Over to you
I relished it all, even when the pair of them screamed!
Hours later, the surgeon came into the family waiting room to see us.
‘They’ve both survived the operation,’ he told us, smiling.
Me and Andy leapt up and hugged each other, both crying with relief.
The twins had to stay on ventilators in the Neonatal Unit and, each day, I’d sit by their sides, willing them to get stronger.
After five days, although I was discharged from the hospital, I wasn’t going far.
Thankfully, we were given a double room five minutes’ walk away from the hospital.
Nathan, Keane and Blaise all came up to stay with us for a few days.
‘It’s like a camping holiday,’ laughed Blaise, as Andy furiously blew up one of three inflatable beds and I ordered us a pizza to be delivered.
And I laughed for the first time in weeks.
The next day, we all went to see Sapphire and Ruby.
‘They’re so tiny,’ gasped Keane in shock.
I settled down next to their incubators, put my hand through the circle in the glass and very gently touched Ruby’s little head.
‘You’re going to have such a good life with us,’ I promised her. ‘We have a dog, Bailey, who can’t wait to meet you.’
Then, I’d do the same with Sapphire, chatting away to her about the life they’d both have.
I really wanted to give them a reason to keep fighting.
It wasn’t until February that we could hold them at last.
We took turns to cuddle our miniature babies, swathed in blankets – and me and Andy were both over the moon.
‘Finally,’ Andy said, grinning happily, with his arms wrapped around little Sapphire.
But they still had a long journey ahead of them.
On and off the ventilators to help them breathe, they both needed blood transfusions, and Sapphire needed emergency laser eye surgery from where her eyes hadn’t had time to develop properly in the womb.
On Mother’s Day, March 2015, our girls reached a huge turning point.
They were finally transferred from ICU to a HighDependency Unit.
Over the last three months, we’d watched enviously as other babies moved to a ward – and now it was time for our twins to do the same.
‘I really think they’re going to be OK,’ I told Andy.
And slowly but surely, our girls thrived.
Their original due date, 5 May, came and went, but it wasn’t until June that we eventually took them home.
Tucking them into their car seats in their matching pink onesies, it was a dream come true.
Now they were almost 6 months old and weighed 7lb. But with no nurses to rely on, me and Andy had to quickly learn how to be parents to twins!
I relished every moment, even bath time when the pair of them screamed their heads off!
In December 2015, we wanted to end our difficult year on a high, so Andy and I finally got married. Sapphire and Ruby, then 11 months old, wore little red satin dresses and headbands adorned with roses.
They looked gorgeous.
Our little miracles!
Now, the twins are 3 and doing brilliantly. Every day, I marvel at just how far they’ve come… Sapphire is feisty and lively, while Ruby is laid-back, watching her older sister to see what to do next. They have to go back for the odd checkup, but the consultants are confident that they’re going to flourish. No matter how bleak things seem, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.