by Ruth Dowsett
I became pregnant with twins after my 3 rd IVF attempt. I had no problem with the pregnancy other then getting bigger and bigger. I put on 5 stone. I left work due to my size, 16 weeks before EDC. I also had problems with sleeping.
I was told by my consultant that I would be induced at 38 weeks. At 38 weeks and several scans later the babies had not arrived and I was admitted.
I went into hospital in the Friday morning and spent most of Friday connected to two separate machines. Later that afternoon I was given some pessaries to start things rolling. Nothing happened, so a few hours later I was given some more.
On Saturday morning I was given another lot, my contractions began and I was taken to the labour ward. By midnight all the pain had stopped.
On Sunday the labour ward was busy so I went back to the main ward and waited.
On Monday at 5.00 am I was taken back to the labour ward to have my waters broken. Two hours later I was given a strong drug to get labour underway.
By 3am Tuesday morning still nothing, and I had only dilated 3cms, so it was decided that a caesarean was the only option. I was taken to the theatre, but when the staff tried to give me an epidural it didn’t work. Their attempts caused a em/ic pain in my left leg, which was like an electric shock. I was unable to bend over sufficiently due to my size. After 3 attempts I was given a general anaesthetic. Tom and George were born at 3.30am weighing 7lb 5oz and 6lb 15 ½ oz. I was woken as soon as possible and I held both babies’ heads even though I was unable to open my eyes. After a few hours I was woken properly and both the boys and my husband were there. I was taken back to the ward with the boys.
The staff were excellent during my stay in hospital and helped as much as they could. I recovered well but felt weak for several weeks. It took several months to regain my sense of gravity. The effect of the epidural had left a weakness in my left leg and I still suffer pain from time to time.
Tom and George were born on the 11th April 2002. I breastfed Tom for 5 weeks and George for 6 months.