Friday 11 December 2009

365 days in.


Well. Breathe in. Breathe out. Take another sip of (pink) champagne.  We've done it. We've survived the first year (and the birthday party).

A and S are one.

Things I remember from this time last year:

The utter strangeness of leaving the house while it was still dark knowing that when we came back we'd have two babies with us; kissing L goodbye as we left, and looking at her, fast asleep and oblivious of how much her world was going to change;  the extraordinary speed and calmness of an elective c-s (complete contrast to the first (natural) time); the relief of hearing the cries (that was the same as the first time, only this time there were two); the amazement of holding my baby, and then looking at B and realising that he was holding one too;  just how tiny babies (even perfectly formed, and perfectly healthy babies) born at 36 weeks really are...

And as I look back on the last 365 days I think that despite the tough bits (the morning, 10 days in, when we'd had them, we'd breastfed them, we'd got them to Edinburgh, we'd survived (nay, enjoyed) my brother-in-law's wedding, and then the adrenaline wore off...; the few weeks at about four months when I really, really thought I wasn't going to cope;  the first month or so of being back at work; the last few days), we've had a wonderful time, and we have, in the spirit of counting my blessings, been blessed.

We've been blessed by the moments, not so few and far between, when all three of our beautiful girls are happy and giggling together; by the times we leave their room to put them down for a sleep and hear more giggles from behind the door (I'm sure they get up to all sorts in there once the lights go off);  by the amazement of watching them learn about themselves and each other;by the S-faces (will post a picture one day); by the fact that A can shake her head but not nod and S can nod but not shake hers; by the cuddles (L wasn't a cuddly baby, S and A more than make up for it); by the coos, and oohs, and "oh, haven't you got your hands full?"s that I claim to hate, but actually give me an enormous glow of pride - such that when I'm out on my own and people don't stop me in the street to tell me how lucky/brave/stupid I am I feel as though something's missing (because it is); by watching A learn to walk (while pushing a trolley, but still); by the (more) pride of having exclusively breast fed them for six months;  by getting to know these two amazingly identical and astonishingly different people, and by knowing that there is so much more to learn.

Darling A, and Gorgeous S, we are so lucky to have you.  Happy birthday, my beautiful girls.

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful tribute to your gorgeous girls. I hope they had very happy birthdays. F's favourite birthday present was a balloon! I forget there are only 3 weeks between them.

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  2. Ah so lovely. Happy Birthday girls. My little miss p is one on christmas eve...what a year indeed.

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  3. Love the cakes.....
    Your post made me well up with nostalgia thinking back to when mine were born.
    Exclusively breast fed for six months??? I'm gobsmacked, well done, that's amazing. I feel proud doing that with just one baby each time but two!!
    Hope they had a lovely day.

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  4. I'm in awe of anyone with twins I just never know how you cope! But like anything in life I think you cope because it's what you have to do! Well done for surviving. Enjoy it before they are 3 and become threenagers lol

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  5. What a lovely post, well done for not letting the year just pass by. I am glad that you got through the day and have now on to Christmas in Canada eh!!

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  6. Lovely. Got quite emotional reading your post. Happy birthday girls!

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  7. Thank you all for lovely comments. They had a good day (and the second party (and christening) today) went well too. All in bed now so even better.
    Oh, and Chic Mama - while I am proud of myself I mostly did it because it was easier - you only need two hands to breast feed two babies simultaneously. To bottle feed them you need four...

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  8. Happy birthdays! How lovely. I am totally in awe of people who have twins. It must get easier in the second year...(?)
    Just found your blog and I love it! Be back soon :o)

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  9. Lovely. Love the bit about seeing the sleeping L, oblivious to how her life was about to change drastically.

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