Moving house and giving birth to twins!
babyworld member emmasleeth had a good excuse for getting out of the unpacking after she moved house!- Collecting the keys
- I thought this was going to be a breeze
- I tried doing jumping jacks
- The consultant, literally, gave a helping hand
It was Friday 8th October 2004 and we got a phone call from our estate agent telling us we could collect the keys to our first home. I looked down at my bump and said "You can come anytime now 'cos we have a home". Little did I know but they would!
After spending the weekend moving boxes into our new home I felt a bit tired but nothing more than when I had been at work, so I expected my 36-week prenatal appointment to go smoothly. My appointment was at 2pm on Monday 11th October.
I thought this was going to be a breeze
At my appointment, I gave a urine sample and went for my scan, which showed my twins were doing fine. I then went to have my blood pressure checked and was told I had high levels of protein in my urine, that my blood pressure was reading 181/124 and, after looking at my swollen ankles, I wouldn't be going home. I was admitted to the maternity ward.
I was examined about an hour later and the midwife did a sweep. She told me I was already 3cm dilated! I was thrilled as I hadn't felt a thing … I thought this was going to be a breeze. The midwife told me that because I was already dilating then labour would be soon but, by Tuesday morning, nothing had happened so I was given a pessary at about 10am. The midwife said would definitely start me off.
Still nothing happened. I tried doing jumping jacks and eating a curry for my tea but nothing was going to shift these babies. My consultant came to see me later that night and explained that I had pre-eclampsia and that if I didn't give birth soon then my life and that of my babies could be in danger. By this time my ankles were the size of footballs.
On Wednesday morning, I had my waters broken at around 9:30am and was told not to eat. At 11am, I was put on a drip to start my contractions and, within 5 minutes, they were coming every 2 minutes and they felt like REALLY BAD period pains. I asked my midwife if I could get up on all fours as this eases my period pains but she said I had to remain on my back so they could monitor the twins. This was agony as all my pain was in my back.
At 1pm I got a new midwife who was a lot friendlier and she agreed that if she could get good heartbeats with me on my knees then she was willing to do that. This was so comforting. At 4pm I had a TENS unit fitted and this greatly reduced the pain and I liked the fact that I was in control of the intensity. At 6pm, the midwife wanted me to have an epidural in case I needed to have a c-section but I wanted to hold out as long as possible. At 7.15pm, I finally relented and the epidural was put in. Before it could take effect I was told to start pushing as I had gone from being 3cm dilated to 9cm in a matter of minutes!
The consultant, literally, gave a helping hand
The first twin got stuck and needed the aid of both the ventouse and forceps. I also needed an episiotomy but, at 8:30pm, my little girl was born and my partner named her Allegra.
At this point, I remember saying my toes had gone numb.
The second twin did not want to be born and, after 5 minutes, the consultant decided to give a helping hand, literally. He reached inside of me and pulled the second twin out by its feet. Unfortunately its head got stuck and so the forceps were used again and I was also cut some more. My baby boy was born at 8:45pm and I named him Daelen.
After a lot of stitching, I could finally hold my babies and it was the best feeling ever. The twins were weighed about an hour after birth and they weighed 5lb 7oz and 5lb 11oz. Both were healthy.
Two days later, Allegra became jaundiced and had to be strapped to a Billie bed which was horrible as I could only hold her when she fed. Eight days after being admitted, we were all discharged and came home to our new house. The good thing was that, whilst I had been in hospital, my partner and my parents had done most of the unpacking and the house was pretty sorted, although I must admit that the boxes that weren't unpacked were still in the spare room 16 weeks on!
Where to next?
- Read the full birth story
- Read accounts of different types of birth
- Read accounts of other caesarean births