Hi guys,

Well Ive got a terrible attack of insomnia today. I always get this after working nights. Ive done 3 night shifts and havn't been to bed yet! Ive been awake for about 36 hours now and its Easer holidays so im looking after the kidstoday as well. Our night shifts are from 9pm til 8am and I met 2 very different twin mums last night.

One was a first time Mum expecting twins who I think is very lonely and is facing spending the next 5 weeks on our ward - pre-eclampsia Im afraid and the other was as chatty as anything hopefully to be induced today at 38 weeks.

The lonely one has been moved from the bay with a couple of long term stayers (with placenta praevias) because she is is very loud snorer!

Unfortunately, she then upset the other ladies in the bay she was moved into. The poor midwife was getting complaints from all the women about the snoring and was really stuck what to do as it wasnt possible to put the offending snorer in a side room in case she gets poorly and we cant see her.

The other women were getting so mad they were swearing in the bay! I think the lady was oblivious to the noise she was making though. She is an over seas lady and I dont think she gets many visitors. I feel sorry for her situation and have been to chat to her about becoming a twin Mum and what fun it can be etc but its all beginning to get on top of her abit. When Im there I try to chat but often I dont have the time and also Im not sure what I can do to alleviate the situation for her. She really needs to be in- self discharging would be silly.

We often get women who lose their tempers with us purely because they hate staying there and last week this twin-mum told us all she was upset with us as "you are all only thinking about my babies" and not thinking about me.  Ummmmmm since pre-eclampsia can often fulminate into a very serious and LIFE THREATENING condition- I truly think we have her interests at heart. She needs support but if you take on one person and get too involved you can spread yourself too thinly and not meet the immediate needs of others on the unit. Its difficult because I do feel that I ought to volunteer to look after her more and give her more support but I think she would use up too much of my time when I ought to be getting round all the women in my care.

As for my solution for snoring? Well if its really bad and we cant move them on their own -  I just bite the bullet and go into the bay and tell them whilst they are snoring to " please stop snoring- because its disrupting everyone elses sleep and to sleep on their side". Its dosnt work for long but I usually go in a few times and at least the other Mums can see that I am trying to tackle the problem. Tempting as it is to go in there with a pen torch and shine it in the offenders eyes and ask them to stop! We also discussed making a chin strap out of Mefix tape pmsl!

The other Mum however, was a cheerful joy to be around  I admired her positivity. It will help her go far. She is waiting for an induction but the unit has been too busy for her to go down. I listened to her babies briefly as a favour for the midwife who had been looking after her had to take another woman with Type 1 Diabetes to be started off with a sliding scale of insulin downstairs to the delivery suite.

She told me she was an ID twin herself and I thought this an interesting fact that she is now expecting DCDA twins. She dosnt know their sexes and we chatted about how we had both got through our pregnancies. She has a toddler aged 2 and a half. I think she has done remarkably well since a twin pregnancy is exhausting let alone having another toddler around.

She was considering an epidural and said she had had one the first time but was unsure what to do this time. Seeing her cheery disposition and fresh complexion and shiny red hair  made me see what an attractive lady she was. I immediately recalled the picture of TAM in bed labouring with an epidural and reading a book. Does anyone remember the picture I'm on about? I told the TwinMum about this and how it is possible to look incredibly glamourous and have twins at the same time and she was smiling and giggling.

Ok G - Force is over now and its time to make lunch for Alex whilst we wait for Sam to finish his football training.

Im sure I will be able to stay awake til tonight- this usually happens every week I'm doing 3 nights in a row. Tonight I am going to see my Cambridge Diet lady and get weighed- its my first week back on the diet. Its a liquid diet and the weight just falls off. So Im hoping for good things!

Talking of size- my lovely lady with a BMI of 55 is leaving the ward today and going home with her lovely baby boy. Lovely lady with tattoos all over her left arms like daisy chains running up and down and a big goldfish on 

the inside.BMI of  55 is NOT good for pregnancy- NOT good at all but she was surprisingly very mobile and the only lady I have ever met who didnt want any pain relief AT ALL after her second c section!

Off to Turkey next month and with my school reunion in July I need to be far slimmer than I currently am.

Other things going well- booked flights for my family and ex's family to go to Turkey in a few months time (we all get on well having parted 14 years ago and want the kids (5 boys in all) to be friendly so this seems to be a good idea).

Also the boos caved in and gave me the weekend off I need to get to Castleton and the TwinsClub meet. YIPPEE!!