First time poster

[Jimmy roaster]

Hi. First post and something I feel I have to do as I am getting a bit anxious about the whole thing.
My partner has given birth to twin boys at 28 weeks. One is doing very well and is now in special care. The other was doing fine until a set back due to an infection. This infection has dropped significantly as he is responding to the anti-biotics and we are both relieved.
However I am filled with so much anxiety about the 2 of them, thoughts of will they grow up to be fit and healthy????
I know no-one can give me these answers and it's really starting to do my head in.....
Reading about it only seems to make me panic more, how do u cope?

 

[AP]

Hi there

Im mum to a girl born at 27+4. She is now 15 months old and doing fantastically!

To start with, people fill you with the ifs and buts, but as your journey through neonatal and bringing up your twins continues, you will realise that no two preemies are the same.

Avoid Google - it was the one worst thing i did to myself in the early days and it filled me with awful fear.

If only I knew how bloomin fantastic things would be.

Alex had a few drastic issues in neonatal but as things stand, she is doing everything she should, if she had been born at term.

If you need some inspiration, these threads will do you some good!

https://www.babyandbump.com/premature-babies/398407-then-now.html

and feel free to introduce your lil boys here!!!https://www.babyandbump.com/premature-babies/180668-introduce-your-vip-very-important-preemie.html

We have a nice but small community in this section, so stick around, we're happy to help!

 

[embojet]

Congrats on teh birth of your boys!
Molly was born at 29+1, and is now 21 months old. She is doing fantasticly, always running around and chattering away. When they are so young it is difficult not to worry as there are so many things to worry about, but there is no pont in worrying about what you can't change. Just look forward to when they are home. Have you got any pics you can show us?

 

[katy1310]

Hi, and congratulations on the birth of your little ones.

I had Sophie at 27 weeks back in March, and she weighed just 1lb 13. She spent 12 weeks in neonatal and is now 7 months old, weighing 11lb 4. She's doing really really well and so far doesn't have any problems that we are aware of.

All babies are different but there is so much they can do for premature babies these days - they are little fighters. It's a long, tough journey through neonatal but we found that concentrating on each tiny bit of progress and all the milestones helped us along - milestones that are tiny to full term parents are massive to us preemie parents! Every time Sophie put on even an ounce made us so happy, and the day she was moved out of her incubator, the first day we saw her in clothes, first cuddles, all the nappy changes, first time she had a dummy, first feed, each time her feeds were increased or the amount of hours between them were increased, first bath, amount of hours off CPAP - I could go on!

We like pictures on here

 

[AP]

We like pictures on here

 

[Jimmy roaster]

Just got back from a day at the nicu and id like to thank you all for the support. Feeling much better after hearing from people who have all experienced this most stressfull time.

Looking at the "then and now" thread is fantastic and sb22 you are so right about google being a bad idea.
Feeling much more positive now, for how long I don't know but at least for now.

Thanks again everyone. X

 

[AP]

We're always here!!!

 

[Josephs_Daddy]

Welcome, Jimmy. Just thought I'd chip in with a fathers point of view.

It can be very stressul. Seeing your partner and your two children go through what they are. And quite often, the Dad can feel a little 'detatched' from everything and everyone, because the first they ask is 'How's Mother and Babies?'. We have to go back to work after two weeks whilst they're still there, which can be very tough mentally so you just have to take your time, tell your employers and colleagues whats happened so they don't question you and that they understand that sometimes, you'll just need a bit of time out.

Prepare to hear the same things day in, day out. And to be asked the same questions, day in day out.

"How small are they?"
"My goodness, thats tiny"
"How are they doing? How's the other half?"

Explaining this to so many people all the time is difficult. But remember - these people are unaware that you've explained it 4987 times before. I found it easier to keep a blog. www.thoughts.com/josephs_daddy/blog

I hope I've been helpful. Take care, and all our love to the LO's.

 

[sherryberry79]

Hi, welcome to B&B, you have come to the right place. Our daughter Amelia was born at 26+3 and weighed 620g (1lb 6oz) although she had serious problems with her lungs and was ventilated for months, was in the hospital for more than four months and came home on oxygen she is now doing so well! She is fourteen months old (eleven corrected) and no longer need to be on oxygen, she is 16lb 8oz, still small even for her corrected age, but the best things come in small packages! She is good on her feet, and loves to walk with a little help from me, has a fab sense of humour, and is generally a great big show off! We do have some problems with her heeding at the moment which is frustrating, and seems to be having an impact on the development of her speech, but I am trying not to stress too much, as she will do things in her own time (as ever) and no doubt will get there in the end.

I hope things continue to go well for you, your babies sound like little fighters, please keep us updated, and as the others have said, please add some piccies!!

 

[nineena]

Hiya and congrats on birth of your lil boys. Nicu is a very vey stressful time but the staff in my experience are absolutely amazing and as u can c from others here these preemie bubs r fighters and do amazingly xxx

 

[TwoBumps]

Hi Jimmy Roaster! Congratulations on your twin boys!! I also have twin boys who were born at 31 weeks. They spent 8 weeks in SCBU but are now healthy happy 13 month olds. SCBU is one hell of a rollercoaster and I know my DH found it really hard, as he had to go back to work after a week or so (so he could have his paternity leave when the boys came home), and whereas I was there all day with them, he only got to see them for a couple of hours in the evening and got really stressed & worried hearing about any little set backs they had when he was at work.

Every preemioe is different and they also progress differently, but I really don't think about my boys as preemies at all anymore - they do everything other 13 month olds do & have already been unofficially signed off by their consultant (they'll be officially signed off when they are two) so although they tell you all the if, buts and maybes try not to worry as that may very well be all that they are!

Post some pics when you get a chance! This is one of my two when they first made it into a cot at about 2 weeks, and one from this morning

 

[below zero]

Hi Jimmy,

Nice to see a daddy around Can't offer anything really useful, it's just that I'm presently pregnant with twins at 28 weeks and on a high risk for preterm delivery, so your story is on my mind. Not being able to offer experience, I can offer you some statistics:

Prediction of survival for preterm births by weight and gestational age: retrospective population based study
https://www.bmj.com/content/319/7217/1093.full

I suppose the relevant figure for you is Fig 4. Assumed the babies had average weight at birth, survival chances are roughly 85%. If you read the text you'll find that twins, born at the same week and weight as singletons, generally do better than singletons. I don't think anybody really knows why, but that's what the data says. All the best wishes to you and your family. Take care.

 

[Jimmy roaster]

Hi, sorry for the delay in posting but it's been a busy couple of weeks.

Since I last posted the infection has more or less completely cleared up and since coming back of the ventilator he was only only cpap for about a week and is now in special care breathing un-assisted!!
Thanks for all your comments it really has helped to gain some perspective. And although theres still a long way to go things are heading in the right direction.

PIcs will follow when I upload them

Thanks all.

below zero, I hope everything goes well for you at this nervy time. This message board can really help when you feel at your lowest x