Birth Story Of Twins..
We found out that 'it was twins' quite early on - around 10 weeks. My hormones were all over the place, I was in pain and it didn't feel like my early pregnancy with James (my now 14 year old!).
I went to the GP, who referred me to early pregnancy clinic. I have to say, the midwife who I saw at the early pregnancy clinic was quite dismissive and not very friendly, it was as if I was wasting her time. I remember explaining that my GP referred me, I didn't ask to be here
Anyway, she brought us through for a scan and her words were 'look there's a heartbeat, I don't know why you're here. I could have and should have said so much to her but I was just so thankful that there was nothing apparent wrong so I stayed quiet.
A minute later I heard her say 'oh hold on a minute, there might be 2! Wait until I get another midwife to check. Phil and I looked at eachother in disbelief, not quite knowing what to do. The other midwife came in and confirmed that it was in fact twins!!! Once we'd gathered ourselves and got over the initial shock, the excitement started. We rang our mums and dads - there was mixed reactions!!!
We waited for the booking scan before telling James who was 5 and the rest of our family and friends - it was all very exciting!!
In the middle of the excitement was terrible sickness (all day, everyday), excruciating heartburn and general exhaustion. At that time I was working as a community fundraiser under a horrible, horrible manager who had no sympathy for my situation. Thankfully, James was at school and I had amazing support from my mum and dad with pick ups, dinners etc.
With a twin pregnancy there are a lot of appointments and scans. My twins were DCDA which means we had 2 sacs and 2 placentas (each twin has their own house and their own kitchen!) so it was the lowest risk twin pregnancy. My consultant was Samina Dornan (step mum of Jamie!), who was literally amazing. I knew I couldn't be in better hands.
In terms of pregnancy, I was textbook - apart from the sickness, heartburn and a few hospital visits for dehydration, a bleed but thankfully all overcome quickly by the super team at Royal Jubilee.
Dr Dornan had told me that I would deliver before 38 weeks, in theatre with an epidural onboard. Anyone who knows her (she is now working in Qatar) or was in her care will know that what Samina says is most likely what's going to happen. At 36 weeks, I was given an induction of labour date and at 37 weeks + 5 days I was induced. I hadn't been to any antenatal classes and so I went with the flow.
It's only now that I have studied so much around labour and delivery that I have regrets not knowing more and knowing my choices before I delivered……
On the day of induction we had to be at the Royal Jubilee for 9am. We were met in the waiting room with around 9 other couples and were then called one by one by a midwife.
We were given a room of our own - delighted! We hadn't slept much the night before - had left James to my mum and dads and then felt very nervous, excited, anxious about induction the next day as well as birthing 2 humans!
The midwife explained the induction process, about the pessary, timelines etc.
After an hour we were moved to a ward with others. There were 4 in total in the room. It was honestly like the scene from Friends when Ross and Rachel were in hospital and everyone was going into labour before her! Any moans you heard, you just knew someone was starting to have contractions and couldn't help but feel a little jealous!
I knew movement was key so we took a little walk to the shop and after a few hours, I started to feel a few niggles. By late afternoon the contractions were getting stronger but still very irregular. The midwife offered me a bath for pain relief which was amazing! I was able to lie comfortably for about 20 mins but then the contractions started to get very strong in my back.
The obstetrician came round and removed the pessary. I was contracting quicker than I was dilating so they wanted to slow things down.
I had no idea what this meant - I had done zero classes, readings, research and I was clueless as to what was going on.
I was then moved to delivery when I was given an epidural. I was very nervous about an epidural but actually the process was very smooth and it was a great pain relief. I didn't feel the epidural needle as they put a local numbing cream on first. What I liked about it was that I still had some sensation although I was able to have a wee snooze!
About an hour later I asked my husband to call the midwife as I had the sensation to push. My body and my baby had been working together and I was feeling that it was time to deliver. The problem was that twin 2 was wanting to come out and her heart rate was dropping but twin 1 wasn't for moving just yet!
I was moved to theatre as that's where a lot of twins are born. Toby had a scalp monitor attached as they couldn't tell who's heartbeat was whos from the CTG monitoring. There was talk of a c-section but it was decided that we would see how it progressed. Eventually, Toby needed forceps and suction and was delivered at 2.50am. Eve followed on 11 mins later! Toby loves that 11 mins! I felt every second of that 11 mins!
The stitches, placenta and next hour in recovery was a bit of a blur. I felt very weak and queasy but I had just vaginally delivered 2 babies weighing 6lb15 and 5lb8. The midwife had been with me throughout (as well as a few others in theatre - consultant, 2nd midwife, anaesthetist and assistant, 2 paediatric nurses) was amazing and then helped me to latch the twins.
I was then moved to the ward at around 6am and the rest as they say is history......
Words by Kelly McDonald - LushTums Belfast