How far along were you when your twins were born?

[Vetchic]

How far did you carry?
How much time did they spend in the NICU?
Any complications after birth?

There is a possibility my boys will be here next week at 34 weeks because baby B is small. I am just curious what other twins were like around this time.

[twowhat?]

I carried mine to 38 weeks, 6.5 pounds each, no NICU so no help for you there...but I have a friend who delivered at 32 weeks 2 days and the boy was 3 pounds, and the girl was barely 2 pounds. Both spent about 8 weeks in the NICU just gaining weight mostly and are fine now!! At 34 weeks, even if you boy is on the small side, he'll probably spend some time in the NICU but will be just perfect!

[NN317]

I made it to 37w1d and baby A was 6lbs 6oz, baby B was 5lbs 5oz. No need for NICU, and they both scored 9s on the Apgar test.
Good luck keeping them inside for as long as possible!

[Melaine]

I was in labor at the hospital for about 4 days, then they were born one day short of 34 weeks. I got the shot at the last minute to help their lungs (can't remember now, there were SO many needles). We had an emergency C and the girls were born kickin' and screamin'. They were 4lbs 4oz each and were totally fine (breathing on their own and everything). Originally, we were told the could leave as early as 4-5 days later, but it wound up being 2 weeks total in the NICU. The biggest thing was they had to work on eating, which preemies can struggle with, and they had mild jaundice. But they were great and we had no major concerns. (Frankly, after the drawn out difficult delivery, I was grateful to have a couple weeks recoup time while they were taken care of in the NICU). The care at our NICU was FABULOUS and I didn't have a moment's hesitation leaving them.
By the way, I had an ultrasound like 2 hours before they were born and the weights they estimated were completely wrong. They measured one of my girls way smaller than the other and even the larger twin ended up bigger than they said (I think they quoted one 4lber and one 3lb 10 oz; they ended up 4lb40z each) so those aren't always correct.
All that to say, I thought 34 weeks sounded SO early but they really seemed READY to me when they were born. Sure they were small, but they were feisty and healthy! PLUS, you won't have the terrifying thought of taking them home right at the beginning of flu season, so that's a bonus! Congratulations!

[mamaoftwins]

Here's my details.

35wks 1 day: Monkey (A) 4lbs 7oz, Squish (B) 5lbs even.

No time in the NICU - we were all home 46hrs after I delivered. Both boys had very mild jaundice, but it went away quickly.

No issues at home except that the guys did not want to nurse - I pumped and attempted to get them to nurse at every feeding until abt 8wks, when I just couldn't do it anymore (the routine was too exhausting, and I got mastitis from all the pumping), so we went to exclusive bottle-feeding with formula.

Good luck!!!

[mom4ee]

37wks 3days, I was in labor for almost 20hrs, DR talked me into V brith, but still ended up with emergency C

DD was 6lbs 10oz, No NICU
DS was 5lbs 13oz, 2 days in NICU for breathing problem

No issues after return home, both eating like a champ, DS triple his brith weight at 4months

[fivi2]

My water broke at exactly 32 weeks, but I did not go into labor. Stayed in hospital on bed rest 10 days, they were born at 33 weeks, 3 days. They were 4lbs 4oz and 4lbs 2 oz. We also got the lung steroid shot when I first went in.

They were in the NICU 12 and 14 days, mostly working on feeding. The only issue after coming home was nursing. We were unable to make it work and I ended up pumping exclusively.

[mikeys_mom]

My water broke at 35wks 5days in the morning, and the girls were born in the early afternoon by c/s.

Both girls were around 5.5lbs (Is it really terrible that I can't remember exact weights?!?)

Both were breathing on their own right away. No NICU, no janudice or blood sugar problems. We went home 2 days later, despite one twin losing slightly more weight than the "standard", as long as I had an appointment with my Dr. to get the babies weighed the next day.

They were latching on, but had a weak suck so nursing sessions took forever. For the first 4 weeks they were gaining weight slower than the "average" (we were going in for weekly weigh-ins), but my Dr. was not overly concerned because they were consistently gaining. I had to BF every 2 hours during the day to ensure they were getting enough. At night we have a nurse and give them formula. They were back at their birth weights by 2 weeks. By 4 weeks they were both over 6lbs and the Dr. was comfortable allowing me to nurse on demand.

Good luck!!

[thomma]

I delivered my twins at 30 weeks. I won't scare you with the details but both kids are now perfectly healthy. Ds was 3lbs 6oz/30 day NICU stay and dd was 3lbs 7oz/58 day NICU stay. The complications until age 3 were developmental delays: they crawled late, walked late and language was delayed. Bfing was very difficult especially when one was home and the other one was in the nicu.


good luck!
Kim
ds&dd 5/03

[Vetchic]

Thanks for the info ladies!