The best friend I never met.

I'd never met Harriet, Scott or Kate or held Harriet and Scott's twins Hollie and Alice yet they became part of my day to day life.

I first met Harriet on Twitter in Jan 2011 when a mutual friend started a healthy lifestyle/weight checker group.  Harriet was trying to lose weight but her priorities soon changed when she found out she was pregnant.  She was excited yet sad as she was missing her Mum (who'd died recently).
I was then thrilled to hear that she was expecting twin girls and her fiance Scott joined twitter in the latter stages of her pregnancy so he could keep us up to date with progress.

Four months after Hollie and Alice were born I was (via twitter) informed by Kate (Harriet's best friend) that one of the twins was seriously ill.  She was in hospital with Meningitis.  Twitter held vigils and tweeted hash tags of good wishes.  The babies were Christened (with Kate as GodMother) and hand and foot prints made.  We were dreading hearing bad news.   By some miracle she pulled through and even though there was a threat that she may never smile in the same way as her twin I was delighted to see a smiley photo posted only a couple of weeks ago.

And so life carried on. Kate and I bonded over a love of Neighbours and The Big Bang Theory.

Kate had been trying for a baby for some time.  Her and her husband had tried IVF but to no avail.  She had miscarried and delivered a sleeping baby (Aimee) but still her hopes were high.  After her last bout of unsuccessful IVF treatment she tweeted one day that she had done a test and she was pregnant.  I guess these things really do happen when you stop trying.  She hadn't even told her husband yet but us twitter friends were helping her through.  She was scared stiff of losing the baby but as each week went past her confidence grew.  She had an early scan and found out that she (the best friend of a mother of twins) was also expecting twins!  Would you believe it!  I was so thrilled for her.

I was always eager to hear the latest update from Kate.  What week had she made it to? Had her craving for Cherryade and Peri Peri sauce subsided?  She seemed really well and was being closely monitored by the hospital.

Meanwhile Scott proposed to Harriet (again) and they booked their wedding.  Kate was to be the Matron of Honour and amongst all the other duties this entials she tweeted throughout the day.  She gave us updates on the getting ready, the ceremony and the speeches and even sent us some photos.  I really felt included in the wedding and it was great to see what Scott and Harriet actually looked like after all this time.

Kate was a professional counsellor and she helped me a great deal when I was down and in need of advice.  Even though my issues were nothing compared to what she had been through she was always there for me.  The best friend I never met.
Only 3 weeks ago was she urging me to treat myself to a Pedicure to cheer myself up.

Two weeks ago I found out that Kate had been admitted to hospital.  I guess complications with the pregnancy (I think she was about 22 weeks).  She tweeted from her hospital bed that she was bored and needed some distractions.  I showed her the "Geek" board on Pinterest (lots of Sheldon goodies) and Harriet brought her Peri Peri sauce and stories of Alice and Hollie.

The last message I had from her was 5 days ago when she said she fancied a croissant and myself and another twitter friend tweeted her a picture of one.
It then went quiet.

Harriet gave us the sad news on Saturday.  Kate had been put into an induced coma for the sake of her babies.  What a shock!  I couldn't believe it.  I'd only been talking to her two days before.  She has to be ok.  Drs do this for a positive outcome don't they.  It's got to come out as good news.

I tweeted that I was thinking of them all and to keep positive andHarriet was reading our tweets to her.

I noticed yesterday that Harriet's Twitter account had been deleted.  I hoped there was some Twitter issue.  A number of people had noticed the same thing and were desperate to know what was going on.

Harriet then tweeted from Kate's account.  "Kate and her twins passed away this morning from DVT".

I'm still in shock to be honest.  I can't quite believe that a person who was younger than me is now not around.  She wanted to be a Mum so much and this is such a tragedy.  I can't even begin to understand what her husband is going through and it makes me cry every time I think about it.

Kate's twitter account has been deleted but Harriet has provided an email address and I have emailed a Goodbye to my friend.  Both Harriet and Scott also have deleted their accounts as they felt they couldn't cope with comments.  I hope they come back soon as I miss them all.

I didn't want to depress everyone with this blog but I felt I needed to write down how I'm feeling.
A woman who I never met has died and I feel like I've lost a close friend.

Rest in Peace Kate and your babies.