Birth story - Samira and baby boy and girl

*Trigger Warning* - Mention of contractions

It has been 3 months roughly since this happened and I think I have finally found the headspace and time to write about it. It was definitely not an experience I could have expected or pictured, however I think the thing to remember is, I survived it, and I fought hard - and I really think this wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the knowledge sought from the Positive Birth Company! Keep this positive afterthought in mind ladies!

PREGNANCY:

My husband and I were trying but sort of half-heartedly with the "lets see if it happens attitude." I had never tried before and to be honest, I didn't even know how to do the ovulation math very well! Come December 2020, it turned out that I had fallen pregnant, due to a conception date that I didn't even know was a possible ovulation day!

The first initial surprise of course, was that we had made twins! I was in complete shock when the nurse told me, during an early scan - two sacs, two heartbeats, two little jellybean-looking things! My husband was so much calmer than me, and said he had foreseen it.

It turns out that it is in my genetics to release two eggs - my Mum was pregnant with twins when she had me, but lost the other baby at 17 weeks. She then went on to have my twin brother and sister - so it seems that the twin-making gene was passed on to me!

The first 3 months of my pregnancy were quite hard - I think I had double the hormones, double the morning sickness - it lasted pretty much the whole first trimester - however as I fell in to the second and third, my health was completely fine, and to be honest I think I handled carrying two lives like a pro!

BIRTH:

By week 36 - 38, I was being inundated with information from midwives and doctors about twin pregnancies and risks, and lo and behold, was being offered the planned induction that the PBC talks about. I found these weeks hard. I was exhausted, swollen and completely fed up. Plus I felt like my close people around me were also a little fed up of my moaning! But, I stuck to my guns, resisting the induction, saying I wanted a natural birth, plus I had 0 health complications, so I really didn't see the need - also my little girl had turned from bum first to head down during this time - which so many midwives said was unlikely (such a proud mummy!) - so it just goes to show that no one ever knows!

By week 38, I was ready to go in for a sweep, to get an idea of how far dilated I was, to see how likely it was that the little twinnies would come soon. It was a Tuesday - I was expecting the sweep on a Friday - but got a call whilst sat in the dentist with my Mum, asking me to come in for a sweep (what disastrous admin!). Initially I declined, but after a chat with my Mum, I decided to go in that day, as I had nothing else to do!

Once in, the midwife gave me a sweep (only a little uncomfortable) and said I was already 1cm dilated! I was really happy about that! She gave me possible further induction options, and using my BRAIN, I decided to go for the balloon catheter as it had no hormones.

After about 12 hours of wearing it, I was lying in bed at the hospital, and I suddenly felt that involuntary trickle everyone talks about. A huge grin came on my face, as I really wanted everything to happen on its own accord. I leapt up to buzz for a nurse, and showed them the patch on my bed - she confirmed that part of my waters for my little boy had broken - however she said that I now had 24 hours to deliver, as he could not be in an exposed sac for longer than that - this is why I never actually left the hospital.

After some waiting, I eventually ended up being taken to a delivery suite. This was about another day later. The problem at this point was that I had had very little sleep since the moment I had entered - due to the constant monitoring of the little ones heartbeats, and I think my anxiety and excitement - so in hindsight, I was exhausted, sleep-deprived and not as prepared as I would have liked to have been.

My husband and my Mum were in the room with me. Two midwives came and manually broke my little boy's waters fully - I used gas and air while they did this, as it was painful - but to be honest gas and air just made me feel quite out of control, so I barely used it after this. I couldn't believe how much water gushed out of me - nothing can prepare you for that!

Then, it was crazy, within about 20 minutes of the waters breaking, after a little cup of tea and a bit of down time, labour ramped up so quickly. At first I was counting with my Mum, and doing up-breathing fairly well, but within an hour, my contractions had got to about 2/3 minutes apart.

This speed continued for 5 hours - to the point that I was 7cm dilated, with contractions about a minute apart, sometimes even less! The midwives said that on average women dilate 1/2 cm an hour and I was at a rate of 1.5 cm each hour! I really do think that was due to my up-breathing and moving around - thanks PBC!

As I got near to the fifth hour, I was beginning to lose strength. The contractions were incredibly intense and close together. My mouth was so dry from all the breathing (which I could barely do accurately by this point), my head was light and I was feeling dizzy. The fast-paced nature of the labour had taken it out of me. I kept calling out that I just needed a 10 minute break and then I could muster the strength to do it - but, of course, that wasn't an option!

At this time, I ended up opting for an epidural. I still tried to weigh up the pros and cons between intense contractions - in hindsight I laugh at how determined I was! However, I had to give in, and as soon as it was put in place, it was blissful! We all sat for another 4 hours, falling in and out of sleep, until my cervix had got to 10cm dilated!

For about 2 hours I tried with all my might to push my boy out through the canal, but it was so difficult given that I was numb waist down.

Eventually, the doctor arrived and explained to me that it had been 24 hours since he had been out of his waters, which was dangerous for him, and that also my little girl's heart rate kept dropping, so she recommended a cesarean.

I have to be honest, after all of that labour, I was in the moment, gutted. But I knew that I had done all I could at that point, and it was the best option.

I was wheeled down, and within literally 15 minutes, my little boy was placed on my chest, and my little girl was in my husband's arms...

The doctor came round to see me after and apologised that my birth plan wasn't kept to and assured me that if I were to have single pregnancy next time, that I had the approach and health to deliver naturally.

AFTER THOUGHT:

I went in and out of many emotions about this experience - I'm naturally quite hard on myself so I had regrets, but now that I have had enough time to digest it all, what I can take from it is that any knowledge is power for this experience. We have no idea what we'll face, especially us twin mothers, but coming in armed and aware really helped me, and I think stopped this knowledge stopped other health complications happening. It also gave me the confidence that next time, I will be able to be even more in control.

Anyway, for now my husband and I have a GORGEOUS son and daughter and 3 months in, I am rarely thinking about inductions and contractions and more about the entire lifetime that lays ahead of me with these two!