2017 A Round Up

What a year this has been. I’ve got to the end through the skin of my teeth!

I was panicking that I wanted to start the new year, healthy, with a tidy decluttered house but in reality, there is stuff everywhere. 2017 was meant to be about decluttering and living more simply, minimal. Instead, I ended up filling our house even more with two extra people!

Why do we do this, why do we strive to start the new year as we mean to go on, when really we should start each day as we mean to go on.

Each day is a blessing! Each day we should make it a day worth living.

2017 has certainly shown me how fragile life can be and what is truly important in my own life.

Here is my year in review.

January

Our family started the year as we have for the past 3 years on “our paradise isle” Lanzarote.

We spent it with some friends of ours and for the first time since me & hubby have been together we actually went out for new year.

We danced, ate and the kids had pony rides at one of our favourite places for a day out Texas Rancho Park.

When we got back to England, I was able to help out for a couple of days at the theatre, where it was panto time. My favourite time of the year.

After panto had finished I realised I was late for my period and took a test!

The test was positive!

I soon became sick with my pregnancy and me and hubby decided we should have an early scan. To make sure this time there was only one baby.

SHIT! There’s two AGAIN!

Spent a good part of 3 months crying, and asking everyone close if we were doing the right thing, and would we be ok?

We also took geocaching back up this month and went I to see Grease the musical.

February

Sold my beloved Delilah. She had been with us for 3 years. She was part of the family. I know she had her quirks about her. Like sometimes having to bang the breaks off with a hammer, the muscle toning steering and her kitchen that when you turned a corner everything fell out. But she was mine!

We also took another trip to Lanzarote in February. This time, knowing I was pregnant with another set of twins we joked that we should make the most of this trip and visit places we had never visited as it may be our last trip for a while! We certainly did visit places we had never been before. Like A&E for my mum who trapped her finger in a car seat, and the doctor’s surgery for not just me and my pregnancy sickness but at the end of the week after suffering on hubby decided enough was enough his throat was so swollen and painful he couldn’t hack it anymore.

March

Well, March was a busy month, it saw a school trip to a windmill, the dreaded class bear, nits and A trip to London for the day with the girls, to see The Girls, musical.

April

April was another trip to London this time with my kids. Where I took them to daddy’s office, a trip on a boat, a walk to the zoo, a trip on the underground and a stroll by the Thames.

May

May was all about redecorating the house ready for the new arrivals, we also redesigned the garden, making an amazing bbq area for our family and friends to gather. We also this month got out the paddling pool, went to the splash park and made the most of the spring sunshine.

June.

While June was a down month for me pregnancy wise, I’d hit the struggling to move point of it and was feeling bad for letting the other twins down by not being able to do as much for them. We tried hard to soak up all the sunshine each day and me and hubby became godparents to our friends baby.

July.

A busy month again.

I waddled down to London for Tesco’s Christmas in July event! While I was there I was fussed over by all the team. I’m really glad I did the trip even though it took it out of me for a day or two. I went to Friendsfest, with a couple of girlfriends. It was great seeing all the costumes, and scenery. I even had a Ross,/ Monica, “my sandwich” sandwich. Which I have to say was very tasty.

It was also my birthday this month so obviously, we had to have a BBQ party.

And the start of the summer holidays

August

This month I tried had to parent our first set of twins as well as grow the second set. Life was becoming increasingly difficult. Little did I know at the beginning of the month just how difficult it was about to be.

Halfway through August, I had a scan that said my placenta was low, after this and a few back niggles I was admitted to hospital, sent for other scans, blood tests, and MRI. All which confirmed that I had something called placenta percreta. Something that now is a common word for me, but back then something that I’d never heard of before and was apparently very rare.

After iron infusions, being monitored constantly and being scared half to death by my surgeon. I finally met my new babies on August 30th. After about 5 hours of surgery, a hysterectomy and 10 litres of blood transfusion.

September.

I was still in hospital as I became quite poorly after the twins were born, sepsis followed by a twisted bowel which meant a week after my cesarían hysterectomy I had to go back to sleep and be cut open through the wound that had split to untwist my bowel.

I managed after a whole month of being in hospital to finally get home.

Recovery was to start.

But not until I’d been hit by gallstone pain. The worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. Ment I ended up in A&se twice and being admitted back into hospital.

October

Now my recovery can start and my new healthy lifestyle that I’ve been forced into due to my gallstones.

I managed to spend some time with the big kids over the October holidays while Nanny Sue took charge of the babies.

It almost killed me pumpkin picking but I’m glad I could catch up with my biggest two.

I was discharged from Jessops after my follow up appointment.

October also saw me picking up my laptop again to document my birth story and other things less dramatic.

November

Blogging, soaking up my new babies, recovery, spending time as a family of 7, lunches with hubby, a trip to the cinema, seeing the Coca-Cola Christmas truck, a school trip to the railway lots of midnight feeds and picking my Christmas tree. Oh and another trip to A&E.

December

The end of the year in sight but first it’s Christmas. Our favourite time of the year. The tree is up, well two trees. One real one artificial. The elves were out and about up to mischief. There was more wrapping paper than a small forest can sustain being flung around and all the sellotape. The big twins turned 6 this month. Time really does go by so quickly.

My hair really decided to disappear this month and is the thinnest it’s ever been and still going.

We’ve seen Santa on a boat, on a train at the local club twice.

We got through a lot of my cranberry cupcakes.

It was the WI Christmas meeting where we take in nibbles. I had to think of new low-fat buffet options. I’m getting quite into eating healthier. Though I have managed a Baileys coffee or two, and a couple of cakes. But I’ve cut down tremendously and I feel a lot better for doing so.

I cooked Xmas dinner for 13 and we all had amazing Christmas.

If you’ve been with me from the start of 2017 or joined me through the year Thank you for all for your support I couldn’t have got through it without all of you.

What a year.

If you are just joining us I can’t promise that 2018 will be filled with as much drama. In fact, I’m hoping and praying it won’t be. I can but hope for more adventures with my family and my friends and some adventures just for me.

Happy New Year to everyone.

May 2018 bring you everything you desire and be filled with magic, adventure and love.

Nina x