Hi all..

I'm hoping to find some reassurance on this forum with other parents sharing some success stories for prem twins.

I've just delivered twin girls this morning - very premature at only 25+4 weeks. Twin 1 was 853gm and twin 2 was only 820gm.

The last u/sound scan at 23 weeks showed double the level of amnio fluid in each sac, which was a concern for prem birth. I had some fluid leakage two days ago and was advised to come into hospital with an overnight bag. After a checkup, I was told there was a ruptured membrane causing the amnio leakage and a premature birth was very likely.. although there was still a chance it could be weeks away.

I woke this morning when my water broke, with contractions following an hour later and was 6cm dilated when they got me down to labour ward with both twins head down. Within 2 hours of my first contraction, both twins were born naturally and are now in IC.

The drs have briefed us on their chances of survival and the long road ahead.. and hubby and I are just a little overwhelmed, scared, numb and a whole mixed bag of other emotions. If all goes well, we can hopefully bring our girls home in 3 months.. but what happens between now and then...? How can we stay sane and remain positive when the outcome is completely out of our control??

Has anyone else been in this situation? What did you do workwise: take maternity leave straight away and spend all your time in hospital? Go back to work part time to pass the months?

Would really appreciate any success stories to give us some hope of bringing both girls home safe and well in 3 months time.. we live in WA and our girls are at KEMH

Congratulations on the birth of your girls.
These blogs might help you with some questions/answers http://niamhdaybyday.blogspot.com/2008/02/...t-23-weeks.html and http://notevena.blogspot.com/

I'm sure other people on EB will be able to give you info and encouragement and direct you to resources.

Congratulations on the birth of beautiful girls.

Your story sounds very similar to mine - except I delivered at 26.6 weeks. Waters started leaking and was told I would be in hospital for the rest of my pregnancy, 2 days later I started having contractions but i had to have an emergency Ceaser as one of my boys was in serious trouble.

My boys were in NICU for 12 and 13 weeks. DS1 had a pretty cruisy run apart from an infection very early on, after that he just needed to grow and feed. DS2 was a lot more of 1 step forward, 2 steps backward but he finally came home a week after his brother.

As I sit here typing I can hear my 2 boys arguing about what they are going to wear today, they are now 4.5 and at Kinda. We have been extremely lucky with there health since coming home. DS1 had pretty crappy lungs but he has started to grow out of that. DS2 has some slight delays but he will be heading off to school with his brother next year

Going through NICU is not easy and at times you can only look at onde day at a time or even 1 hour at a time. Once they are big and strong enough for Kangaroo care (skin to skin cuddles) it does make it a little easier and I felt more like a Mum than someone sitting watching all day.

I hope your ride through NICU is a smooth one with not too many bumps along the way

Kerri

Kerri

I have no information to help - but I just wanted to say congratulations on the birth of your girls... xx

Congratulations on your girls, I wish you all the best for a good recovery for all.

My only input - a lady at work had a similar situation and she commenced her maternity leave then came back for a month or two part time when her DD was a bit more in the clear (but still in hospital) so that she had more time to spend at home with her. If you wanted to, you might be able to organise something similar with your employer.

Congratulations on the birth of your daughters.

They are a good size for their gestation!
My daughter was born at 27 weeks weighing 810 grams. She is now five and doing well.
She was in hospital for 12 weeks and mostly had a good run, but did have ROP (retinopathy of prematurity - trust me, you'll hear about it...the eye checks are brutal!), hernia surgery, blood transfusions etc.

It is a tough road and you need to take each hour as it comes. Yes, not even day by day, as the hours mean everything in NICU. It is emotional and hard.

There is no way I could have gone back to work. No way at all. I spent all day every day at the hospital. It was long, it was boring, but it was important both for me and the baby.
I say take maternity leave straight away.

Even if you can't breastfeed fully, start to pump now. PRems need breastmilk. It is far safer for them at this stage than formula. Ask the hospital for a pump. The hospitals have them and you can also hire hospital-grade pumps. I expressed every three hours for a long time and had tonnes of milk for my daughter.

Get yourself a journal or a blog. I regret that I didn't write more about my child's early days.

Good luck.

welcome to the twin mum club! congratulations on your new little girls! i have twin boys-- mine were born at 36 weeks. we spent some time in neonatal and although its tough being there/leaving them and just the whole emotional rollarcoaster- those neonatal nurses and fellow parents become your family for a while.

i have a friend who had her twins at 27 weeks and although they have had some tough times.... they have 2 beautiful toddlers now. the mum didnt go back to work- but i guess you have to do whatever you feel is right for you.
it is very emotionally draining the nicu journey- but i think you just have to take small steps for the start and then make the bigger decisions [returning to work etc]
a journal is a great idea.... and yep, the pump will be your new best friend! congratulations on your girls!

Congratulations on the birth of your little girls.
You may have seen my story in the born early section too. My little girl was only in NICU for 9 days when she grew wings but I do understand what you ate going through.
I found expressing helped me alot at the time , made me feel like I was helping her as much as I could.
I also had a journal and started a scrapbook and now have a beautiful momento with all the little things in it.
Taking lots and lots of photos helped too. It may not be something you think if now but they grow so so quickly and the changes they make you have to look back on your days when your not doing so well. Reassurance I guess.

Your girls sound strong. Hang in there , it's a bumpy ride, but well worth it.

My girls were born at 27 weeks weighing 820gm and 570gm. They had a very long, dramatic hospital experience but both eventually made it home.

I would take maternity leave now - you will want to be at the hospital as much as possible - especially in the beginning. You will aso need to express every few hours - which can be tricky if you are working.

The NICU can be such an overwhelming, stressful experience. As others have said just take things one minute / day / hour at a time and even though it can be hard, express for your babies. Very tiny babies really need breastmilk - and you will feel like you are doing something for your tiny girls.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or want to chat to someone who has 'been there done that'.

I will have to stalk this section now to see how your girls are going.

Alison

Congratulations on your girls. I haven't done the NICU journey, but thought I would let you know that Perth & Districts Multiple Birth Association have a premmie contact person who can provide you with support and information. They also have a hospital visiting service.

When you feel up to it, the NICU should have the contact details for the club. Alternatively, the office is located next door to KEMH at Grace Vaughan House and is open on Saturdays.

All the best.

Thank you for all your messages of support.

The past week has been extremely emotional and exhausting with daily hospital visits (sometimes multiple daily visits) and adjusting to the regular expressing required every few hours.

But I'm pleased to report that our girls have made it through their first week without any major issues. There have been minor concerns with jaundice, a distended stomach and early signs of an infection, but the doctors don't seem to be too concerned and are constantly telling us these are common issues for premmie babies and that our girls are doing very well for their age.

Both girls have put on a bit of weight and are just a touch over 900gms each. They've also started taking some breast milk, although just in the early stages of 1ml every 4 - 6 hours. Only one of them has opened her bowels at the moment, but we're hoping the other one isn't far away.

On the work front, I am meeting with my manager for coffee on Thursday this week to have a chat about working arrangements. I have no idea what I am going to say or what I want to do. Obviously I want to be with my girls as much as possible, but I'm trying to delay starting my mat leave to have more time with them when they come out. I think doing 2 - 3 part days might be ok, but I'm concerned about having to express as there isn't a safe place to do so at my work. I guess it will also depend on how flexible my manager is prepared to be.

I will keep you posted!

Good to hear your little ones are going okay so far - hope their progress continues, and that you can sort out a work arrangement that suits you and your family.

Hi - Congratulations on your girls! Just thought I'd let you know that eb member Quixote is also at KEMH. She delivered twin girls at 23 weeks over the weekend. I know she is looking for support too so maybe you two could meet up?

Hi Twee,

Glad to hear that your girls are doing well. Twin girls are such a blessing! Wishing you all the very best, and I hope that they continue to do well.....

I just wanted to see how you are doing. Did you manage to meet up with the other EB member? I did the NICU at KEMH too and although I didn't have a micro-prem my little girl certainly kept them on their toes until we got transferred to PMH.
Do you have everything you need?

Hi Twee,

Just another one popping in to say hi and to check how you are going.

I hope things are heading in the right direction and that your girls are getting stronger each day.

Stay strong and take care