......we're expecting........................
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..............................................girls!

We found out yesterday what we're having!!!!

Fingers crossed the Royal will let us know whether we're having little boys or girls, I know the Ulster Hospital doesn't tell you but from everything I've gathered the Royal does so looking forward to finding out.

I couldn't keep anything down yesterday at all, it was coming out of me every way it could.

Don't think there's a part of the bathroom floor I didn't hit when I was throwing up.

Hubbie ended up coming home from work to look after me and round 4ish I was so pleased he was there it was scary how violently I was being sick and he ended up ringing the hospital to get their advice cause I hadn't been able to eat anything, and I wasn't drinking anything but I was still throwing up and other stuff just as much.

The hospital's advice was ice lollies, I like that nurse. Her reasoning being it'll get liquid and sugar into me to help make up for what I'm losing and if I was able to keep an ice lolly down then I'll be able to move onto sips of water, after the water if it stayed down she said to move to ice cream as it was heavier and just keep working my way up.

I've had one rice cake in me this morning but last night I didn't get past the ice lollies, I was too scared to.

The nurse knew I was coming in this afternoon and has asked Hubbie to make sure I say to whoever I'm in seeing how I'm feeling and get them to give me a once over and some further advice because if I'm not eating that's not a good thing at all and though the twins will be ok for a day or two any longer than that isn't good.

I'm in work at the mo, had to come in this morning to see the accountants to see whether they could do the sage stuff while I'm off on maternity and then Hubbie is picking me up in about an hours time to go to the hospital and I'm really glad for that because I feel really really awful, keep thinking I'm going to pass out which I just might do before the days out. The heat in the office is tropical almost, though no-one else thinks so so it's just me then.

Not having a good couple of days.

When's the right time to start looking and planning this stuff?

So much to think about and so much to consider, not only the money aspect of it all but the separation issues and they aren't even here yet!!!!!

The Doctor wasn't quite sure why I was given the appointment as I was with the DOU people last week and am back for my 20wk scan next week but she checked the twins anyway and did my blood pressure. I said about the palpitations so I'm being referred to the heart Doctor to get his opinion. Some palpitations are normal in pregnancy but cause I'm having so many of them so often they want to make sure. That means another appointment though!

Next week we find out whether we're having boys or girls

I've been awake since before 4am this morning and I'm seriously not amused.One of the little monsters decided to wake me up and torture me, dunno what they were doing but I wasn't too chuffed about it.

I'm now sitting in work like a zombie wondering how much coffee I'll be allowed to get away with before anyone realises I'm knocking caffeine into my body which is a no-no.

Dunno how I'm going to last the day without bawling my eyes out cause that's just how I feel at the mo.

Whoever it is that keeps kicking me at random times will you quit it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sitting at my desk in work and I can't help but sit this way I've no choice so either like it or lump it, you'd think you'd be used to it by now, so tough! When I'm at home at night then you kick the living daylights out of me, I'll be lying down and you'll have all the room you want to move about and beat me up, but until then will you please behave yourselves or else we won't be having anything from the chippie tonight and you'll be stuck with your Daddy killing quick cook pasta and burning bacon.

Thank you!

I know I should've been working this morning but instead I made this list up so I don't miss anything when I go to the Hospital on Thursday for my review. These are just things I want to make sure are normal and some things I have been told to bring to the Nurse/Consultant's attention.

• not enough sleep / constant fatigue
• leg / foot cramps (left)
• swelling (left leg & hands)
• dizzy spells with passing out, though this doesn't happen each time a dizzy spell hits
• palpitations - scary to the point I feel I'm going to pass out and have been close a couple of times
• really bad headaches - eyesight afftected by these
• vomiting at random times
• painful hips

Along with all of the above I'll be letting them know I'm really just not interesting in drinking or eating, it's almost as if I've just gone off everything and I've absolutely no interest in drinking anything at all.

I'm sure there's something I've missed out but I'm going to let hubbie read the list tonight and ask him to comment on it as he's the one putting up with me and looking after me and if there's anything not on the list he'll know what it is.

50 reasons to be glad you're pregnant

We all have moments when we think, 'Never again!' during pregnancy: perhaps morning sickness is making you miserable or you're 10 days overdue with not even a hint of a contraction. To remind you that being pregnant can be fun, we've rounded up some of the nice things about being an expectant mum.

1 Relishing the early weeks when only you and your partner know your special secret.

2 Knowing you've got nine whole months to plan, dream and fantasise.

3 Choosing maternity clothes - they've never been more practical or more sexy.

4 Now you've got the perfect excuse to pamper yourself - spending hours in a scented bath, enjoying a massage or rubbing soothing lotions into your growing bump.

5 Maternity rights in the UK are getting better all the time. You can take up to 52 weeks off work, and if you are eligible for statutory maternity pay, you get the first six weeks on 90 per cent of your pay, followed by 33 weeks at £123.06 per week.

6 You can join an antenatal class and find a whole new bunch of friends (and don't forget our BabyCentre birth clubs: another great way to meet people due at the same time as you).

7 For once in your life you need to get heavier - pregnancy is Nature's way of making you feel good about putting on weight.

8 If this is your first baby, enjoy the next nine months sleeping late at weekends: you won't get many chances later on.

9 At last you've got the bosom you've always wanted, which means you also have...

10 ...a great excuse to buy lots of pretty new bras.

11 From now on and until your baby is a year old, you can get free dental treatment - phone your dentist now!

12 At last you'll have something more than potplants and cats to care for and nurture!

13 Suddenly you'll find you're getting lots of extra attention from parents, aunts and uncles, not to mention your partner.

14 You may find you develop a closer relationship with sisters, cousins or friends who are parents themselves. Congratulations, you've just won free admission to the parents' club!

15 Telling your mum, dad, sister, brother, aunt, dog the good news and watching their faces light up.

16 New talents! Whether it's knitting bootees or assembling a flat-pack cot, you'll suddenly find yourself trying out all sorts of new skills.

17 Suddenly you'll feel a new appreciation for your own mother and all she went through having you.

18 Decorating the nursery: one of the most exciting things you'll ever do.

19 Feeling those first fluttering kicks and thinking, 'Is that what I think it is? Or is it just wind?'

20 Feeling OK for sending your partner out for chicken tikka masala followed by double-choc chip ice cream.

21 Your parents digging out your old cot or pram, which they've kept safely all this time 'just in case'.

22 Going for healthy walks with your partner and getting fresh air in your lungs because it's good for you and good for your baby.

23 Enjoying the extra-vivid dreams you get in late pregnancy - and laughing about them with your friends.

24 Feeling a little pair of heels prodding under your diaphragm and knowing you'll soon be meeting the little person they belong to!

25 Choosing baby clothes - or just phoning round for all the catalogues, leafing through them and planning what you're going to buy.

26 Writing a pregnancy diary for your baby to read in the future.

27 Getting someone to take photos of you smiling over your enormous bump so that, one day, you can look back and be amazed you were ever that size.

28 Finding out how many people there are out there ready to care for you: doctors, nurses, midwives, health visitors, breastfeeding counsellors...

29 Lying in bed with your partner's arms around you and your bump, knowing that love has created a new life.

30 Enjoying indulgences, such as evenings out, weekends away and anything else you might not be able to do so easily once the baby arrives.

31 Knowing that from now on, whatever happens, you'll never be bored again.

32 Making new friends whenever you go shopping - everyone has a pregnancy story to share.

33 You can spend whole evenings debating whether to call your baby Hermione or Cleopatra, Fritz or Stanley... (don't forget to try our BabyCentre baby namer if you get stuck!)

34 Imagining what he or she will look like. Your sweet little ears, of course, and his sexy eyes!

35 Dreaming about, "My daughter the prime minister/pop star/brain surgeon."

36 Looking at your growing bump in the mirror and realising there's a person in there!

37 Making out a squirmy outline on the ultrasound monitor. Asking for the pic to take home and pinning it up next to your work station, or just keeping it in your bag to sneak looks at.

38 The expression on your partner's face as he sees the test strip turn blue, looks at your growing bump or feels the baby kicking.

39 Buying that first little cuddly toy for your baby, not somebody else's.

40 Making that phone call to your partner to tell him that - we're off! - labour has started.

41 Trying out all those exercises you learned at antenatal class and finding out that they actually work!

42 Being held and supported throughout a contraction by your partner/midwife/labour companion and knowing that you can trust them totally.

43 Finding out, as the contractions get tough, that your repertoire of swear words is far more extensive than you ever realised!

44 Making an informed choice about pain relief and finding that it's right for you at that stage in labour.

45 That huge rush of pleasure and relief when, suddenly, all the pain and effort stops.

46 Looking into your newborn's eyes and falling utterly in love.

47 Watching your partner kiss the midwife, the doctor, cleaning lady, delivery man and anyone else he can find because his joy and pride are overwhelming.

48 Opening a bottle of bubbly to celebrate, whatever the time of day or night.

49 Making all those phone calls to announce the arrival. Telling everyone the news and hearing the excitement in their voices.

50 Waking up to see your baby sleeping next to you and thinking, 'Wow! This is real. I'm a mum!'

...and it was fine getting it, ok well it stuck pretty badly but was fine afterwards didn't feel weird or anything and was allowed to go straight away, didn't have to sit for 10 mins or so like you normally have to for the normal flu jab so that was good.

When I got home I went for a nap like I normally would do on a Saturday and everything was fine until I woke up and my arm was killing me!!!!!

The muscle on the top of my arm hates me now, completely and utterly turned against me.

Spent a real sleepless night last night between me rolling over onto my sore arm and hubbie snoring, I swear he was rough last night, he never snores like that! Everytime I just got over either I rolled onto my sore arm or he started snoring, I'm surprised someone didn't ring the council and report him for noise pollution.

Hope I sleep better tonight.

Haven't been to get my hair cut since April and loads of people think that's dreadful, but I'm the girl who would normally get her hair cut once a year if I was in the mood so going twice in one year is pretty spectacular for me!

Not sure how I would like to get it cut yet. At the mo it's almost halfway down my back but it's bugging the life out of me badly with it being so thick etc because of the pregnancy. It also gets curly when it dries by itself but because of the weight in it not all of the hair goes curly and it looks a little daft.

Maybe a shoulder length would be good, or somewhere between my shoulders and a messy bob. Bit of a fringe without an actual one. Definitely layers, wouldn't do without layers, I need them for the weight of my hair and to make it less thick looking.

I'm hoping a new hair cut will perk me up a bit, everything has been seriously getting me down lately and hubbie has started to notice (took him long enough to notice though which also got to me). Maybe getting a lot of my hair chopped off will be like lifting a weight off me as well or something like that.

Something is definitely needed, and a haircut sounds like a good idea.

...and I feel much better for it, was starting to worry the men who run the poppy stand in Connswater wouldn't be there this year and I haven't seen any poppies elsewhere.

Each year I buy at least 7-8 cause they always get lost and you can never find one when you're going out.

Bought another car sticker, might even put it on the car this year, and also got a pin badge, something they didn't have last year on their stand.

It may only be a small part I've played, but I've done my bit and hope everyone else does as well.

Monday night round teatime I was just waking up from a long nap (I was off work Monday & Tuesday so was able to have long missed naps) had my had on my tummy and I felt my 1st kick!!!!!!!

Hubbie had just arrived home and was starting tea and I rang him to come upstairs so he could feel it too and thankfully the little monster instead of me played nice and kicked for him also.

Haven't felt anything since from the baby on the bottom, and haven't felt anything at all from the baby on the top but I'm not worried as I know it'll happen again sometime and then I'll be wishing they both stopped and gave me some peace.

...the twins are behaving, one is still slightly bigger than the other but that's expected, the doc is happy with the amount of fluid round both of them which is the main thing and as long as this doesn't change there will be nothing to worry about, fingers crossed.

As for me palpitations are increasing and getting worse. I said to the nurse just before she did my blood pressure and she got me to explain to the doc about them. According to him some palpitations are to be expected apparently, but if they continue in the way they are and/or get worse then when I'm in for my review on the 16th I must definitely say to the nurse/doc then and I might have to be referred to a heart doctor about them.

It's really odd at the mo, I'm displaying all the symptoms of pre-eclampsia (severe headaches, blurred vision, palpitations, swelling) but no protein in my urine, and without that they can't diagnose pre-eclampsia. I test my urine every morning (had to explain to a baffled nurse why I've been doing this since 12 weeks as they don't get you to do this until the 3rd trimester) it reads as trace which is normal for pregnant women.

The last time I felt like this my blood pressure was going up, and though it is getting higher everytime I go to the hospital for another scan it's not at the level where they'd be very concerned about it, but again it'll be up to the review doctor on the 16th to tell me for sure whether or not I'll be back on the tablets or what they'll be doing with me.

Hate waiting about, but if they wouldn't let me wait about if they weren't sure about it I'm sure.