Author: Amy Roman
As we stare at our 11 month old twin gals, we say to each other “Twins?” or “Our twins?” as we still cannot believe that we have been blessed with such amazing little people.
The past 1.5yrs seems like a massive dream. However this dream has been a journey from having gestational diabetes, having twins at 34.5 weeks, being admitted to hospital at 30.5 weeks and spending 4 weeks there and gals spending the first 4 weeks of their life in special care!
Finding out at four weeks we were pregnant was a delight to my ears!
Seeing the first scan at 6 weeks was mind blowing to then be told at 8.5 weeks that you’re having identical twins was an amazing feeling!
At 6/7 weeks I was eating like an animal, so much so that my husband was concerned and even called his brother to ask if it was normal… I would eat a large meal and my stomach would rumble half an hour later! The 8.5 week scan answered why I was so hungry… my body was creating two little human beings!!!! Not one, but TWO!
Gestational Diabetes with Twins
The journey wasn’t ideal as I was told at 24 weeks that I had gestational diabetes (GD).
I received the call the day before my baby shower which had the largest sweets table in history… Bad timing I’d say!
I cried and felt I’d failed but the nurse explained that it wasn’t my fault and that it was more genetics and not the Nutella donuts I had the week prior!!
So I took it on and had to test my glucose levels by doing a small finger prick test 2hrs after every meal! My GD was diet controlled (no insulin) so it wasn’t too bad. However I have a sweet tooth so I researched recipes and even made fat free and sugar free cheesecake to kill my cravings. I also found sugar free, protein ice cream and low carb protein bars were my best friend!
At 30.5 weeks I was admitted to hospital as twin A wasn’t growing as well as twin B.
I spent 4 weeks in hospital and whilst I was told to eat up (to help baby grow) I had to watch what I ate to keep my glucose levels down and being in hospital made this hard. Most meals arrived with cake or a dessert packed with sugar! Even the doctors would tell me to eat but then smile and say “well, eat good”!
At 34.5 weeks my gals arrived (scheduled c section). I was told to test my glucose for the next two days. To my delight the GD had disappeared. Perhaps GD did me a favour as I put on 22kg in total but it could of been more if I didn’t watch my intake so there is a positive to GD in pregnancy me thinks! 38.5 weeks our gals came home after spending 4 weeks in special care nursery (Francois Perry House) which was a long 4 weeks but every twin mum should see and take this time to learn from the midwives and experienced nurses as we did as they are fabulous! They taught us everything we know and our girls sleep 12hrs at night and have done since 7/8 months old.
11 months on and we sit here admiring our gals… GD was with me for 10 short weeks, which was a short time considering these gals are forever mine!
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