Mumsnet Talk

Dts born at 33+4. Dt2 spent 2 days in scbu mainly cos birth weight was 3lb13, and then had temp control issues. Dt1 with me (5lb2). Day 3 dt1 got jaundice and had photo therapy, day 4 dt2 got it more mildly and just went on a billy blanket . Day5 we were sent home. Dt2 did fine (great eater) but dt1 got more and more sleepy despite me waking him every 3 hrs for bf and top up. Day10 sent to another hospital (level 1 scbu instead of level 3 where dts were born) . Dt1 put in incubator and tube fed. Dt2 given heated mattress but continued mixed feeding and gaining . dt1 now back with us still with nasal tube.

anyone else had similar and if so for how long in hospital ? any tips for how to survive am getting very depressed.

Hi tiggers, I remember you from the common room. Congratulations on the birth of your twins!

I work in scbu, I'm sorry that you are having such a tough time. We usually tell parents to expect their babies home around their due date, but obviously all babies are different and some might take a bit longer or be home quicker. Twins can sometimes take longer though due to being smaller.

The jaundice will affect how sleepy they are, and once that passes they should wake up a bit. And the more fluids they are taking the quicker they will get rid of the bilirubin.

Babies usually manage to co ordinate sucking and swallowing and breathing at the same time at around 34 weeks, so that's usually when feeding issues start to get resolved.

Pm me if you have any more questions, and I hope your twins are at home with you soon x

Thanks tina. Can't work out how to pm from phone. They actually both have very strong sucking reflexes despite gestation and dt2 is a dream feeder. My eldest had jaundice which was why I was prepared to mixed feed to get rid as I knew the more poos they do the faster it gies

Shoot silly phone .

.....goes. however when we were readmitted the theory this hospital had is that they need more help growing and feeding so they don't expend too much energy on it and that this was the reason for dt1's lethargy . Bilirubin appears to be fine.

I'm just desperate for this to happen ASAP as ds1 is very unsettled by all this, Dh is finding it very trying and although we're currently staying in hospital I'm worried they might try to keep the dts and chuck me out as this,appears to be their usual policy. If they do that will be the end of any bf for me and pretty much guaranteed pnd.

Hi Tigger. I had my DS at 33 + 4. I wasn't allowed to stay with him, apart from the night before we came home and he was in for 26 days. Nevertheless, we established bfing, once out of hospital, and continued for 12 months.

He didn't have a strong sucking reflex, so you are well ahead.

tigger do they have a rooming in room, or accommodation attached to the neonatal unit? I assume you're on the pn ward if they're trying to discharge you?

If they do discharge you, could you stay through the day and then express overnight to maintain your supply?

I hope things look up for you soon x

We got discharged from hospital no 1 where I was on pn ward and are now roomiing in on hospital no 2 with both dts . They're being very accommodating about it but their guidelines are that it's only meant to be for a few nights not extended stay. I bf ds until he was nearly a year but this time I have to cope with emotional needs of ds, feeding needs of 2 babies and I'm still useless at expressing so if I'm separated it just won't happen. I tried expressing through the night the 1st night we were in and by the am was getting hardly anything and was on verge of collapse.

It sounds as though you are doing really well to still be bf, you should be proud of that, but at the same time you are dealing with a lot, and if you should have to go home please don't beat yourself up if the bf doesn't work out. Have you tried hand expressing or were you using a pump? Is it a possibility that the more well baby could be discharged with you so that you can still feed through the night?

How are the babies today?

Pump. I hope dt2 could come with me as he seems to be fine and despite a bit of drowsiness caused by heated mattress is now back to frequent demand feeding . I consider him my most effective pump. I'll just feel awful if I have to leave dt1 here alone as already have mixed feelings towards him given probs, and the perfect behaviour of his dt and then feel guilty about it all.

Thanks for the encouragement .

It might be worth trying to hand express, ask the nurses to show you how. We always recommend it for the first few days before your milk comes in, moving onto a pump then. Don't be discouraged by the fact that you didn't get much the first night - less than 1ml is perfectly normal at first. Plus you were probably stressed and exhausted!

Is there a counsellor attached to the unit that you could talk things through with? Or maybe your health visitor?

Look after yourself x

Milk came in on day 2 this time so definitely there. Most expressed has been 26 ml after feed and sleep while listening to music. No lll volunteers seen here but will try asking . No hv as still under community mw care.

Thanks for the tips.

Hello! I just came across this and thought I'd send a message of encouragement. My twins were born at 34+6 - they spent 12 days in SCBU whilst we got them to regulate their temperatures and get their suck reflex sorted. They were tube fed to start with, and then a mixture of bottles (with mostly expressed milk) and breast feeding.

I managed to get breastfeeding properly established when I got home - I decided not to stay in the hospital overnight, so I could spend time with my DS1, so expressed at home every three hours and spent most of the day at the hospital, feeding and expressing as much as possible. I can't remember what I did all day at the hospital - it was a bit of an odd twilight zone time!

It is tiring, and i did get disheartened on many occasions, but we did get through it - and you will too, it just doesn't always seem that way. Now the twins are 10 months old, and I can't believe how far they've come.

Have you tried expressing from one side while your good sucking twin is feeding from the other? It feels like you might need a million arms, but that way I could get more milk than if I expressed just on its own? I found that the baby sucking got me a strong let down, which helped to get more milk. When I started I could only get 2oz at a time, which felt like hardly anything at all, but it did build up after a while of expressing regularly.

I hope you get it all sorted and your twins home quickly xx

Thanks strawberry I used to do that with ds1 so could probably try with dt2. If I could get 2oz I'd be thrilled atm. Most I've managed is 1. Other problem I have is I'm type 1 diabetic and when I fed ds1 had really bad hypo going into coma from intense feeding so would like to avoid that as if I'm in a coma no one gets bfed!

I've asked them to find me someone to help with hand express as nipples feeling rather sore and I think it would help dt1 to take more of an interest .

Thanks for the support .

Good luck with the hand expressing, and I hope the babies are home with you soon where they belong.

Good luck with hand expressing. The first few days are such a nightmare - especially if u weren't expecting to be doing all this yet! The other thing I tried - which are frowned on a bit, but which worked for me - were nipple shields to help my dts latch on, and meant they would swap between bottles and breastfeeding, and helped them to feed when they were tired. I still use them now...

We never had jaundice but my girls were born at 33+3 and were in for 20 days, one for feeding amd apnea and the other for feeding and heated mattress.

HI there, really sorry I've only just seen this.

I just wanted to give you some encouragement - I had twins at 27+6 so much earlier than you and so I'd been expressing for a while before we got the opportunity to try breastfeeding, but I was also only allowed to room in for a few nights after being discharged from the normal ward so had about 6 weeks when the babies were still in hospital and I was at home. I did express at home and took it in each morning, and was at the hospital during the day, but managed to establish breastfeeding quite quickly and carried on until they were 11 months. I didn't have the added complication of another child, so feel proud of yourself that you're managing it with so much else going on in your life.

I also used nipple shields at the very beginning (for about 3 weeks) but this was really because my twins didn't have a particularly strong sucking reflex.

Good luck

Thanks we got released on friday afternoon and have been rather manic. Dt2 stopped feeding on friday night and saturday and caused havoc with my supply. I got someone in to advise me today and she suggested the reason was he just didn't have enough strength to feed and suggested nipple shields for when he's tired. So I tried them with him on a sleepy time and he was great. Then since he'd left it full of milk I tried it with dt1(wouldn't open his mouth twin) and he's now feeding with them and even opening his mouth for the bottle! I'm so pleased.

Does anyone have advice on mixed feeding schedules for little babies? Dt1 now 5 1/2 lb and dt2 about 4lb 2.