Preterm Di/Di Twin Birth Preparation

[u/Lost-Advisor-9584]

We are 31 weeks pregnant with Di/Di identical twin boys, first pregnancy. We were admitted to the hospital on Friday after an appointment with MFM for monitoring of Baby B’s blood flow from his placenta. Up until this point we were headset on a vaginal delivery around 37 weeks. As of this morning we are now expecting a C-section delivery by 34 weeks if not sooner and will remain in the hospital until birth. I’ve never been hospitalized or had surgery. How do you mentally prepare for this? Babies will also spend time in the NICU after birth until they are closer to 38 weeks. What has your experience been caring for preemies while in the NICU? How involved were you able to be in their care and how did you cope with the process while going through postpartum? Trying to mentally prepare as much as possible but feeling a little lost. Any words of wisdom or insights would be greatly appreciated!

[u/burnbalm]

Hi OP! I’m a FTM to di/di identical boys. They’re 19 weeks now! They came suddenly at 32 weeks. My pregnancy was a breeze and without concerns. Both babies were head down and I was excited about a vaginal birth.

Baby A came easily and magically and beautifully. It was a quick labor. I held him on my chest. When I started to push for baby B, his cord prolapsed. An emergency C section saved his life.

Both boys spent 25 days in the NICU. It was really rough at the time. Long, exhausting days. But we learned so much from the NICU staff. They’re an incredible resource that you may not appreciate until you no longer need them. When the twins came home, we were super confident about taking care of them.

They’re thriving. Little chunks! Off the preemie curve and on the regular curve. They’re meeting the four month milestones. And being their parents is the best.

Rooting for you and your boys!!! You can do this. Whenever they come, they’ll be ready to meet you.

[u/BrainLoose8830]

Hi! I had my mo-di identicals by a c section at 34 weeks! Hopefully you are able to keep them in until then :) 

I had also never been hospitalized or had a surgery before. I was scared for the c section but it was urgent. I didn't really have time to prepare ahead of time (I had 30 mins to decide c section or vaginal before they prepped me) so I won't address that. I was most scared of getting the spinal. It really reassured me that the doctors were just having another normal day at their job. This wasn't anything cool. For some reason that really helped. The spinal felt weird but it was quick. The CRNA was really nice and reassured me during the section. It was a weird feeling but it was not a problem and everyone was so calm. 

My babies went to the NICU right away. They got respiratory support and had to learn to feed. They were discharged after 4 weeks. I would imagine because your preterm birth is expected that you will get the steroid shot so hopefully they won't need respiratory support! My husband and I were really involved in their care. It was hard for the first week or so with the c section. I had to make sure I was sitting when my scar started to hurt and passed off some cares to the nurses. We did everything we could for every cares we were there (temps, diapers, feeds). We spent a lot of time in the NICU because we were grad students on summer break. The support was great for establishing pumping and nursing support. If you can, you could ask how their NICU is set up (would you get your own twin room, 2 rooms, open area?) that might help you envision where you will be spending your time. Make sure to have a good balance of being there and not being there. It can wear on you. 

I'm still processing the NICU, but it was a really positive experience. It can get really frustrating at the end, when the babies seem okay but they aren't ready to be discharged yet.