Birth story - Rebecca and babies Freya and Olive

We found out we were expecting identical twins at our 12 week scan and as you can imagine it was a massive shock! It took a while to get our head around it as our son had only just turned one and so we were faced with having 3 kids under 2!

I knew I wanted to try hypnobirthing and started the digital pack at around 30 weeks. I had suffered PTSD after the birth of my son due to his delivery via forceps and lack of time for sufficient pain relief, I knew this time round that I wanted to feel more in control than I did before and make more informed decisions.

Due to my babies sharing a placenta I was scanned every 2 weeks throughout my pregnancy, I was informed by the consultant that twin babies could be induced at 37 weeks and I decided this would be the best decision for us. I feel extremely lucky that my pregnancy ran smoothly without any complications, my girls averaged the same weights all the way through and I felt fit and well.

At my 36 week scan I spoke with the consultant and I made the decision to be induced the following week at exactly 37 weeks. At this point my patner and I sat down and completed my birth preferences. I always knew all the way through my pregnancy that, due to me having twins, there would be a fair bit of medical intervention which I was ok with, I asked for a calm environment and no unnecessary people to be in the room. I felt better writing ‘preferences’ rather than a ‘plan’, my first birth went the complete opposite to my plan and it left me feeling heartbroken, having preferences and accepting that these preferences may have to adapt depending on the situation made me feel more in control.

At 37 weeks i went off to the hospital ready to have my first pessery inserted, however when I was examined they found I was already 2cm dilated, this made me happy as it meant I wouldn’t require the pessery and I went on to the waiting list to go to the labour ward for my waters breaking. Unfortunately it was extremely busy and I had to wait 4 days before they had the room for me (at the time this felt extremely frustrating but looking back now this gave me the opportunity to have some much needed rest rather than running around after my very active 19 month old son!) Over these four days I felt tightenings but nothing regular and so spent my time bouncing on a birth ball and doing laps of the hospital.

Finally we were told that labour ward was ready for us and so we headed down. I was examined and I was now 3-4 cm. I spent some time with my partner and the midwife going through my birth preferences, I had put down that I possibly wanted an epidural but was not sure, after speaking to my midwife and using my BRAIN I decided that due to the higher possibility of intervention in labour which was what led to my previous birth trauma that I did want to go ahead with an epidural.

The midwife then proceeded to break my waters, this is probably the only time in my birth that I felt afraid as I assumed it would hurt however it really didn’t and I was pleasantly surprised. After this I bounced on my birth ball and started to get regular surges. I used my breathing techniques that I had learned from the digital pack and as they became stronger I also used gas and air.

I was re-examined and was now 7cm dilated and so the midwife arranged for my epidural. My surges were quite strong by this point and coming every 2-3 mins, I was advised to keep very still while the epidural was administered which definitely wasn’t easy with the surges but I managed to do so with the help of my partner and midwife.

The epidural took affect (wow you really can’t feel anything) and I was able to have a little nap. My blood pressure did drop at this point and so I was given a drip and twin 1 heart rate went up slightly but the Midwife’s monitored it closely and she was ok. I was rechecked and had got to 10 cm dilated and told it was time to push. The midwife advised me I had an hour to push and if twin 1 had not arrived then we would be going to theatre for assistance, I was fine with this as I was confident in the pain relief from the epidural and still felt in control. A doctor also examined me and stated that the twin 1 was back to back.

As I had had an epidural I could no longer feel when I was having a surge however my midwife coached me when to push and how to do it. She was amazing and at 12:04am my first baby girl was born.

My surges started to slow down and there was much hussle and bussle and more talk about theatre but i think my midwife was really determined because she coached me and encouraged me to push with everything I had and at 12:15am my second little girl came into the world.

I had three tears, one a 2nd degree that my midwife quickly stitched up. My girls had their first feed. We were very lucky that we were able to go home the same day and start enjoying time as a family with our son

This truly was a healing experience. The digital pack gave me the tools and knowledge to make informed decisions that were right for me. The breathing techniques really do help in those early stages. Thank you so much, I only wish I had known about it with my first baby xx