TWO first-time parents feel luckier than most after the birth of their lockdown twins but admit the whole ordeal has been a "massive rollercoaster".

Hannah Ludkin-Jessop, of Cottingley, gave birth to two identical little boys, Rory Milo and Finley Hugo, on Saturday, May 9.

They were premature but are "enjoying themselves" and doing "as fine as they can for two premature babies at home" five weeks later, according to dad, Scott Ludkin Jessop.

Mrs Ludkin-Jessop said: “It’s just been a massive rollercoaster, that’s the only way to describe it.

“We’ve got two babies that are just so amazing, I just want to show them off.

“They’re the best part of life, but as we’ve got restrictions it’s really hard some days.”

The journey began alone for the now mother-of-two.

She was induced on Friday, May 8, but her husband could not be there due to rules at Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) preventing anybody from being with a woman in the late stages of labour.

Mr Ludkin-Jessop was able to be there for the birth of Rory (five pounds, five ounces), but the arrival of brother, Finley (five pounds, seven ounces) was more complicated.

His birth was not witnessed by either parent, as Mrs Ludkin-Jessop was under general anaesthetic for an emergency caesarean after three failed epidurals.

She said: “The hardest thing was not being able to have my mum at the birth and being induced on my own.

“When Scott got sent home, I was left looking after two babies on my own, because you weren’t allowed visitors.

“Obviously the nurses did a good job, but I just wish we could have had visitors."

Mrs Ludkin-Jessop returned home two days later, but her husband was able to reveal the news on the Saturday in a rather unique way.

He said: “There’s a family pub quiz twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

“Nobody knew and we hadn’t told them that Hannah had been induced.

“They called on the Saturday, everyone phoned for the pub quiz.

“The way we introduced them was, ‘can we have two extra players on our team’.

“They responded with shock and awe, they knew they were coming soon but it was later than what they thought.”

Working for the NHS is a whole family affair for the Ludkin-Jessops and that's part of the reason why the coronavirus barriers have been so intense for the four of them.

Mr Ludkin-Jessop himself works for the ambulance service, while his mum is a nurse on the coronavirus ward at Airedale General Hospital.

His step-mum is also a nurse at the hospital, but on a separate ward, and the couple’s brother-in-law is a student paramedic.

It has meant the closest of family members have had to settle for virtual meetings with the twins.

Mr Ludkin-Jessop said: “The other side of it is, when you come home, nobody can see them – you’re living life in a fishbowl.

“Everyone is staying at home, not seeing people much and they’re not hugging people.

“The only people they know is us, they know our smells, what do we do?

“People try help as much as they can.

“Unfortunately, our normal is two babies inside the house or in the garden social distancing.

“I’ve described it as a really bad zoo - they can’t help out or come in.

“The grandparents and even great grandparents want to see them.

“It’s upset Hannah a bit when her mum can’t touch them."

Mrs Ludkin-Jessop said: "Seeing everybody when they have seen them, even through the window or social distancing, it has been so nice to show them off.

“The babies are just amazing."

With lockdown restrictions gradually receding, both are now looking forward to an eventual return to normality.

Recently, they were able to go to Mrs Ludkin Jessop's mum's garden with all the grandparents and celebrate the first-ever twins in the family with some champagne.

The mother-of-two admits she “can’t wait” to do even more of the things she’s missed out on.

She said: “I had to cancel my baby shower, we never had pictures of me being pregnant, we never got newborn shoots with them.

“We’ve lost out on a lot of those things, but I’m super excited to get them out there.

“We’re going to have a ‘welcome to the world’ party when it’s all open.

“We’ve still got the booking at the venue for the baby shower, so we’re going to use that.

“Hopefully they won’t be 10 by then.”