Our twin girls were born 2 days ago at 34 weeks, 2 days. They are doing great, on CPAP, learning how to take a bottle, have a few Brady episodes, but all typical stuff for their age. Baby A was 5 pounds 15 ounces, and baby B, 6 pounds, 8 ounces, so good size for gestational age. I had been here in the hospital 2 months for severe preeclampsia and had a c-section. At first things went great and was back in recovery then had massive post partum hemorrhage and ended up losing over 4 liters of blood and emergency hysterectomy. I’m doing well so far now. Originally I planned to pump and supplement with formula. After my near-death experience I’m honestly just trying to heal up. The nurses have been very nice but keep asking if I want to pump. We also went to see girls in NICU today for like 20 minutes, but my stamina is still coming back. How little is too little time to spend with them? Will they lose out not getting any colostrum? I’m guessing they won’t be in the NICU too long, but am I supposed to be there hours a day? Holding them too long seems like it might over stimulate them?
@breathing Hey hey! Preemie mama who also hemorrhaged & had a emergency hysterectomy—after my event, I tried pumping & didn’t get much milk and lactation consultants told me I may not get anything bc my body was focused on my healing. I tried for a month and got nothing so she’s only ever had formula. She’s thriving. You pump if you can, but I would definitely try to focus on healing. I was in the hospital for 16 total days, (5 days awake & not on life support) & while I was there, I went to NICU for like an hr then back to my bed because I had no stamina—her nurses encouraged me to take care of myself.
I am so so sorry this happened to you. It’s really terrible & I’m still working on healing mentally everyday (it’s been 7 months now). You did nothing wrong. Your babies love you. I’m so grateful you are alive.
I am so so sorry this happened to you. It’s really terrible & I’m still working on healing mentally everyday (it’s been 7 months now). You did nothing wrong. Your babies love you. I’m so grateful you are alive.
jordansgotfaith
New member
@breathing Oh my goodness first of all I’m so sorry you had a traumatic birth. I can’t even imagine gojng through that. You need to 100% do what’s best for your recovery and if that means healing please focus on that. It’s easy to have the mom guilt already but if you are running on fumes it’s miserable to be the mom to your babies. Does your NICU have a donor milk program? My twins had access to that for a bit so I had the option for that program or formula. Also I’m terms of spending time we had 24/7 access to our kids and it’s easy to get caught up to be there for extended periods of times. However I really focused on my recovery at the beginning. C sections are major surgery so I made sure to take time and ensure I healed from that. Then after I felt better I looked at spending more time in the NICU. but don’t feel guilty! The nicu nurses are normally angels and your kids have the best care. I will say spending by a lot of time in the nicu took the edge off of being a first time mom and I learned sooo much. At the beginning I was able to hold them but they limited it at times so I would just check with the nurses. But just think they will only be this little for so long so get in those snuggles as much as you can. Congratulations again, I also have twin girls and it’s the best. Wishing you the best recovery 
zachariah89
New member
@breathing Premmie twin mama here. Look after you, you don’t need to spend all day every day with them, you need to heal yourself so that when they come home you can care for them.
@breathing This sounds like a lot and you do need to focus on recovery! A very traumatizing event you’ve been through. As someone who was also hospitalized for nearly a month with pre-e, I get it.
Try to do kangaroo care/skin to skin as soon as you feel ready. The evidence really, really strongly shows that it leads to better outcomes for your little ones and for you, too, mentally and physically. If you don’t feel like you can, have a partner or family members go do it as much as they can while you focus on your recovery.
You did a GREAT job getting them to a good size and 34 weeks. While your colostrum and breast milk would help them build their immune system, it’s not a make or break at this size/age. It would be much more important if they were
Try to do kangaroo care/skin to skin as soon as you feel ready. The evidence really, really strongly shows that it leads to better outcomes for your little ones and for you, too, mentally and physically. If you don’t feel like you can, have a partner or family members go do it as much as they can while you focus on your recovery.
You did a GREAT job getting them to a good size and 34 weeks. While your colostrum and breast milk would help them build their immune system, it’s not a make or break at this size/age. It would be much more important if they were
nightingale570
New member
@breathing If you decide you don't want to pump, tell your nurses. Once you've told them I'm doing formula, they should back off. I tried pumping for one day and I hated it. When i told the NICU they said that's fine and we never discussed it again.