One of each!

• I went into hospital to complain!
• People kept prodding me
• I cried my eyes out!

I was booked in for a c-section at 39 weeks (17th July 2002) because both my twins were breech. My pregnancy was fairly easy despite my HUGE bump but, at 38 weeks, I had horrific back pain and was in absolute agony.

I went into hospital to complain on the Saturday and the Sunday before my c-section, in the hope that they would take me in and get those babies out of me but they wouldn't! On the Monday (15th July) I woke up in so much pain it was unbelievable. My back was going into spasm and I called my doctor to make an emergency appointment to get some strong painkillers. Then I started to get worried, thinking that maybe this was finally labour. I called the hospital and they wanted me to go in just in case. My boyfriend Paul and I got a taxi to the hospital at about 10am with my hospital 'bag' which was in fact a suitcase and a bag!

The midwife asked me loads of questions and tried to find out if my waters had broken, as I explained I'd only had a trickle which I thought was my bladder giving up slightly from the pressure! Eventually she gave me an internal examination and discovered that I was 4cm dilated! From then on, things went mental. People rushed in and out of the room prodding me and asking me questions. Then the consultant examined me 10 minutes later and I was 6cm dilated! I was terrified but relieved that this was finally it - my babies would soon be born and I didn't have to wait another 2 days!

I was given gas and air until they could figure out what to do with me. The anaesthetist thought I may have to have a general anaesthetic because I had had low platelet counts throughout my pregnancy. This really upset me as I had always hoped for a natural birth and now I wouldn't even be awake to hold my babies. At the last minute, I was allowed to have an epidural with a c-section. Once I had that everything, chilled out totally! It was such a relief to be rid of the pain after so long. Everyone in the delivery room seemed excited about twins being born which I found strange.

Paul sat beside me watching as they cut me open and I felt them rummaging around! It was weird but not at all painful. At 11.50am they produced the first baby and the consultant asked Paul if he could see what it was. He announced that it was a boy. Luca screamed his little heart out and I cried my eyes out! Four minutes later, the second was born and Paul told me it was a girl. I was overjoyed. All through the pregnancy we had hoped for a girl and a boy but never thought that we would get them. Paul held the twins while I was stitched up and then I held them, one in each arm, as I was wheeled to a recovery room where I breastfed Meg and Luca for the first time. In the end it was a scary but short delivery and it was absolutely worth any amount of pain.

Where to next?

• Read the full birth story
• Read accounts of different types of birth
• Read accounts of other caesarean births