Homecoming

Our life as a family of 5 began in earnest when we arrived home with our precious bundles in tow.

All of a sudden we had to consider two lots of newborn routines simultaneously - nothing any of us was prepared for! I learnt "on the job" about trying to keep the babies in a routine, which included feeding them at the same time... which meant as soon as one of them woke we had to wake the other one. It was devastating to wake one sleeping baby, but oh, I regretted it when I didn't as the girls would operate in relay for the rest of the day and none of us had a minute's break!

***Oh good grief! I began this post almost a year ago... my, how things have changed. Will send updates soon... maybe.***

Mum and Dad loved their roles as grandparents and tried to get involved as much as possible - which often consisted of looking after Margaux and doing the nursery pick-ups and drop-offs. I think they quite enjoyed spending time with her and making sure she knew she was just as special as the babies.

I rested where possible, but very quickly realised any duties I didn't have to perform (which was almost everything) was quickly taken over by anyone else. 

Thomas took his two days or so of paternity leave and was back at work in the blink of an eye. Mum joined me for the night shifts, which was a blessing. Sometimes we would have them awake, fed and changed within an hour and a half, but that was a fairly infrequent occurrence...

I'll do a photo compilation for the next post (or more!) - I just want to get this into the blogosphere for now!

Three under 3!

On the morning of February 6, 2016, we welcomed two perfect little girls into our family!

Having a Cesarean is the strangest thing. You are put on a stretcher, given a spinal block injection (which makes you numb from the waist down) and then they wheel you into an operating theatre. There you are prepped surgically, your birthing partner (spouse/ friend/ parent/ boyfriend/ girlfriend) walks in wearing full scrubs, and the operation begins. You feel a vague cutting, then a few tugs, and ta-dah! You've given birth! A few more tugs and ta-dah! You have twins!

The lack of participation on my part was quite shocking. I felt a bit cheated, to be honest; like I hadn't really given birth - which was true in the physical sense. Unfortunately both of the twins' heads were up under my rib cage (and making themselves very well known!), so that wasn't an option for me.

Regardless, I was and am delighted that both babies popped out fully developed, of a good size, and utterly perfect in every way. No bias here, of course!

When it came to naming the babies, Thomas was certain from the get-go that we were having one of each gender. We tossed around a few other names for girls and boys, but Thomas wouldn't commit to anything other than one boy and one girl. One girl was always going to be Alice, so naturally she was Twin A. When the second girl was born I turned to Thomas and asked, "can we name her Charlotte?" to which he readily agreed.

And so it was! Twin A became Alice Bindie Bouchery, and Twin B was named Charlotte Emma Bouchery. (See the birth announcement for the specifics.)

There's not really a whole lot more to tell. I spent 2 nights in hospital, with a lot of attention from the grandparents, Thomas, and Margaux. Thomas had a whole two days of paternity leave... Welcome to the Middle East. The recovery from a C-section is absolutely awful - especially if you have a low pain threshold - but thankfully now it's a distant memory.

A pregnancy timeline

OK, you've earned it. I've been saving up most of my pregnancy photos, which may have been a bit silly but there it is. Now I can showcase my growing tummy in one go. Pardon the repeats...

Part 1: The twins were labelled as Twin A and Twin B until they were born and I had intended to keep the names of them from you until I have a posted after their birth but I've just realised I put Twin A's name in! Oh what a bother. I'm not going to start the collage again, so please think of Twin A as just that. Unfortunately there were a bunch of limbs (not sure whose!) in front of Twin B's face so the gynaecologist couldn't take a 4D photo.

Part 2: 37 weeks is considered a full term pregnancy with twins, with high percentage of women giving birth from 34 weeks. My gynaecologist was prepared to wait until 38 weeks, but ended up booking me in for a Saturday morning Cesarean section just before then. 

As with Margaux, we successfully kept the genders of the babies a secret until they were born. It was time to meet the newest stars in our family constellation...

Welcoming the Aussie grandparents

We made some final preparations during our last few weeks as a family of three, before welcoming Mum and Dad in the last week of January. They arrived a week before the twins were due, which was brilliant. Margaux could have some time to relax with them, they could all make some special memories together, and we could generally all settle in to the start of 7 weeks (!) of consecutive guests. Mum and Dad stayed for four weeks, and then Rita and Jean-Paul for three.

We also welcomed Mala into our family at this time. Mala is our live-in helper from Sri Lanka and we honestly couldn't function without her these days.

Christmas with Uncle Jim: Part 3 (Returning home and farewell)

We returned home via a spectacular canyon and unbelievable lookouts at Jebel Shams.We were all awestruck by the place - and found it surprisingly chilly up on the bluff! James went for a run up the escarpment, from which he called, "Coo-ee!" - which became his moniker for the rest of his stay and now Margaux only refers to him by that name!

I was feeling - and I believe looking - pretty darn pregnant by this stage... the silhouette shot was an attempt at capturing it but I don't feel it has done it justice. Apparently I was small for twins throughout my pregnancy, but that was certainly enough for me!

The final few days with James were spent at home and in the local environs. James headed off to Australia on the 29th December and we prepared ourselves for a very early New Year's Eve - although it did mark 5 years since our Australian wedding!

Christmas with Uncle Jim: Part 2 (Two days and nights in the middle of nowhere)

We arrived at the Oriental Nights Rest House on Christmas Eve where we bunked down for two nights of fairly basic but perfectly satisfactory accommodation. Mohammed, the owner, was delighted with James' getup and was full of useful information and directions.

Our first stop was the stunning Wahabi Sands Desert, where we watched some crazy dune driving and enjoyed a bonfire while watching the almost full moon disappear behind the horizon. During the entire drive from home to our destination and back again Margaux became very excited by the sight of a camel - which was fairly frequent. She would point out the window and exclaim, "Amel! Amel!"

The Desert initially appears to be a vast expanse of nothingness - which, in reality, it essentially is - but then you discover there are slightly more worn paths and almost hesitant roads that have been made by so many 4x4 vehicles speeding along in the same direction. And when I say 'speeding', well... this puts any autobahn to shame.

And the dune driving! My goodness - hoardes of men in their impeccable white dresses (whatever they're made of is the most effective dirt-repellent I've ever seen) charging up these massive dunes at terrific speeds - either aiming to reach the summit or to make a 180* turn part way up. It was testosterone and machismo to the hilt, with not a drop of alcohol in sight.

We were Staggered there wasn't at least one accident involving one car sliding back down the dune while the next one was careering up it, or one driver that had successfully reached the summit and was now flying back down the dune crashing into a driver making the attempt up, or a car tipping over while on the curve of the turn... Apparently we were lucky because they happen frequently - the general attitude is that if they die it's because Allah willed it, so let rip! (And apparently this is also the reason that taxis don't have seat belts in the back seats and that kids don't have to be strapped in - let alone in booster seats. Astonishing.)

The following morning was a very low-key Christmas Day for us. We shared some gifts and then headed off to the picturesque Wadi Bani Khalid. I was feeling really rather pregnant by this stage so opted out of one of the walks that took the blokes plus an intrepid Margaux (who didn't have a whole lot of choice in the matter) into some spectacular scenery and rock formations. I must have had a smudge on my camera because all my photos turned out with a fuzzy kind of outline, unfortunately. Forgive me?

The photos here don't really capture the majestic beauty of the place but the Wadi was stunning, the waters were perfect for swimming, and it was accessible for all of us. James cut an interesting figure in his Pakistani garb and board shorts - much to the amusement of the locals!

Christmas with Uncle Jim: Part 1 (home and the Bimah Sinkhole)

My brother James arrived on December 19th and stayed for 10 wonderful days.

He really enjoyed interacting with Margaux as he didn't really anticipate what a proper kid she would be, compared to the almost walking, not talking little girl that he spent time with the previous Christmas.

After taking a little while to warm to him, Margaux enjoyed spending time in his arms and playing with him. He loved her sense of recklessness and she loved his height when it came the throwing her in the air! James also got a tiny taste of parenthood while feeding and bathing her, both of which they seemed to enjoy.

Much to the delight, surprise, and amusement of everyone we came upon - especially the locals - James had a Pakistani outfit tailored and bought an Omani hat, which he wore everywhere.

We spent some quality time at home and explored some of the sights of Muscat (including the Muttrah Souq, where James tried on an Omani dress and turban, pictured above) before Thomas took a couple of days off work and we had a very memorable Christmas exploring some of the Wahabi Sands Desert and Wadi Bani Khalid (a wadi is a valley found in Asia, the Middle East, and some part of Africa that is usually dry except in the wet season) a few hours' drive from our home.

Our first day trip, though, was the stunning Bimah Sinkhole, where the others had a paddle and I was a happy observer. James took the opportunity to dive into the water from a natural ledge half-way up the internal side of the hole, while Thomas and Margaux spotted little fish in the shallows.

We then geared ourselves up for a two-night sojourn in the desert...