29ws twins. I'm scared for them

[Springflower]

I'm so frightened. I gave birth to my baby girls ontuesday after spontaneous labour at 29ws.

I'm so overwhelmed and frightened for them. The Drs want to put a "long line" in.

I don't know what to say orwhat imlooking for here.

xxx

 

[25weeker]

Congratulations on the birth of your girls.

Long lines are very common with prems as they are more sterile and as they go into a bigger vein it has less chance of leaking like canula's do.

Neonatal is a rollercoaster and when your girls are stable try and take some time for yourself to recharge your batteries.

We are all here if you have any questions

Xx

 

[Springflower]

Thank you so much for your reply.

I'm going to dry up my tears and get back in their room.

I saw in your signature you lost Rebecca. I'm so sorry to read that. xxx

 

[danielle1987]

Congratulations on your babies Neonatal is a rollercoaster, take 1 day at a time. Long lines are better my lo had one put in his head when he was not well, He has 2 scars 1 on his arm and a big one on his thigh from tpn leaking out his cannula when he wasn't well his little veins all shut down. Ladies on here are fab and if you have any questions or just need a rant we are all here to support eachother. I spent 102 days with my lo in nicu so had plenty of up and down days, here id help to make you feel not so alone as you can feel at times. xx

 

[AP]

Just want to say congratulations on your little ones! 29wks is fab (I'm a 29 Weeker and I had a 27 Weeker) and wishing you all the best! We're always here!

 

[Sam182]

Congrats on your LOs I have a 27 weeker myself and I won't lie - NICU is tough but you'll get there. Wishing you all the very best x

 

[Lottie86]

Congratulations on your twins! What are they called?

As others have said the neonatal journey is tough and full of ups and downs, we're on day 249 today and have had far more downs than ups but you have to just take things one day at a time and on the down days just take it an hour at a time.

Everyone in this section is really friendly and helpful Wishing you and your girls all the very best and we're here if you need us xx

 

[vermeil]

oooh congratulations on the arrival of your babies! And welcome, please feel free to ask anything and everything *hugs* as others have said a long line is basically an improved IV, it goes to a larger artery so it`s stable, gets less infected etc.

29 weeks is very good! The brain has matured, the lungs have almost finished developping, that`s all good news

It really is exhausting huh. Please remember to have a bit of YOU time, try to sleep, read up etc. Your precious ones are at the very best place they can be right now, where they need to be to grow stronger and healthier.

 

[toothfairyx]

Congratulations . I had spontaneous labour and understand the shock you are feeling. But 29 weeks is an excellent gestation, and everyone here will help you through this x

 

[Springflower]

Thank you all so much for your posts. I have found them very comforting.

They didn't manage to do the long line in wither of the girls yesterday.

I feel like I've cried all the tears I can at the moment so hopefully today with a drier day! My oh cried too, I've never seen him cry like that. It's heartbreaking.

I'm hoping to go home today. I'm finding it very hard when all the other ladies here have their babies.

I'm desperate to make a plan. I need to work out my visiting schedule. Although I want to leave the ward I don't want to leave the hospital it good to be able to shuffle to the ward whenever I want to. We live about 30mins away and I don't drive so I need to figure out how I'm getting here.

Thank you all again. Reading your posts has made me feel so much less desperate. And I know we're not on our own.

 

[Albatross]

Congratulations on the birth of your twinnies. I had my two boys at 30 weeks just over a year ago so understand alot of what you are going through.

Glad to here that your girls are doing well, as others have said the whole NICU process if hard and whilst you are going through it it seems to go so slowly but in reality it is only a short perid compared to the many happy years you will have with your girls when you get them home.

They tried to get long lines into both my boys but failed with one of them and after a few days they gave up and he did just fine.

I was desparate to get out of the labour ward and go home, I wanted to get away from all the mums with their babies. I wanted my boys to be the ones keeping me awake at night not other peoples.

Getting into a routine is good it really helps, for the first few weeks I felt quite helpless and spent most of the time just sitting watching them, but you will gradually be able to do more with them as they get bigger. Ask the nurses to show you how to do their cares once the girls are well enough, it is good to feel like you are doing something to help care for them.

 

[x-amy-x]

congratulations hun!

I had my little girl just before christmas at 26 weeks. 8 and a half weeks on we're still in neonatal... up and down all the time but we're both still here and going strength to strength. dont be scared to ask the drs and nurses to explain in depth what they're doing. It will put your mind at ease.

As for the long line... its basically a wire going right through the vein into the heart. It's used for the feeding solution.. it has fats and stuff in it that in big concentrations, a vein wouldnt cope with. So the heart pumps it round more diluted. Its very common in prem babies to have one.

Connie had one in.. it took them an hour to get it carefully in place but luckily she only needed it for 3 days then it was out again as she was tollerating her milk feeds fine.

Keep you chin up hun, dont feel scared to ask questions... they are YOUR babies xxx

 

[brooke28]

Congrats on your twins. Mine were 34 weekers, but my twin girl stopped growing at 29-30 weeks due to a placenta problem. So she was my itty bitty.
Like the other ladies said. The NICU is a roller coaster. I think I cried for 3 weeks straight. I lived an hour away from the hospital, and couldn't see them everyday, and it was heartbreaking.
Just stay strong Hun. They may be little, but they are strong little things. And also little girls seem to do better for some reason.

If you ever need anything feel free to ask or pm me.
Good luck!

 

[Springflower]

Oh girls, thank you so much for your kind posts. They ate such a comfort to read.

The dr couldn't get a long line into either of them on the first attempt. They tried again with Indy the next day and managed it. Marnie they waited a couple of days as her veins arent quite as strong. But after 4 hours of trying on their last attempt they managed it. So both girls are now getting nutrietion.

I honestly can't believe how stressful this is. I've never been so afraid. I'm just trying to take each day as they come and not use dr google for anything. I don't need to scare myself!

xxx

 

[toothfairyx]

Here are some of my rules for neonatal which I have now done twice! And survived!
Do not google most of the info you read on the internet is unnecessarily alarmist. Come here as between us we have experienced most things first hand.
Take 1 day at a time.
Don't compare babies, every one of them progresses and behaves differently.
Make sure you look after yourself - make sure you get enough sleep and use the opportunity to get your strength back after pregnancy / delivery.
Spend an afternoon a week preparing and freezing meals so you can eat properly around hospital visits.
Dont underestimate the impact stress can have on your ability to produce breastmilk.

Glad they got the longlines in. Hope you are bearing up ok . Whereabouts in Surrey are you?

 

[TwoBumps]

Congratulations on the birth of your little girls! I really felt for you when i read your post, as I felt exactly the same when my twin boys were born at 31 weeks 2 and a half years ago. How much did/do your girls weigh? Are they breathing unassisted?

As the other ladies have all said the NICU journey is one hell of a rollercoaster, and one which at the time you think will never end. My boys were in for 8 weeks and I honestly thought I would never get them home, and it was absolutely heartbreaking to see a lot of the other babies come in and go home within a couple of days or weeks.

I also couldn't wait to get home and into a routine, being on the maternity ward was awful! I found that being back at home and in control of my routine (and the boys once I could feed/care for them) really really helped.

Please don't google anything - I remember googling Chronic Lung Disease when I was told that one of my boys had it and I sobbed for hours. As it turned out while he was classed as having CLD as he was oxygen dependent after a certain gestation (36 weeks maybe?) he has in fact had no problems with his lungs since he came home and both of the boys are very very healthy 2 year olds who have more than caught up with their peers.

Keep your spirits up and take each day at a time x x x

 

[Kywiki]

Congrats on becoming a mother to two beautiful girls! I know how stressful it can be the first couple of days! Every day will have ups and downs. My son was born in December and was in the NICU for 31 days. Here are a few tips for you:

Once you come home don't feel guilty that you can't be there 24/7. I live an hour away and had dogs at home so I couldn't be there all the time. I visited only once a day for a couple of hours. It was hard not being with him all the time but I knew he needed to be there more than he needed to be home with me.

One thing I struggled with was feeling useless. Something that helped was to start pumping. So when he was able to eat (through a feeding tube) I felt like I was contributing! After awhile I was able to do diaper changes and take his temp.

Once you get home and things calm down you will get into a routine. This really helped me! Also keep yourself busy! Since they are early I am sure you have stuff to do around the house to get ready for them to come home! They told us 2 days before we took him home that he was ready. We were running around trying to get all the little things we still needed.

Don't feel guilty about calling to get an update. For awhile I felt terrible that I kept bothering the nurses, but don't!

And for goodness sakes stay away from Google! It will drive you mad!

Being in the labor ward is horrible! You will see all these full term babies visiting their parents and going home. Just hang in there you will be home in a few days!

Also keep a diary of things that happen everyday. Like when they come off oxygen, when they up their feeding ect. The time goes by so fast and it blurs together. I love reading back and seeing how far my LO has come!

Oh, they might be swollen when they are born (mine was) so after a couple of days the swelling will go down and they will look so skinny and frail. They are tougher than you thing And get ready for some weight loss! It is very common. My little one lost 1 lb 6 oz before he started gaining.

Towards the end it will be hard to leave them because they are so close to coming home. But you don't want to rush them! It will happen!

So what are your LO's names? How long are they and how much do they weigh? My little guy was 4 lbs 1 1/2 oz and 17 1/4 inches long. He was a big baby for 31 weeks! Today (2 1/2 months later) he is 9 lbs and 21 inches long. He is still a runt but doing great!

 

[MummyIwanabe]

Hi Hun

Congrats on your girls it's a scary time no doubt about it and a roller coaster!

I had my twins at 28 weeks 6 days with a spontaneous labour. They weighed 2lb 10 and 2lb 8oz. They had their share of breathing issues, infections, long lines issues, etc but we had a fairly good ride our consultant said! My babies were in for 7 weeks.

When visiting we tried to twice a day but I didn't stay all day incredibly hard but I just couldn't as I was recovering from c section and had to focus on recovering. It's heart breaking leaving them and I felt very panicky about it.

I live in Hampshire/Surrey if you need any help or support please MSG me I am always here.

How are they doing? Xxxx

 

[MummyIwanabe]

P.s long lines are a struggle to get in but when they're in they're great! After a while they had to be changed and the stressful process of getting it in again began but keep strong the stuff they can do is great. We all feel powerless in this situation and the alarms going off all the time take time to adapt to. Thinking of you xx