Preemies: Our Journey Begins

At 35 weeks pregnant, with twins, three weeks prior to my scheduled C-section, on my husband's birthday, I went into labor. Unexpected? Yes. Crazy? Absolutely. But wonderful? Oh yeah, the most wonderful experience of all.

Looking back, I mean, I guess we weren't so shocked. We had our hospital bags packed and in the car, our plan in place, and hypothetical situations in abundance. But for it to happen so suddenly was still extremely intense. Hindsight is 20/20, so obviously my husband and I agree that going early was the best way it could have went down. Just thinking about the anticipation and anxiety I would have felt the night before our scheduled C-section is enough to make me sweat. So I'll take the emergency surgery ten times out of ten.

It's easy to understand how we were taken by surprise - our C-section date was picked months in advance - scheduled precisely at 38 weeks. Since I was carrying twins and was considered a "high risk pregnancy" from the start, we knew there was a chance that the babies could come early. But as we reached 32...33...34...35 weeks, we thought we were in the clear. But on the evening of December 29th, I had some pretty intense pain. This happened from time to time, but it usually came and went. Only instead of subsiding it got worse. Little did I know I was contracting, which I thought I would never experience. We took off for the hospital and only a few short hours later our little twins were born.

It didn't take long for us to realize we had just given birth to two preemies. So what does that mean? Well no one really knows exactly what will happen but the NICU doctors mentioned that their early milestones might be off since they are really younger than other babies born at the same time. For preemies, growth and development in the early years is vital. And we as parents can only do our best by providing as much love and care that we can. My husband and I are committed to them and their wellbeing.

The NICU provided us with so much information and protection. It really was crazy to not be able to bring the babies to our room or have any visitors come see our new babies. The nurses taught us how to handle our tiny babies, both weighing a little over four pounds. We were so nervous and scared to  but we did our best and learned everything we could during our stay at the hospital. The hardest part was leaving the hospital with our babies still in the NICU. I didn't even realize that was an option. I hardly knew what was going on with all the hormones going berserk in my body but I had to say 'see you later' to them and returned as soon as possible for as long as I could. Thankfully they were only there a few extra days.

It is now five months later and both babies are eating and growing well. Both are now cooing, smiling, laughing and able to hold their heads up during tummy time. Continue to follow along on our journey thru childhood with our preemies. I'm pretty sure it will be an entertaining ride!

Did you know? 

Premature Baby or Preemie: is an infant born before the 37th week gestation mark. Full term newborns are born during the 37th - 42nd week after the mother's last menstrual period.

Each year 500,000 babies are born prematurely which turns out to be 1 in every 8 infant in the United States.

Premature babies are often born early due to: 
Abnormal position of the biological mother's placenta,
Biological mother's health issues,
Gestational diabetes (diabetes while pregnant),
Hypertension (high blood pressure),
Heart problems,
Kidney problems,
Infection,
Poor lifestyle choices made by the mother which includes smoking, drinking, etc. and
Carrying Twins/Triplets.

Preemies:
Weight much less
Can have health issues from underdeveloped organs
The later they are born the lower the risk that they will have problems
20% of preemies have no problems at all

Areas most likely affected in premature babies:
Cognitive & Language Delays
Motor - fine & gross motor can result in poor coordination
Vision & Hearing Impairment
Mental Illness - ADD, ADHD

What is the NICU? 
NICU stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The purpose for babies who go to the NICU is for the extreme care that is given there to limit a babies stress levels and to meet the basic needs of the babies such as, keeping them warm, nutritional care and protection to ensure growth and development.