My Twins Birth Story (It's a long one!)

Also posted in Pregnancy and June 09 Forum

I've had time to write this because the oh is watching football and the girls are asleep!

So as most of you know I was to be induced as the girls had stopped growing at 36 weeks, and I was then 37+6. We arrived at hospital at 8am as instructed.... I was looked at and told I was still only 2.5cm dilated but she could feel the babies head and would therefore be able to break my waters rather than give me a pesery. Come 5pm still no one had started me off! We were so p*d off! We were told there were no delivery suites available as they were all full of women giving birth. At 5:30 we were told there were now suites available, just no midwives!

One midwife offered to stay late to start me off so at 6pm she tried to break my waters but couldn't do it. Her attempts hurt so much and I was bleeding a lot, so she had to get the doc to do it.

I had a drip put in my arm & my contractions started straight away, very close together and very painful. I had the gas and air but didn't like the dizzy sicky feeling - although I carried on using it, it didn't do much for me. They then tried to put in an epidural. This was attempted three times - she couldn't get the needle between the bones where it needed to be. I was in agony when she was trying. I'm sure she was hitting a nerve and I can't describe the pain I was in! She gave up and asked her colleague to have a go. This was the FOURTH attempt! He got it in. After 2 hours of top ups though the epidural it had done nothing for me - no pain relief at all.... I was then given diamorphine which just made me sleepy - yes it helped with the pain but at 2am the midwife said 'right you're fully dilated & ready to push!' I just said 'omg I'm too tired to push' I really was! I had no energy and kept asking them to give me a c-section and get them out now!

I don't know how I managed to push but Sofia was born first at 03:23am Friday 12th June. The most painful part for me was when the head crowned. It was like a stinging/burning sensation. They put Sofia on me but straight away I started to get another contraction - I had to yell at my oh to take the baby off me before I dropped her! The head crowned again and the midwife said 'stop pushing now' but I didn't listen as I just wanted it over with and was having another contraction. Emelia was born at 03:47am. She was much easier to push out obviously as Sofia had paved the way already. But this is where I tore. (because I didn't listen!) It was a 2nd degree tear and I was stitched up after i'd delivered the placenta. I didn't notice the tearing though as the pain from the head crowning was probably the same.

I don't remember being asked if I wanted the injection for the placenta, I don't remember having it. I don't remember being stitched up and I don't remember the babies having their vitamin k injection (they did). This was all due to the diamorphine.

Because I was nearly unconscious - the nurses had to give the girls their first feed. Sofia wouldn't feed the 2nd time and was whisked away to SCBU before I came round. I woke up and Emelia was on her own.

We got to visit Sofia in SCBU before I was taken up to the Transitional Care ward with Emelia. Sofia was in a hot cot and had a tube in her nose for feeding. She stayed on SCBU for 12 hours. Emelia also had to have a tube inserted as she had probs feeding but she stayed with me. I was told this was because of their birth weights. Sofia weighed 4.5lbs, Emelia 5.5lbs. I was shocked at the difference as the consultants had plotted them to be very similar weights from their scans and they were so wrong!

Due to feeding problems, we spent 8 days under transitional care which wasn't too bad as I had so much help and even got sleep at night because the nurses fed them and changed them etc. The nurses were also fighting over who got to look after the twins - to the point of coin tossing! They were very popular! At day 8 I was crying to a midwife that the girls would never start feeding properly and we weren't going home. I felt like I was wasting them in hospital. The girls must have heard me crying because that night they suddenly started feeding properly! 2 days later and after 36 hours of pure bottle feeding we were allowed home. It felt like a lifetime but the nurses were so lovely and we thanked them all for their hard work and help.

I did get very over whelmed with the influx of visitors at one point and had to put people off coming to the hospital as we would have 4 at a time some days and it was too much for me. We're now fighting off the visitors who want to come and see them this week.... we've only been home 2 days after all. We want a chance to settle first.

If I was going to do anything different next time (IF there is a next time of course!) I would do the whole thing from start to finish on gas and air. Diamorphine made me feel out of control and unable to push properly and the epidurals didn't work and left me with a VERY bad back for 5 days (which, along with the stitches & bruising affected me picking up the girls and walking).

My Funniest moment - Was when I told the doc who actually got the epidural in that I was in love with him! (because he succeeded in getting it in, not because it worked!)


So that's my birth essay! We are totally and utterly in love with our little princesses. They are the best thing that's happened to us and the pain of labour and birth was worth it! )

Sofia on left, Emelia on right.



xx