A parents perspective

Abstract

“My Little Fighters” as I affectionately call them came into the World on the December 2, 2009 and they were joined from chest to pelvis sharing everything except the heart. It was an emotional pregnancy, a traumatic birth, followed by a 14 hour surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital to separate my wonderful boys in April 2010. Hassan and Hussein are now 5 years old and typical little boys except they have a “superman leg”!! Let me share with you our amazing journey that reminds us all of the important things in life: which are family, hope, and unconditional love. On the July 2, 2009 our lives changed forever. We went for our 12 week ultrasound scan on my third pregnancy. I was accompanied by my husband and two little girls aged 2 and 5 years. We were all excited looking forward to seeing baby number three for the first time. The week before my first scan I confided in my close friend that I felt something was wrong with the baby as I just felt different to my previous pregnancies. My friend told me to stop worrying and that all would be fine, but I have always had good gut feelings on things and this worry just would not go away. I prayed all would be fine and the day of the first scan arrived. We all sat in the hospital waiting room waiting to be called in, and as my name was called my elder daughter needed to go to the bathroom so my husband said they would follow me in. I lay down on the bed with my younger daughter in her pushchair curiously watching everything. The sonographer squirted cold gel onto my tummy and with a worrying look I asked if she could wait till my husband came back as I was a bit scared. She asked why and I explained I was worried something was wrong. So she said she would get started and within 30 seconds of her scanning me I knew from her face something was terribly wrong. She told me to wait till my husband came back but I pleaded with her to tell me what was wrong with my baby. She softly told me “I am seeing two babies, but something I have never seen before ... your babies are joined.” I cried out and begged for it to be a mistake. My husband and daughter came into the room and sawme heartbroken. I told “itʼs twins and they are joined together.” We both held our little girls and cried. We then went home and it was as if my whole world had fallen apart. I did not drink, I did not smoke, and I took my folic acid so why is this happening to me I asked over and over again. I rang my family GP and explained that I was carrying conjoined twins and if he knew anything about this as the internet was full of negative reports on the subject and I needed to find hope. By pure coincidence and faith, as I see it, he told me that a friend with whom he played rugby and went to the same college