How Bury St Edmunds mum saved both of her 'miracle twins'

Kloe Matthews, 32, was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in 2018 and was told she wouldn't be able to have children without assistance.

After two years of trying to conceive naturally, in 2019 Ms Matthews and her husband Michael were given a target date of November 2020 to start their first round of IVF.

With the knowledge of a limited number of chances to conceive weighing heavily on their minds, Ms Matthews started taking Clomid tablets to help her ovulate in January 2020.

The couple became pregnant but suffered a "devastating" blow after having an early miscarriage in March.

A second blow came when the Covid-19 pandemic affected NHS treatment availability and their hopes to start IVF that November were dashed.

"We'd given up at that point," she said.

"It seemed like we were stuck with no more options."

However, at a barbecue held in celebration of her 30th birthday a few months later in July, Ms Matthews began to feel sick and light-headed and returned a positive pregnancy test.

They booked in for a private scan and a heartbeat was confirmed, a "very special moment" after their previous heartache.

At another scan two weeks later, it was casually dropped into conversation that they would be having twins and Ms Matthews said: "I've never seen my husband so pale."

The first problems with this pregnancy were noted at the 16-week mark, as the smaller twin was measuring behind and they were diagnosed with twin-to-twin transfusion, meaning he had a smaller share of the placenta.

Ms Matthews travelled to see a specialist at King's College London where she was faced with a seemingly impossible set of decisions.

She could leave the pregnancy as it was, posing a 90% risk of losing both twins, terminate the smaller twin or undergo laser surgery.

"We wanted to give both of them a fair chance. That was clear right from the beginning," said Ms Matthews.

Specialists burnt away the shared blood vessels to stop the bigger twin from receiving 70% of the blood supply and Ms Matthews was given strict bedrest orders for the next two weeks.

After the surgery they both had strong heartbeats but the smaller twin was still measuring five weeks behind.

At 27 weeks and one day on January 28, 2021, Ms Matthews developed a back ache which she felt sure was Covid-19, but after a rush of fluid and blood she "knew it was bad".

She was admitted to the ward by herself, with Mr Matthews barred due to pandemic restrictions. Staff tried to stop her labour but eventually had to take her for an emergency Caesarean section manned by 30 people.

Mr Matthews entered just as she was leaving for theatre and babies Michael and James were whisked away from their parents immediately after they were delivered - they wouldn't be allowed to see them for another 14 hours.

"The moment we were finally united was lovely. Terrifying, but lovely," Ms Matthews said.

As they were delivered 13 weeks early, James weighed in at 2lb 6oz and stayed in hospital for 82 days, while Michael was 1lb 6oz and was kept in for a total of 101 days.

The family's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) journey was "incredibly rocky" as Michael required heart surgery, a hernia repair and two eye surgeries, but Ms Matthews said they've "both come out unscathed".

"The only way you'd tell now is that Michael has cute little glasses. They're my miracle twins."

Both twins are now thriving 20 months later and Ms Matthews is using her Instagram @ourmiracletwins to emphasise the importance of talking about her experience to help make it more manageable for other people.

"I'm now the proud auntie of a few babies who have been through the same thing since my boys were born," she said.

"It's just that reassurance that I never had when I was sitting in the hospital on my own that I want to give to other people."