I'm pregnant too after trying for 16 months, we're due in April. I supposedly only have a singleton, but I've been so much sicker with this pregnancy than I was with my daughter. I totally understand the lying horizontal for most of the day! #teamIBOT

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    1. Congrats!!! Hehe glad I am not the only one - well done to you for battling on with a toddler though. That is something I could not imagine doing! x

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  6. Oh wow, you have some huge times ahead!! Best of luck but how awesome that you'll have a new house and all that for your new stage of life ahead!

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    1. Thank Vanessa - yes the end of 2016 is going to be a busy one and 2017 is only going to get busier. What a way to start the new year!:) x

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  7. That's so exciting and aren't you clever to make 2! So delighted for you, congratulations! I hope you feel great now for the rest of the pregnancy. xx

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    1. Hehe yes everyone keeps joking that Hubby is an over achiever - certainly isn't what we were expecting, it was a massive shock. One that was very meant to be though xx

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  8. Squeee! Congratulations! Second lot of bloggy twins on the way (Claire from Life on Wallace also announced she's expecting twins recently). Hope the all day sickness eases soon, I had awful MS and it can be so debilitating. Hope the rest of the pregnancy goes smoothly! :)

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    1. Oh yay more twins! Thanks for letting me know about Clare, I look forward to following her journey :) Thanks for the congrats and well wishes xx

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  9. I have fraternal twins and remember those pregnancy days well, best of luck!

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  10. Congratulations x 2! You need to become friends with the bloggers who have twins or are expecting twins. I believe stories shared help to get through these times. Grace from With Some Grace has boys aged 6, Daisy Finlay has twin boys who are 6, Kate from Picklebums has twin girls who are around 12 now I think....and I am sure there are many others!!

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    1. Wow, thanks Denyse for the tips! I certainly do, there is so much to be learnt from twin parents :) x

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  11. So thrilled for you and two babies are just twice as nice! I love that ultrasound! As Haidee said, Claire from Life on Wallace is also expecting twins!

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    1. Super exciting, thanks for the well wishes. The ultrasounds a heart melter, I just tear up everytime I get to capture moments like that. What a special bond they will have. Hope your US adventures have been a blast xx

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  12. Congratulations Ashlea! This is exciting news! :)

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  13. Congratulations! Twins will be amazing and a handful. Or two handfuls... :P

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    1. Thanks Col - bring on the build and renos now to fit them :P
      Thanks for the well wishes :)

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  15. Thanks such exciting news - congratulations...so many bloggers with twins on board at the moment.

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    1. They are common, but not so common (about 3/100 pregnancies) but all of a sudden I am hearing of twins everywhere :) So exciting!! thank you xx

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  16. Hi Ashlee, congrats on the pregnancy and how amazing that you are having twins! While I have three sons (and I'm also pregnant with twins), I really have no advice to share when it comes to twins! One tip I've been told, that might interest you, is that a couch is better in the nursery for feeding them, rather than an arm chair. That way you can lay one on either side of you, start feeding one/get them into place and then pick the other one up. Seemed to make sense to me! All the best with the rest of your pregnancy! Take care and keep in touch, Claire

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It makes my day receiving your lovely comments - feel free to leave one below x Ash

 

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