What gestation were your twins born???

Hi All

I am wondering when your twins were delivered and if they spent anytime in the NICU/SCN and also if they had any feeding and/or health problems.

Reason for my question is that I am almost 29 weeks pregnant with twins and my Ob has scheduled my c/s for 38w 4d (I'm having a repeat c/s after having one with DD), but at our 28 week growth scan yesterday it is showing that both boys are already weighing around 3lb each and are measuring 2 weeks bigger than our dates.

I'm not very tall (5'4) and have a short pelvis and am carrying all to the front and due to the weight of the twins I'm really struggling to do everyday things, even showering and getting dressed is a killer. I'm now struggling with sleeping and if I sit in the one spot too long my thighs and legs go numb.

So far I have had a trouble free pregnancy (although I'm waiting to get my GD test results) but having an almost 17mth toddler to look after as well as this big belly is now really starting to get tiring on me both physically and mentally.

Due to the babies sizes already both DH & I have felt they will come before they are due and I'm just wanting to get to Easter - when I'll be 35 weeks - and then I am happy for them to arrive, but I'm unsure of what would then lay ahead of me if they do arrive before 38 weeks.

Any information would be helpful...

I had my twin boys at 36 weeks by c/s due to pre eclampsia. My little men where around 4 pounds each and where in great health when they where born. No time in nicu just very slow feeding and did not breastfeed well. They came home with me after 4 days. The only real issues I had was that they where born in may and had constant colds for the first 6 months which can be scary for premmies. Don't take your ultrasound sizes too seriously cause they are only a guide and can be way out. I know at 29 weeks it gets very tough physically but you are on the home stretch. Just remember everyday they are in there they are growing stronger. At 35 weeks they gave me steroid injections to help develop the boys lungs and I believe if I didn't have pre eclampsia I would have gone to 38 wks at which stage they like to induce anyway. Good luck and keep us posted!

our twins were born at 30 weeks
our bigger twin was 1800grams so about the same size as your twins are now
they spent 33 days in hossy

they both had complications esp my DS - but they are getting better slowly
twin pg are hard and not very nice or kind on mums
enjoy keeping them baking- for every day in-utero is two days less in SCU!!!

they need to get to 34 weeks as that is when the suck/swallow reflex kicks in
then they just have to fatten
good luck and keep us up to date

good question! Im wondering the same things, I wont even be given my c-sec date until 34 weeks and the lady who did my growth scan the other days said "I doubt you'll make it that far!"

I have not had twins - I am a twin. I was born naturally at 39 weeks. No NICU time, no health problems or feeding problems (beyond the usual patience required when establishing breastfeeding). We were breastfed for 14 mths.


All the best with the rest of your pregnancy and on the wonderful journey that has already begun. rest as much as you can.

Kelly,
When I was pregnant with our twins, my ob used to aim for 2 weeks at a time.. He said anything with a 3 in front was a great start, as in 30 weeks +. Then he would say lets get to 32 weeks, then 34 weeks and would give me the benefits for the babies of making it to the end of the next 2 week goal.
I remember feeling the strain of the pregnancy from 31 weeks onwards and would often run a bath at 4am to sleep in it!
Our twins were born the day before we were booked in to be induced at 37 + 1- 38 weeks was considered full term for twins by our ob.
Twins were both healthy weights - boy : 7 pd 6 , girl : 6 pd 12 -and had no time in NICU. Our ultrasound scan the week before the twins arrived was pretty accurate in weight prediction.
You are doing an amazing job to be chasing around after your little one as well as trying to look after yourself.
Best wishes to you and Mrs S for the rest of your pregnancy.

hey,
I was 37 weeks when I had my twins Boy was 7pd 2, Girl was 5pd- both where healthy no NICU time. Only stayed in Hospital for 2 days.

Thanks for your reply's everyone...

It seems things might happen sooner rather than later in my case. I had my Ob appt today and due to my size and the size of the babies and also the fact that I have started having small contractions, today I have had my first steriod injection and the second tomorrow to enhance lung development of the babies. I need to keep them in now until 32 weeks for the steriods to do there thing and to allow them to stay in Ballarat, if they come sooner then they will be transferred to Melbourne. So basically now my Ob thinks they will be here sooner rather than later, I just need to keep cooking them for another 2 1/2 weeks at least.

I keep you updated if anything happens.

oh hunni! praying those boys keep cooking longer for you (as uncomfortable and painful as it is) St Johns sounds so much better than base

I haven't had twins myself, but have 2 close friends who have.
Friend 1's boy/girl twins were delivered naturally at 37+4 at 4lb & 4lb 1oz. No time in SCN or NICU, they were sent home at around 4 days, before their mum who contracted an infection.
Friend 2's identicals were born at 32 weeks & she was flown from Dubbo to Sydney to have them. They were 3lb born & were in NICU in Syd for about a week, then SCN in Dubbo til they would've been 38 weeks gestation.
As far as I know, most prems usually remain in hospital til around their due date, depending on how they are going.

Hope they hold on for alot longer for you :hug:

Kelly, your 2 little boys are keen to meet you! My fingers are crossed for you for the next few weeks :goodluck:

My identical girls were born at 37wks5days, 4 days before i was booked for a c-section. They spent a night and day in the nursery as the smaller one couldn't maintain her temp. They were born on a sunday, we went home on the thurs. Twin 1 was 5pound 5 and twin 2 6pound 3. No feeding issues, only issues we have is with the smaller one and thats only because they had TTTS in utero.
Good luck with the next few weeks, it is so not comfortable but in the end it really is worth it. Twins are amazing!!

Hope you manage to keep your twins snuggly inside a wee while longer. I am 5'5" and my twins were born at 38 weeks weighing 6lb 2 and 6lb 12, I went into natural labour and they spent no time in NICU, I was able to take them straight home. Boytwin did spend a couple of weeks in NICU starting at 10 days old, but that was due to an unrelated infection.

Hope you get to a good gestation.

My twins were born at 38+4 weeks. I had prem labour at 33 weeks which was successfully stopped, then they refused to come out and I ended up been induced. Had several false alarms and lots of BH contractions up till then though.

I was so big in the last trimester, that i lost my centre of balance and kept falling forward. I was only about 49kg when I fell preg with them, so it put a lot of strain on my body.

They weighed 6lb 6oz and 6lb 9oz when they were born,

all the best,

Thanks everyone

They are still tucked up nice and warm although this week I think either or both have dropped into my pelvis as I now have a "little" extra room under my boobs again - although this just makes more kicking room for them.

I have started getting horrendous lower back pain now from them being so low, have my Ob appt this Thursday so will see where things stand re deliver dates etc. I really want to know if my Ob is happy for my to go into labour or for my waters to break before acting or to go ahead with a scheduled c/s but with an earlier date than originally anticipated.

Good luck :)

Kelly - my two princesses arrived at 35weeks and 2 days. (Reallyyyy need to find the time to do a birth announcement :D) They were little - C was 4p2oz and M was 3p13oz. Both girls were transfered to the Special care nursery in a larger hospital closer to the city (we are in a regional area) were they spent 10 days and then were transfered back to the hospital closer to home for 7 days.

They had no health problems as such, the main scare they gave us was after they had been transfered, they had a few breathing problems but apparently that is very common because going in the ambulance unsettles them. Both girls had apgar scores of 9 when they were born, and were really alert. Their size was the biggest issue. They both had nasal gastric tubes inserted and were feed though a tube feeds with my expressed milk for a couple of days and then they did a combination of breast feeding, and tube feeds when they were too tired. They are now both feeding really well, and both actually have an amazingly strong sucking action (ouchies!).

I had a VBAC with the girls which was fantastic. I'd planned to have a c-section after having one with DS but both girls were head down and my waters broke spontaneously (at 5.30am - nice wake up surprise!). It was really good because the girls were transfered that night, and then I went down the next morning. Aside from a bit of soreness, I didn't have that long recovery time that I had with my c section.

It's great you are preparing yourself for thedifferent things that can happen. I honestly never considered my girls would spend time in the special care nursery after I got past 34weeks (that's when our hospital will take babies from) so it was a bit of a shock. It was a very surreal way to spend their first days but having said that, they were in the best place and recieved amazing care. Good luck!

Congratulations Mrs Cricket!

Mrs Cricket big congrats on the arrival of your little girls.

My head has been in a spin the past few days... I've hit 32 weeks so my Ob has assured me we are all o.k to stay in Ballarat now, so that is one weight off my mind he has however told me that between now and 35 weeks we are waiting to see if I go into labour (I also had a c/s with DD and we were looking at a c/s this time around). Twin A's head is already engaged now but Twin B is firmly planted breech with a bottom wedged into my hip bone...OUCHY... so I have now been told if I do go into labour and if by the time I get to hospital I am like 8cm dialated then we will be proceeding with a VB as he said there will probably be no time to organise a c/s. He also indicated that as they would be premmies that labour could happen quite fast and as they are smaller they would "slip out" easier - his words, not mine, I'm sure there will be substantial pain involved. If we get passed 35 weeks then he will look at booking in an earlier c/s date than the original planned one.

I have a growth scan this week, so am looking forward to finding out exactly where things stand ie: head engagement and also my cervix length as this will hopefully give us an indication where things stand plus hopefully both boys have put on some more weight so they will be healthy sizes when they arrive.

Mrs Cricket if you don't mind me asking, how long was you labour?? Only as I mentioned my Ob thinks things can happen fast so just curious if your labour seemed to fly by or if you had a bit of time. We live 35 minutes from Ballarat and if something happens during the week then DH has to come from Ballarat to get me, we have to then drop DD at my parents house and then head to the hospital, so I could be up to an 1hr 1/2 before I would actually get to hospital..

My waters broke at 7am 4 days before i was booked in for a c section and i had no contractions only just started to get the period like pains just before they took me in for the c section. The girls were born at 10:21.

Kelly - my waters broke at 5.30am and as advised, we called the hospital straight away who said to come in. I had a shower and waited for DH's parents to get here to look after DS. We probably arrived in hospital about 6.30am. I think my contractions started about 9am and the girls were born 6 hours later at about 3pm. The doctor was pretty right about them 'slipping out' ;) because my girls came out very close together (3 minutes apart) and fairly easily. I also had a epidural which I think might be fairly standard for twins - they wanted to get it in if it turned out I was going to have a c-section. They had it turned up fairly high so initally I wasnt feeling anything at all pain wise, but I asked them to lower it so I had a bit more of an idea when I was having a contraction and when to push.

I've got my fingers crossed that your boys want to stay in baking for a little bit longer!

My best gf had her twin girls at 35 weeks gestation and both were over 6 lbs each, so a very good size for twins! She is slim and a little taller than me (I'm your height). The girls spent a little bit longer in hospital due to their early arrival, but only in the SCN for a few days (not NICU). No issues at all and were home after just over a week, from memory.

She recovered well (had a vb), but had some issues with her tummy muscles splitting quite badly during the pg that took a lot longer than a normal pg to knit back (and I don't think they did so properly for years). That was down to the size of the girls and her belly at the end.

GL!

Hi Kelly. I had my twins at 33w6d due to IUGR. I was in hospital for a little over a week before they were born and had the steroid injections. Adelaide was 1695g and William was 1810g. They were in special care for just over 2 weeks. Feeding tubes only for a short time. No oxygen or any other interventions! Still my perfect little (now 3 year old) twins!!
Good luck :) It will be good to get to 35 weeks, and its great you have already had the steroids! Twins are the best!