A FATHER'S EXPERIENCE
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“You’re very big to be having one, are you sure it’s not two?” is what people began saying to Lorraine leading up to the first scan on Christmas Eve. This was laughed off, as nobody in our family we knew of had twins, so it couldn’t happen to us. So, Christmas Eve 10:10am will stick in our minds forever. Lorraine went in by herself and Charlotte (then 3) and myself followed 10 minutes later. “Everything OK?” I asked. “Fine” was Lorraine’s reply. “Here is the head” said the Sonographer “and”, which I thought was leading to view another angle on the body, “here’s the other one”. I looked at Lorraine and we both burst out laughing. Charlotte’s response was “Oh, two heads Daddy”, I’d always said I wanted 3 children, I just didn’t expect it to happen so instantly. We left the hospital with our scan photos, delighted but apprehensive.
We’d only just moved. Would the house be big enough? We’d need a bigger car, a new pram, another cot, double expense on all things.
A tearful Christmas followed as shock set in for Lorraine and the next 5 months flew by far too quickly before pre-eclampsia forced Lorraine into St. John’s Hospital at 35 weeks pregnant. A week later and Lorraine was induced on 27th May at 2:00pm. I had THE call at 4:30 to say come quickly. Did I have time to go home and change? “I wouldn’t if I were you” said the midwife. I played it cool and went to change from my dirty work clothes anyway and after a slow journey to Chelmsford stuck behind a skip lorry, I arrived at 5:30pm to find Lorraine racing along. At 6:30pm Laura arrived safely and very easily (Lorraine’s words not mine) weighing in at 5lb 2oz. Number two was breech so I and the twelve other people in the delivery room waited to see if baby would turn. Twenty seven minutes later and we were off again. Still in breech and still in the amniotic sac, Jane arrived, healthy but worn out and weighing in at 5lb exactly. I now had 3 girls and was totally outnumbered.
We’d opted to pay to have blood tests to find out if they are identical so I had blood taken, as did Lorraine only to find out later, because of all the people in with us, they’d forgotten to take blood from the umbilical cord. Annoying at the time, but to look at them now it’s like a mirror image apart from Jane’s small mark on her forehead (which comes in handy).
They are now 13 months old, crawling, standing, chatting and generally causing chaos. The sleepless nights are totally outweighed by the fun and love they give us. Watching them grow together and do things within days of each other is amazing.
Charlotte loves being the big sister and, although sometimes heavy handed, they get on really well together and miss each other whenever either isn’t around. Never has the house been so messy or work on the house been so minimal but standards have to be lowered with twins. Seeing Charlotte born was an amazing experience, seeing Laura and Jane born was doubly amazing. Childbirth is great fun and Lorraine says she always wanted to be pregnant three times, oh no watch this space.
