Prem twins

[HeatherCatherine82]

I've been t

[HeatherCatherine82]

I've been told that it's highly likely my twins will be born premature :( How big an impact does this have on them? Do they grow up like other kids?

[Poppet45]

Its a nos game I'm afraid. So exactly how prem makes a huge difference to outcomes as does birth weight. A 2lb 26 weeker is likely to suffer many more effects of prematurity than a 5lb 35 weeker. Dd was 1lb 15 at her lightest and 27 weeks. Her odds of a lifelong health burden from her prematurity are about 33%. She's a feisty stompy 2yo right now but we wont know of emotional/cognitive issues for a few years yet. She had a mild brain bleed, hole in her heart, lung damage compounded by pneumonia at 18 months, suspected mild cerebral palsy an acute zinc deficiency, and fierce reflux and food intolerances and were waiting on a hearing check but looking at her now walloping her big brother you wouldnt know. Good luck to you and your babies and a handhold here.

[buttercrumble]

My dds were born at 34 weeks weighing 4.5lb and 4.7lb , they stayed in hosp for 3 weeks until they got to 5lb. Despite them been little and needing help to feed , they have suffered no long term probs and we packed them both off to uni in sept. It was a worrying time but everybody was fabulous looking after them, keep positive and good luck . You will have so much fun and quite a few tears along the way

[plentyofsoap]

Like the others have said it really depends on at what stage they are born at and also weight. Both of mine were born at 33 weeks (5 years apart!) and are both fine apart from feeding issues and weight gain with ds.
Perhaps contact the Bliss charity? I had prior warning that mine would come early and its a horrible waiting game, but every day counts.

[MultipleMama]

I agree with others, it depends on how premature they are. My 31 weekers were born weighing 1lb 9oz (ds) due to servere IUGR and 3lbs 1oz (dd). They will be 18 weeks corrected tomorrow and are on different pars.
DD was born needing little help, she is now in process of learning to army crawl, she smiles, giggles, grabs things, keeps eye contact and shows no signs of being premature besides her size, she's just over 10lbs.

DS however was born needing ventilation, he had 3 IVH stage 1&2. He had surgery to fix his PDA, he has a weak heart, scarred and weak lungs due to sepsis, RDS, ARDS, Pneumothorax and now BPD. He is also Pace Maker dependent due to severe Brady and irregular heartbeats. He has Mitral Regurgitation due to a leaky valve so has to be monitored and may have to have surgery to correct this. He's also a hypersensitive baby either due to all the steroids or he was born like that. He is close to home but completely different to his sister.

Your twins may be perfectly healthy or they may need help but the one thing I've learnt is that preemie are truly strong fighters :)

[Mandy21]

It doesn't have to be doom & gloom - medical advances are amazing and neonatal / special care staff are some of the most dedicated professionals you'll ever meet.

It does depend on what stage they are born at, but also the reason why they were born early. If its just a question of them coming early (with no underlying medical issue), then thats obviously different than if the mother had issues with the pregnancy.

I went into labour (spontaneously) at 27 weeks and 4 days. The twins came 2 days later (so 27+6), weighing 2lb 6oz each.

There are lots of "what ifs" when they are on the special care baby unit - everyone talks about an emotional rollercoaster, and it is - but lots of premature babies are just there to learn to feed, regulate their own body temperatures (which prem babies find hard) and to grow.

Neither of my twins had any complications, even though they were so small, no major infections, no brain bleeds etc. DS was ventilated for 24 hours but were moved from intensive care to high dependency within 48 hours. They were 8 weeks old when they came home from hospital.

Some people talk about susceptability to infections - my twins weren't - even when they started nursery. They didn't have antibiotics until they were 2.

They are now 8 - they were completely discharged from the paediatric team when they were 2 (having caught up with their peers). They have no lasting effects whatsoever from their early arrival. I recently did some fundraising for BLISS and explained to people it was because they were early - their teachers / headmistress / parents of friends were all gobsmacked they were so early.

[Slebmum]

My 32 weekers are 2 1/2 now. They spent seven weeks in NICU / SCBU, 3lb1 and 3lb3oz. One was on a ventilator for 12 hours and cpap for 12 and the other one was on cpap for 24 hours. They both had horrendous silent reflux and remained on medication until they were 18 months.

They do seem to be susceptible to chest infections, but so was I as a child, so it may be nothing to do with prematurity.

They were full discharged from the paeds when they turned two.

It really does depend on gestation, weight, what caused the prem labour...