Pennie and Lillie

Off to an early scan we went at 10 weeks to go see our baby when the sonographer turns round and tells us we will need two school places! She also said they looked like mono mono twins which can be quite dangerous… I instantly started to panic and she said if I wanted more answers I could go to a clinic in London that she recommends.

At 12 weeks off we went to London to be told they were mono di, I was so relieved and happy but my consultant said there are still risks with these types of twins. My dad is an identical twin so I had only known success with them…it will be fine! We ended up seeing the London consultant as she would scan us every week rather than every two.

24 week scan came and another perfect scan, I was starting to relax and breathe a little (as well as you can with two babies growing in you!)

23rd December 2025…the day it all went wrong. 25 week scan and I just wasn’t feeling right, I walked into the room and my consultant said “two more weeks and we are out of the danger zone Steph” with a smile on her face. I turned to her and said I really don’t feel right and she immediately got me on the bed. My consultant would normally do other checks first but I think she knew. The scan was quiet and we had seen so many at this point that we knew it didn’t look right on the screen. My consultant held my hand and said you’ve got acute TTTS and you need the laser surgery today.

We all rushed to the clinic for the laser ablation and my consultant had it done within a few hours of being diagnosed. Both of the girls survived, I remember thinking ok we’ve got this – we’ve done it.

28th December my waters broke as I got into bed that night so we immediately drove to London and was told they’ve broken but I’m not in labour and I was admitted.

4 th January 2026…the second worst day of my life. I went into labour and I was passing out, we had got sepsis and it all was going wrong. I had an emergency c- section at 27 weeks and Lillie was born at 6:01pm, Pennie at 6:02pm.

I didn’t manage to meet the girls until a couple of days after as I was so unwell from the sepsis. When I managed to get to them it was the most terrifying thing I had ever witnessed. I desperately just wanted to pop them back into my tummy to keep them safe.

8 th January.. the WORST day of my life. We had to say goodbye to our beautiful Pennie, the sepsis and being the recipient of TTTS was way too much for her tiny body. Pennie passed away at 6:01pm, the same time her sister was born four days earlier, in her daddy’s arms. My dad came to get Pennie with his twin the next day as we own a funeral directors and bought her back home.

We then spent 10 weeks, 72 days in NICU with Lillie surrounded by mums holding their twins on their chest. Life can be so unfair and cruel. We were away from our son for 6 weeks, until we could come back to our local hospital. Freddie was absolutely heartbroken that Pennie went to the sky and he missed
his mummy and daddy.

When we got home with Lillie, it hit us. We only then could start to grieve properly and realise what hell we had just been through.

Life will never be the same, I will always have a piece of my heart missing. Pennie is so deeply loved and missed, we speak about her every day and include her in everything we do. Freddie is the proudest big brother to his two sisters and tells Lillie about her identical twin in the sky.

We love you Pennie, so much xxx