My birth story... by Kim

My name is Kim and I live with my hubby to be Neil and my daughters Imagine 8, Chelsie 3 and our twins Ethan and Noah 4 months. When I discovered I was pregnant I was delighted, but the following day  I had extremely bad pains and so decided to go to the Hospital. They checked me and explained that they thought I was having an ectopic pregnancy, so they took some bloods and sent us on our way asking us to return two days later for another blood test.

They did this to see if my hormone levels fell or increased, luckily for us they nearly tripled. to be on the safe side they booked me if for a scan to make sure the pregnancy was developing correctly. The scan showed a peak in the early stages so they booked me in for another one 4 weeks later and it was on this one that we found out we was to have twins!
 
The sonographer who broke the news just said baby A is developing fine and baby B...

Well I soon stopped her in her tracks and asked about baby B - she thought we already knew there was 2! I can remember looking at Neil and he was laughing hysterically but I just burst out crying, thinking how I would cope with 4 children! After many scans the hospital confirmed I was carrying non identical twin boys. From the moment I met my consultant she was talking about a C section, but I stood my ground and said that unless it was an emergency I wanted to deliver naturally.
 
I spent the most of the festive period in hospital with dehydration, hocked up to a drip as I couldn't keep anything down. This didn't stop until after the birth. After Christmas I then suffered from high blood pressure so my doctor signed me off work. And in between scans and other hospital visits I just slept, a lot.

Every problem I had I was told it was because i was carrying twins. Then at Easter I was rushed to hospital with breathing problems and spent a week having injections for blood clots in my lungs, just in case the tests came back to say I had them. In the end they decided I just had a viral infection, which I was glad about.

I can remember the bigger I got the less I slept as I just couldn't get comfortable, I tried everything from pillows under my belly and back to sleeping sat up! Nothing worked and all I could do was count the weeks down thinking maybe this week would be the week they wanted to make their entrance! I felt guilty for doing this, I so wanted to enjoy my pregnancy but I wanted it to be over as soon as possible.

Around 29 weeks the hospital gave me the steroid injection to develop their lungs as I suffered about 8 hours of regular labour contractions but luckily they stopped and on I carried, until I was nearly 38 weeks.
 
I had been complaining of this niggle at the top of my belly and Neil was sick of listening to me. He persuaded me to ring the hospital and they asked me to go up for a quick check as they thought it was just because I was carrying twins! Well off I went leaving the plumber and my stew and dumplings bubbling away in the slower cooker. Laid on the bed thinking of what a waste of time the visit to the hospital would turn out to be, when the consultant and midwife came and asked to examine me to be on the safe side.

Of course I agreed and can just remember them looking at each other, with confused expressions. They asked how I felt and on a scale of one to ten how the pain measured. I said I felt great and the pain was about 3!
 
They asked me to lay back and just said "your doing well to say your half way to delivering your boys!" I turned to Neil and told him to go home have a shower, eat his tea and pay the plumber. This was at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I called my mum to arrange for her to watch the girls and then I sat back and waited for something to happen. At half 3 they walked me down to the delivery suit and in came the consultant and said it wouldn't be long and they would be here. So I text Neil to hurry up with my nightie and things I wanted, he soon arrived freshly shaved and smelling of stew and dumplings!

The midwife went of duty at about 6 and on came another one telling me that I was doing great but they thought I'd of had them by now. The pain was getting a little worse so they brought the anaesthetist in to discuss the epidural to me and asked if I wanted it now.  I said not yet as my previous experience with them wasn't good. I tried the gas and air but felt slightly sick so I just carried on without until I really was in pain and so I had the epidural, but unlucky for me I reacted to it and my body ballooned, every bit of me!

So they decided to give me a old style epidural which makes your legs really heavy. At midnight I showed signs of wanting to push so they wheeled me round the operating theatre to be more prepared, the two midwifes, anaesthetist, two baby doctors, two nurses and the consultant piled in there with us!  At half one after some pathetic pushing on my half due to the epidural the consultant said he wanted to try suction to pull them out, but then said if it didn't work I would after have a C section. With a little bit of help at 2 o'clock baby A was born and twenty minutes later baby B. Baby B weed all over the doctor when he was checking him over and so we decided he would be Noah weighing 5lb 6oz and baby A would be Ethan weighing 5lb15oz.
 
I had to spend the weekend in hospital for observations on me and the twins because I carry group b strep and I'm rhesus negative. Once home and into a routine we all settled very easily into family life with 4 children! The girls still do dancing twice a week and Neil gets to the rugby whenever he can. Life still goes on but around feeds and sleeps, a good routine that works for everyone is the best way to deal with a large family.

We recently went to Menorca and all the children behaved really well and the boys enjoyed the flight and the attention they got. The only snag is when we go shopping, it takes longer not because of the twins but because of people stopping saying how cute they are but that they don't envy me! I wouldn't change my life for anything, we all feel very privileged to have the boys and the girls.

I love being a mum to twins and everything it's brought with it. Although some days are better than others I always go to bed smiling and feeling happy.
 
Kim, Neil, Imagine, Chelsie, Ethan and Noah
Drighlington, West Yorkshire