Have you ever heard of one woman having two vaginas? Not only that, the same woman also has two wombs, and to complete the list of surprises, one of the wombs actually held twins. Well, that is the true story of Lauren Cotter. Here is the amazing story in her very own words;
"Going home with our baby Harvey was a big relief to me. After being in the incubator for more than three weeks, since he was 7 weeks premature, nothing was as sweet as having the good feel of home with my bundle of joy."
"Our family is now here," I smiled while looking at Ben, my husband's face. Amelie, our two year old little girl at the time, desperately wanted hold her little brother.
"Both my uteruses have had to go," I said jokingly to Ben who did not give me any hint of taking this seriously or not.
"I was born with a very rare condition. I had two vaginas. As though that was not enough, I had two uteruses where most women often just have one. Then to complete the amazing anatomy bewilderment, I also had two cervixes!
"The rare condition was discovered when I was just 16. A delicate procedure was later performed to have one vagina removed. This was successful. However, the two uteruses were left to stay. At least my unborn kids had a choice of the womb to stay in. Well, this did not trouble me until the time I was found to be having twins, yet both the uteruses were smaller than normal. Wonder of wonders is; they had chosen the larger one!
During my visits to the clinic, I was told I could not carry the babies to full term. There was fear that they would be premature.
I did not lose hope. After all, this had been said earlier yet Amelie had stayed put till she was 37 weeks. Harvey could not make it to that since he had chosen the smaller of the uteruses.
My obstetrician later advised that if I needed more kids, I needed to wait for at least 2 years. I chose a three-year pill that was inserted into my arm. But seems like there were more surprises for me as I became pregnant just when Harvey was 13 months! I cannot forget the look on Ben's face when the sonographer made the announcement just as the duo was only seven weeks.
I was put on complete bed rest after the 20th week. With each passing day, medics predicted they would come earlier. I began counting the days. I was stressed to the bones but decided giving up hope was not an option.
Each time I was with Ben, I sobbed. Good news is; they actually stayed steady in the womb until they were 37 weeks. The doctors were surprised.
They were delivered by cesarean. Maya weighed 2.57 kilos while Evie was 2.4. Maya was fine but Evie developed a condition known as Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). There was a hole in the diaphragm. The intestines had therefore been forced into the cavity of the lungs. This meant she needed urgent surgery.
She was transferred to Royal Children's Hospital found in Melbourne. It is here that we learned most children in that condition only often have a 50 percent chance at life. All the same, she had to undergo the surgery after four days of arrival at the health facility,
It was a terrifying moment for us all. What with the anxiety as we waited for Evie to be stable. She fought the best she could and within three weeks, we were back home.
They twins are now ten months old and are very healthy. While Maya is quicker at doing new things, Evie is the chatterbox in the home. Amelie is now four, and Harvey two.
I did not want to take any more chances and had my uteruses closed for good. My fallopian tubes were cut. At least now I do not need to worry about it. In the meantime, taking care of the foursome is quite hectic, at least for the moment.
