My Experience with Premature Twins

My twins were born 12 weeks premature. Before then I had never had any experience with premature children. Here is our story of three months in the hospital and the months afterward.

I went into labor at 28 weeks. I did not know at first I was in labor I thought it was just a backache. When I realized it was back labor and got to the hospital it was to late to stop my labor. Both my twins were breach, I was six centimeters dilated and leaking amniotic fluid. I was told there was no chance of stopping labor and they would have to deliver thru c-section. They had to deliver the babies as soon as possible so I was rushed into an emergence c-section.

In the delivery room all I remember is being stuck over and over again while they tried to give me an epidural. Since my contractions were coming so fast and time was very important they finally gave up on the epidural and put me to sleep. At the time I was upset about this but looking back now I am glad. I do not think I could have handled seeing them come out and not breathing.

After their birth both my twins were placed on respirators. When I woke up I was wheeled into the NICU in a bed so I could see the babies. I was told later this was because the doctors feared they would die before I got to see them. Both twins were under 2 1/2 pounds and 15 inches long. I was only allowed to touch their feet at first and was only allowed to whisper to them.

The day after they were born I was woken up early in the morning by the twins doctors. I was told my son's lung had torn and collapsed. He had already had surgery to insert a tube into his chest to remove the air around his lung and was placed on a new kind of respirator. Luckily this was worse that happened to both them.

My daughter was taken off the respirator after 3 days and I was allowed to hold her for first time. My son spent 3 weeks on the new respirator. The only way I was able to hold him during this time was lifting him when the nurses changed the sheets on his bed. He was almost a month old before I finally got to cuddle and hold him.