| Gary and Lesley Johnstone, of Haldane Avenue, have taken the inevitable disruption of first-time parenthood in their stride after years of heartache over whether they would ever hear the patter of tiny feet.
The couple faced an uphill battle to conceive after coming up against a series of serious medical issues including endometriosis, which can cause female infertility.
But the pair’s dream came true shortly before Christmas last year when Lesley discovered she was pregnant following her first bout of IVF treatment.
A difficult pregnancy ensued, but twins Carly and Amber were eventually born at Ninewells Hospital on July 7.
However, the girls were seven weeks premature and collectively weighed less than nine pounds and the Johnstones faced an anxious wait as the pair received treatment in intensive care at the hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit.
Mum Lesley (35) said, “We had been trying for ages and it turned out I had endometriosis.
“I went through hell and back with that, but eventually got taken in for an operation on July 27th last year and went through a course of drugs that put me into a false menopause.
“In December, we got IVF treatment on the NHS and I couldn’t believe it when I found I was pregnant. I took about 100 pregnancy tests to confirm it!”
Proud father Gary (36) said the girls were now “thriving and screaming” at home.
He said, “The girls were seven weeks early, but are doing fine now. Carly was 3lb 15oz’s when she was born and is now 5lb 15oz while Amber was 4lb 3ozs and is now 6lb 2ozs.
“My wife had a horrendous pregnancy — it was awful.
“But we found out she was pregnant on December 23, which was a nice Christmas present.
“We had to wait for two weeks to find out what we were having and then, in the first or second week of January, we found out we were having two.
“The pregnancy progressed and my wife developed a condition called SPD in which the pelvic bone popped out and she had to walk with sticks for a while to get about.
“Near the date of the birth, one of the kids was actually crushing the tube between Lesley’s kidney and bladder which stopped the fluid draining. They had to put in a shunt to drain it.
“She was in hospital at the time and the next day she went into labour. They tried to delay it with steroids, but, by 8 pm that evening, Carly appeared and Amber was born at 8.23 pm.”
The tots were immediately taken to the hospital’s intensive care unit as they were not able to breathe by themselves.
Lesley said, “They were taken into intensive care as I had gone into labour so early and their lungs hadn’t developed properly.
“They had to wear masks that assisted their breathing and helped their lungs develop.
“They were in intensive care for eight or nine days before they went through to the special care baby unit where we were able to interact with them more.
“The staff in both units were absolutely fantastic — we couldn’t have asked for anything more.
“I could go home at night and relax knowing the babies were being taken care of.
“The nurses were amazing. The support and care they gave us couldn’t be faulted.” |
