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It was great having both babies home but I had to get some sort of routine straight from the off or it would be chaos, it still might. Feeding was a problem that I found out pretty quickly, they would both cry at the same time but Lesley and I soon found a solution. I would ask Lesley which baby she would like to feed and then put her or him in the carrycot and Lesley would stand at the side of me and feed the baby. I watched her constantly but she was brilliant at it. She would stop if the baby seemed a bit overwhelmed, especially Sheila as she was still very slow ideal for Lesley to feed. It was also good I thought getting Lesley involved the last thing I wanted was for her to feel left out it would have been very easy as the twins demanded a lot of time initially.

We had so many visitors to see the twins, it was really nice. I said to Lesley her job when someone came was to introduce them to the twinnies, this is what we called them. She felt very important, she even told the visitors the birth weights I was amazed. You just don’t realise how much they take in.

Mike was all over the twins when any one came but other than that he had very little to do with them. All he would do is throw a tantrum if he came home from work and the dinner wasn’t ready, he would then ask what I had been doing all day, I didn’t qualify it with an answer. He was getting fed up with his job and said he was going to look for another. I didn’t care as long as he got one before he gave the present one up.

The twins were doing great it was hard work but worth it. Today was the first hospital visit since their discharge I was to see the countries top paediatrician Dr Jolly he was renowned worldwide for his work with premature babies so we were in excellent hands. The only problem I had at the moment was with Sheila she had a terrible nappy rash only her not Stephen you would think if one got it the other one would but no.

They were weighed and had both gained a substantial amount which pleased everyone. I mentioned the nappy rash and he had a look and said it was nothing I was doing wrong it was Sheila’s kidney problem . He would take a urine sample and would adjust her medication depending on the outcome. He suggested in the meantime to rinse the nappies in vinegar to neutralise her urine, this might help stop it getting any worse. I asked if it would hurt to do all the nappies including Stephens as doing them separately would be really time consuming he said no problem at all.

In those days I had to boil the nappies in a zinc bucket on the cooker ring but if I say it myself they were as white as driven snow. I was very proud of them especially as the girl next door Pam’s nappies were really grey . Everyone would remark on how nice a line full of my nappies looked .My children always looked immaculate I took great pride in their outfits and the pram covers. Mikes Mum bought us a double Sun Canopy especially made for a twin pram it looked great. I felt very proud pushing the pram with Lesley holding on to the handle, we were both show offs.

Mike found a job he quite fancied in the evening paper, it was a chauffer job. Although he had never done anything like that he said he would ring them and see what they said. He did and although he had no experience other than an excellent knowledge of driving in London they wanted to see him. He got dressed up and he did look the part and off he went.

The twin were doing really well, they were about 3 months old they had had some of there jabs and handled them well. Sheila’s medication had been changed she was now having Penbritten and her nappy rash was almost gone with the help of rinsing the nappies in vinegar , I kept this up on the advice of Dr Jolly. He was a brilliant man he always made a fuss of Lesley and would ask her what she had done for the twins since he last saw her, she would say that she helped to bath them and feed them as her Daddy would not help….out of the mouths of babes.

One morning I was bathing Stephen when I did the check on his feet ,as I did most mornings when I pressed the sole of his foot the blood didn’t return straight away as usual, in fact it stayed white for ages. I immediately called Mikes Mum to come and look after them while I ran to the phone box, luckily she hadn’t yet gone to work . The hospital said I must take Stephen immediately to the hospital as it certainly sounded like there was a problem. I ran back got all three children ready and dashed to the hospital which was a good 20 minute walk away at least, I put both babies at one end of the pram and Lesley at the other to speed things up.

When we got there they did the same test and the blood didn’t return at all, they said they would have to give him a blood transfusion immediately that there was a slight risk but no where as bad as the original transfusion. They said I should go home and ring about 3pm they would know the situation by then but fully anticipated that I would be able to take him home.. I really didn’t want to leave him but I had no choice as I had Sheila and Lesley with me. I had been in such a panic I hadn’t even rung Mike to let him know.

I rang him from the first phone box I found He was shocked and said he couldn’t get home as he was going on his test drive for the chauffer job. I said I would be ok, just for him to ring the hospital when he could, in case of an emergency as I wouldnt be able to contact him. I had only just got to our gate when a beautiful bright red Jaguar pulled up by my side and there was Mike at the wheel with what would hopefully be his new boss. The boss ,I had no idea who he was, said he had brought Mike home to be with me just in case there was a problem. He was so nice and understanding. He said if everything went ok Mike should give him a ring in the morning he would re-schedule the interview and wished our son all the luck in the world.

I rang the hospital at around 3pm and was told everything had gone perfect and that I could collect Stephen when ever I wanted, I said I would be there asap. Mike was relieved and said he had better go back to work or he would get the sack and he didn’t want that although he hoped to be handing his notice in soon, I said I didn’t mind as I was now going to get Stephen.

Lesley would be able to sit in the pram going but would have to walk back. The weather was scorching hot I had to have the sun canopy up.

When we got to the hospital Stephen was ready, they said to ignore the redness, he looked like a tomato, they said it was the transfusion it would go in an hour or two. They said to keep up the good work on checking him ,that I did an excellent job , catching it early like that cuts out a lot of the risks.

Off we went we were just walking past Norman Park when a lady stopped me, it wasn’t unusual a lot of people liked to see the twins but this lady was really angry she said how could I be so thoughtless, didn’t I care about my baby. I was confused I thought she must be mad but no she ranted on about me letting one of the twins get so terribly sun burnt. I realised she probably meant well , but of course it was the blood top-up that had caused the redness. I couldn’t help but laugh this incensed her . I just walked away I couldn’t be bothered to explain, let her think the worst. I knew. I think Stephen looked worse as they had shaved all his hair off he was as bald as a coot. The transusion had been done through a vein in his head.