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Multiple births

When do you start showing with twins? What is life with twins like? Join the conversation on our Multiple Births forum.

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Original poster

Hospital stay with twins

29 replies

Dawn84 · 08/04/2015 20:55

Hi....
I'm currently 25 weeks pregnant with identical twin boys and my thoughts are now turning to delivery & hospitals. I haven't been told much about either of these, all I know is that if they haven't made an appearance by 36 weeks I will be induced.
I guess my question is at how many weeks were your twins born? How heavy were they? Andy ow long did you have to stay in hospital for? If at all? Sorry for the bombardment of questions, I'm sure I'll be told all of this in due course, I'm just a little impatient. Ha!
Than you x

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

slightlyinsane · 08/04/2015 21:03

Mine arrived at 36+2 weighing 4 lb 11 and 5 lb 10. We had a wk long stay for undiagnosed TAPS. I would ask all the questions you have running through your head as I was told nothing

toomuchtooold · 08/04/2015 21:06

Mine were born at 36+5, I was due to be induced at 37 weeks but twin 1 couldn't wait . It was vaginal delivery with aaaall of the drugs.

It was more than 24h from my waters breaking to the girls being born, and I had a temperature spike near the end. For that reason we were all kept in for 5 days with daily blood tests and IV antibiotics for the girls. Because they were small (not small for twins - 2.42kg and 2.67) and technically premature (anything before 37 weeks is considered premature, at least in hospital), they also had blood sugar tests twice a day.
In theory you can be in and out in a day, but I think you're fairly likely to end up overnight at the very least. Epidural usually means an overnight stay. It's a small price to pay though .

toomuchtooold · 08/04/2015 21:07

Yes ask all of the questions! In the hospital I found they never told me anything unless I demanded to know stuff.

thingamajig · 08/04/2015 21:11

My id girls were born at 35 weeks, weighed 4lb4 and 5lb4. We stayed in for 2 weeks, til they had established feeding and were gaining weight (though they never had to be in incubators or tube fed, which are both pretty common). Again, ask any questions you have, here and to your consultant, no-one ever volunteered any information to me.

Original poster

Dawn84 · 08/04/2015 21:13

Thank you! You can read all the stuff you want on the Internet but nothing compares to getting first hand accounts!
Fingers crossed the boys are happy where they are and will be for the next 10 weeks or so!
It's just starting to come around so quickly now, it only seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant, and it's all starting to seem a bit "real" that in a few weeks these babies will be born one way or another!

OP posts:

littleomar · 08/04/2015 21:19

37+3, induced, epidural, born 9pm, in for two nights. Was expecting to be there much longer! They are non ID and were just over/just under 6lbs. Good luck!

MirandaGoshawk · 08/04/2015 21:20

Mine came unexpectedly at 29 weeks. I hadn't had the hospital tour yet so I had no idea what to expect! Twins can come early so I would suggest you get a tour booked asap so that you can have a look round, meet the staff & ask questions.

My darlings weighed 3lbs and 3.5 lbs. Their little heads were the size of an apple. They were in the neonatal unit for 9 weeks, so nearly to what would have been their term date. It wasn't nice not being able to take them home but they were well-looked after and caught up quickly. They are now 21 years old!

Congratulations btw.

heritagewarrior · 08/04/2015 21:32

Born at 36+6 a week sooner than we were booked in for an ELCS, because I had pre-eclampsia and scans showed that they were 'cooked' (twins consultant's words). Procedure a very good experience, but DtS1 started having breathing problems shortly after birth, so had to go to NICU. Subsequent jaundice (twins) and then high blood pressure (me) meant we stayed in for 8 nights. Hated that, and was glad to get out. Boys were 5lb 6oz and 5Ib 15oz and born at 9.30am in the morning. They are now 6.5

Twicethehugs · 08/04/2015 21:37

37&6, induced with identical twins but ended up having a C Section. We were in hospital for 5 nights with some SCBU time but not for anything major. They weighed 4lb10 and 5lb2. You must be having lots of hospital appointments, scans etc so ask whatever you need to. I found I wanted to know in case they came early. I was worried about SCBU and got to visit while pregnant which I found helpful so I knew what to expect in case they spent time there.

Helish · 08/04/2015 21:45

Mine came at 36 weeks. In fact I went in for a routine scan and was contracting so got admitted and they were born 4 hours later. Both were breech so had a section & stayed in for five days. Our hospital puts twin parents in a private room so DH could stay and help out which made a huge difference. They were 5 lb 7oz and 5lb 10oz

Doublethecuddles · 09/04/2015 08:07

Mine were born at 40 + 2 days and ended up being induced. That was 8 years ago when they let you go beyond 40 weeks. Twin 2 went I to distress and I ended up with an emergency c-section. I was in hospital for 6 nights as babies lost 2 much weight and it took a while to establish a feeding routine. I was fortunate I was given a private room. My babies were 6lb 4oz and 6lb 1oz. Non identical twins.I recovered for the section without any problems. I think it helped that I was able to carry on with gentle exercise until I gave birth.
Congratulations twins are truly special

Linguaphile · 09/04/2015 10:32

Ours were born at 38 weeks after induction and EMCS, and they weighed 5lbs11oz and 6lbs2oz, so good weights. We were in the hospital for about a week because of jaundice, though. Between waiting on the induction and then the babies' recovery, I personally was in for about 10 days, which felt like a lifetime. I really wasn't expecting to be in the hospital that long because the babies were full-term and my pregnancy had been complication-free, and I found it a bit soul-destroying as I wasn't mentally prepared for it!

BigGlasses · 09/04/2015 15:22

My non ID DTs came at 35+5. I was booked for a Csection at 38 weeks due to T1 being breach, but my waters broke so they Csectioned me early. They were both 5lbs15oz. We were initally released onto the postnatal ward due to them being over 5lbs, but due to them being less than 37 weeks they needed to have blood sugar tests before every feed. After 24hours they were failing to keep warm and their blood sugar was all over the place so they went to SCBU where in an incubator and tube fed. After 36hours they were released to transitional care where I could stay with them. I was stuck there for a 10days as although T2s feeding was fine and he was off the tube feeding after a couple of days, T1 wouldn't feed - nothing to do with his prematurity he had another medical condition whch they didn't spot (they never did but that's a whole other story)
They are now almost 5 and thriving )

Original poster

Dawn84 · 09/04/2015 16:50

Thank you all soooo much! These are definitely things I will be asking my consultant when I see him again at the beginning of June! And I will definitely be asking about a tour of the hospital (I'm there every 2 weeks for scans so have plenty of opportunity). I never even knew you could have one of these!
I believe at my last scan T2 was head down & T1 was breech & they both weighed roughly 1.5lbs.

OP posts:

neversleepagain · 09/04/2015 17:01

34+5, 5lb4 & 5lb8. The girls spent two weeks in scbu. I delivered by emcs and I spent 4 nights in hospital.

FreeButtonBee · 09/04/2015 17:05

Ask if your hospital have any special classes or sessions for multiples.

Also ask for their twin pregnancy birth protocol (they should have a written one - dealing with monitoring/pain relief options/what if Twin 2 is unco-oprtative). I found it helpful to read it even though I ended up with a section although they would only let me have it if a doctor talked me through it.

Also if you end up needing a section, demand an IV prior to the op if you are waiting more than 3 hours. I waited all day due to emergencies and was in pretty bad shape by the time I was taken to the theatre. Being heavily pregnant with twins is very very hard work and being nil by mouth is not fun at all. Wish I had been less patient at that stage.

Cadenza1818 · 09/04/2015 21:41

37 weeks with identical twins. Spent a week in before with suspected pre eclampsia then
induced. Spent 2 weeks in total but it was for me not them. No incubator or anything. Congratulations x

mandy214 · 09/04/2015 21:57

27+6, 2 lb 6 oz and 2 lb 6.5oz.

Sweeping statement but in my experience (babies spent time in 2 different hospitals) but staff on a neonatal ward are generally lovely and very understanding. They know what you're going through and how emotional it is if you have your babies early.

I would try to be as organised as you can just in case they come early - grows, car seats, freezer stocked!

My babies were in hospital for 8 weeks and 5 days so came home at 36+4. I wont pretend it wasnt hard because it was, but we had amazing support from the staff.

They're fine now and very quickly the birth and their hospital stay faded.

JemFinch · 10/04/2015 12:39

Mine turned up at 31 weeks (we had had TTTS and then I had a placental abruption so not exactly a 'normal' scenario). They were in NICU for 4 days and SCBU for 39 days. They were 3lb1 and 3lb3, and had no health issues apart from being titchy. I spent two nights in hospital.

I think with any both, single or multiple, it helps to remember that the best made plans can go straight out the window.

I agree with the PP, find out about your hospitals protocol, what will happen re monitoring, if you need to go for a section etc. Are they happy for you to go for a vaginal delivery?

Good luck!

madeuplovesong44 · 11/04/2015 03:22

My identical girls were born ten weeks ago at 37+5 via c section as twin 1 was breech. They told me they wouldn't let me go past 36 weeks but everything was fine so left them cooking a bit longer. They were 6lb4 and 5lb13. We had to stay four nights as the babies were monitored for withdrawl from the medication I have to take. Otherwise they said we would have been home the next day.

Congratulations and good luck, is a truly amazing experience!

Tftpoo · 11/04/2015 10:44

My ID boys were born at 35+6 by ELCS after my waters went and labour didn't start. I had been in for 3 nights after waters went before they were born then we were there another 9 nights (3 nights in NICU, 6 nights on transitional care). They had undiagnosed TTTS hence the longer stay. Take LOADS of maternity pads and knickers in case you are in for a while!

I remember asking the consultant about birth around your stage of pregnancy and was told that wasn't usually discussed until at least 36 weeks - I had to point out to the consultant (not my normal one) that I was unlikely to still be pregnant then given that the plan was induction at 36 weeks and if it was all right with him we would discuss it now! He was an arse though, my normal consultant was lovely and was very happy to make an extra appointment to go through all my questions about the birth. So from my experience I would say ask away and make sure they take you seriously because I felt there was quite a lot of fobbing off going on and I had to push to get all my questions answered. It might be worth asking to speak to a Supervisor of Midwives too as they were very helpful.

MirandaGoshawk · 11/04/2015 16:33

I don't understand why breech seems to indicate a c-section these days. Mine were born 21 years ago and Twin 2 was breech - someone put their hand in and pulled him out! Not sure if they managed to turn him or not, but it all went OK.

2015isgoingtobeBIG · 11/04/2015 17:21

Miranda-the skills of midwives and doctors to perform a breech delivery for a singleton or twin one are dwindling with very few competent or confident to perform such a delivery. As a result guidelines are now for section if twin one is breech. Twin two can be breech and still be born vaginally it's the position of twin one that matters.

MirandaGoshawk · 11/04/2015 22:47

Ah yes, I remember hearing something about loss of skills. What a shame.

MirandaGoshawk · 11/04/2015 22:49

But I didn't know that about Twin 1's position. Thank you.

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