Preemie Babies – My Journey – Part 1
At our dating ultrasound at 8 weeks, the tech proudly announced to my husband and me that we were expecting twins! I was shocked but excited as I had always wanted twins. My husband however, became catatonic (not medically, just really in shock and couldn’t formulate words or thought for about 10 minutes). The next few weeks were a whirlwind. We had to quickly sell our small house and buy something to suit our growing family. We already had a singleton and were soon going to be a family of five!
I was shocked but excited as I had always wanted twins.
Fast forward to 31 weeks and 6 days into my easy and healthy twin pregnancy and surprise, here come preemie babies. We are very blessed to have delivered two healthy yet small babies. My daughter, Twin A, born vaginally weighed 4lb 5oz and my son, Twin B, born via C-Section, was just 3lb 9oz. My new babies were quickly taken from me, followed by my husband, and rushed into the resuscitation room. Both of my babies were put on C-Pap machines to help with breathing as they were early but were still breathing on their own. They only spent 12 and 24 hours respectively on C-Pap. But they did spend quite some time in the NICU.
My new babies were quickly taken from me, followed by my husband, and rushed into the resuscitation room.
For anyone who has not experienced a visit to the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit in a hospital, it can be quite surreal, even for an experienced parent. There are lights, beeping sounds and tubes all over. There are isolettes and teeny tiny blood pressure cuffs and heel pricks. The babies in the NICU’s are so very brave and their parents have to be so strong for them. No parent wishes this for his or her child but given the alternative, there is not a better, more loving place you would want to be. A huge thank you to our NICU doctors and nurses at Mt Sinai hospital for our grand total stay of 5 days there. The journey didn’t end here. My babies were bundled up in put into a transport incubator that resembled an antique Soviet missile combined with a microwave oven. They were transported at 11pm by transfer ambulance to North York General Hospital. This was huge because is was a less intensive NICU (level 2) and a big show of my babies strength.
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Read Part 2 – Preemie Babies
Jennifer is a wife and mother of three – a beautiful singleton daughter and delicious boy/girl twins. She spent eight years teaching high school history, geography and working as a guidance counselor.
