As soon as the twins were stabilized in the operating room on the day of their delivery and were able to take some pics with me on the OR table, they were whisked to the NICU in their portable incubators to their room. They were 34 0/7 weeks exactly (6 weeks before their due date). We were lucky as they never had to be on oxygen or intubated, but they were admitted to the NICU due to their gestational age and weight (Daniel was 5lbs 6oz and Abby was 4lbs 9oz). I asked my husband Dan to follow the NICU team to their room and the team was kind enough to stop by the family waiting room to pick up my mom and sister. I was in the PACU and then transferred to the Mother-Baby Unit and had to wait several hours before I got to go see them. I may have pushed it by asking to go in a wheelchair to see them 4-6 hours after my spinal epidural and cesarean delivery but I was determined to see them! By that time, they had umbilical lines and started on antibiotics and nasogastric tubes were already in place for feedings. The twins were some of the biggest babies on the unit and considered “feeders and growers.” From what I remember, the main milestones we had to pass before we went home with them were the following: 1) stable vital signs, 2) feeding an appropriate amount of breast milk/formula eight times a day, 3) maintaining their temperature, and 4) no further weight loss (up to 10% weight loss is considered normal for newborns). When we asked how long they would be there, there were no guarantees but estimated about the time they would be term (36-37 gestational weeks), which is about the exact time we were discharged home.
As an Ob/GYN in the same hospital, I sometimes round on my own patients in the NICU who have babies transferred there. To this day, when I walk down through the hallways to see a patient, I still get teary-eyed and filled with so many emotions when I flashback to that time. I see the faces of the worried parents standing next to their incubators. I smile when I see them rocking their babies or get to do skin-to-skin with their little ones for the first time. I hear the beeping of all the monitors that go off on a regular basis and PRAY they are false alarms. I often run into some of the amazing NICU nurses that took care of my little ones. I show them current pictures and we talk about how much they have grown. During that time, I was not the physician. I was a worried first time mom with preemie twins in the NICU and recovering from my own major surgery. I am reminded of my own difficult pregnancy and complications and our NICU experience, but I am also grateful for how lucky we were through all of this.
The following are some of things we learned during our 21 days in the NICU:
- Go home and sleep– This is a hard one once I was discharged home. Not everyone who has a baby gets to go home with them. Luckily, our hospital has private NICU rooms so if we wanted to stay all night with them, we could. However, we decided it was best for me to go home and recover and prepare for them to get home. It was hard to leave them every night, but I knew they would be in the best hands possible, and they would call me if anything happened. Many parents stay with their babies in the NICU 24/7 and that’s fine if that is what you want to do. However, it is DIFFICULT to get restful sleep with the monitors and the beeping and the nurses and staff coming in and out of the room all night. Remember, the babies get fed every 3 hours with vital sign checks and diaper changes at the same time. When I have patients that have babies in the NICU for a long period of time, I make sure to tell them this. It is OK to go home and get some rest as this may be the only time you get sleep for a while. Trust me…you will need ALL the energy and strength when the time comes for your baby/babies to go home.
- Request primary nurses– I had no clue what this meant initially but another NICU mom shared this with me. This is key especially if you have an extended NICU stay. For those that don’t know, nurses usually have three 12 hour shifts a week. During your time in the NICU, the nurses switch shifts every 12 hours (usually 7am and 7pm) so may encounter many, many nurses. If you bond with or love particular nurses, you may request for them to be your primary nurses when they are working. It certainly was reassuring to see the same familiar faces who knew our babies!
- Take pictures – One of the best things we encountered in the NICU was the amazing volunteer services who would take pictures of the babies who enrolled in this program every Monday. They would take BEAUTIFUL pics of the babies and make you a scrapbook card to document their time in the NICU week by week. We only had three weeks worth of scrapbooks but you can see the changes in such a short time. If you were there a longer time (some unfortunately have to stay for months), you can see amazing progression and will be an amazing memorabilia to keep. Even if you do not have volunteers to take pictures for you, it’s easy enough to snap some pics on your phone every week and make your own scrapbook or album.
- Find out when rounding times are for the team and ask questions– We found out when then NICU team rounds every morning so we can make sure we would be there in time. Our hospital does NICU rounds in the room every morning with the physicians, residents, nurses, dietitians, respiratory therapists etc.. You can listen in on the daily progress of the babies and know the plan of care. This is also the perfect opportunity to ask questions and know what to except for the day and the week to come. I love that they include the parents during the rounds as we may pick up on something that we are concerned about and can address with the team. I think every few days, my husband Dan asked when they expected to discharge us home. He wanted to make sure we were ready!
- Learn as much as you can from the nurses– My husband was shocked that most new parents go home with their babies 2 – 3 days after their delivery. I told them that was normal lol! Most new parents do not have a 21 day “trial” period. There is not one instruction manual for new parents to prepare for their babies to come home – even if you read every parenting book out there, there is bound to be something that comes up and you are not sure what to do. We went to several prenatal classes, but this experience was hands down the best to learn how to care for them. We learned SO MUCH in the NICU – from feeding, burping, and rocking to diaper changes and bathing. A lot of it was watching and copying exactly what the nurses would do. I am still so grateful for all who helped us during this transition to go home with the twins.
We were lucky just to only be there for 21 days. I know a lot of families have a lot more time and a lot of more scary and tragic experiences in the NICU. Some parents unfortunately don’t go home with their babies. Again, in our short time there, I was a scared, tired, and sore new mom…who just had preemie twins…and was clueless. We learned so much and hope our experience can help someone else in the future.
Disclaimer: The views and comments expressed are my own personal views and experiences, and do not represent any affiliated organization or entity. Any narrative accounts are compositions of my own personal experiences. My goal is to provide education, inspiration, and empowerment to other moms and physicians.
