Ok so I know this post is LONG over due. With five children 7 and under life sometimes happens and things get put on the back burner. I said I would write a post and now I am doing just that.
Just over a year ago I gave birth to preemie twins. Eli and Ellie decided that at 36 weeks and 2 days they should join the outside world at 5 lbs 2 ounces and 4 lbs 3 ounces. It had taken nearly 3 months of bedrest to reach this point and so I was happy to have hit 36 weeks and not have micro preemie twins who would need a lot of care right at birth.
Eli and Ellie were born seemingly healthy. After I was back in my room from the recovery room following the c-section due to Eli presenting feet first both babies nursed well and were happily sleeping again. It was at about 7 hours after birth that Ellie developed severe medical issues. Ellie's blood glucose levels were at 17. At this point she was kept in the nursery and started on IVs to give her glucose to raise her sugar levels. By the time she was two days old they could no longer keep her at the hospital she was born and she was transferred to a NICU just over an hour away in Grand Forks, ND. There she spent 22 days before being released to join her brother at home.
Ellie's NICU stay was especially hard on our family having to travel the distance to the hospital, caring for a newborn in addition to our 3 older children, none of which were allowed to come to the hospital due the "Swine Flu" outbreak that occurred last fall and last but not least trying to recover from a c-section after being on bedrest for 3 months. While Ellie was in the hospital she was giving blood platelets had her blood sugar checked before each feeding until she had stablized. She also developed jaundice, which is very common in preemie babies. She also had an NG tube for feeding because she was not strong enough to eat on her own or nurse well. They also did not want her to be using her energy to eat as they were trying to keep her sugars stable. After a couple weeks we pushed her to eat on her own and try to nurse or at least drink from a bottle. Even though she was released from the hospital it was still a struggle to get her to eat at least an ounce at every feeding for a very long time. It was nerve wrecking to say the least.
While Eli was at home we also had an issue with his weight loss. Eli had drop at least a pound in the first week. It was discovered that although he was nursing well he did not have the strength to suck hard enough for a long enough time period to get enough food to eat. Essentially he was using more calories to eat than he was getting while eating. I had to start alternating his feedings between nursing and getting breastmilk in a bottle. He started gaining weight and eventually no longer needed the bottle feedings.
Ellie came home December 10, 2010 only 6 days short of being one month old. I look back on this time and know I never want to repeat it again. I also remember thinking that once I hit 36 weeks the babies would be fine. However this was not the case. So when people start talking about wanting to have their babies early even by a few weeks I ask why. Because even though a large number of babies are born just fine a few weeks early there are always those who are not. Why would you want to chance the health of your baby. I would have wanted to stay pregnant longer so I could have skipped the NICU experience.
So if you are pregnant be sure you know the signs of preterm labor and take action if you begin to experience symptoms. Check out the
March of Dimes website and read up on how to have a healthy full term pregnancy. Even if you don't think it could happen to you it has been found that in about half of all premature births we simply do not know why the babies are born early so it is best to know the signs to help prevent your baby from being born prematurely.
