My Birth Story - Induced with Twins at 37 weeks.

Ok, so it's been 4 weeks since the babies were born but I am finally ready to write up my birth story (while they sleep)... or what I can remember of it!

It was such a blur and it all seemed like it happened so fast!

At first, I started writing things down as they happened in my notes on my phone, but the contractions came in thick and fast and I soon forgot all about documenting the process, lost all track of time and occasionally didn't have a clue what was going on! So here's my best attempt at telling the story.

I was booked in to be induced on the 29th of October at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. I was exactly 37 weeks and so ready to have the babies! They don't give you a time, they just ring you on the day and tell you when to come in. I supposed this is so they can make sure they have space for you in the induction ward after other women have moved on.

I was so anxious waiting for the call, eventually it got to about 1pm so I decided to give them a ring and see when it was likely I would be going in. They told me it was super busy in the hospital and they didn't think they would have a space available for me until the evening. They told me to chill out at home and come in for 7.30pm when they could be sure they would have a bed.

It was a nice relief knowing I would have the evening to relax, get a decent meal with Jay (before we became a family of 4) and I was excited to start the induction process in the evening where I could potentially get a bit of sleep during the night, as I had been told the process could take days!

We drove down to the hospital and we were both incredibly calm. It was a surreal feeling knowing the next time I left we would have 2 babies with us! Jay got my hospital bag from the backseat and we kissed goodbye outside the hospital doors. It was so sad to leave him. I was upset that due to covid he would not be allowed in the hospital with me during the induction process and I had no idea how long the process would be and when I would see him next. I felt so sorry for him that he had to go home alone and just wait around for a call but in a way I knew that if the process did take a while, it would be incredibly boring for him, and he was much better off staying at home, getting the house ready for the babies and enjoying his last bit of free time for a while to play video games!

I walked up to the induction ward, where I was shown around the place and taken to my bed. It was dark as it was evening and super peaceful. I got checked over by a midwife and she was happy for me to start the induction process. She explained it all to me. I knew there were a few different methods I was going to be induced with a 24 hour pessary. It just looked like a piece of string, it really didn't look like much. She said it would stay in for the 24 hours, potentially less and she would check me over again and see how I was doing and how many cm's dilated I was. This was at 8.40pm.

At around 11pm, I noticed I was starting to get period like pains. I thought maybe it was nothing as I was told it could take a while for things to progress. The pain gradually got worse and worse and the midwife came to check on me. She asked if I was ok and I told her I had started to get some pains. She told me she could hear me breathing really heavily and thats why she came to check. She asked if I'd like pain relief and by this point the pains were super uncomfortable and quite regular so I said yes. I'm usually the sort of person who doesn't even take paracetamol but I definitely needed it!

At 12.40am she gave me some cocodamol and said she would check on me in half an hour and if I was still in pain she would hook me up to the fetal monitoring machine to monitor how the babies were doing.

She came back at 1.30am and the pain was still pretty bad. She hooked me up to the machine to check on the babies and both heartbeats were fine. She could see I was still in a lot of pain and could see on the machine I was having regular contractions so decided to do a cervical examination. I looked at her face and she looked quite surprised/worried and she said "Congratulations, you're in active labour! You're 3cm so the pessary can come out and you will be ready to have your waters broken soon, we just need to wait for a space for you on the labour ward"

Now, I think the reason she looked quite worried is because there were 2 other women on the induction ward waiting for spaces on the labour ward. Those women did not look like they were in any pain however and were there before me. I think my body just reacted very quickly to the pessary, which is why my pain was so intense. The babies were also super low to begin with and she midwife could feel their heads during the cervical exam as well.

The midwife asked if I would like to get in the bath to alleviate some of the pain while I waited for a bed on the labour ward and jumped at the opportunity. This was about 2am. I was in there for an hour (maybe longer). I was in agony and every time I sat up and thought about getting out, I just couldn't face it but I decided I had been in there long enough so I got out. This is when I noticed some blood as I got out of the bath and I could tell things had progressed further.

After the bath the pain got a lot worse. I walked back to by bed on the ward and bounced on the pregnancy ball for a while. I had no idea contractions could be THIS painful! The midwife came to check on me again and made me comfortable while I waited for a space on the ward and hooked me up to the fetal monitoring machine again while talking me through the contractions and giving me gas and air. She could see the contractions were super close together and I was in excruciating pain so she said she would call up the labour ward and try to get me a space ASAP.

While I was waiting, I just kept inhaling the gas and air. I'm not sure if it did much but it was certainly a distraction to get me through the contractions. The midwife came back and finally they had a space on the labour ward! She told me to call Jay to tell him to come in as he was allowed on the labour ward with me as we would have our own private room. I rang him to come down immediately with the baby bag and then I got in a wheelchair, with my gas and air and got taken up to the room where I would give birth.

Most of this is a blur. The pain I experienced was something else. It was so bad, there is a period of time which was just absolute chaos and it's really hard to recall what happened. I was in agony. A pain that I can't even describe but I had to wait ages for my epidural.

Disclaimer - I don't want to put anyone off having an in induction, yes the pain was AWFUL - so bad I thought I would pass out but my body reacted abnormally quick to the hormones and everyones's experience is different.

I was advised to have an epidural (at my 32 week consultant appointment) given it was a twin pregnancy. I was against having one. I really didn't like the thought of all the side effects and things that could go wrong. Although unlikely, I didn't want to risk it. However, the pain I was in... I was desperate to have one! Unfortunately, the anaesthetists were in surgery so I had to make do with gas and air for a little while. I inhaled so much of the stuff!

Everything was a bit of a blur from then until I had the epidural. I know at one point Jay entered the room and I didn't even acknowledge him. I was also being hooked up to the CTG machine, while having a canula fitted in my hand and the epidural administered - now that the anaesthetists were free. At one point there were so many healthcare proffessionals running around me in the room but i was delirious from the pain. I had no idea who was putting what into me, I was just been prodded with needles while sucking on the gas and air and crying in pain.

The next thing I remember was calm. No pain. The epidural worked so well! And was such a relief to have a rest because I was so exhausted from the pain. Me and Jay slept for a few hours on and off. In the meantime, midwives came in and out to check on me and monitor my progress. At one point Shiloh (twin 1 - which is the twin they determined will be born first) had an abnormal heart beat. They clipped a fetal scalp electrode on her head (while she was still inside me) and this helped to monitor her heart rate better.

By about 4pm I was 10 cms dialated. The midwife said "ok you are ready to push!"

I'm not sure what I expected. I didn't feel pressure, I didn't feel the urge to push. I didnt feel pain or anything (because of the epidural). I imagined giving birth like the movies, screaming and shouting "the baby is coming! I can feel it" - but no. The midwife explained how to push the baby out. She said imagine I was having a poo. It did cross my mind that if I was going to push like I was having a poo, maybe I would just poo?? But when your legs are in the air and your vagina is out in front of 10 strangers (at one point) you don't care if you poo!

I put my legs up on some stirrups. They said to hold my breath while I pushed and do that for 10 seconds then have a break to breathe out. Because I had had the epidural, I had no idea how hard I was pushing, I had no idea if I was actually getting the babies out but I just made sure I pushed as hard as I could. The midwives cheered me on, told me I was doing a good job and that the baby was coming out so I felt relieved I was doing it right! Despite feeling no pain, pushing was still hard. It was physically demanding and exhausting but I was extremely relieved I had had the pain relief in the end!

I must have only been pushing for 20mins or less and Shiloh (twin 1) was born. She didn't cry and I started to panic. 2 doctors rushed her off to the side of the room while 2 other doctors came to my bedside to manipulate my stomach. This was to make sure Phoenix (twin 2) didn't become breech and remained head down. I couldn't see Shiloh. The doctors standing over her were blocking my view. She wasn't making any noise at all and I asked if she was OK. I was told she was fine and that I needed to start pushing to get the other baby out. I didn't know this at the time, but Jay told me she had to have an oxygen mask put on her. So I'm glad I didn't see her. However, since I was so concerned about her, I just wanted to get Phoenix out as quick as possible so I could make sure Shiloh was ok.

When they told me to push I pushed as hard as I could. So hard in fact that after maybe 5 pushes, Phoenix (twin 2) was born, almost flying off the end of the bed, and caught like a rugby ball by the midwife!

I heard his little cry. Then at the side of the room, I heard Shiloh finally cry too! I was so relieved and so happy. I was incredibly exhausted, but they came over with both babies and put one in each arm. I remember thinking "omg I've just done all the hard work, surely Jay can hold one of them!" 😂I couldn't even lift my arms! Anyway, it was a lovely photo in the end!

At one point (I don't remember if this was before or after they handed me the babies) the midwife had to give me a few stitches as I had a slight tear. Im not really sure where the tear was because I wasn't in a lot of pain after the labour luckily and I also bravely inspected the damage in the mirror when I got home and I couldn't see any difference down there from pre-pregnancy. I think since I had twins, they were smaller than the average babies so luckily they didn't do too much damage! But it's amazing how quickly your body can heal.

Jay eventually had one of the babies off me and we were given bottles to feed them. I wanted to express milk myself and formula feed but the midwives knew I was tired and suggested I bottle feed for the first night. Eventually the room emptied slowly, and it was just the midwives left who said they would give us some time alone as a family. We fed the babies and then someone brought us some tea and toast. I don't remember much from the few hours we spent together after the babies were born. It went so fast! I do remember the tea and toast... I WAS STARVING! The midwives that helped me deliver the babies ended up finishing their shift maybe an hour after the babies were born so they came back in the room to say goodbye and to introduce me to the midwives that were taking over from them. The midwives that came in told me to leave the babies with them and Jay and told me to get in the shower. They said to Jay "Dad, get mum some clothes to change into from her bag"... Jay got me some clothes but forgot to give me underwear! So I had to come back out naked and get some from him. He also had to dress one of the babies while I was in the shower and managed to forget to put their nappy on! But I'm sure it was tiredness!

I was surprised they told me to shower so quickly after giving birth. I got off the bed and luckily I could move my legs and walk again! It's amazing how quick the epidural wears off!

After the shower, I came out and the midwives were hurrying Jay to get all my stuff together so they could move me and the babies on to the maternity ward. I felt so sad to see him go. It must have been so hard for him to only spend a few hours with his newborn babies and go home to an empty house!

Originally the midwives had told us that Shiloh was just over the minimum weight a newborn needs to be, to be allowed home the next day. I was so relieved I only had to be in for 24 hours! Although the next day I found out she wasn't and in fact because she was so small, she would need to be in for 72 hours minimum as long as she didn't loose more than 10% of her birthweight by then. This was devastating, but I will write about my hospital stay in my next blog post about the first month as a mother, postpartum and adjusting to having twins!

The experience was so magical and amazing. I wouldn't have changed a single thing - except maybe having Jay there for the whole labour but to be honest he had cleaned the house top to bottom in anticipation for my phone call so it wasn't too bad having him at home!

I did debate having a section after being given my induction date but I am so glad I decided to go with a natural delivery. I was dreading labour so much but it was actually my favourite part of my whole pregnancy. Giving birth to my babies, holding Jay's hand was the most empowering experience. I'd live that day over and over if I could!

I know not everyone has a great labour. I was lucky not to have complications given it was a twin pregnancy but I would have happily done whatever I needed to to get the babies out safely. If I'd have known how smooth the experience would be, I wouldn't have spent 8 months worrying about it. So many people tried to tell me that the epidurals can go wrong and being induced was 100x more painful and that the second twin could be delivered by c-section etc. This added to the fear and worry but if you are expecting, please don't listen to any negativity. Every birth experience is unique and the most important thing is going in with a positive mental attitude. After blocking out the comments of others, looking into hypnobirthing and just learning to believe in myself, I felt more confident going in for my induction which I think truly helped during labour.

For me, that day was the best day of my life. I didn't really have a birth plan, so I cant say it turned out how I planned but it was more perfect than I ever imagined. I would happily play that day over and over for the rest of my life. Pain and all. If you are reading this and you're pregnant abd anxious for the big day... dont be. Whatever happens, it will be amazing ❤