Hi Everyone!!
SO sorry to keep you hanging for so long without news. We have had quite a week, so let me start off by saying that we are all now safe at home - we were discharged from hospital yesterday and things are going really well at home - both the boys and we are so much more relaxed.
The c-section was scheduled for next Friday at 9am. Due to two emergencies that came in, we were 'bumped' down the list and didn't get into theatre till 4.30pm. The c section was fine - not quite what I was expecting, but amazing to see those 2 boys being carried past!! I was so sure DT1 was a girl!
We had a great 4 hours in recovery - both babies latched on and had a feed, and then DH had to go home at 10 pm and I was admitted onto the ward. Then we started to hit some problems. The babies were very lethargic, and DT2 in particular started to lose body heat and couldn't maintain his temperature. They tested their blood sugar and DT2's was very low - he had to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at 4am, followed by his brother at 8am. It turned out the pre-eclampsia had left them with very low 'reserves' to get by in the first few days until the milk came in. They were tube fed to get their blood sugars to stabilise, which was a real blow to me as I had hoped to avoid formula. And it was awful to be separated from them. At 10am, DH was allowed back in and I was a bit of a wreck as I had had zero sleep and hadn't seen my babies for a few hours. We went across to the NICU at 10.30 (it took me 1/2 hr to get out of bed - ouch!) and went to see them. It was such a relief to see them well, but so sad to see them with little tubes in their noses. Little DT2 in particular kept pulling his tube out and he hated having it put back in again. It was heartbreaking to see him cry when they re-inserted the tubes and did all the other tests they had to do.
Anyhow, the next four days passed in a blur. I had been told that they would be allowed to come back into the postnatal ward with me when their blood sugars were stable on breastmilk (since I had chosen to breastfeed), but they would be tube fed till then with my expressed milk topped up with formula, every 3 hours. So every 3 hours, 1/2 hour before they were due to be tube fed, I went over to the NICU and did skin-to-skin with each baby, and tried to get them to latch on and feed. DT1 cracked it first - latched again on by the end of day 2 and by day 3 had his nose tube out and was feeding exclusively from me and maintaining his blood sugars. On day 4 they released both DTs to me on the postnatal ward. On day 5 DT2 started feeding from me in earnest and had his nose tube out in the evening. The following day (yesterday) we were discharged home. I had some absolutely fantastic support from the staff on the ward and I can't fault the way they dealt with the whole thing. They were brilliant. Feeding is going well in that both boys have got the hang of latching and are feeding well. Not so good in terms of the intense agony when they are latched on! Feels like string coated in broken glass is being slowly pulled out. Ouch. Still, I have been told this will settle down over the next couple of weeks and meanwhile I am gritting my teeth.
It is absolutely wonderful to be home. Both we and the boys are much more relaxed - wonderful not to be constantly disturbed afor medical stuff and to have some autonomy again. Both boys seem to be very happy and doing extremely well. They are divine and such distinct little characters already. DT1 seems more laid back (he was the same in the womb) and takes everything in his stride. He has beautiful dark eyes. DT2 is fairer and has the most hilarious expressions. He looks a bit like an old man - he wasn't getting much through the placenta because of the pre-eclampsia which is why he didn't grow much in the last few weeks. We think he will start to look more like a 'baby' (rather than an old man!) when he has put on a bit of weight. He has what we call a 'biting face' - when he is trying to latch on, he screws up his face like a little tiger and lunges for me (half the time veering off at the last minute and ending up latching on to his own hand / some other non milk-producing object). They both love cuddles and being carried about by me or DH, which is just fine with us!
That's all the news for now. LOVING being a twin mum. LOVING it.
Sorry I haven't had time to catch up with the thread... hope everyone is well!