It's quite true that at the birth of the child a woman is reborn. It was after losing my first child due to medical reasons that I conceived again, much to everyone’s happiness. With the symptoms of heavy tiredness and bloating of stomach, our intuition said it was twins and the doctors soon confirmed it. To add to it all, during my pregnancy, I tested positive for Covid-19, facing breathlessness, severe dizziness, sleeplessness (since I could not sleep on either side) and more.

It was a tough few days but we never lost hope and we kept telling our little ones the same. I had heard from many twin moms that they had to opt for a C section, and that all of them had given birth in 36 weeks. This led me to think that the C section would be better for me too. However, my doctor preferred that we try our best for a normal delivery and eventually, I was convinced.

When I got adjusted to all the kicks and sleeplessness, it was 34 weeks and I was hopeful to push it to 40 weeks. However, on the same day my water broke in the evening and I had a severe nose block. The funny part was that I did not know whether my water had really broken or not. We had to rush from one corner of the city to another corner in the peak of Chennai traffic for about 2hrs, to check my status. I would say that the traffic, with every bump along the way, prepared my little ones to be pushed out with a bit more ease.

When we finally reached the hospital by 8 my doctor confirmed that my water has indeed broken and informed us that we were primarily looking only at a normal delivery. She also hinted that I would be done with the delivery by next day. Since I had expected a C section, I had kept my hospital bag ready and it helped us save a lot of time. Within a span of half an hour I began to experience severe pain although none of them believed that it was labor pain since my contractions were only 20.

With unbearable pain and the added problem of a severe nose block I was not able to breath, but I realised that my babies were pushing harder. When the nurses checked again, the dilation was at around 5 cm and the babies were pushing hard to come out. While I was pressuring my doctor and nurses for a c section and an epidural, my mom and husband stood by me and gave me the confidence to proceed with a normal delivery. By 11pm, I was in the labor room and I was unable to breathe due to the cold. All the breathing exercises went in vain because of the severe cold and nitrogen gas helped me to breathe.

Though I was scared to the core at the thought of delivering twins, I told myself that I was going to do it and the pep talks we gave our little ones helped me a lot to go through this process as a team. Within an hour and with some sturdy pushes, I delivered my first baby at 12:06am and the delivery of the second baby started. I was completely drained out and I had to get through another round of pushing. At last, my second baby was delivered at 12:18 am. We welcomed our little ones with a big hug from me and my husband. I am thankful to my doctor, the nurses, my husband and my mom, who were with me throughout the labor, guiding me to take the right decision even though I was not prepared for it.

It is quite true that none of us will ever be prepared to face the pain of labour and the blood all over our body. As mothers, we face challenges at every phase of motherhood, right from the point of conceiving until our children grow up and eventually move on with their lives. That’s almost our entire lives. But beyond these challenges, there are several moments with our children that make the journey worth it.

So anytime you feel like you are going downhill, take a deep breath, remember that it’s a part of the journey and walk on. You’re in for a rollercoaster of a ride, but a beautiful one nonetheless!

- Varshini