Twin Birth Story: Leslie

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Name: Leslie

Where do you currently live?  Southeastern NC

How far along were you when you found out you were expecting twins? 7 weeks

Any issues during your pregnancy? As I mentioned, I had and was hospitalized with Hyperemesis Gravidarium and although I was able to go home at 8 weeks, I suffered from the condition until 28 weeks. I just feel lucky that it subsided at that point, because I know it can last much longer. It is truly a miserable condition. I had terrible all day sickness with my other children, but could function. With HG you cannot function. You cannot gain weight. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I also went into premature labor at 30 weeks. The doctors were able to stop the labor and I was on modified bed rest until 34 weeks.

Memorable/funny moment when you were pregnant:  The day I found out we were having twins... it was one of those moments where my life completely went in a different direction from anything we thought possible. My husband and I have two older boys - 7 and 4 at the time. Our third pregnancy is what I affectionately referred to as our bonus baby - a complete surprise in itself. I found out very early that I was pregnant - 3 weeks and started getting physically sick less than a week later, so much so that I was in the hospital, diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarium at 7 weeks. During that visit, an ultrasound was scheduled - I assumed b/c I had not had one and they thought the baby was further along than originally thought - after all, why was I soooo sick, so early? Because the ultrasound was done in the hospital, I received no feedback from the technician at all. I went back to my room and hours later we still had not heard back anything regarding the ultrasound. The ultrasound itself was in the computer, but we were still waiting on the analysis to accompany it. It was 8:00 pm and my husband needed to get home to help put the big boys to bed. He told my nurse before he left - if the ultrasound was not good, call him before they told me and he'd come back in. If it was twins, tell us tomorrow. He was joking of course, but he said somewhere, deep down, he had a hunch. Well at 10:00 pm that night, the doctor came bouncing into my room and said the words I will NEVER forget. Everything looks great on your ultrasound. :: Pause:: There's two. Umm... I went into shock and told her she was wrong. I may have called her a liar (oops ;) ). She was very sweet and showed me the ultrasound scans... and then I called my husband!

Looking back, what is one thing you would tell your pregnant self? I constantly heard that the big goal was for me to make it 34 weeks, so I almost had a false sense of security that if I got to 34 weeks it was smooth sailing. That was not the case - they are still preemies, they still had preemie issues. I would tell myself to let my husband take the laundry baskets upstairs. Order dinner out. TAKE IT EASY even after 34 weeks. Keep those babies cooking. I would also remind myself that those frequent, in depth ultrasounds will provide a lot of details that you don't get in a normal pregnancy. There are things they will see that could be cause for concern, but are likely fine and will resolve themselves naturally. Do not stress!

How many weeks/days were you when your twins were born? 34 weeks and 5 days

Baby A's Information:  Henry
2/1/14 at 7:47 p.m.
5 lbs 15.9 oz 
19 inches 

Baby B's Information: Asher
2/1/14 at 7:52 p.m.
6 lbs
19 inches

Are your twins identical? Yes. Mono/Di.

Did you have a c-section or natural delivery? I was planning on having a c-section - baby b was breech, but in the middle of my ultrasound, the day before I went into labor, he flipped and stayed that way. I ended up having a natural delivery in the operating room - just in case.

Any NICU time?  If yes, for what reason and how long? The babies spent 9 days in the NICU for gestational age. They had high Apgar scores and weight was not an issue, but since they were just shy of 5 weeks it earned them a stay in the NICU. There were no issues during their time in the hospital. I was honestly surprised at how long they had to stay in the NICU, given they did so well but there was a checklist of skills they had to demonstrate before they could go home.
  

Did you have any complications after delivery? I did not have complications, but I was very emotional and upset having to leave the operating room without my babies - and not being able to see them for a couple of hours. It was surreal.

How long did you stay in the hospital? 3 days

Did your twins stay with you or the hospital nursery at night? NICU

What are three things you are so glad you had (or wish you would have had) at the hospital?  
My camera - I documented every little detail because I knew I would forget everything.

My UGG slippers - perfect for traveling to and from the NICU

A set of comfy, but presentable clothes since I was going back and forth to the NICU. Yoga pants, a nursing tank, and a cardigan did the trick.
Describe one of your favorite moments while you were at the hospital: My husband was not able to be at the birth of our second child because of work, so to hear him get a little choked up when the babies were born... it is so clear in my brain and I am so glad he was able to be here for their birth.

If you had one piece of advice you could give an expecting mom of twins, what would it be? The nurses in the NICU told me that if I wanted to keep them on the same schedule, feed them at the same time. Always. Sleep cycles would fall in line accordingly. Maybe I was lucky, more likely the NICU nurses knew what they were talking about, but I can think of only two days that the babies were off schedule.

Leslie's Blog: www.ourperfectlyimperfect.com

Leslie's Instagram: leslie_m_d