Way Back When-esday: RSV Twins

I'm joining along with Cheryl over at http://twinfatuation.blogspot.com for Way Back When-esday.

Just a little over 2 years ago my twins were discharged from the NICU at CHildren's Hospital Boston after their bout with RSV.  They both came home with me when I was discharged 5 days after their birth, but that didn't last long.  My son was admitted after being home for about 2 weeks and my daughter was admitted 1 week later.  My son was rushed from his 2 week doctor appointment when he declined to the point that the doctor called 911.  Luckily my older son who was drinking his formula from a glass bottle dropped it and it broke.  That delayed things to the point of my son declining at the doctors instead of in the car on the way to a local ER.  Thankfully he was only intubated for 24 hours, but was in the hospital for 3 weeks.  1 week later, we brought his sister to Children's ER and she was immediately brought back to a room from triage due to an episode of apnea while being triaged.  They tried to use a CPAP machine initially instead of intubating her, but it just wasn't giving her enough oxygen.  She was ultimately intubated and got an NG tube.  Unfortunately, unlike her brother she was intubated for 6 days until she decided she had had enough and pulled her tube out.  The next day she pulled her feeding tube out.  My son was supposed to be discharged on the next Friday, but he had a period of tachycardia the night before, so that delayed his discharge.  He ended up being discharged with his sister on Monday which pretty much ended up being their due date.  When I think back, I am almost sorry that they came home with me.  I sometimes wonder if they would have been better off staying in the hospital getting a little bigger and a littler stronger. Maybe then they wouldn't have gotten the RSV.  They say that sometimes kids who have RSV can end up with breathing problems later on.  So far, we have been really lucky and have only had 1 scare where we needed to bring my daughter to the ER for difficulty breathing.  Luckily, we were sent home with just an inhaler, which she really hasn't needed to use.  We have been extremely lucky with all 3 kids regarding illness.  Other then my daughter, we have only had to ring my older son to the ER 1 time just after the twins were born.  I am very thankful that my 3 children are healthy babies.  I hope they stay that way, though I still do get a little nervous when the twins get colds!

3 days before Thomas was admitted with RSV

At home the day after discharge in their preemie outfits that were still too big

The twins 3/9/2009

Thanks for looking at my way back when pictures!

Amy

On Having Preemies

I hope sotorrifictwins.blogspot.com doesn't mind that I'm stealing her idea for a blog post, but any support for preemies is good, right?  I am also a mom to preemie twins born 4 weeks and 3 days early, according to a later ultrasound time line (according to usual calculating, and I guess later ultrasound timelines aren't as accurate, I was 5 weeks  3 days early).  Does it matter?  In the long run not really, but being at least 35 weeks allowed me to deliver at Mt Auburn like I wished.  Unfortunately, I did not have the uncomplicated pregnancy like Sotorrific Twins.  I had been on bed rest since week 23 and got steroid shots at 28 weeks for help with the babies lung development.  Like Sotorrific Twins said, it is so important to have prenatal care.  I was at a routine ultrasound when the ultrasound tech and MD noticed that I had a short cervix placing me at risk for pre-term labor.  The MD immediately put me on bed rest after a trip to the hospital for initial monitoring.  I was also put on progesterone suppositories.  I was seen much more often for OB appointments and also for ultrasounds.  The initial goal was for me to make it to at least 28 weeks.  Those next 5 weeks were really scary, hoping and praying that my babies would be safe.  Once I hit 34 weeks, the ultrasound MD told us just how worried he was.

At that point, I was taken off strict bed rest but still had increased monitoring.  It was at a routine NST that I had found out I was having issues with pre-eclampsia again (I was on bed rest for 6 weeks with my 1st son).  At my OB appointment that morning my blood pressure was totally normal, no issues.  By 4 pm, my BP had spiked to 188/111 (I was also on BP meds) and blood work and urine showed that I was truly starting to have pre-eclampsia.  I was going to try to do a VBAC, but baby B was breech (he had been head down 2 days earlier).  I had already started to dilate and they were going to try to break my water, but no go since I had a breech baby.

The babies were born just before midnight via c-section and were amazingly healthy.  They were both about 4 1/2 pounds and really only needed to be watched for their ability to suck, swallow and breathe.  We were lucky enough to be able to have them come home with us after 5 days.  Unfortunately, their low birth weight, small size and premature status placed them at risk for RSV.  Really unfortunately, they came down with RSV when they were 2 and 3 weeks old.

Like Sotorrific Twins, I also worry about meeting milestones at the right mark, but so far there have not been any issues.  Because of their RSV, I tend to be a little more worried regarding respiratory issues, they are more at risk for issues due to RSV.  H1N1 as well as the regular flu, is also a worry because of their preemie status and RSV history.

Thankfully, RSV is the only issue that we have had related to their preemie status and even then once they were stablized, they just grew and grew and reached milestone after milestone.  Luckily my BP is now normal and I am no longer on BP meds.

Prenatal monitoring is so important to your baby's health and well being as well as your own.  Make sure that you take care of yourself and get monitored when you are pregnant.  As you can see even with close monitoring, there can be major issues, but they can be addressed quickly.

Amy