Zachary and Lucas have arrived...a little early!

Hello all -
I wanted to share our birth story, which wasn't exactly how we envisioned it. At my 27 week appointment, our mono-di boys looked great, both weighing in around 2 lbs with even fluid and lots of activity, and my cervix continued to shorten but our perinatologist explained that it was expected...plan was to continue home bed rest and home uterine monitoring. The next night I had way too many contractions (15 in one hour, and 7 in the next hour despite drinking tons of water) but the contractions eventually calmed down. The next morning back to the doctor, the ultrasound had changed - the boys were showing signs of twin twin transfusion syndrome and my dr was concerned about the contractions as my cervix had changed. So we we're off to the hospital to stop this labor.
At the hospital, I received Magnesium Sulfate (not an enjoyable experience but it did it's job.) The policy was to send up the NICU dr to speak with us, of course my husband and I were thinking we don't really need to talk to them as we are here to stop labor. One of the drs sat at bedside and scanned the boys for almost 2 hours, our little guy who had limited fluid was not doing well on his BPP but his HR was strong. Plan was to rescan in the morning. The next morning after another long BPP scan, they explained that baby B was showing more signs of distress and the plan was to do an amnioreduction in the next hour to try to help with fluid discrepancy. Unfortunately, my water broke in the interim and this was yet another concerning sign for our little guy who was already in distress. So we had a c-section about 30 minutes later. My husband and I were pretty emotional, as we had not even thought about this as a possibility.
The c-section was fast and without problems. The boys were tiny at 27 wks 5 days, Lucas Jonathan was 2 lbs 8 oz, and Zachary Daniel was 1 lb 11oz. The NICU teams got right to work as Zachary was really struggling at first. The twin twin transfusion syndrome was acute and pronounced - Lucas was red and Zack was white and the neonatalogist explained that one more day inside and Zack would not have made it. Both boys cried at birth and were moving a lot, and later both boys were intubated. The first few days were really tough emotionally/hormonally...but the good news is that these little guys are fighters. They are both extubated, off bililights, tolerating small amounts of breastmilk, and without any huge issues with their brains,kidneys,hearts so far! It will be a long road for our family but we are so hopeful!
This is such a great forum and I wish everyone a few more weeks than our little guys had.

 

Definitely not the birth you envisioned but it sounds like you had great docs who were monitoring you very carefully and acted immediately when they saw Zachary was in trouble. Your body also responded to the crisis when your water broke which was another sign those boys needed to be born. No one will tell you the NICU journey is fun or a piece of cake but it sounds like Zachary and Lucas aare real fighters and doing very well. Hope your NICU stay is uneventful. Jump over to the NICU forum. There are wonderful success stories there and women who will support you and answer any questions. And mostly CONGRATULATION on the birth of your little guys.

 

Congratulations on you boys. :Clap: Please visit the NICU Forum for any support you need during and after their stay. I hope their stay is short and uneventful. It sounds like they are doing well for being born early. :good: I know it's hard, hang in there. :hug:

 

Congratulations on your new additions! I will keep you all in my thoughts and please keep us posted on Zachary and Lucas' progress.

 

Congratulations Momma :wub: I hope Zachary and Lucas have a speedy stay in the NICU!

 

Congratulations! And thank God the doctors were paying close attention!! Hope your little ones grow quickly and stay healthy!

 

I'm so happy that you were being monitored so very closely for these types of complications. Congrats on your little boys! I hope that they keep doing well and gaining weight and will be home with you in no time!

 

CONGRATULATIONS on the birth of your little boys, i love their names!!!
Wishing you all a short stay in the NICU

 

:wub: Congratulations!! I hope their NICU stay is a short one. :hug: :hug: :hug:

 

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! I know it will be a long road but thankfully they took them when they did and they are ding well!! my thoughts and prayers are with your sweet little ones!!

 

Congrats! Hope their NICU stay is short and they will be home with you soon.

 

Congratulations Mama, hope your NICU journey is short and swift!

 

Just wanted to congratulate you. Sorry about the early birth, I hope all goes well. My twin sis and I had TTTS and were born 16 weeks premature at 24 weeks. We spent 6 months in hospital with a 50% chance of surivial. All the best. if you ever want to talk about anything. im here You did an amazing job Mama. I can tell you if we werent born as early as we were we both wouldnt be here today. It was a long journey and both emotionally and physically draining on our parents and our family. :hugs: You can do it.. Though i do suffer from mild cerebral palsy because i wasnt recieving enough blood like your Zack. Its challenging but nothing I cant put up with. It hasnt be easy but im thankful for our many blessings.

 

Oh wow - life certainly throws you surprises, doesn't it? It sounds like you had the best possible outcome given the difficult circumstances. Now for a super quick NICU stay! Good luck!

 

Congratulations on your little boys! :wub: :wub:
I hope their NICU stay is a short one & that those little fighters are home with you very soon! :hug:

 

Congratulations!! I'm so glad the doctors had the foresight to go ahead and deliver your precious miracles. God's blessings to you and your little guys.