By visiting our site, you agree to our privacy policy regarding cookies, tracking statistics, etc. Read more

Simplified Mum Life

Nina A Spencer – Motherhood Mentor – Simplifying the every day for busy overwhelmed mums -Mum Of Twins Twice! Placenta Accreta Survivor, Mental Health Champion, On my own simple living Journey filled with adventure and travel . Embracing The Imperfectly, Chaotic moments of motherhood.
Mum Life

A letter to my big girl starting year One!

M you have come so far in the past year. You have grown up so much that I feel I want to sprinkle you with fairy dust and keep you the age you are for ever.

You have found a love for colouring and writing and I’m so proud of how well you spell and write. ( Your writing is sometimes neater than mine!) you love to sing and give huggles.
Sometimes at night when you won’t go to sleep and Your twin brother has gone to sleep already I often tell you to snuggle in with me for a little while before daddy gets home. Sometimes your still wide awake and when he comes in your blue eyes twinkle at him and you end up having a horsey ride into your bed even though daddy has been at work all day long. (You’ve proper wrapped him around your finger)
M you are so helpful helping grandma iron & helping load the washer. You often want to help me with jobs around the house. Your helpfulness extends by being mummy’s spider catcher. You have no fear of any insects and think nothing to picking them up. Although I do wish you wouldn’t keep wanting to keep them all in jars as pets 😉
You have enjoyed joining rainbows the past year and love going. You were so proud on your first parade.
There are times that I get cross with you. It’s normally when mummy is tired or busy but I am trying to be calmer with you.
You are so excited for your baby siblings to come I hope when we’re all tired from no sleep you are still as eager to help.
I’m looking forward to seeing how you cope with year one because if the past year is anything to go by you are going to do amazing things.

Never forget how proud I am of you.

Love you loads

Mummy x

Health & Fitness

A quick update – I just can’t find the words.

Ok. I cant find the words at the moment to fill you in fully.

I am just going to run through the details so that for those that have asked I can let you know without typing replies and messages over and over!

So. After a quite difficult pregnancy pregnant with our second set of twins I’m now nearing the end.

All the way through scans have reported that twin 1’s placenta has been high. On the last scan i had at 34 weeks i was told that in-fact the placenta was low. And not just low it was covering “the os” which means the opening of my cervix.

Chatting to different people i have been told they don’t move down so it must have been low to start with and other sonographers have reported falsely.

So at 34 weeks i got booked in for a c section for 37 weeks.

The following week i had to go for steroid injections to help improve babies lungs. I attended my appointment on the Wednesday

Wednesday evening I had a few niggles. I coped until the Thursday when i had to go back for my second injection. While  there I informed the midwife who sent me for monitoring

The next day the drs came round and my consultant decided I needed an MRI

After spending another few days at a bigger hospital with more resources should I go into labour (The pains were just niggles)

While there they found my iron level was very low and id need a 4 hr infusion.

Also they did an internal ultrasound to confirm the placenta was in-fact low.

I was sent home on the Monday with an appointment for the next day at Sheffield Royal Hallamshire hospital. With the top Dr in the country that performs this kind of MRI.

The lovely Dr took us into a room after the scan and informed that it was bad news.

My placenta is deep into my uterine wall and therefore i would be having my c Section on site at The Jessop Wing of the hospital where they have an amazing team of people that perform surgery that I need.

It will be not only a c Section with major blood loss anticipated but a hysterectomy and possibility of a bladder repair as some of the vessels from the placenta also look like they have invaded the bladder.

After my MRI I went home and was told to attend my consultant appointment the following day and to pack a bag and prepare to return to Jessops the next day.

Jessops is nearly 2 hours drive from our house so both myself & hubby packed a bag.

The next morning (Wednesday) I woke from about a two hour sleep and headed to my mums where my other two had been staying overnight while I had been in hospital. I brushed M’s hair ready for holiday club and put it in plaits I cuddled my children tight and me and daddy took then to holiday club. In my head thinking if I don’t make it. At least I know that last morning at home was fairly normal for them.

We both kissed them goodbye and said we didn’t know if at my appointment they would like to keep me in to see the babies a bit longer.

To be honest the kids took it in their stride and didn’t seem bothered.

Sorry.  I wasn’t going to go into emotions but I felt the need to share my fear!

So i headed to my appointment where after having to get results faxed through and numerous phone calls between my consultant and Jessops I was eventually told to head over.

Once here at Jessops I had the most intense 3 hours of my life.

Chats with surgeon and anaesthetist about what the state of the placenta is. The possible risks involved in The surgery from damage to bladder to  needing lots of blood transfused. I mentioned that my fear is I don’t make it through. He reassured me they do around 6 of these a year and around 30 in the 5 years they have been performing this kind of surgery  and they haven’t lost anyone. He said thats why I am here as its one of only 3 hospitals in england that perform the op.

So basically Im now at Jessops awaiting this intense surgery next week. I am to do nothing so that a) I don’t bleed and b) I don’t go into labour.

They do have an emergency plan in place should I do but by next Wednesday they will have a more  advanced medical team on hand.

He said it takes that long to get everyone in the right place at the right time and all equipment in the right place.

Meanwhile i have been given an amazing room on my own where hubby can stay with me.

What I know about the op.

  • It can take anywhere from 4 – 7 hours.
  • I will be asleep
  • I should be awake the same day but if my body is not responding they may keep me asleep until the following day
  • They expect I could get out of bed the following day as getting up and about as soon as possible aids recovery
  • My op will be in a different part of the hospital to where I am currently and where the babies will be taken after the op
  • Hubby will go with babies who will go to special care as they may need help waking up from the anaesthetic and maybe a little help breathing
  • They will move me back up to near the babies as soon as I am able
  • Following on from this their main priority is getting babies out making sure myself and babies are fit and healthy. Followed by getting myself and babies back together as soon as they can.
  • I wont be home for a minimum of 10 days following the op
Sorry if this post is all over the place. I Just wanted to get out something of what I know. While its still in my head.
Thanks for reading
Mum Life

To my step son On results Day and becoming 17!!

Hey C,

How the hell did you become this young man all of a sudden??

I don’t often tell you how proud I am of you. Instead we normally laugh with you about your lack of geography knowledge. No C Ohio is not the answer to every question.

When I first came into your life you were a little terror. Much the same as your little brother is now. Except your hair was a lot more ginger than his.

I was given a role in those early days that I wasn’t ready for. I often got frustrated that you were more than just a boy who did boy things. You needed constant attention. I had only just moved in with your dad and now I was to care for this boy that wasn’t mine but not be able to have much say in his upbringing as you live with your mum mostly.

You did bring challenges to me and your dads life.

However all that hard work we all went through including your mum has made us strong. We all get along now. And that’s down to you!!

You are the jigsaw piece that connects us all together.

You dote on your brother and sister and no doubt will dote on these next 2 as well.

Anyway today you are off to get your GCSE results and I just want you to know how well you have done despite the ADHD. Whatever results you get you can do what you want. (When you work out what that may be!) I’m sure your results will get you into your college course and one day hopefully you’ll be earning enough to at least buy the pizzas on pizza Friday nights.

Next week you turn 17. And will be able to start your driving lessons. Then your world is your oyster. No more taxing for dad or nanny!

Good luck on the next chapter of your life C.

Proud to call you my stepson. And so glad I stuck with the hard times when you were younger to see you become the polite and helpful young man you are now. Even if sometimes we don’t see you until lunch time. And that’s only if there has been food mentioned. 😉

Nina xx

Health & Fitness

The amazing moving placenta & the waiting game

It’s 6am and I’m laid in an unfamiliar hospital bed. You see I went into my local hospital with a sharp lower back pain on and off and a few cramps like period type cramps that weren’t really regular.

The pains came on on Wednesday 16th but as they Werner regular and I had an appointment already on the Thursday I just waiting until then. Where they sent me round to the maternity ward to be monitored.

I spoke briefly about about my placenta being low in a previous post. However while I have been monitored and babies have been monitored I have had a few Drs and my consultant unbeknown to me looking at my previous scans and notes.
They decided Friday afternoon that I should have an MRI scan to check the position of the placenta fully. As non of the photos were clear enough.
They are worried Incase it’s attached to organs or my previous section scarring – this could cause major bleeding
So while I had breakfast lunch & dinner at hotel NHS they went off to try and book this.
Unfortunately they came back and being a weekend with several bigger hospitals staff to do the MRI on leave (as I’m not actually in labour or bleeding I’m non emergency) we have to wait until Monday. But because there is a high risk of placenta bleeding if I go into labour I have to stay in.

Well not only stay in but be transferred to a different hospital over an hour from my home & my children where if I do happen to labour or bleed they have more measures in place to cope.
So at 6am I lay here in a bay in a ward by myself. Hubby left at about midnight as he just couldn’t get comfy.

I am laid here on a Saturday morning in the quiet not the normal mummy can I have my Ipad. Mummy can I have breakfast at grandmas. Mummy can I watch telly in your bed.
And although family & friends keep saying make the most of it. I can’t help lying here anxious about what’s going to happen Petrified of worst! And laid here missing my big babies and feeling guilty that we chose to have more and now I’m having to be away from them.

Drs will be due after breakfast and I think they are going to tell me that not only do I have to wait for Monday for a scan but when I go for it I will have to got to yet another bigger city hospital for it!

Let’s hope it’s all ok and not attached and I can go home and rest for a week and a bit while I wait for my planned section that I had only just started getting my head around.

Is much rather wake up to these two. Noise or no noise.

Health & Fitness

Birth Plan – C Section

As I said in my last post this pregnancy is coming to an end and it looks like a planned C Section is the way these babies are destined to be born!

I can barely remember any good bits from my last Birth This time I would like to try and hold on to the good bits and block out the bits that are very clinical!

So I’m creating a bit of a birth plan to hand to the medical team so they can try and make this time round a little more positive.

Here are a few things I want on my plan!

C Section.jpg

  • Need to be able to put feet flat on the floor during insertion of spinal block. – Last time I remember my legs shaking so much because you need to arch your back but I was only able to tiptoe on the floor so it took so many attempts to get the needle in
  • If possible I would like hubby with me at the spinal block  –  Some of the above shaking was due to being scared If hubby was with me at least he could hold my hand through the process.
  • I want hubby to be able to take photos in theatre. I didn’t have any of my older twins until I was in the ward.
  • Once born could they lift over the screen to show me. I just like the idea of being able to see them straight away.
  • Would like skin to skin once born. I can’t remember having this with first two either I believe its important for bonding and well-being to get those first moments of skin to skin.
  • Photos of me two babies and hubby  Again no photos of the first set until back on the ward.
  • I would like to get up out of bed as soon as physically possible. I want to be able to go home as soon as possible and getting out of bed helps with healing.
  • I would like hubby to stay at least the first night. Due to the scar, night feeds would mean having to rely on calling the midwives  it would just make it easier if hubby was there to support that first night.

I have to go and have an injection to help form the babies lungs today and then a follow-up tomorrow. At the follow up we will discuss the Section with the midwives. I will be going over this plan with them.

Follow me on Instagram for updates on these appointments and to follow the birth story!

Nina

Where to next?