A mum was told to say goodbye to her premature twins after they were born when she was just 25 weeks pregnant - on the day before her babymoon.<br /><br />Alex Grice, then 19, felt like "something was wrong" while she was preparing to go to Turkey and examinations revealed she was 6cm dilated.<br /><br />Only 25 weeks and 5 days into her pregnancy, she had to give birth, but the babies were so small she couldn't feel the contractions, she said.<br /><br />Archie and Ava were born weighing 1lb 12oz and 1lb 9oz and both had holes in their hearts, so they were whisked off and put on life support in ICU.<br /><br />The tiny tots - born the size of her hand - were wrapped in 'plastic bags' to keep them warm.<br /><br />Alex and partner Declan Real were told to say goodbye to Ava because doctors didn't think she would make it through the night.<br /><br />But after 126 days in hospital the tots came home and have just celebrated their first day at school - a day Alex feared they'd never get to experience.<br /><br />Alex, head of organic content at an advertising agency, from Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester, said: "I just felt like I couldn't name them because I didn't know if they were going to survive. <br /><br />"So they were labelled twin one and twin two.<br /><br />"They had to be taken straight to the neonatal unit. We weren't allowed to see them, touch them, hold them.<br /><br />"They put them in this almost plastic-bag like thing to keep their bodies warm because they couldn't regulate their own body temperature and they were rushed away.<br /><br />"It's one of those feelings I just can't describe. It was so numbing. It was so empty and it just felt like nothing.<br /><br />"I wasn't upset or screaming or crying, just empty. It felt like the complete opposite of what we had envisioned."<br /><br />Alex saw nurses because she felt unusual in July 2019. <br /><br />She was told to take paracetamol but when that didn't ease her pain, doctors carried out an examination and found that she was 6cm dilated.<br /><br />She gave birth at Royal Bolton Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit on July 9. <br /><br />"The doctor said the babies are coming, they're coming now," Alex said. <br /><br />"And my response was, 'well they can't come now because I'm going on holiday tomorrow'."<br /><br />The teenager had been preparing to go to Turkey for a "babymoon" when her waters broke. <br /><br />"I was rushed down to theatre and it was all hands on deck," she said.<br /><br />Ava was born at 11:14am and Archie at 12:18pm, although Alex couldn't bring herself to name the twins when they first arrived. <br /><br />After the babies were incubated, put on life support and hooked up to feeding tubes, Alex and her family were able to visit.<br /><br />"We went down to see them for the first time and that was just the most harrowing experience ever," she said.<br /><br />"I had never seen a baby that small. <br /><br />"Their whole bodies were probably the length of my hand. Their whole hand was smaller than my fingertip. <br /><br />"They didn't look like they would be able to survive. <br /><br />"And then I think because they were so gravely ill they asked do you want the priest to come down and baptise them.<br /><br />"I was actually put back onto the labour ward and obviously everybody on the labour ward had just given birth so I was back in a room of healthy, crying babies and mums, but with no children.<br /><br />"The doctors rang and said you need to come back and say goodbye. We don't think Ava's going to make it through the night."<br /><br />Ava had been struggling to keep her oxygen saturation levels up and even with the help of a life support machine, she was struggling. <br /><br />Ava recovered but six weeks later she suffered a bleed on the brain and her life was in danger again.<br /><br />She was finally discharged on October 17 2019 and and Archie followed on November 12 2019.<br /><br />They had oxygen at home for a year but are now totally healthy, and doing well at school.<br /><br />To raise awareness and money, Alex, and her mother-in-law, Nicola Orrell, hold a charity ball every year. <br /><br />Now in its fourth year, the charity ball will take place on November 18, known as World Prematurity Awareness Month, at the Last Drop Village Hotel in Bolton. <br /> <br />The team are hoping to raise £25,000 which will be split between Bolton Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, housing charity The Ronald McDonald House and Sands, a stillbirth and neonatal death charity. <br /><br />To donate to their cause visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/World-prematurity-glitter
