My birth story... by Kerry

It was July 2007 and this pregnancy seemed to last forever! Being an IVF pregnancy I found out I was pregnant bang on 4 weeks and then that I was expecting twins at 6 weeks. I discovered the sex of the twins at my 12 week neuchal scan - one little boy and one little girl!. My then 3 year old daughter was so excited and we began planning for their arrival. I believed that being twins I could probably knock at least one month off the end of the pregnancy presuming they would arrive at least 4 weeks early….or so I thought...

At the regular scans I was told that they were going to be huge for twins - they estimated that my little boy would be an 8 pounder and my little girl at least 7 - I really did feel like I was carrying a huge lump of concrete around my middle. Towards the end of the pregnancy everything felt so compacted in my tummy and my legs had swollen like tree trunks - very attractive! I worked until 34 weeks and then waited….and waited…and waited a little more. My scans came and went and by 37 weeks I remember begging my consultant to get them out! He promised he would discuss matters the following week and just kept saying 'healthy mother, healthy babies, why mess?' I gave him a hundred reasons but he wouldn't change his mind.

Then finally on the Monday of my 38th week he agreed to induce me. I sighed with relief as he got out his diary only to tell me that the ward was already booked solid and they could not induce me until the following Monday. I somehow stopped myself bursting into tears but had to accept I would then be 39 weeks. I consoled myself with the thought that perhaps my big babies would make an appearance naturally before then. Of course they didn't, so when Monday finally came around it was with great excitement and relief that I organised my little girl with her grandparents and got meals in the fridge for hubby to cover what I thought would be a lengthy stay in hospital and off we went.

It was a beautiful sunny Monday morning and I remember getting so many good luck texts on the car journey, with me smugly answering back that I'd soon have good news to tell them (we hadn't told anybody the sexes of the babies.) Unfortunately it wasn't quite to be. The ward was short staffed and 6 heavily pregnant women were dispatched to the ward and asked to wait until more midwives and birthing rooms became available before anyone could be induced. I was first on the list as I was the only one expecting twins (see there's always some benefit!) and finally at 6pm I was induced for the first time.

The pressure was really on now as they wouldn't induce any of the other ladies until I went into labour. I felt they were all watching every move I made but as nothing seemed to be happening there wasn't much for them to see. I finally sent hubby home at 8pm, who by now, was going out of his head with boredom!

Suddenly at 10pm contractions started fairly fast and painful in comparison to what I could remember from having my little girl. Finally my twins were on their way - about time too! Through gasps I rang hubby who had just settled down with a takeaway and promised to come as quickly as he could. I was taken down to a lovely big room and given an epidural. Having not had one with my previous birth I spent the next few hours telling the midwives how amazing it was and why didn't I have one before!! Helen my midwife was absolutely fantastic. She dimmed the lights, kept topping up the epidural and the three of us chatted through the night until at dawn I was told it was time to push.  Compared to the drama of my first very natural labour this was a really lovely experience, until now!

Having had so much epidural I couldn't feel anything and really struggled to know when to push. After letting the epidural wear off a little it got no easier until eventually the registrar was called in as my son who was due to be born first was getting distressed. It transpired that he had been head down and squashed for so many weeks by his sister, he was actually trapped by my pelvis bone and would never have come out through pushing alone.

The drama really began at this point. With the epidural wearing off I was in a lot of pain and trying to listen to everything I was being told, signing consent forms etc and being wheeled into theatre. I begged them not to do a C- Section but was given a spinal block just in case. However the amazing (and very big!) team managed to get Isaac out with forceps at 6.50am weighing a healthy 6lb 12 oz and Poppy followed about 10 minutes later weighing in at 7lb 3 oz. Not as big as they thought but still pretty impressive! After being stitched up and bit of sickness from the drugs I was back in my room within an hour and attempting to breast feed my two babies together. I don't know if it was the adrenaline or drugs but I was on an absolute high for the next 24 hours feeling so deliriously happy and proud of myself.

My only downer was the next morning, only 24 hours after giving birth to two babies they said I could go home. I was expecting a few days of pampering! I'd been so spoilt by the wonderful staff during my short stay that I negotiated staying the rest of the day (until after dinner anyway!) and then myself, my husband and my little girl proudly left the hospital with our two bundles of joy!

Hope you enjoyed our birth story!

Kerry & Rob Scarlett the big sis and twins Isaac William & Poppy Ava xx