34 week twins

[loopylou1984]

Hi all

My twin girls are due to be delivered at 34 weeks, and at last scan (30 weeks) were at estimated weights of 2lb13 and 2lb14. They're not going to be big babies, I'm hoping for almost 4lb each but perhaps I'm being overly optimistic?

I'm really just looking for people with similar experiences to share their stories. I just don't know what to expect and quite frankly am terrified for them. X

Hi there. I'm a neonatal nurse so feel free to ask away.

At 34 weeks your babies will be just fine. They may need a small amount of breathing support but will be strong enough to do list if it on their own. They may not be fed but have iv fluids for a couple of days,but get expressing once they are born (not before,nipple stimulation can encourage labour) and express regularly. Use scent blankets so they can get your smell and vice versa. Have a small teddy for them each. Books to read to them is a great idea. Aside from that they won't need much...apart from you!

Rest,eat,drink and repeat. It will feel like forever you are apart but before log they will be strong enough to try at the great,may even be within the first week or so and then you will be knackered going from one to the other,feeding and expressing.

Try not to panic about anything,keep a journal,perhaps have 1 person who can be your "spokesperson" for updating family and friends so you can focus on your babies.

Remember they are your babies! Enjoy it. Fingers crossed they do well. Happy to answer anything anytime

People being there without it being essential is a risk to patient health

I'm sure it's different in different hospitals but I had lots of visitors when ds was in scbu and no one batted an eyelid- sign in,coats off and lots of hand gel. No one admitted with any obvious signs of illness.

My fraternal twins were delivered by emcs at 34 weeks (pre-eclampsia). 4lb 7 and 5lb. They had a ten day stay in scbu - a few days with breathing support and some more to get bf established. As Dame says above all scbu may be different but ours only let parents in (all the time apart from morning rounds) and grandparents only at visiting times but they were not allowed to hold the babies. Our unit were great with bf support but didn't have a hospital grade pump to lend me when I got out of hospital - apparently better for expressing and establishing supply. We found one via the local nct group - bliss might also do if you need one. Once I was discharged I ended up spending all day in scbu as had to get lifts before and after husband's work (couldn't drive due to c section and he wanted to save paternity leave for when they got out). In hindsight I really should have rested more - especially as I was getting up at night to express. Might be worth considering logistics like that - look after yourself too. Good luck!

Please don't do what i did and push yourself too hard about breastfeeding. If it's not working for you then stop. The doctors put so much pressure on but at the end of the day they're your babies and it's your body. Formula is not poison and i am so so much happier now i can go in and just cuddle my babies with no pressure. If it does work out then that's amazing. The nurses are amazing and will help you out with anything you need. Don't be afraid to ask for support.

Kangaroo care/skin to skin is the most amazing thing ever. Get as much of that as you can even if you decide not to breastfeed. The nurses will help you if you need help. My babies were on heart rate monitors and is incredible to see the difference in the heart rate when doing skin to skin. They're so much happier and more relaxed and so am i.

And me wrt BF!

Thank you again everyone.

Han - the breast feeding specialists have instructed me to start colostrum harvesting from 32 weeks and I asked about it triggering labour and they said no evidence. There's not much touching of the nipple involved, perhaps this is why?

Scent blanket - do you mean I should have a blanket in my bed say and then give it to them once they're born? Xx

No you take their blanket with you. For example if you are discharged and they are still in hospital.

Yes great idea to borrow or hire a hospital grade pump. Nicu loaned me one

Yes sammy. A small blanket,pop two down your bra,leave two with them,and swap them every 24 hours or so. I guess if you have been advised to start expressing then do,but we do not recommend where I work,your milk will come in naturally once your hormones peak,after the babies are born (the whole process of cutting the umbilical etc).

Thank you

My twins were born at 35 weeks. Spontaneous labour but they would have been evicted the next day anyway because of pre-eclampsia.

They were sent back down from the SCBU after an assessment as they had no issues at all and were home within 3 days. I was quite unprepared for them being so well as my doctor had been monitoring me daily from 28 weeks and preparing me for the fact the babies would be in NICU or SCBU when they were born.

One had problems with her suck and I had to express for her for a while.

They are 12 years old now and are on the shorter slighter size for their age but smart, fit and healthy.

Forgot to add, one has slight eyesight problems and wears glasses. Her doctor thinks this may be linked to her prematurity.

Good luck, it's good for you to have time to understand as much as possible what will happen. Looking around SCBU will be helpful so that it isn't a shock.

With breast feeding, don't let people tell you if you don't start actually feeding immediately it won't work. An older nurse at scbu told me that if I started bottle feeding and not breast feeding then ds (35 weeks) would never do it.

I bottle fed him as he needed to feed to put weight back on, I expressed on a schedule so my supply didn't drop, he had a mix of breast milk and formula.

Once we got home after 2 weeks in scbu we managed to breast feed by ourselves. He was ready and I'd kept my supply up.

Hi I had my son at 34 weeks weighing 6lb6! He was in nicu 5 days then scubu 5. He struggled to get breathing going. He's my fourth and I had never been able to express before but was told to relax for 3 hours then massage for ten mins and hand express ten mins into a syringe (ie 5 ml) increasing in size I followed that for the time he was there and he was exclusively bf after the first two days. The key seems to be to not stress for those three hours. Good luck

I expressed milk in the SCBU,there was a room where we could go 'and get milked' really great machine and got loads out! I think that's why it's important to look round SCBU to see what they have or what you'd need to get.

My girls were born at 34 weeks.
3lb 14 and 4lb 5.
The larger twin had issues breathing so had to go onto CPAP after birth. I didn't witness this as I was having my own issues in recovery...

It took them quite a while to establish feeding and were tube fed for a week I think (can't quite remember), before we managed to get bottle feeding sorted. (didn't breastfeed through choice)

Definitely go into SCBU and take a look around. I went up there when I was about 31 weeks pregnant and cried like a baby whilst being shown round - so be prepared!

The worse part for me was I was discharged after 4 days, which was horrendous. The fact that you are leaving your babies in hospital when you should be taking them home is difficult to deal with and I was a complete mess for 2 days before I had to deal with the practicalities of being unable to drive, having a 4 year old at home, at a hospital a fair few miles away.

They came home after 2.5 weeks, and were under the consultant for 2 years and 1 month. So every 6 weeks or so we had to attend appts and were reviewed for other specific reasons - all of which didn't develop into anything.

They are now 8

I agree with poorbuthappy I didn't want to leave my son behind but I had a section so was allowed to stay for four days. Ds was also tube fed while in nicu but I was able to produce enough milk. I think they all have those milking rooms, I used it when I'd been discharged & although I hadn't wanted to leave I soon got into a new workable routine. I was upset at the time but he's five now and I barely remember it.

Yes be prepared for lots of emotion if you're are discharged first but as my dad kindly told me "Darling, you have the rest of your life to cuddle your boy, this is such a short time''

Yeah as other posters have said be prepared for it to be quite an emotional time. I swung between being emotional and feeling numb, but speaking to the nurses and other parents in SCBU I was comforted knowing it's totally normal to feel that way. One thing I struggled with was leaving DS in SCBU when I was discharged but the nurses were so fantastic it helped to know he was in the safest of hands and the feeling of pride you get when you finally walk out of the hospital as a family knowing all the extra steps you've taken to get there is beyond amazing. I also struggled at the very beginning with not really feeling like I was his mum as I had to ask for permission to hold him and they had to show me how to do all his care (cleaning and nappy changes etc) but the nurses were great at encouraging DH and I to be involved and we soon became confident in what we were doing (once you've changed a nappy in an incubator you can change one anywhere!) which made me feel much more like a mum, I'd really recommend getting involved in as much of the care as possible for that reason. Also remind yourself it's just for a short time in the grand scheme of things and when you're walking round the house at 3am trying to comfort a screaming baby or wiping a snotty 1 year olds nose you'll feel like a mum! Two really good things that came out of SCBU is that the nurses have such a wealth of baby looking after experience it's such a great source to tap into, it was like having our own parenting boot camp, I think we came out feeling so much more confident in what we're were doing that if we'd been sent home with a newborn within hours after a quick chat with a midwife, and also the nurses got DS into an amazing feeding routine that he stuck to like clockwork when we got home which made life so much easier to plan around. Wishing you lots of luck OP

Another one here was a 34 weeker. He was delivered by EMCS when my water broke unexpectedly. He weighed 2.2kg and came out so alert everyone was amazed. He didn't need any time in NICU and was home after 3 days.

Best of luck

Oh yes definitely be prepared for the emotions. If you want to cry then cry. Don't hold it in.

My twins were born at 33+6 weighing 3lb 13 and 4lb 15 and in neonatal unit for 3 weeks. I had steroid injections at 24 weeks before laser surgery for ttts so was also amazed to get that far. We were shown round the neonatal unit the day before planned c-section which really helped us so please ask if you can. A consultant had explained to us that they would be taken away immediately for observation and would be in nicu overnight but they were both well enough to go straight to scbu and into a shared open cot within a couple of days. I was discharged after 3 days and found it really emotionally difficult to leave them in the hospital, but the care they received was incredible and the neonatal staff so kind. Twins are amazing. Ours are 2 years old now and after coming so close to losing them to ttts, it's brilliant to watch them running around, climbing and laughing with each other. Good luck to you all

Not twins but DS born at 34 weeks, 4.13lb, due to placental abruption. Birth all a bit awful and panicky under general anaesthetic. Anyway turned out he was FINE. No SCBU, no blood sugar, temperature, feeding, milk supply or breathing problems, he came home with me 3 days later. Best case scenario but I was in total shock! Like previous posters, first smiles, sitting up took a bit longer but he's now 2 and totally on track developmentally (I.e. A cheeky monkey) and in size. Good luck, if I had any advice for my 34 week self it would be to keep perspective, it all feels very scary to have to hand over your birth - something that should be so personal and natural - to the medical professionals. And although it might take you some time to bounce back, you WILL get your mojo back, so keep up the good work xxx

Do you have a local twin/multiple group? 34 weeks is very common for twins, so I'm sure you wouldn't be short of people to talk to who were once in the same boat as you x

Whereare - we saw neonatal on Monday, so feel a bit more prepared.

Thank you everyone for your stories. They estimated them at 3lb5 and 3lb9 on Monday, so hopefully 11 days later they will have made 4lb. X