Bye Bye Bump, Hello Boys!

We had our last scan this week and predictably I mastered the art of the anti icky position too late. I now have over 12lbs of twins in my tummy.

That’s over 50 quarter pounders. Or enough turkey to feed about 11 people at Christmas. Big Brother (6lbs 10oz) is squashing Little Brother (5lbs 15oz) to the point that the shape of his head is changing. No one seemed that worried about aforementioned head squishing but I'm thinking it might be nice if a) Big Brother shuffled over a little bit or b) we let them out into the big wide spacious world - given that they are big enough to look after themselves, with a little help from Daddy and I.
They have both been head down 'ready to go' for over a month and now feel so low I’ve been convinced for a few days that they can see daylight. A certainty confirmed (kind of) by our Consultant today. My cervix has shortened, Big Brother is contemplating a bid for freedom and the Big Day Of Birth could occur any time, so I am currently at home waiting for something life changing to happen sometime soon. Trouble is I’m not exactly sure what to expect or when it is going to happen and am in a sort of trepidation filled limbo land. Will I spring a leak? Will I suddenly double over in pain? Are those low down head wriggles a sign we ought to hot-foot it to the Hospital? Will this waiting game go on for minutes, hours, days…?
I’m reflecting on my pregnancy experience and think the most enduring memory will be the first scan at 12 weeks when we discovered our baby had company. Once over the twin shock my overriding feeling, which I am certain will stay with me forever, was the awe and amazement that the two teeny tiny babies on the monitor seemed so independent and different so early on in their lives.
The age-old nature/ nurture debate really comes into its’ own with twins. Daddy David and I watched with intrigue at the black and white beings on the monitor all those weeks ago; one calm and quiet and the other active and lively. Did this early observation in temperament imply that for all my worry and analysis our parenting skills (or lack of) will not be entirely responsible for the outcome of two personalities? Will we merely be making a contribution to the characters they develop? Maybe we won't be entirely responsible for the happy days or the sad days, the quiet days or the manic moments? Is this a good thing or not?
The other thing that has surprised me about pregnancy is how natural it has felt. I haven’t resented the babies for taking over my body or forcing my jeans into early retirement. I have learnt something I think I already knew, that women are guilty of over complicating things. Especially body related things. Eating and moving and changes in body shape. If we were only able to stop thinking we knew better and just let our bodies get on with things then I think we would all be happier! Our bodies are pretty good at what they are meant to do but somewhere along the line most of us stopped listening to them.
Over the last few months I have found myself at the fridge eating cheese, drinking milk, grazing at handfuls of nuts… only to read later that these are the very foods to benefit the babies most at that particular time. A few months later it was spinach with everything, and avocados followed by bananas… ditto they were the recommended foods de jour. I didn’t consciously know that but my body did. I can’t even claim that I was trying to get ‘in tune’ but my body shifted up a gear and because it was all new to me I didn’t second guess it or try to ignore what it was telling me.
Maybe I’ll go and finish the chocolate in the fridge while I think about all that. May as well make the most of the remaining ‘I’m not fat I’m pregnant’ moments seeing as I’m not sure how many of them I have left….

Kids Cooking

Children love spending time cooking and baking and even the fussiest of eaters will normally try out food they've cooked themselves.

Finding activities to keep your children entertained on rainy days and in school holidays can feel like a daunting task but you don’t have to spend lots of money on expensive days out - just step into your kitchen.
Actress Fay Ripley has joined forces with The Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT), “It’s brilliant to involve children in cooking. It’s great fun and you can teach them all about food nutrition and safety. The key thing is to do it when you have enough time.....When you’ve got a spare half an hour, that is the time to get cooking, all put on aprons and make it an event.”
Fay continued “Learning to follow recipes, preparing food and baking dishes helps children to develop skills for the future as well as being a great activity for spending family time together. It’s also a great way to teach children about safety in the kitchen, whilst they’re having fun.”
Recent hospital data shows that one in ten children’s accidents happen in the kitchen* and nearly 800 children under 12 were admitted to hospital last year with burns or scalds from hot drinks, food, fats and cooking oils. So it's vital that parents use their time in the kitchen with their children to teach important safety lessons and keep little chefs safe from harm.
From around the age of five there are little jobs children can start learning to do under supervision in the kitchen. And as children grow and develop life skills, they can get more involved in everyday kitchen tasks. This helps them build confidence and skills whilst learning about the dangers too.
Kids Cooking Safety Tips
 If using any hot appliances, such as a kettle or oven, make sure children understand how this can be dangerous and keep young children at a distance
Show older children how to use an oven glove when taking anything out of the oven and how to put it down safely on a heatproof surface

Pick a recipe that is easy to follow and doesn’t have too many ingredients so that you can focus on supervising your child and not reading through the recipe – this also helps to keep it fun
Before you get started, allocate tasks to children which are right for their age and ability, for example buttering a cake tin, sifting flour or cracking eggs
Supervise and show children how to use kitchen equipment safely, i.e. when grating vegetables or whisking eggs Always supervise children when they are using knives or other potentially hazardous utensils

Here’s an easy recipe to get you started:
Child Friendly Apple Crumble
CAPT has the following general tips and advice for children’s safety in the kitchen
 Keep young children away from hot appliances like ovens, toasters and kettles
When you are cooking, always use the rings at the back of the cooker and turn pan handles towards the back. This way they can’t be grabbed or knocked over by active children of any age
Push your kettle to the back of the worktop and choose one with short or curled flex so that it can’t be pulled off the top
 Keep knives and scissors in a high drawer which is out of reach
 Keep cleaning products high up and out of sight and reach and, for low cupboards, fit safety catches
 Use cleaning products which contain a bittering agent to stop children swallowing them
 Cut up finger food into small pieces as young children can easily choke on food which is difficult to chew or too big
 Make sure children sit down to eat as they can choke if they run around while eating
Use a five point harness in your child’s high chair and be careful where you place it in case they can reach appliances or drawers
 Don’t hold your child and a hot drink at the same time and don’t pass hot things over children’s heads
When you are cooking it’s safer to keep young children out of the kitchen if it’s possible, for example by fitting a safety gate across the kitchen doorway
Make sure you have a working smoke alarm and check it every week
For children from around the age of five:
Teach children simple tasks like buttering and cutting bread with a round-ended knife
They are not safe to handle sharper implements like bread knives until they are older, so keep them out of reach
Teach children how to use items like scissors but make sure you supervise them and keep the scissors out of reach at other times
From around the age of seven:
 Teach children how to tackle simple tasks safely, like making a hot drink or simple meal but supervise them when they’re doing this
 Never allow a child to use a chip pan, even under supervision. If you use a chip pan yourself don’t leave it unattended or fill it more than one third full
Once your child reaches seven you may want to start teaching them how to light matches safely under your supervision - this can make matches less fascinating
 Show children this age how to use knives and scissors safely under supervision, but don’t let them use sharp knives
Make sure children know not to run with sharp things in their hands

Child Feeding Issues

What is baby "spit-up"?
Well, spit up is when basically milk comes out and it could be from many different reasons. Spitting up in general is normal. All baby spit up and usually happens with burping or round burping because as the gas comes up the milk comes up as well. Spitting up always looks much more than it really is when spit up comes up it looks like more than they possibly could have even had for their meal. But in reality it's probably only a teaspoon or couple of tablespoons. So it's really nothing to worry about. There are times with spitting up that we want to investigate other thing that's when the spit up hurts them or bothers them.
When does my baby's spit-up indicate a serious problem?
Doctor's get concerned when spit-up is causing your baby to be more fussy or it's bothering them when they spit up. In general, when babies spit up they spit up and they go about their business, they even may smile afterwards because it was a release of gas and that feels good. But there are some other causes of spitting up that need to be investigated. More severe reflux or painful reflux and certain allergies. So, with reflux that would show up as your child when they spit up they arch their back and get really fussy and scream, and they do this because the acid, as it comes up, hurts them. Now luckily only about one-third of reflux is painful. So we get concerned with reflux if it's painful to them, so that they're really miserable every time they spit up and it usally happens about fifteen to thirty minutes after feeding or they're spitting up so much that they're not gaining weight. So in that case obviously we would want to investigate, and if we think it's reflux, start them on a medication to help keep the food down. The other thing, of course, the first thing we do with reflux is just positioning. We mention keeping the head of the bed elevated at least at a forty-five degree angle, keeping their head elevated in your arms after feeding, just to use gravity to your advantage.
What medical problems could cause my child to spit-up during feeding?
One issue that we mentioned is reflux which will cause your baby to be fussy and remember that the majority of children who have reflux and reflux is very common just because the gastro intestinal track and the muscle tone is not good, is painless and babies grow and develop normally and we do no interventions. Another common cause of fussiness during feeding is an allergy and one of the common allergies we look for is called a milk protein allergy. Human milk is made out of a human milk protein. And the main formulas and it doesn't matter what the brand, is made of a cows milk protein similar to the milk we buy in the supermarket. And when we say someone is allergic milk we say they are allergic to the protein. This is different from than lactose intolerance. Lactose is a sugar found in milk that actually lactose intolerance in infants is extremely rare, unless you are born with a genetic deficiency in that enzyme. Lactose intolerance in general is something you gain later as you get older, so when were talking about allergy we are talking about a milk protein allergy. Infants with this usually you will see are really upset with feeding. They are taking the milk and their arching and their gassy and their really fussy during and around feedings, and it sometimes very hard to distinguish between that and reflux and just normal stretching, but they are really fussy with it. When we think a baby has a milk allergy and their on formula we change them to either a soy based formula so instead of the cows milk protein it is a soy protein or we change them to a hypoallergenic formula. A hypoallergenic formula basically what they do is they take the cows milk protein they break it up into little pieces and they wash them so they are easily digested. And depending how severe you child's symptoms are helps us differentiate whether will try the soy formula first or go right to a hypoallergenic formula, because up to 20-30 percent of children who are allergic to cows milk protein may also be allergic to soy. So sometimes we'll skip over that point. It just really depends on your child's symptoms.

How To Include Dad During Your Baby's Breastfeeding Stage

How can I include Dad during my baby's breastfeeding stage?

Dad's are very important to infant development, but they have a very different role to mothers. Dad shouldn't feel left out when mom is breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is mom's role, however dads are very important. In the research, it shows that dads play with babies almost fifty percent more than moms do. Dads are involved in teaching babies facial expressions and laughter. Dads should be allowed free reign with the babies when the mother is not playing with or breast feeding them. The reason for this is that dads have a different approach and different strengths. Let dad have lots of time with the baby when it's off the breast, and use breastfeeding time as special mother and baby time.

Brain Damage Reduced In Babies Cooled At Birth

New research claims that babies starved of oxygen at birth have a far lower risk of brain damage if their bodies are cooled down.

325 babies were involved in a trial carried out at 33 hospitals in the UK and in five other countries.

Researchers found full-term babies who suffered oxygen loss at birth were 57% more likely to survive without brain damage if they were given mild hypothermia. The body temperature of the babies was brought down by about 4C using a fluid-filled mat under their sheet.

Doctors are not entirely sure why it helps, but they believe that slowing the babies' metabolism reduces the trauma of the birth and gives the brain time to recover.

Carmel Bartley,from the children's charity Bliss, said: "Cooling of babies with birth asphyxia is an innovative technique already being used in some neonatal centres. This is a specialist treatment that we would like to see used more widely to ensure the very best outcomes for our most vulnerable babies."

Half of the newborn babies in the trial had their body temperature reduced to 33-34C for 72 hours followed by gradual re-warming in intensive care. Normal body temperature is around 37C. The trial data will now be assessed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to see whether the technique should be rolled out to all neonatal units.