First off, I miss this sub like crazy! I've been MIA for a little while, and I'm sure I've missed a lot of PP stories. Congrats to all you summer bumpers who have made it to the other side!
Hailey and Hannah were born on 5/2 at 33+5. I was admitted 4 days prior with high BP and swelling that ended up being mild preeclampsia. On the morning of 5/2, I felt like something was leaking out, almost like the discharge I had been having the days prior. I told my nurse, so she came in and did a swab to test for amniotic fluid. She assured me it was probably just a yeast infection. Nope, I was leaking amniotic fluid! This was at around 11am. I had the girls via c-section at 4:09 and 4:10. Hailey, Baby A, was born first at 4lbs 6oz and Hannah weighed 3lb 14oz. Both girls were smaller than we expected. But they were healthy! I got to look at them before they were taken to the NICU.
After my c-section, I felt amazing. It was like a huge weight was taken off of me (literally). My BP was still high, but it went down enough that I was able to convince my nurse to wheel me down to see the girls in a wheelchair after about 5 hours. Recovery hasn't been bad at all. At 9 weeks PP, I feel close to normal. I initially lost over 30 pounds in the first two weeks, but I haven't lost anything since then. I still have 40 pounds to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. That's frustrated me more than anything.
Lucky for us, the NICU wasn't a scary experience like it is for most. It broke my heart to leave my babies behind when I was discharged, but I knew they were in good hands. We were SUPER lucky... both girls were able to breathe on their own from the very beginning. They stayed 3 and 4 weeks simply to learn to eat, gain weight and maintain their own body temperature. The first week or so, both girls were on a feeding tube... and then slowly learned to take a bottle. Because of this, I started out exclusively pumping. I saw a LC several times, but never had any luck BF. When babies came home, I continued to pump... but the girls started eating more, and my supply slowly dwindled... even after trying every trick in the book. I had a really hard time coming to terms with stopping. On the bright side, the girls are growing like weeds on formula! They are both over 7lbs now.
Just like it is with one baby, having twins is a wild ride! If you are pregnant with twins and reading this, dont psych yourself out over how "horrible" its going to be when they get here. I think more often than not, I read about how hard it was going to be. I won't lie, it is hard. But it is nowhere near as bad as I expected it to be. We're all thrown in the deep end when we have a baby, but we learn to adapt. I've gone through the emotions of having preemies, having babies in the NICU, the guilt that comes along with not being able to provide enough breastmilk, depression, you name it. What keeps me with my chin up is seeing my beautiful girls smile at me, and knowing that tomorrow is a new day. It only gets better.
To prevent myself from writing a novel - let me know if you have any questions! My dogs are barking at the fireworks, and just woke up the babies. It's too early in the evening for this, people!
Oh, you guys probably want pictures. Here they are!
Hailey and Hannah were born on 5/2 at 33+5. I was admitted 4 days prior with high BP and swelling that ended up being mild preeclampsia. On the morning of 5/2, I felt like something was leaking out, almost like the discharge I had been having the days prior. I told my nurse, so she came in and did a swab to test for amniotic fluid. She assured me it was probably just a yeast infection. Nope, I was leaking amniotic fluid! This was at around 11am. I had the girls via c-section at 4:09 and 4:10. Hailey, Baby A, was born first at 4lbs 6oz and Hannah weighed 3lb 14oz. Both girls were smaller than we expected. But they were healthy! I got to look at them before they were taken to the NICU.
After my c-section, I felt amazing. It was like a huge weight was taken off of me (literally). My BP was still high, but it went down enough that I was able to convince my nurse to wheel me down to see the girls in a wheelchair after about 5 hours. Recovery hasn't been bad at all. At 9 weeks PP, I feel close to normal. I initially lost over 30 pounds in the first two weeks, but I haven't lost anything since then. I still have 40 pounds to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. That's frustrated me more than anything.
Lucky for us, the NICU wasn't a scary experience like it is for most. It broke my heart to leave my babies behind when I was discharged, but I knew they were in good hands. We were SUPER lucky... both girls were able to breathe on their own from the very beginning. They stayed 3 and 4 weeks simply to learn to eat, gain weight and maintain their own body temperature. The first week or so, both girls were on a feeding tube... and then slowly learned to take a bottle. Because of this, I started out exclusively pumping. I saw a LC several times, but never had any luck BF. When babies came home, I continued to pump... but the girls started eating more, and my supply slowly dwindled... even after trying every trick in the book. I had a really hard time coming to terms with stopping. On the bright side, the girls are growing like weeds on formula! They are both over 7lbs now.
Just like it is with one baby, having twins is a wild ride! If you are pregnant with twins and reading this, dont psych yourself out over how "horrible" its going to be when they get here. I think more often than not, I read about how hard it was going to be. I won't lie, it is hard. But it is nowhere near as bad as I expected it to be. We're all thrown in the deep end when we have a baby, but we learn to adapt. I've gone through the emotions of having preemies, having babies in the NICU, the guilt that comes along with not being able to provide enough breastmilk, depression, you name it. What keeps me with my chin up is seeing my beautiful girls smile at me, and knowing that tomorrow is a new day. It only gets better.
To prevent myself from writing a novel - let me know if you have any questions! My dogs are barking at the fireworks, and just woke up the babies. It's too early in the evening for this, people!
Oh, you guys probably want pictures. Here they are!
- 4 days old (Hailey L, Hannah R) -
- On their original due date (Hailey L, Hannah R) -
- 2 months (Hannah L, Hailey R) -
- 2 months (Hailey L, Hannah R) -