My Birth Story by Orla

I met my husband in January 2006 and got married in the September. We decided to start trying for a family immediately but I knew there was something wrong as my periods only lasted for about 10 hours per month and were very very light. I was fortunate to get referred to the most amazing consultant (who later became my Obstetrician ) and he discovered that I had endometriosis. He operated on me in February 2007 and by the end of March I knew I was pregnant !! We couldn't believe it as he had warned me that it may take a little time.

The day I found out was the day the sickness started. I vomited day in day out and even throughout the night - it was shocking. By 8 weeks my aunt told me I was expecting twins. She had given birth to twins some 20 years before, and she too had been so ill from day one, something she hadn't experienced with her singleton pregnancies. The curiosity was killing me so I paid for a private scan at 9 weeks and sure enough they told me that there were 2 sacks and 2 foetal poles !!! We were over the moon !!! My husband was in shock for a couple of days but soon came round to the idea and when my 12 week scan came around, we were told that all was well and they were developing nicely.

Every day I prayed that the sickness would end and I would start feeling better - I was eagerly awaiting the "glow" that you apparently get when you are pregnant but it never came. I had acne, piles, horrific vomiting and by the time I was 16 weeks, I looked like I was 8 months pregnant. I am normally a size 10 so you could really notice how big I was getting and by 30 weeks I had put on 4.5 stone - I don't know how as I am sure I didn't keep a meal down the whole time. Every other week I asked my consultant whether I would start feeling better and every time he assured me that the sicker you are, the healthier the pregnancy. That was the only thing that kept me going - the knowledge that my babies were healthy. At 30 weeks I was told that they were already 4lbs each !! I have to be honest, I don't think there was a day that I didn't cry my eyes out. I was still working full time and commuting into London was a nightmare. I could barely get out of the bath, which was the only thing that gave me any comfort as sleeping had become a distant memory.

In late October at 32 weeks I called my Mum and told her that I had had enough and could not go on any further - she insisted that I called work and told them that I was not coming back and that afternoon my consultant told me to stay at home and rest. I looked like I had been blown up with a pump, everything was swollen - even my nose !! I was always sweating and hot, I was still being sick and was well and truly exhausted. When I read articles and spoke to people who were "loving their pregnancy and had never felt better" I wanted to kill them. How was this possible when I spent every day dreaming of when the day came to have them so that this nightmare would be over. Looking back now, I was lucky really as although I was so sick, I never actually had a problem such as bleeding or pre-eclampsia like so many woman with multiples.

I had a scan at 33 weeks and as I was going into the consulting room, I thought that my waters had broken… it turned out that I had wet myself. It sounds so funny now but I cried and cried and the consultant and 2 midwives tried to calm me down for about an hour whilst explaining that my bladder was under so much pressure from the pregnancy. My poor Mum was crying too and insisted that they gave me a date for the c section. I had been told at 28 weeks that I would not be able to deliver them naturally as they were laying breech and transverse. So, the consultant gave me a date at 37 weeks. I got home and cried some more not knowing how I would get through the next 3 weeks. Everyone said that I would never get there and would go into labour as I was now so big that my Mum had to help me to the loo. My poor husband was as anxious as I was and couldn't wait for my date to come. It made me realise how fortunate I was to have a caring and supportive partner because those days were a real test on our relationship.

At 35 weeks on the Friday morning I called my consultant and told him that he would have to bring the date forward as I could no longer bear it so he agreed and booked me in for the Monday week. On the Sunday I went with my sister and Mum to see my brother in West London, even though my husband had warned me that Chelsea and Fulham were playing that day and the traffic would be a disaster. I started getting pains and feeling very strange at about 12pm and by 3pm Mum decided that she would take me via St Thomas' where they could check that I was ok. I had two friends who had had their babies there in recent months and they had been excellent but after 2 hours in the car stuck in traffic we got there only to be told that they were full and they had a waiting room full of their own patients to see before me and I should make my way to my own hospital. Mum called Whipps Cross and they assured her that they would be waiting for me. By 8pm and after nearly 4 hours of sitting in traffic, hysterical and now in agony we arrived at the hospital. True to their word there were 2 midwives waiting for me and they took me straight into a delivery suit. I was in mild labour but was not dilated.

They gave me pain relief and I saw a duty doctor who said that he was unwilling to make any decisions until he had talked to my consultant who was on holiday ! By Monday afternoon I was on morphine and was now vomiting every 20 mins and in walked my consultant straight from the airport ! I couldn't believe it - he looked at me, looked at the nurses and said "prepare her for theatre" then looked at my husband and said "prepare yourself as in 40 mins or so you will be a father" - they did my C-section and at 7.00 pm on Monday 12th November 2007 Michael Joseph Wright was born weighing 6lbs 8 oz then at 7.02pm Darcey Mary Wright was born weighing 5.6lbs. I was so out of it that I only remember vague parts, but I do remember thinking that they were the smallest things I had ever seen, even though everyone assured me that they were very big for 5 week premature twins.

Whipps Cross Hospital were superb in every way - the staff were brilliant and looked after me and the babies so well that I was positively petrified to leave and go home. The past 6 months have been full of ups and downs, learning all the basics of child care and motherhood as well as coping with sleepless nights and stressful days but everytime I felt down or like I wasn't coping I looked at them and felt so much love that it made it all worthwhile. Now they are the funniest, sociable, gorgeous babies and have such wonderful personalities. Its become second nature to me now and when I see people or hear them complain about their one baby I laugh. When I am not with them I miss them so much and cannot wait to get home to them. I have never had one baby so I don't know whether you feel differently about twins - all I do know is that I have learnt so much and cannot imagine what life was like before they came.

The 35 weeks of pregnancy with all its drama and illness were worth every minute and I would do it all again to have another set of beautiful twins.

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Page last updated: 25-Jun-2008

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