The girls are here! 34w4d, vaginal delivery.

The girls arrived on Saturday!
Labor story:
I woke up Sat around 1:00 a.m. with a bad backache and the need to have a bowel movement. At first I thought that was all it was since my contractions during pre-term labor were in the front of my uterus and this pain was entirely in my back...except the backache kept increasing in intensity periodically. I waited an hour before getting my husband up and even then I wasn't convinced. We went in and I was dilated to 4cm and completely effaced. It was happening! The first few hours in the hospital were maddening, I have to say. I desperately wanted to move around - I've never felt such an overwhelming instinct - but they wouldn't let me because the babies needed continuous monitoring. The pain was much worse when I was forced to be on my back. (I finally got one amazing nurse who let me move around and would just check the babies every 5-10 minutes.) I was also stressed because although my doctor had agreed to a breech extraction if Baby A was vertex and B breech, I was told by the doctor on duty that she wasn't comfortable with it - so essentially it didn't matter what my doctor and I had agreed to. Luckily the girls were both still vertex (and stayed that way). The epidural was put in around 5 a.m.; by 9 a.m. I was completely dilated; by 10 or so, I still hadn't felt the need to push, so they decided to take me into the operating room and break my water. I started pushing around 10:45.

Esme Mireille was born at 11:54 a.m. and weighed 3 lb. 10 oz., and Nadine Adele was born at 12:05 p.m. and weighed 4 lb. 4 oz.

After labor was a little rough. I did only have one small internal tear, which was great, but the doctors diagnosed me with pre-eclampsia. I didn't have any protein in my urine, but my blood pressure was really high, and my labwork was "borderline." They kept pushing me to take magnesium sulfate again (I had just been on it a little over a week ago). At this point I had been in the recovery room for 4 hours, I had only seen my babies for just a few minutes right after labor, my husband was off with the grandparents, and they were trying to get me to take that awful drug again. I sort of lost it. Not bad...but I did start crying and asking them to find my husband. I finally decided to skip the mag (I had to sign a refusal of treatment form) and opt for close monitoring. The doctors were very disapproving, but I'm glad I made the decision (one of the postpartum nurses told me that she and the other nurses applauded me for refusing the treatment - doctors and nurses have differences of opinion sometimes). I'm feeling great today. Still sore and a little tired, obviously, but good.

The girls are small, even for twins at that gestational age. They're a little jaundiced, but otherwise they're breathing well (probably since I had the steroid shots) and have been passing all their tests. They started feeding them last night. This is the real test. Hopefully they'll take to feeding and will start putting on weight. The doctors say they'll be in the NICU for at least a week, probably two, but they're doing great for their size and how premature they were.

They're perfect little things. We can't wait to take them home!

 

Congratulations!! Glad they are here and doing good...

 

Congrats!

I'm hoping my babies stay vertex because my doc says he will deliver baby B breech, but only half the doctors in the practice will. So, it all depends on who is on that day if these babies decide to turn! Which sucks! Glad it all worked out for you!!

 

:Clap: Congratulations!!

 

Michelle,

Congratulations on the delivery of your girls! I had a similar situation to yours... twin girls born at 34 weeks 2 days, I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia the day before, and my girls were 3lbs11oz and 4lbs9oz. I had magnesium sulfate too, but ended up with a C-section because both my girls were transverse. Mine spent 10 days in the hospital to learn to grow and eat and came home perfectly healthy.

Good luck and make sure you rest over the next week or two until your girls come home. Certainly visit them in the hospital as much as you can, but don't feel guilty about going home to get a full night's sleep. And if you're going to breastfeed, ask for lactaction support while your girls are in the hospital. They'll have that service in the NICU.

Tricia

 

CONGRATULATIONS! I'm so proud of you - way to go to be assertive and questioning about your treatment. Your babies are here and it sounds like they are perfect, in every way. So happy for you.

 

Yea congrats! Hopefully their NICU stay will be short and sweet.

 

Congratulations!!! My girls were born at 34 weeks exactly and were small too (see sig). They spent only 2 weeks in the NICU learning how to eat and maintain their body temps. I'm sure your's will be home soon too!!!

 

Congrats on your babies! Here's hoping that their NICU stay is short.

 

Congrats!! And hopes for a brief NICU stay!!

 

Congrats! Hope your babies will be coming home with you soon.

 

My girls were born at 34 wks 1d and spent 15 and 21 days in the nicu. They will be out in no time! Congrats!

 

Aw, that's great news! Congrats!

 

Congrats!!!!

 

:Clap: Congratulations!!

 

Congrats honey!

 

Congratulations!! :babyflips: :babyflips:

 

Thanks so much to everyone! It's especially encouraging to hear about the length of NICU stays. They're still saying a week to 2 weeks - it's killing me. I want them home so badly. But I know it's for the best that they stay put for now. Nadine is back up to her birth weight, so she's gaining fast. Esme had to be put under the lights for jaundice, but she'll probably be off them tomorrow. She's eating voraciously and is off the feeding tube because she does so well with the bottle, but the wait is a little slower to come back on for her. Grow babies, grow!

(Now if my milk will just come in. 5 days and I'm producing a lot of colostrum but no milk yet...getting worried.)