It’s been a few years since I last raised any funds for Capella, and since 2022 was the year I turned the big 4-0, and our lovely little girlies started school, I thought it was the right time to remember how incredible it is that they’ve reached this important milestone in their lives.

Our gorgeous (but cheeky) little duo didn’t have the easiest ride into the world…

Being pregnant with twins you have fairly frequent scans as there are lots of risks, and unfortunately when we went for a scan at 19 weeks, we were given the bad news that because of our type of twin pregnancy, our girls were suffering from twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) - a rare but life-threatening condition that affects 10 to 15 percent of identical twins that share a placenta where one baby is taking more from the placenta than the other. If untreated, 90 percent of babies are likely to die and even with treatment, 50 percent of surviving babies are likely to be disabled or have a long-term condition.

We chose to go ahead with surgery to help correct the problem, and we were incredibly lucky that it went well, and subsequent scans showed they were both growing more evenly. However, we still had the uncertainty of not knowing if there had been any brain damage and had to wait until 23 weeks for an MRI scan to check they were ok, which thankfully they were, and the girls were delivered successfully at 34-weeks at St. Michaels hospital without complication.

We will always be incredibly grateful to the amazing consultant who looked after us very step of the way - Dr Mark Denbow - and his incredible team that looked after us - with one to two scans every week we got to know the Fetal Medicine Unit at St. Michaels quite well! They will always be our heroes and we can't ever thank them enough for what they did to bring our little ladies safely into the world.

The Capella Foundation has been set up to increase awareness of medical complications during pregnancy, and to directly fund pioneering medical research projects into advanced methods of diagnosis and treatment. All money raised goes directly to the 'Twinkle Capella Research Fund'; In partnership with St Michael's Hospital, Bristol University and Oxford University, the Capella Foundation directly funds pioneering medical research projects.

To find out more - please visit www.thecapellafoundation.com
**The Capella Foundation partner Above and Beyond Charity, with Above and Beyond directing the fundraising specifically into the Capella Foundation 'Twinkle Capella Research Fund'.