Preemie Moms

My twins were born at 33+6 on December 21st, and have been in the NICU for almost 3 weeks. They are (finally) coming home on Tuesday, both on caffeine and Apnea monitors, and I was told by the neonatologist that I can't nurse them because they are too little and it takes too much energy on their part. To make matters more complicated, my husband has recently had a death in the family and he is leaving town thursday for several days, so I am overwhelmed at the prospect of taking care of these two sick babies by myself, and on such little sleep as I will have to feed and burp each one, and then pump to keep up my milk supply. AAAAAAAAACK! anyone got any advice?

 

Sleep when they sleep. Don't take them out, if possible get people to bring you anything you need. It's RSV season and that's the last thing you want them to catch.

 

Call in the reserves! My dh's father died 3 weeks after the girls were released from the nicu. He flew across the country and was gone for a week. I sent out an email to everyone I knew asking for help. Ppl signed up for shifts and I was almost never alone... Even overnight. It was hard to ask for help, but it was amazing what people did for us, when we asked.

 

Can you get somebody to come in for an hour or so a day?

I set up everything I could need in my bedroom for those first weeks- feeding supplies, diapers, the clothes and hamper, snacks and water for me, pack n plays, etc. I lived in my bedroom and (as TabbieSue says) I slept when they did and woke with them. A friend, my mil, or my husband would relieve me once a day long enough for me to eat a full meal, shower, and nap.

Don't sweat the laundry or the dishes or anything else- just hunker down and take care of your babies.

Good luck!

 

Are you able to hire a postpartum doula? She would be a great help & resource. Google DONA Internationl for more info on doulas (I'm on my phone or I would link to it).

 

my twins were born at 34w4d. We were in the NICU for 2 weeks. This is the time to ask (BEG) for help. From friends and family. I had family here round the clock holding and feeding I had friends bringing meals every night. The important thing is taking care of those babies. Bringing home twins is overwhelming enough but add preemies and dh being gone out of town and yowsa. Sleep each and every time they sleep. Set up stations in your house. before they come home set up a changing station and feeding station. By this I mean get a changing pad. next to that set up 2 baskets. 1 fill with diapers the other fill with wipes and creams. Also fill an empty tissue box if you have one with plastic grocery bags so you can place your dirty diapers in them. For your feeding station set up your boppies, a basket with birp clothes and extra blankets, a big pillow for you to lean on and your pump. If possible rent a hospital grade pump (if you haven't already) and get one of these http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0034ISZ8O/?tag=mytwins02-20. you can pump hands free while feeding. This way you don't have to do what I did which was feed/ nurse for 45 minutes and then have to pump after getting babies burped and changed and settled back in. I wish someone had told me about this bra I would have gotten ALOT more sleep. Between now and Tuesday get as much rest as possible, stock up on easy things to eat that don't need to be cooked, protien bars, muffins etc that are high in fiber and protien so you can eat while you are feeding. Take care of you and then you can take care of them. One other thing I learned was to not stay in the dark all day. It makes you feel bad and screws up their body clocks. In the morning while they sleep take a hot shower and put on something comfy. when they wake for their feeding change them and put them in fresh jammies and bring them into the living room/family room or open the drapes in your bedroom. Have them nap in the lit room(they will still sleep I promise you) and the sunlight is good for preemies. Then twards the evening around 5 or 6 do a warm wash (ever 2 days or so) with just a warm wash cloth and then dry and put clean jammies on. Put them down in a dark room after a feeding. Then get their bottles ready for the next day if you are using formula and breast milk or if you have enough breast milk already pumped. Then eat something and go to bed. I promise this is exactly what we did and it made those first few months not only barable but enjoyable. The blessing of the NICU is that these sweet babies will come home on a schedule and all you have to do is keep them on that schedule. Oh and one last thing keep a chart of feedings/ diapers wet or dirty and med times. Trust me, by day 3 at 3am you will love that chart as you start to feed babies or start to worry because 1 baby hasn't pooped for a few days and then look and realize no they have its all good. GOOD LUCK!

 

My preemies were born at 34 weeks. They came home on monitors. The monitors were difficult because you can't just pick them up and move them or change rooms. Its a whole ordeal of unplugging, gathering cords etc. When my husband went out of town, I slept on the couch with the pack in play next to me. This way in the morning I didn't have to move from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor. I left the pump in one place, plugged up and ready to go with all the supplies in arms reach. I hope you have the hands free bra. Keep a stash of clean baby laundry nearby so you don't have to go far to get what you need. You can definately do it. They will sleep alot and very soundly. Not like full term newborns, its a deeper sleep. It may be more doable than you think.