9 weeks PP with twins - pre-e, preemies, NICU stay, etc.!

swordland

New member
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! :)
 
@swordland Just curious, but is it easy to get the two of them mixed up? Can you tell which one is Hannah or Hailey? I'm not a twin, but my parents would get my brother's and my name mixed up all the time.
 
@washedagain My girls are fraternal, and Hailey is about 6oz larger. She also has a broader face. I definitely mix up their names though. I'll go to say Hailey and say "Hann....a...iley....Hailey". They both start with "Ha", so I can usually correct myself, lol.
 
@swordland Thank you so much for sharing your birth story! Your daughters are perfect! I'm currently 28.5 weeks with twins and really starting to feel it. I'm up 32lbs and wondering how much more I will gain. Hoping to make it at lest 36 weeks but I know lots of twins are very early and I worry about heart wrenching ICU time. Success stories are very reassuring. Congratulations! Any twin advice is much appreciated :)
 
@rjirai Congratulations! Boys or girls? Or one of each?

Don't sweat the weight gain! If I could go back in time, I would have stopped working sooner. Right before I had to go on strict bedrest at 29/30 weeks, I could barely climb into my car and close the door. I'm petite, so perhaps my twin belly affected me differently. I had an office job, but I never let myself sit down. I sometimes wonder if I could have made it another week or two if i slowed down sooner. No matter what though, don't allow yourself to feel guilty.

As far as advice goes, brace yourself for a potential NICU stay, but don't fear it. Figure out what level NICU your hospital has. My hospital didn't have accommodations for me to stay the night, and we live 45 min away. I pumped for 5 weeks, to make sure my babies got my breast milk. They were never able to latch, though. I would recommend calling your insurance company (if you are in the US). With the affordable care act, most insurance providers will give you a free electric breast pump. I have lots of extra accessories (flanges, bottles, etc.).... I'd love to pass them along to another twin mama, if you are interested! It's good to be prepared on this front, and definitely think about what you want to do as far as feeding goes, if something should happen and they need to stay behind in the hospital.

Some essential products that we have really enjoyed - fisher price cradle swing (x2), dr brown bottles, doctor brown bottle sterilizer for microwave, bottle warmers (x2), rock n play (x2), boppy pillow (x2), swaddleme brand swaddlers for sleeping.... Oh and target brand diapers! They are just as good as pampers, in my opinion. Huggies haven't worked well for us, perhaps because our babies are small.
 
@swordland Thank you! I've got a boy and a girl! I'm already mentally preparing myself for NiCU time. If I give birth after 32 weeks the hospital closer to my house can handle it. If it's before I'll have to go to their Seattle location, which is about 40 minutes away. I plan to breastfeed but I suppose I should work on getting the pump and gear all ready now. At this point (29 weeks) I think I'll make it past 32 weeks. My babies were measured again today and are 5 days big for age. This was great news. Pregnancy has been fairly smooth and I'm able to lap swim daily, which has saved my muscles. I quit working at 25 weeks because I just wasn't getting enough food and pee breaks and my back absolutely kills me if I walk too much. I'm a teacher, so it's summer now and not currently eating up any leave. Thank you for all the tips! I'm so excited to have my babies. That day can't come soon enough :)
 
@rjirai I would have had the same problem with my little cal hospital, that is 5 minutes away. My doctor is in another town and only has hospital rights to the larger hospital, so I automathcally knew where I would be going. Had the girls been born earlier or had issues, they would have been moved to an even larger hospital.

that's great that they are measuring ahead! I hope things continue to go well for you and that you have big, chubby babies that get to come home with you. :)
 
@swordland Thanks for posting this. I'm 32+3 with twin girls right now. I spent 4 days in the hospital and was released this week due to some bleeding. I'm hoping to make it to at least 34 but I'm already showing signs of minor pre-eclampsia. I'm glad your NICU stay wasn't horribly stressful, I'm super worried about that. Did they come home at separate times?
 
@steve_br It's great that you have made it this far! Think of each day as an accomplishment. :) I really hope you make it to 34. Did you get steroids for their lungs while you were in the hospital?

They came home separately. Hailey came home after 20 days, and Hannah after 26. I hate that Hannah had to stay behind... But on the bright side, it gave us a chance to adjust to one baby before introducing a second one.

Feel free to message me anytime if you want to talk. You sound like you are in almost the same boat I was in at 32 weeks.
 
@swordland Yeah, I went in to the hospital at 3am (I was 31+3) and they immediately gave me the first steroid shot. I was pretty sure they were going to take them out and I wasn't allowed to eat for like 18-20 hours. Luckily, the girls didn't seem distressed at all and they let me go home. I originally had a c section date scheduled at the end of the month for 36 weeks but no one seems to think I'll go that long. The girls seem too small to take out yet so I hope they let them incubate longer. They are right around 4lbs each right now.
 
@steve_br People said the same thing about me making it to 36... Even my own doctor. Hang in there! Being in the NICU sucked, but my babies are thriving considering their size.
 
@swordland I just wanted to say congratulations and thank you for posting your story. I also had preeclampsia and was induced early, which ended up in a C-Section. My baby is now 1 week old and we're struggling a bit with breastfeeding, and it's so great to hear that you got through the roughest patches and you and your babies are doing so well! Enjoy the double dose of baby snuggles!
 
@cookson1 Thank you, and congrats on your little girl! Don't beat yourself up over breastfeeding. I did at first, and it just made things 10x worse. Have you tried pumping?
 
Back
Top