The day I thought I'd lost my twins

Her husband Neil, an inventor, had predicted she would have the twins early and the couple were looking forward to the births.

Ceriann, of Hanover Crescent, Brighton, said: "We hadn't planned to have the babies so soon but it was really good news when I found out I was pregnant.

"Twins run in our family and I was feeling well and fine."

But everything changed when Ceriann fell ill 28 weeks into her pregnancy.

She was struck by flashing lights in front of her eyes, dizzy spells and swollen ankles.

Her doctor diagnosed pre-eclampsia, a condition resulting from a defect in the placenta which supplies nutrients and oxygen to babies.

The specific cause of the condition remains a mystery but it is common among first-time mothers and those having twins or triplets.

Ceriann was admitted to the Trevor Mann Baby Unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and told the babies would have to be delivered by caesarean section.

She said: "My blood pressure soared and my kidneys had started to fail. My blood platelet count was dropping dramatically as my body began to shut itself down.

"The staff tried to prepare us for what to expect and showed us round the nurseries and the intensive care units.

"For me it became extremely frightening. I wasn't allowed to lift my head off the pillow because my blood pressure was so high. I couldn't be left unattended and I had a nurse sitting with me all the time."

Ceriann was given an epidural and gave birth at 32 weeks on December 4, 1988.

Surrounded by 18 members of staff, her twins, Amy and Megan, came into the world seven weeks prematurely.

They each weighed 4lb three ounces.

Ceriann said: "I was awake for the birth because I couldn't have a general anaesthetic which was too dangerous.

"The most frightening thing was waiting to hear whether the babies would cry when they were pulled out.

"The girls cried but were rushed off straight away and we didn't see them. The only way that I really knew that I had living babies was that the staff had taken Polaroid snaps of the girls.

"The 48 hours after birth were also crucial for me. If I hadn't been delivered of the babies they would have died within me and there was a chance I could fit afterwards, causing death.

"I was heavily sedated and only just aware of my husband beside me. He was thinking that not only might he not be a father, he might not be a husband either."

The babies were placed in intensive care and kept sedated.

The walls of their lungs had failed to mature and they needed ventilators to breathe. Megan was in a critical but stable condition, but Amy almost died.

Ceriann said: "I noticed Neil had come to the hospital in a suit, which I found strange as normally he wore scruffy jeans. He said he had been to a business meeting.

"What actually happened was that he found out Amy was within a gnat's whisker of death.

"The pediatrician had been trying to get a drip into her. He had been trying to get a needle in but her veins were collapsing."

Neil had been out celebrating the birth of his children but when he returned to the unit he was told about Amy's condition.

He said: "I was thinking that if one of my children is going to die then I had better look my best. I went home and shaved and got dressed.

"It is an incredible feeling, the love you feel for them. How can you feel so much for something that didn't exist the day before?

"They really do bring their own love with them when they are born. Faced with the chance of losing them, you're horrified.

"I turned to the church and became a regular member again. I said 'God I need you now' and I told him I wasn't turning back."

Ceriann got through her critical 48 hours and was able to sit in a wheelchair to visit her daughters.

However, she did not realise how dangerously ill they were until nurses told her they were taking it an hour at a time.

She said: "After first seeing the babies, I refused to go and was crying.

"I decided that if they weren't going to live then I couldn't let myself get any closer to them than I already was. A nurse had to sit with me and reason with me."

Ceriann was kept in hospital for ten days before returning home. She visited Amy and Megan every day, looking at photographs of healthy children on the walls of the Trevor Mann Unit.

They too had once been critically ill like her daughters but had grown into strong and boisterous youngsters.

She said: "It gave me hope. When you are in a situation where your own babies are desperately ill and you're unsure whether you will go home with two babies, one baby or no babies, to see photographs of fighting fit, happy children gives you incredible hope. It kept me going."

Neil and Ceriann were not allowed to touch their daughters for two weeks. But when the girls gained strength, the couple were able to change their nappies.

Ceriann said: "The nurses said they believed the babies could tell when a parent was caring for them. They were absolutely tiny and their heads were the size of my palm."

The twins were allowed home after four weeks. But three days later, Amy faced her second brush with death.

Ceriann said: "I was just getting into bed when my maternal instinct said to check on the babies. I went into their nursery and Amy had stopped breathing. She was blue around her mouth.

"I picked her up with her head in my hand. I gave her a very gentle shake and shouted at her to try and jolt her back. I was in a panic but she took a breath and started breathing again."

Ceriann's mother called an ambulance but doctors at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Brighton could find nothing wrong with Amy. They said they thought she had forgotten to breathe.

Luckily, Amy grew into a happy, healthy toddler. The twins began crawling at six months and at nine months they learned to walk. They were joined a few years later by a brother, Charles.

Now aged 13, Amy and Megan attend Brighton College Preparatory School in Eastern Road.

They have both received art scholarships to study at Brighton College in September and their favourite subjects are biology, art and games.

The twins are also accomplished athletes and train every week.

They run for their school and county and are in the top 200 under-13 runners in the country.

Ceriann said: "They used to hate cross country when they first started it. They used to get bombed out on nerves and refuse to go. I used to make them do it and say they had to run for their team."

The girls joined the Phoenix Athletic Club when they were nine. This season, the club came second in the Sussex County League under-13s.

Amy and Megan also ran in the Sussex Championships and in the Reebok UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships.

Megan said: "I like being part of a team and we've made good friends through our running. It keeps us fit.

"I like finishing in a good position and I would like to be a professional runner.

"I want to be in the Olympics so that people in the Trevor Mann Unit can see how far I've come."

Amy finds it difficult to comprehend she almost died twice.

She said: "I don't think it sounds amazing that I was born that way because of how healthy I am now."

Soon, a photograph of the girls will be pinned on the wall alongside those of the other children who recovered at the Trevor Mann Baby Unit.

Ceriann said: "We're so grateful to the staff and we want to give other parents hope.

"We want our children to be next to those babies on the wall to say they do survive, they do get better. They really are miracles."