'You've got your hands full'

Twins whose TTTS was corrected in-utero born in May

LIANA Sophia and Amaya Noel were born May 4, 2009. Their parents are Esther and Bjorn Dixon of Minnesota. Esther went to Texas for in-utero surgery to correct Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome that was discovered on an ultrasound. The Dixons have a blog, Bjorn & Esther Dixon. Congratulations!

also blogs at Deep Muck Big Rake. Write her at becky_handsfull@yahoo.com.

Do you mind when people refer to your children as "the twins" or "the triplets"?

I SORT of know I shouldn't care about this, yet I do. I know it's not the end of the world and there are lots more pressing matters we can all turn our minds to, but when people call my daughters "the twins", it irritates me.

"They have names, you know," I want to point out. (But of course don't because then well, the other person would see that I sort of cared about something so outwardly trivial.)

Depression: My story, plus why you journalists should speak up if they are feeling down

THE following piece appears in this month's Press Gazette, but isn't online.

I'm posting it here, as well as on my blog for freelance writers, in the hope of further raising awareness that mental illness doesn't have to be 'dirty little secret' - even if when you are in the midst of it, the last thing in the world you'd ever want to do is tell people!

As someone who is fully recovered, I hope my experience and the advice offered here by freelance journalist colleagues, the NUJ and charities, may help others suffering the effects of a mental illness.

I'd welcome any comments at the end of the post, especially from others with similar experiences. Again, I hope this could help show those going through a tough time that they are not alone.

AS I sat on my bed at 3am, sobbing and contemplating throwing myself through the window, I knew I had to seek medical help. Despite thinking everyone would be better off without me, part of me was still rational enough to know I didn’t want to feel like this.

News round-up: Mum of twins has triplets, plus other current stories

ESSEX mum Joady Dyer has welcomed triplets into her family - and will have no shortage of helpers thanks to her 15-year-old twin daughters.

Joady, 39, also has a nine-year-old. You can read a fuller story courtesy of Bounty, here.

The Sun reports on the arrival of identical triplets Alfie, Sebastian and Zak, conceived without IVF treatment, by Emma Spooner, 28, and husband Ken, 35, of Cockley Cley, Norfolk. The BBC has a lovely video.

"Brainy" triplet brothers who have excelled in science are celebrated by the Reading Eagle.

Tagged by Littlemummy.com and Dulwich Divorcee: Some stuff about me

Erica and Alice have passed the baton on this one, so here goes...

1. What are your current obsessions?

As ever lots of things. Family and work, work and family. That's about it really. Blog wise, I'm still reeling from our Disney experience, and am blown away by the work of Camilla Chafer and Keris Stainton so far on our new travel blog, Havealovelytime.com.

2. Which item of clothes do you wear most often?

Just anything black, black and more black. If you want to know why, look here.

Career focus: Fun sessions are music to Cathie's ears

Cathie Flynn, far left, and fellow Musical Minis franchisees.

IF your children are still very young, you may be wondering if the day will ever come when you will return to work and not feel totally frazzled. In the first of an occasional series, mum of 10-year-old twins, Cathie Flynn, explains how she found a career path that fitted in perfectly with family life - and brings lots of laughter too...

Cathie is a franchisee for Musical Minis.*

This is a nationwide network of music sessions for babies and toddlers and each 45-minute session introduces music and percussion, concentrating on rhythm, song, sound and movement. A "world of music" is introduced to the children - from classical to modern, to encourage language development and improved co-ordination.

"Best of all," says Cathie, "it's great fun."

How much 'one on one' time do you give your multiple birth children?

HERE'S a picture of my daughters on a recent trip to London.

That's Emily and Melissa in the front and a friend they made one day. No I don't know what he's supposed to be either.

We went together as a family. It would never have occured to me that we should split up and head for different destinations.

So imagine my surprise, when they both returned from a school trip last week, to numerous parents asking with a bemused expression: "They BOTH went then?"

Did they really think one would go without the other?

Book review: Twins in the world by Alessandra Piontelli

Review by Katrina Hill

As a recent mother of twins I was very excited to be given the opportunity to review Twins in the World: The Legends They Inspire and the Lives They Lead and wasn't disappointed.

From the moment I found out I was carrying twins I felt driven to find out as much as I could about the two little lives that would be entering the world and coming home with me. Whilst an expert with singletons, twins are a whole new experience and, quite frankly, daunting at times. Unless you have twins, are a twin or have a fascination with twins then you probably don't know about the complexity with just the basics of the genetics.

Would you plan to give birth to twins or triplets at home? Couple say hospital denies them "rightful choice"

WITH more than 300,000 views on YouTube, this video has a pretty powerful message.

Questions tackled head on by the producers include:

* So both babies have to be head down for a vaginal birth?

* So all twins should be born by c-section?

* So older mums have to have a Caesarean?

What's it like looking after baby twins? Read and weep (with laughter)

FOUR down, mum to go, is a fantastic, relatively new blog, all written from the "frontline" of raising four boys.

This post - filled with squirty poo and vomit (you have been warned) from twins Zach and Jonah made me wince and laugh out loud.

I hope you can find time to check out this wonderful blog. Way to go, mum of four! The post has made me remember a day I kept a diary filled with how many times I'd changed nappies and cleared up vomit.

It was fascinating as you can imagine. Perhaps I will dig it out, bet you can't wait.