'Oh, I didn't see this coming...'
Those were the words from the sonographer that my husband and I will never forget at our first ultrasound viewing, which displayed two tiny hearts beating away. It was the biggest and best surprise of our life - we were expecting twins!
As beyond exciting as this news was, it also brought with it a sense of concern too, as we were immediately told that as I was pregnant with multiple foetus, it was a high risk pregnancy, as not only would my body be carrying the pressure of two babies at once, it also brought an increased risk of pregnancy conditions to the table, as it put extra stress on my organs, for which I was checked every two weeks at King Edward Memorial Hospital, where they specialise in high risk pregnancies. Being identical twins, I was also having ultra sounds every two weeks (that part I loved - being able to see my babies so frequently!) as well, to ensure I wasn't developing Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, where identical twins can receive too much or too little of nutrients, as they share the placenta.
Both of my boys were developing extremely well and my doctors even thought I'd make it between 36 weeks to full term with them and I was really beginning to see the picture in my head of sitting there in a hospital bed, cradling both babies at once - I couldn't wait to have my arms full of love.
At one of my usual appointments, I knew something was up as soon as I saw the look on my doctors face after looking at my routine results, and after half a day of many tests, I was told I had developed a pregnancy condition called pre-eclampsia, that my organs were starting to shut down, that my babies would arrive in anywhere from a few days to a month, so I was given a shot of steroids to help their lungs start developing sooner and told that a hospital bed on the ward was currently being prepared, where I'd stay until my babies arrived. I still really had no idea what was going on, it was a lot to process, I had nothing with me, nothing packed and was thinking of everything I now had to cancel (logic went out the window when the confusion came in!), including the baby shower my sister had organised for the next week.
My husband and mother were amazing and brought me what I thought I'd need for the night and arranged to bring the rest the next day and got me settled into the hospital room, with my husband staying with me until late, as I tried to process the whirlwind that was that day. The next thing I knew I was woken in the early hours of the morning to my waters breaking where shocked nurses and doctors realised these babies were coming fast and that there was no time to give a second shot of steroids to help with their development. Two and a half hours after my waters broke, my beautiful tiny babies had arrived via a natural birth at 30 weeks, with doctors allowing me a swift kiss before they were taken to the NICU. The rest of the day was a blur, as I was taken to theatre to have excess placenta removed, then to to the Adult Special Care Unit (ASCU), as I was still in a bad state from the preeclampsia, where all I remember is begging to see my babies through states of being 'out of it'. 12 hours later, my husband, who had been shuffling between the NICU and being by my side with my mother all day, was allowed to wheel me down with my oxygen on, accompanied by nurses. It felt so odd being wheeled up to a box and being told that was your baby was inside there, hooked up to all sorts of wires and contraptions, then off to another section to do the same with your other child. I remember being worried that being separated after living in each other's space for so long, that this would cause extra stress on their tiny bodies.
