so I guess I am a premie mom? I had a horribly rough delivery (the whole story is in Emilys blog, link in sig), combining vaginal, csection and general anesthesia with post delivery pre-eclampsia. Tomorrow I head home, but the babies are staying another few days. I know many premie babies stay months, not days, so part of me does not feel like a "real" premie mom. Part of me is actually happy they are staying. My recovery has sucked and I have a 3 year old, so a few days at home, with nicu visits may help, but then again, we are leaving our babies behind. This all makes my head spin.
The whole pregnancy I was 100% focused on keeping the babies in and growing, and I really barely thought about this part. But they are all born and stuff and now I need to get organized. DH has been a rock star through all of this. I am not in pain anymore, really, but so drained, exhausted, sore and worn out.
Sorry this is so long and rambling. Really, I came to ask or beg for tips on healing me so I can get into the game, tips on handling home with a 3 year old and twins in the nicu, even for a few days, and tips on what we do when we come home.
thanks everyone,
Beth
Our Twin Baby + a Big Girl Blog
And with the delivery trifecra of one twin vaginal, one c-section with general anesthesia for twin B, Spencer and Sidney joined us at 35 weeks exactly on June 18.
Re: my twins were born at 35 weeks
Congratulations on your twins!
My daughter was born close to 35 weeks. She spent 1 week in the NICU/ISCU. It helped me to room in with her the night before she came home.
I had a vaginal delivery. So I was hurting from both ends--the bottom part felt like something had fallen out of my rear end and the top part was still adjusting to pumping-and it was always like "Boom" when my boobs would feel up with milk.
I tried to do pumping and breastfeeding when she first came home, but she was not gaining enough weight. And I was going crazy with the pumping. My life was so much better when I added formula with the pumped breastmilk and occasionally breastfeeding. And then when I went back to work, she was exclusively on formula.
I would try to get as much rest and take care of yourself. As well, your visits to the NICU are just a good way to bond. If you have any questions for the nurses, it is best to ask them now while your twins are in the hospital. I felt like I had to get used to taking care of a newborn again.
Congratulations on the birth of your twins.
I'm sorry that your having to leave them behind. Both my girls were born early 33 weeks and 34 weeks. Leaving them was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but in my heart I knew they were in the best place possible. My first NICU stay, we were always at the NICU, almost all day long and then came home ate dinner, pumped, and DH would take me back. But when DD#2 was born, I found that my time at the NICU was shorter. I would send my older daughter to daycare and head to the hospital. I would arrive at 9:00 a.m. and stay until 3:00. I tried to spend as much time as I could while not in the NICU with our oldest. Actually I suggest taking your oldest to the NICU to see the babies. This helped my DD realize what was going on. And I think it was great for both kids.
DD#1 and DD#2 had a two week NICU stay.
Huge hugs. Praying for a short NICU time.