Double servings of joy!
All the tears and heartache were worth it!
Ifelt so ashamed – guilty, too – that I’d masked my heartache with takeaways and alcohol.
Yet now my weight was standing in the way of me becoming a mum.
And Ryan becoming a dad. ‘I’m so sorry,’ I told him. ‘I’m going to lose that 5st,’ I promised.
The following morning, I had a healthy shake for breakfast.
And instead of my usual Big Mac for lunch, I had a chicken salad.
Back at home, I chucked the takeaway menus in the bin.
Instead, I whisked up a ham and mushroom omelette.
We stopped going to the pub as much, settling down in front of the TV with a bowl of carrot sticks, instead.
After just one week, I’d lost 13lb.
‘That’s nearly a stone!’
I said, shocked.
Spurred on, I kept up my healthy eating.
And by the time our
IVF referral letter came through in March 2016, I was 10st 13lb.
‘I told you I’d do it,’ I grinned at Ryan, comfortably doing up the zip on a pair of size-12 jeans.
At our first appointment at the clinic in London, I felt so proud of what I’d achieved.
Soon after, we were sent away with three weeks of hormone injections to prepare me for treatment.
Ryan had to inject me in the stomach every
morning. It was painful, exhausting. Finally, in June 2017, two embryos were implanted in my womb.
At home that night, I put my hand over my stomach, desperate for a sign.
I was supposed to wait 10 days.
But five days later, it was Father’s Day, so I decided to take a test.
Once again, there were tears. But this time for a very different reason.
‘I’m pregnant,’ I told Ryan.
We were excited, nervous, and anxious.
Those early weeks dragged as I waited for our first scan.
Then, at eight weeks we got the news we were waiting for. ‘You’re having twins!’ the sonographer beamed. We’d known there was a chance, but the news was a dream come true. After five years of trying for a baby, we were having two. All the tears and heartache suddenly seemed worth it. At 16 weeks, we discovered we were having two boys, and were over the moon. ‘Double trouble,’ smiled Ryan. I made an effort to stay healthy during my pregnancy. Steering clear of takeaways, snacking on fruit. In November 2018, Ryan and I married at Hertfordshire register office. It was a small ceremony with just the two of us. I wanted us to be a proper family by the time the babies were born.
On 13 January 2018, our boys Louie and Denny were born at 33 weeks after an emergency Caesarean. ‘They’re perfect,’ I cried. We’d been through so much, now we finally had our reward.
When the boys were six months old, I joined Slimming World to help me shed the baby weight.
I weighed 12st 7lb at my first class.
But I stuck to the plan, and I’ve shed 2st.
Now, Louie and Denny are 19 months, and the most perfect little boys.
Plus, they have the healthy mummy they deserve.