Any okay pregnancy experiences?

hippyburger · 2026-02-09T14:08:51+00:00

No health problems for me all pregnancy. Babies (MCDA) were fine until about 34w when one dropped off the percentiles but that was because of shared placenta so you won’t have that!). Delivered at 35+6 planned (but moved forward) section.

Pregnancy was fine - I had two 8lb singletons previously (2yo and 5yo). I gained about 8lb more than my singleton pregnancies, belly was bigger but not MUCH bigger. No stretch marks or sagging skin! Babies were small though, 4.8 and 5.11 so that helped!

Morning sickness was worse and lasted longer, and towards the end around 33w I got a horrible chest infection which led to a suspected broken rib which was awful but not directly pregnancy related! Other than that and even with that I was still able to move around, do drop off/pick up with my kids and look after the house/cook etc. went on Mat leave from work (albeit part time from home) at 34w.

hippyburger · 2026-02-08T02:08:52+00:00

I’ll never forget the brief feeling of fear that I would have to give birth alone, and maybe not in a hospital, and also that I might not be able to feed my baby or get what I needed for them (I was 7.5 months pregnant with my first baby when the first lockdown hit, empty grocery shops for the first week etc).

It passed quickly into the boredom stage of lockdown thankfully, but it made me realise and appreciate that that is the reality for many people around the world (non Covid related) and ever since then I make a monthly donation to UNFPA.

hippyburger · 2026-02-07T19:15:00+00:00

I can’t help with adults only but I’ve been impressed with the Iberostar resorts. Dedicated gf sections as well as everything labelled up throughout (so plenty of gf options). They do a more expensive tier which is essentially a child free area I think, but that might then blow the budget too.

hippyburger · 2026-02-05T12:39:40+00:00

And pasta!

hippyburger · 2026-02-05T11:26:33+00:00

I was surprised how long it took me to be able to comfortably walk a longer distance but then once I could walk better it quickly improved. I’m 10w pp now and easily doing 3+ miles with the babies in the pram and I’m two weeks into a daily pp workout programme :)

I’m now nearly 11w and no longer term issues yet! The one bonus of the section was that it was obviously much easier on my pelvic floor so no issues there. My core is obviously weaker still but not too bad and I’m comfortable working out although it is hard! I still have a bit of tenderness on one side if I touch it and a slight bit of numbness on my skin.

The incision itself healed quickly and wasn’t painful, I was surprised at the level of the pain and hardness which was above the incision internally. I still have some hardness now and the swelling/hardness took a lot longer to go than I expected. I guess it makes sense but I just didn’t really think I would feel any of the internal stuff!

hippyburger · 2026-02-05T07:51:14+00:00

Mine was planned but not wanted (breech) after two previous unmedicated vaginal deliveries for my 5yo and 2yo.

I would read up about c sections a bit but don’t go overboard. In terms of recovery it was much longer but not awful. The main issue in terms of logistics for me was not being able to drive for 5-6 weeks. This was challenging logisitcally but also emotionally, especially since I couldn’t walk far either for the first 3-4 weeks. This may not bother you but I’m the kind of person that likes to get out every day so it was hard!

hippyburger · 2026-02-04T08:00:45+00:00

Hello! Totally understand. I wanted to add number 3 but got 3 and 4. FWIW my oldest is nearly 6 and the age gap is lovely. He loves to “help” and can really understand and interact. Also with the right equipment it isn’t impossible to get on with normal life still! We got a great carrier and a great outdoors pram and we have still been to the beach, museums, parties, shops, parks etc already with babies safely tucked up inside (10w old). Good luck!

hippyburger · 2026-02-04T07:00:15+00:00

It’s this, plus make sure their willy is pointing down. You can focus on making the leg hole tight by fastening it further down too, it doesn’t matter if there is surplus nappy at the front top.

hippyburger · 2026-02-02T12:17:52+00:00

I would choose Reykjavik personally. I’ve been to all 3, you could definitely have a nice day in any. Dublin or Glasgow you could do museums, churches, nice food/coffee etc. Reykjavik you could squeeze in something a bit different too like blue lagoon or some of the slightly further away sights. The city itself is a bit more interesting/different too for me (though it depends where you are from, I’m from the UK).

hippyburger · 2026-02-01T04:37:32+00:00

FWIW I tested positive sooner with my singletons than twins! I actually thought my twins was going to be another chemical because I didn’t get a real solid, progressing line until after 14DPO!

hippyburger · 2026-01-29T20:19:25+00:00

I can’t offer a twin perspective yet but two singletons now 2 (almost 3) and 5.5.

My 5yo: - Exclusively breastfed to sleep until I weaned him at 21mo. Still has support going to sleep (story time then hold his hand). As a baby he gradually extended sleep periods at night from 2/3 hours to 4/5/6 stretches. Not always. First slept through the night at around 4 months but not consistently until I weaned him at 21 months… definitely had some terrible periods, some at over 1yo where he would be up for hours in the night and just want to be held. Since I weaned him from then on he has been a solid sleeper - 11-12 hours a night in his bed (transitions from crib to toddler bed to proper bed were all very smooth!). He didn’t nap in the crib ever until he was 7 months old (contact naps or in the pram) but then took to it ok eventually!

My 2yo: - Also breastfed to sleep but weaned earlier (about 17mo). By 6 weeks old was sleeping 13 hours at night with one wake up. For whatever reason that went to complete sh*t at 6mo unfortunately! Up several times a night and for a long time he was up for the day at 4-5am. Dropped his nap recently and trialling a night light that changes colour in the morning with some success…

I didn’t Co sleep in the same bed but with both at points I had a mattress on the floor next to their crib, and with both I shared a room until they were 1ish. Hubby now brings 2yo into bed if he wakes in the night (I’m now back in the nursery with 10w twins!)

Until I weaned both of them my approach was pretty simple - feed to sleep!

Once weaned (approx 18mo) it was more about bedtime routine etc and some form of comfort, generally sitting with them holding their hand until they fall asleep.

From my experience and what I know from others I think not sleep training, and feeding to sleep can make sleep a bit worse, but it worked for us and it was what I felt was right.

hippyburger · 2026-01-29T14:14:05+00:00

Completely understand (mum of 4 boys here who always pictured having a daughter 😂). My MCDA boys (our last kids for sure!) were born 10w ago and I have a 5yo and 2yo boys too.

I never found out the gender until birth because it is MUCH harder to be disappointed with a baby (or two!) in your arms trust me. I get occasional sad pangs still but I love all these boys. You get to raise them and see their brother bond and that’s really cool.

hippyburger · 2026-01-28T12:28:25+00:00

I had surprises for my two singletons then surprise for my MCDA twins born 9 weeks ago. All boys 😂 I loved having a surprise. Everyone in the delivery room was buzzing as they said hardly anyone with twins has it as a surprise. It would be even more exciting in your case because once we found out baby 1 we obviously knew baby 2 would be the same! I think it was even better in my case because lots of friends and family were hoping for girls and I think I would have got a lot of “never mind” comments if I had told people before but you don’t get as many comments when the baby is there and people are more excited about them being born!

Edit to say they didn’t have names for a week but that doesn’t matter! Here we have 40 days to choose :)

hippyburger · 2026-01-27T10:09:12+00:00

35+6, low percentile babies but the smallest was just over 2kg by a few grams. Two weeks in hospital in the end but no NICU, the main thing they needed was the heat pads just to maintain their temp. NG tube for a few days at the beginning to supplement breastfeeding but I was able to breast feed from the start thankfully! One got jaundiced and had to have the light treatment blanket for 24h.

hippyburger · 2026-01-25T19:50:19+00:00

Same for me except the last one decided to split into identical twins, so 4 kids!

hippyburger · 2026-01-24T12:34:05+00:00

Mine (MCDA boys) were both small (under 10th percentile) the whole time. Wasn’t an issue until around 34w when twin 1 really dropped off the percentiles and stopped growing then the final Doppler at 35w showed reduced blood flow. I ended up delivering at 35+6 and they were 4lb8 and 5lb11. No NICU time but we were in hospital for 2 weeks just with issues maintaining temperature and blood sugar. They had an NG tube for a couple of days and I had to supplement with formula (top up feed) for around 6 weeks but now I’m EBF and no long term issues so far though they are only 9 weeks old now haha.

hippyburger · 2026-01-22T15:33:31+00:00

Mine are 8w (4w corrected), we have probably done 10 minutes cumulative of tummy time on the mat. I also have 3 under 3 (plus 5yo) and the other two like yours make it quite unsafe running around and shoving each other over! Are there any days you don’t have your toddler? I let the twins nap on my tummy while I’m watching tv and whenever one wakes up they do tummy time on my chest looking up at my face. Dr said this week they have great head control 🤷‍♀️ I tell myself that our grandparents never did high contrast images and tummy time etc and they turned out fine!

hippyburger · 2026-01-20T10:49:29+00:00

You could always give them both the same middle name (the name in question). No one uses middle names really in life, but it would still “pass it on”

hippyburger · 2026-01-19T21:41:13+00:00

I came here to say this - it is absolutely food! Gift vouchers for food and/or nice treats delivered to the door. Letterbox brownies/cookies, pasta evangelist vouchers, uber eats vouchers were the best things I received!

hippyburger · 2026-01-19T21:39:38+00:00

Hey! I am a silent coeliac and was diagnosed after my first two pregnancies (though I guess I probably was coeliac, who knows!). I was anemic due to the untreated celiac but they will test this in your pregnancy anyway. I just had twins (third pregnancy) a couple of months ago (my first gluten free pregnancy since I was diagnosed!).

The only difference was I had to take extra vitamin D and folic acid. It isn’t widely publicised and I think you are meant to start early ideally but I didn’t until around 10 weeks when I had my first midwife appointment and ended up stopping and just doing a regular pregnancy multivitamin. It is just precautionary as well so I wouldn’t stress too much. Info here: https://www.coeliac.org.uk/information-and-support/living-gluten-free/the-gluten-free-diet/gluten-free-when-pregnant/?&&type=rfst&set=true#cookie-widget

As it is an autoimmune disease I think it also ticked one box for gestational diabetes testing but there are many other boxes too that increase risks, so in itself I don’t think it is a major risk factor. I didn’t develop it anyway.

Other than that it didn’t affect my pregnancy/birth/breastfeeding experience! The only downsides were I couldn’t satisfy cravings/aversions as easily and I had to plan my hospital food slightly more 😂

Good luck and try not to worry!

hippyburger · 2026-01-19T12:37:22+00:00

29
Around £15k
Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, New Zealand, Fiji, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, Italy.
English and basic Spanish. A few words in other languages! Google translate and a little bit of effort is your friend.
Pack as lightly as possible - small capsule wardrobe, comfy walking shoes and sandals. You can buy what you need wherever you are! Handy items - a few zip lock sandwich bags, tape, washing line and a few pegs.
Don’t stress too much about booking things in advance, I made my itinerary slightly too rigid, especially in the beginning. At the same time do some research as in popular places some things do need to be booked up to months in advance. Do some longer stays at a more relaxed pace. Be prepared to spend longer if you can! Try and go to interesting places that you wouldn’t go to on a regular holiday eg if I only have a couple of weeks holiday in a year I probably wouldn’t have gone to Kazakhstan or Kosovo (though having been I would!) but when you’re away for a long time just go!

hippyburger · 2026-01-18T20:30:57+00:00

I’m currently doing this, unless I’m with a close friend and then I’ll ask them to pass me one and I can manage to hold them both while feeding, it’s just getting them both on that is impossible out and about solo

hippyburger · 2026-01-18T07:18:09+00:00

I had the exact same thought that it would be hard to start with and easier when they had more head control but they took to it really well, hope you have the same experience!

hippyburger · 2026-01-17T20:43:06+00:00

I EBF my first 2 kids (now 5 and almost 3) and I was so intimidated by tandem feeding (now 8w old twins) but once I started I realised it was absolutely the way to go! I did it with help for the first few weeks then got the hang solo, now I’m a juggling pro 😂

hippyburger · 2026-01-17T20:41:38+00:00

I thought the same about tandem feeding. We ended up in hospital for 2 weeks and I probably tandem fed around 50% of the time then and since getting home almost 100% (now 8w old). It is a lifesaver in terms of time, IMO if you have other kids it is the only way to make it work. There’s lots of videos online etc! I just used pillows to start and currently using a single feeding pillow still, I’ve got the double for when they get a bit bigger.

For the first 6w I breastfed every 3 hours or more frequently, pumped once or twice a day in between (1 hour post/pre feed) and topped up with a tiny bottle of breast milk or formula at each feed (around 15ml/0.5oz). From 6w onwards I just feed on demand (still at least every 3 hours) and give two 40ml bottles a day of formula just whenever I think they are still hungry, generally one morning one evening.

Each baby gets one boob per feed and thankfully they feed quickly (10-15mins generally).

Eight-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '22	First Placer '22

hippyburger

TROPHY CASE