So You're Lady with the Foot in the Vagina! Part 2

As all mothers, I am totally biased and think that my wee nenezinhos are the cutest things on the planet. There's something about seeing tiny preemies who are super feisty but frail at the same time.

The C-section and birth was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. I had to have emergency anaesthesia, as it was too late to have an epidural. I was cold and shook the whole time I was on the table. There's something quite surreal about feeling what is going on but not feeling any pain. The anaesthetist kindly walked me through it as my body was either being cut up or being sown back together - I forget which. Apparently, it's all to do with nerves and blocking the senses to pain but allowing other feelings to go through. How strange is science?

I was stuck in the Recovery Room for about 10 hours before they could allocate me a bedroom. During that whole time, I just wanted to know when I could go see my boys. The boy would bring me back videos and pictures of them but it just wasn't the same. Until I could stand, I wasn't allowed to see them. That's incentive for you.

I still can't really believe that I am a mother to twins. I know I have a son, Henry, and a son, Parker, but I haven't pieced them both together yet. Until I see them in a picture together or hold them both in my arms, I don't think I will believe it. They might be identical, but I think of them as two separate babies.

Recovery has been slow progress and I stayed four nights in hospital, as I was having trouble with gas and they ended up doing an X-ray to check that I didn't have an obstruction in my bowels. I still look pregnant with twins even now! The first time I walked to the bathroom, I was just in a world of pain. I will never be as vulnerable as when I was trapped in this tiny toilet, holding Brenda, my nurse's hand, as I tried to relieve myself for the first time. I thought I'd collapse or at least my insides would if I let go of her.

One way to pass gas is to walk as much as possible. Having paced all of post partum and NICU, I trundled over to labour and delivery, where I saw Sandra, one of the nurses who had looked after me whilst I was admitted for threatened preterm labour. She said she'd seen my name and asked what had brought on my labour. I began to tell the story when I got to the vaginal exam when one of the other nurses yelled out, 'Oh, you're the lady with the foot in the vagina!' I love feeling special.