Premature Thatcham twins born a day apart

Tiny tots born six hours apart weighing just over 5lbs combined

MEET “totally different” Thatcham twins Marnie and Georgie who were born 27 weeks premature and on different days.

The tiny tots, with a combined birth weight of just over 5lbs, entered the world in dramatic fashion, with dad missing the first birth after hospital staff said that mum wasn’t in labour.

It was an absolutely normal day for mum-to-be Rebecca Lovelock, who was working at Newbury B&Q when she started feeling back pain.

Heading to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Mrs Lovelock realised that she was in premature labour.

But as the Reading hospital doesn’t take babies aged under 28 weeks, she was transferred to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital.

Mrs Lovelock, aged 28, spent three days in hospital, where staff said she had an infection.

“I kept saying do I need to call my husband but they told me I wasn’t in labour,” Mrs Lovelock said. Then, at 7.10pm on March 4, after a four-day labour Marnie was born weighing just 1lb 8oz (825g).

But her twin Georgie wasn’t quite ready to meet the world and, six hours later, she was delivered by caesarean section at 1.01am the next day. Georgie weighed slightly more than her older sister, at a miniscule 3lbs 4oz.

The tiny twins, due on June 3, were rushed straight into intensive care and transferred to the Buscot ward at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

There they spent the next two months in care nurseries, catching up on growth after their early birth.

Mrs Lovelock said that the last two months had been emotionally and physically tiring; having to make trips to hospital every day as well as doing the school run with her eldest daughter Teagan, aged five.

“I’m so glad. It’s been a long journey but we got there in the end. Words can’t really describe how I feel. Our family is together now,” Mrs Lovelock said.

“They are twins but have separate birthdays. They look totally different; one is a lot smaller, one has blond hair the other has dark hair but they are strong little girls and they have done so well.

“It’s just amazing how different they are.”

She said that overwhelmed dad Nathan would have loved to have been present for Marnie’s birth but couldn’t arrive at Oxford in time for the special moment.

Mrs Lovelock thanked all the nurses at the Buscot Ward for their hard work and support during the tiring two months.

She also thanked staff at the Babies in Buscot Support, a charity that helps families with babies in the ward.

Mrs Lovelock said that two premonitions had followed the births.

The first, she said, was cracking a double yolk before she discovered she was carrying twins.

A medium had also told her nan that one of her granddaughters would have twins before she fell pregnant.

Excited nanny Debra Holland said: “It’s nice to have them home. Everyone just can’t believe it. They have different birthdays and people ask are they still still twins? It’s pretty amazing.”