I am running the Liverpool Marathon for St Mary's NICU as a thank you to them for saving the lives of our girls.

On 19th March 2017, we stared at two tiny blobs on a grainy screen. The mix of emotions was indescribable, but best summed up in two words: sheer panic.

We had our first NHS scan in April and the same emotion prevailed. It was during this scan that one of the babies was found to be a lot smaller than expected. We were referred to a specialist consultant at St Mary's hospital with suspected Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. The next 4 months were a blur of scans, measurements, sickness and terror. There is no way to express the fear of knowing you may lose your babies; the sadness at not being able to be excited about their arrival and the agony of having to hide this on a daily basis and continue looking after your other child.

On 16th August 2017 we went for another scan. The amniotic fluid had increased to dangerous levels: over 3 litres and the bigger baby was going into heart failure. At 30 weeks and 6 days I had an emergency C section and our beautiful warriors were born.

Immediately, our girls were rushed off to NICU where they spent the first month of their lives before being transferred to Stepping Hill. Only parents who have been through this could ever truly understand the pain of seeing your tiny, tiny babies covered in wires and enclosed in plastic boxes. Every parent of a new born is afraid , but this is a whole new level of terror.

The nurses on the unit made this bearable. Patiently answered all enquiries , gave love, support and hugs. Looked after our babies when we could not. The constant beeping of the machines was scary, but reassuring, we knew this equipment was keeping our girls alive.

The journey was long and dark and frightening. Sofia had sepsis and Valentina had to have an operation before her due date. But, because of the amazing work of the staff at St Mary's , our babies survived and thrived.

This story is about fear, but more than that it is about hope and gratitude. I am running for St Mary's ; for the doctors and nurses; for the other parents; for the machines and the medications. I am running for my babies and for all the babies who were there at the same time; for those who got to go home and those who didn't; for all the other babies in the NICU past, present and future. You are all warriors.