First BUMP picture...

Here's me in my new maternity leggings and lovely new look maternity top. Lets call this '15 weeks' and I'll do a weekly one on Sundays from now on :-)

...15 weeks

14+6

Not much to report this week really! My clothes are getting rather tight but instead of looking like a nice pregnant bump, I just kind of feel I look thick middled and clothes are giving me a yukky muffin top - even leggings! Fed up with this, I went out and bought some lovely maternity and smock tops and also some maternity trousers and leggings that have a high and stretchy waistline which definitely helps the current look turn from 'lumpy' to 'bumpy'. I don't think I can say I have a bump yet though...I haven't 'popped' but I don't think it will be long though.

Been swimming this weekend twice and have had a bit more energy...whoop! Have quite spotty skin so hoping that will improve soon. Think I need to eat more fruit and my reusable smoothie cup with straw has arrived so looking forward to using that. Read in my book yesterday that babies can now hear so that's exciting :-)

13+6

Just checked my junk mail and have received a very interesting and comprehensive email from South Gloucestershire Council about the nappies and it's making me reconsider disposables (if I buy the cheap Asda ones!)...

Dear Mrs Cater,

Thank you for your e-mail in which you asked why South Gloucestershire Council was no longer running a voucher scheme which contributes towards the cost of purchasing cloth nappies.

The Council did run such a scheme between 2002 and 2008 and it was discontinued in 2009.  A cost/benefit appraisal of the scheme at the time showed us that the cost of operating it was prohibitively high for the low number of residents who took it up and far outweighed the financial savings that were made. There is also some debate about the environmental benefits of cloth nappies above disposable nappies.  Disposables consume more raw materials and produce more solid waste but cloth nappy production and use consume more water and energy and produce more atmospheric emissions and waste water effluent.  A report by the Environment Agency in 2005 reported that disposable nappies have the same environmental impact as reusable ones when the effect of laundering cloth diapers is taken into account.

However, that compared using cloth nappies with land filling disposable nappies and since 2009, developments in the way that residual household waste is processed in South Gloucestershire have made the previous scheme even less beneficial environmentally.  Consequently, there are no plans to reintroduce the voucher scheme in South Gloucestershire.

You may be interested to know that the vast majority of the Council’s black bin waste, including disposable nappies, is now being sent to a mechanical, biological treatment plant at Avonmouth instead of being sent to a landfill site.  The waste, including disposable nappies is then fed into an advanced conversion technology facility in Avonmouth which has begun exporting energy to the National Grid. 

This is the UK’s ‘first commercial thermal energy plant of its kind.  The 13-megawatt plant uses pyrolysis and gasification technologies to produce electricity from this refuse-derived fuel (RDF). Pyrolysis is used to heat the RDF to a high temperature in the absence of oxygen to produce gas and carbon char, with the latter material being processed through gasification to produce gas and some ash residue. The gas produced, known as ‘syngas’, is then burnt for electricity.  

 Thank you for your enquiry and your concern for the environment.  Wishing you and your growing family well.

 Yours sincerely,

 Bruce Kent (Principal Officer – Waste Collection Authority)

Maybe we aren't destined for a WALLE world after all!

13+5

Also forgot to say that we got our NT combined scan and test results back in the post and the babies have a low risk of chromosomal abnormalities such as down's syndrome, so very good news! The results came back at much less chance than the average for my age etc which was 1:941. Fetus 1's risk is 1:13583 and Fetus 2's risk is 1:14200. Happy days.

13+5

So a fairly uneventful week really apart from usual work stresses and such like. I'm fairly sure I'm at that awkward stage where I don't have a 'bump' yet but just look like I'm putting on weight (which actually I haven't because they weighed me at my scan and I'm the same as before still). Thankfully I have quite a few loose clothes!

So I had an email back from the 'real nappies project' at resourcefutures, which gave me loads of really useful information but unfortunately they said that South Gloucestershire council are no longer running the incentive scheme for reusable nappy vouchers...boo! If I lived in Gloucestershire however, I would get £60 towards buying new nappies! What a pain :-(

Now I know I said before that I'm no eco nut, (and anyone reading this might think I'm a bit sad) but I felt the need to email South Glos about the issue. Here is what I wrote...

Hi,

As a South Gloucestershire resident and expectant mother of twins, I was investigating cost effective ways to reduce future waste and save money and found information on the internet about a 'real nappies incentive scheme' that it seems you used to run. I spoke someone at the 'Real nappies project' who told me that South Gloucestershire residents no longer qualify for this incentive £30 voucher but Gloucestershire residents still do.

I was disappointed to hear this as, with twins on the way, £60 towards the cost of nappies would be a huge help and I can't understand why more isn't being done to encourage the use of reusables, considering the massive amount of nappies it says on your website are sent to landfill in South Glos every year? Also, why are Gloucestershire residents continuing to receive this benefit but we aren't?

I appreciate that councils manage their own budgets but would be interested to know why South Gloucestershire have felt this isn't an important enough issue to continue to promote and incentivise reduction in disposable nappy waste?

I would appreciate knowing if there may be a change in this in the near future, so I may know if I could possibly benefit from any foreseeable schemes when my twins arrive in December.

Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my enquiries,
Mrs Katie Cater
I got an email back yesterday but it just says they have forwarded it to waste management team for a response. I will probably just get a boring response like 'we no longer run this scheme sorry' and that will be it. We shall see.

12+6 3rd Scan day!

We had our follow up scan today. The babies had grown so much and were even clearer on the screen this time; it was fantastic! They were moving around more, flipping and turning and wriggling! It took a while but she got the measurements this time and everything is looking great. They gave us lots of photos...I said these are already the most photographed babies ever! Spot the alien looking one with the baby facing the camera haha! Some of them are so clear you can even kind of see what their faces are going to look like I think!

After the scan, I went in to have my blood taken and the nurse was rather dippy. Firstly, I am having to get used to this problem but it clearly says on my notes that my name is KATIE CATER. She called me in as KATE CARTER. It's not hard to read a name is it so how can you get both names wrong!? I'm too polite to correct people so I just went on in. She started talking to me about twins running in her family and then as she very painfully stabbed me with the needle (think her technique needs work) she proceeded to tell me about a cousin or something who had twins but one of them died at birth. Great thing to tell someone who is pregnant with twins! I thought again, 'she's a dippy one'. Then she went on to tell me about her daughter who had vanishing twin syndrome (where twins are picked up on an early scan but one of them dies and isn't there at the next scan). Again, brilliant thing to talk about. I already knew about that and am past the worry of VTS but still, someone else might take this information and worry about it! She continued to tell me they were happy about this as the pregnancy was unplanned etc. Anyway, apart from all her witterings and painful blood taking, it was another lovely visit to Bath RUH and we even had the same sonographer so that was nice too. Our babies are such cuties! Can't wait till they're here! New due date is 23rd December 2013.

12+2

Here's a nice little picture of this week and some information...

By 12 weeks, my twins will have each grown to 5.4cm (2.1in) long and will be fully formed.

My babies' faces are beginning to look more human, with their eyes, which started out on the sides of their heads, now closer together. Their ears are almost in their final position on the side of their heads.

My babies' livers are making enzymes, and their kidneys are producing wee. Their wee ends up in the amniotic sac after it passes through their bladders. My babies' wee makes up most of the amniotic fluid during the second half of pregnancy. Amniotic fluid is essential for the development of my twins' internal organs, such as their lungs, and their limbs.

My twins will squirm if I prod my tummy, though I can't yet feel movement Their nerve cells have been multiplying rapidly and neurological connections in their brain (synapses) are forming. My twins will gradually develop more reflexes, and are now capable of closing their palms, curling their toes and clenching their eyelids.

Next scan is booked for Sunday afternoon so looking forward to that!