A MUM has got the “best Christmas present ever” with her newly born twins together at home after spending their first few months apart.
12-week-old twins Lily and Matthew were born at Worcestershire Royal Hospital 11 weeks early.
Mum Georgie Lawley, aged 31, of Areley Kings near Stourport, gave birth to her twins at 29 weeks. Lily was born 3lb 3oz and Matthew was born 3lb 2oz via emergency C-Section.
Lily was in the premature baby unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital for 48 days before coming home, however, Matthew was born with a perforated bowel and was in and out of three hospitals for 77 days.
At just 10 days old, Matthew was rushed to Birmingham Children's Hospital where he had an emergency operation in the middle of the ward.
Georgie stayed at Ronald McDonald House for the duration of Matthew’s stay at Birmingham Children's Hospital, while her husband Tim stayed at home and worked and visited Lily in the evenings.
Georgie said: "We couldn’t afford for him to take time off work due to our two children being in two different hospitals and the cost of food and diesel.
"So the only way we could do it, is if my husband didn’t see Matthew and I didn’t see Lily, which absolutely broke me not seeing my daughter for three weeks, except on a Saturday when Tim would see Matthew and I would catch the train to get back to Worcestershire Royal Hospital to see Lily.
"Again, not seeing each other was hard, as what we were going through was so frightening with Matthew, we needed each other’s comfort and support to keep going but the best we could do was Facetime".
Matthew was then moved again to Birmingham Women's Hospital and later back to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
The twins were born on September 27, but Mrs Lawley's due date was December 11, her birthday. She shares her birthday with her terminally ill mother Tina, aged 59, who was given three months to live by doctors in November following a cancer diagnosis.
Georgie and her husband Tim, aged 33, were concerned that Matthew wouldn't be out of the hospital before Christmas.
But Matthew was discharged from hospital on December 12. He has a lung condition and requires a stoma bag and oxygen.
Georgie says the last few months have been financially draining for the family, but feels they can "breathe a little bit" with Matthew coming home.
Georgie said: "It was the best birthday and Christmas present rolled into one, as my birthday was the 11th of December, which I share with my mum, the twins' grandma Tina Dorrell, which was also the twins' due date.
"It's been a very tough three months not only has my son been poorly but my mum is end of life with stage 4 cancer.
"Trying to tear myself into three places, my son, my daughter and my mum has been so hard but you just have to keep going.
"Now Matthew is home, we can finally breathe a little, although it’s a little overwhelming with Matthew being home on oxygen.
"We are ecstatic that he is home and we can have a big Christmas at my mum's, with all the family".
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