Birth story - Mum and baby twins

It took 2 years to get pregnant with my first born due to PCOS. I needed to take medication to aid conception, but we got pregnant the first cycle once we started the medication. We completed the online hypnobirthing course and had a positive hospital birth on gas and air.

To get pregnant a second time required medication once again, but it took several cycles and sadly one early miscarriage before I finally became pregnant again after 18 months of trying. We found out at the 8 week scan that we were expecting twins. This was both exciting and terrifying and logistically took some planning as we were not expecting to have 3 children!

The first trimester was tough with all day nausea, and intense food and smell aversions, meaning I ended up losing weight due to barely eating. Thankfully this eased in the 2nd trimester.

Due to it being a twin pregnancy, I was automatically classified as high risk and had monthly growth scans after 20 weeks and consultant lead care.

We were told at each appointment that the likelihood of being induced was higher, that the likelihood of a C-section was higher, that the birth was more likely to end in an instrumental delivery and I would need an epidural in place prior to established labour due to this. We were also told that the twins would need monitoring throughout labour, therefore I would be less able to change position and move around. At each appointment I advocated that I wanted to aim for a vaginal delivery and a C-section was a last option only if absolutely needed. I also was keen to not have an epidural if it meant I would be confined to bed and not able to move early on.

In my last pregnancy I developed thrombocytopenia (low blood platelets increasing the risk of bleeding). I once again developed it in this pregnancy and needed frequent blood tests to monitor levels, which continued to drop as the pregnancy progressed. The unfortunate thing about thrombocytopenia is that if a C-section is required and an epidural needs to be placed, if platelet levels are too low the anaesthetists would not do it due to the risk of bleeding into the spinal cord and therefore potential paralysis. As a result if a C-section was required it would need to be under general anaesthetic, which I struggled a lot with - not being awake for the birth of my babies and not having that initial skin to skin.

I also developed intrahepatic cholestasis in the latter half of the pregnancy, which was diagnosed after I began itching all over. This also caused a lot of stress as the rising bile acid levels in my blood could potentially be very dangerous to the babies. As a result I was booked in for an induction at 37 weeks.

The last trimester of a twin pregnancy is tough due to growing so quickly and being so big and it was very different to my first pregnancy during which I stayed very active. This time I struggled to walk any distance and found it hard to play with my 3 year old which caused a lot of guilt! Plus the itching from the cholestasis left me pretty miserable!

Up until this point, twin 1 was head down and twin 2 was breech. The consultant at the hospital was happy to deliver them vaginally in these positions as long as twin 1 stayed head down to 'pave the way'!

At 35+3 weeks after picking the dog up from the groomers in the afternoon, we went to the beach with our 3 year old and had a picnic for dinner. That evening I had what I thought were strong Braxton Hicks (I had these throughout both pregnancies from quite early on), however unlike before they were becoming quite strong and I was having to stop and breath through them. I didn't think anything of it though!

At 10.30 as I went to get into bed in the hope that sleep would settle the Braxton Hicks down, I felt a gush of liquid. I assumed then that my waters must have broken, however when I got up I saw that it was actually a lot of blood and it wasn't stopping. In a panic we called my parents, who only live a few minutes away, to stay with my little boy and we rushed up to the hospital and were there by 11pm (somewhat quicker than normal!). Once there I was put on the monitor and both babies were ok.The pains were getting stronger but when we spoke to the consultant, she felt it could be a placental abruption causing the bleeding and the pains. She told me I would need to stay in for 48 hours once the bleeding stopped to be monitored. I felt I was in labour however the consultant didn't seem convinced, although the intensity and regularity of the pain was increasing!

The anaesthetist also came to speak to us and explained that my platelets were at a level that if a C-section was needed for delivery, an epidural could not be safely placed and a general anaesthetic would be required, which I explained I was not happy to have unless absolutely necessary. The pains were getting stronger and the midwife offered me gas and air which I accepted. At around this point it was decided that maybe I actually was in labour as the monitor was showing increasing intensity of contractions. The doctor was called to insert an IV for antibiotics (as I had also tested positive for group B strep a few days before) and also medication to control any more potential bleeding.

The consultant conducted an ultrasound to check in on the babies and discovered that twin 2 had flipped so now they were both head down, which was great news

After only a couple hours of strong contractions I began getting the urge to push and at this point had a VE and was seen to be 9cm.

After pushing for a while with no signs of a baby, the consultant reassessed and offered to break my waters which I accepted. After this it only took a few contractions and my little boy was born at 3.15am weighing 5lb 2oz. We had skin to skin for a few minutes before his cord was cut and then the contractions began again in earnest (I think the oxytocin from the cuddles helped!). He was taken away to be assessed whilst I pushed again and 12 minutes later his sister was born weighing 4lb 14oz. She needed a little bit more support so her cord was cut straight away and she was taken to clear her airway, but after a short while they were both brought to me and I was able to have double cuddles and feed them. Despite being premies and seeming so small, they both latched on like champs and have breastfed brilliantly ever since.

We ended up staying in hospital for a week as they both had jaundice and needed light therapy and my little girl needed IV glucose and support in an incubator due to struggling with blood glucose levels and maintaining her temperature (apparently common in preterms). There was also concerns regarding infection risk as due to my short labour I hadn't had the IV antibiotics for long enough to combat the group B strep (apparently needs to be more than 4 hours). As a result both babies were given IV antibiotics as a precaution, but later tested negative for any infections so these were discontinued.

Despite the scary start and queries over whether I was actually in labour, overall I couldn't have asked for a better birth. I was able to have both babies vaginally without the need for a C-section or instrumental delivery. I was able to have the wonderful initial bonding time and start breastfeeding. I was so grateful to the staff on the labour ward and transitional care ward where they looked after the babies so well.

We eventually left hospital and the babies were able to meet their doting big brother. We feel extremely lucky to finally have our babies safely home as part of our somewhat larger family!