So there we were in a 2 up 2 down rabbit hutch that was bursting at the seams with just the 3 of us. This wasn't going to cope with 2 new inmates and their paraphenalia. So, with what was eventually 10 days before the birth we managed to move to a bigger house, thanks to much sterling organisation from my wife, and much pounds sterling from my in-laws.

Lucy-Mae had her new room, (a tribute to the myriad shades of the colour pink that resulted in a combined hue that even Barbara Cartland would have baulked at), and the nursery was laid out with the usual baby accoutrements including twin cots. Twin cots?? Two cots?? Wow! That brings it home to you like a sledgehammer! Twin buggy, two car seats, two high chairs, two bath seats.... Hmmmm....... OK, this is real.

Whatever your own reactions and feelings the funniest thing we noticed was the reaction of friends and family. After a fair bit of reaction we realised they tended to fall into two distinct camps; the "Oh-no, you poor things!" or the "Twins! But that's wonderful!", which we worked out tended to come typically from either parents who's own babies were nightmares, or parents who's own babies were angels. From our own experience Lucy-Mae, despite having some serious medical problems, was an absolutely dream as a baby. Sleeping through from 12 weeks, always keeping clean, never crying unless for an obvious reason, never picking up anything she shouldn't, so in short the idyllic first baby.

So we had our expectations which probably made us fall somewhere in between both camps. Yep, having been through our first, sure it was going to be hard work but, hey, they'll be just like Lucy-Mae, won't they?? Won't they?......

At that moment I suspect that someone, somewhere, gave an evil laugh and I have a sneaking suspicion that laugh was coming, in stereo, from Debbies womb.....