2 wombs One little miracle
The surgeon’s discovery made my chances low
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always dreamt of being a mum.
And when I met Alex, now 26, in 2009, I knew he was the one I wanted to start a family with.
We married in March 2013.
‘Let’s try for a baby,’ we agreed, excited.
Coming off the Pill, I just assumed it’d happen instantly. Lots of my friends were trying, too.
the texts and calls rolled in from my mates.
But weeks passed and my period arrived each month. ‘Why isn’t it happening?’ I cried to Alex in early 2014 – almost a year since we first started trying.
All we wanted was to be parents.
Referred to a fertility clinic, doctors told me I wasn’t ovulating.
In February 2014, I started on the fertility treatment Clomid.
Then, a month later, I got pregnant. At last! But our luck was short-lived. Sadly, I miscarried in the June. Heartbreaking.
Having an ultrasound to check the baby was definitely gone, the doctor discovered something unusual.
‘Your womb is shaped like a heart,’ he explained.
The strange shape meant it would struggle to hold a baby. I needed corrective surgery. Feeling optimistic, I hoped this was the solution we needed to get pregnant.
‘Am I fixed now?’ I asked groggily, as I came round from surgery that October.
But the surgeon hadn’t found what he was expecting…
‘You have two wombs and
The rare condition affects just one in 3,000 women
two cervixes,’ he told me. Was the anaesthetic making me delirious?
Affecting just one in 3,000 women, instead of doubling my chances of conceiving, uterus didelphys, as it’s called, creates a higher risk of miscarriage and poorly or premature babies.
Still, we continued trying, suffering another devastating miscarriage in the December.
But then, as I waited for my next cycle of Clomid, I fell pregnant again.
On edge, we worried I’d lose the baby. But regular scans showed everything was fine – and we were having a boy!
Looking down at my growing bump, we were over the moon.
But then, at our 28-week scan, doctors noticed our boy looked too small. So they kept me in for monitoring.
After regular traces, the nurse popped in at 11pm for yet another.
Only, her face went white.
‘I need to get a doctor,’ she said.
Suddenly, we were being rushed to the Delivery Suite.
I started shaking all over. ‘It’s too soon,’ I panicked. Alex held my hand, but he was terrified, too.
The neonatal nurse explained what we should expect when our baby arrived.
‘He may not cry and he may not be breathing,’ she said.
I willed our little lad to make it. And, on 5 August 2015, I gave birth by Caesarean section to baby Sebastian, weighing just 2lb 8oz.
But it was just the beginning of his battle.
So tiny, Sebastian was whisked away before we even touched him, and I was moved to a ward as doctors worked on him downstairs.
I was the only mum there without her baby.
‘Close the curtain,’ I whispered to Alex, unable to cope.
Six hours later, a nurse came hurrying in to us.
‘You need to come now. Sebastian isn’t breathing,’ she said.
Rushing to his side, all we could do was watch and pray he’d pull through as the doctors tried to insert a ventilator.
‘Sebastian is very poorly,’ the doctor explained, preparing us for the worst. He explained that Sebastian had just a 40 per cent chance of survival.
Our boy was in Intensive Care for two weeks.
When he was 11 days old, I finally got to hold him. I can’t explain how amazing that felt!
Before then, we could only see his tiny body through the incubator.
But, slowly, little Sebastian grew stronger – until, eventually, he was moved to the hospital’s High Dependency Unit.
Three long months we spent in that hospital.
But, on Bonfire Night 2015, we were finally able to take our little boy home.
There were fireworks going off all around us.
‘It’s all for you, Sebastian,’ I cooed to our gorgeous baby, kissing his forehead.
And now? Sebastian’s 2, a bundle of joy – and I love being a mum!
He’s very delayed with his walking and talking, and we believe he may have autism.
But the most important thing is that he’s finally here with us.
I’d love Sebastian to have a little brother or sister one day, but having two wombs puts me at a much greater risk of problems in pregnancy and giving birth.
I wouldn’t want my family to go through all that anxiety and suffering again, so we’re considering surrogacy.
Right now, though, we’re just enjoying being a family.
I’d love another baby… We’re considering surrogacy