I had my first DS before the age of viability. He died.
I had my twins at just before 37 weeks, by planned c-section because I had liver disease that was potentially a threat to their lives. They both had minor difficulties, but it's hard to say whether it was prematurity, twinness, or the trauma of a planned cesarean and the aftereffects of the spinal.
DD2 was a little small- 5 1/2 pounds- but we attributed that to her being a twin, mostly, rather than being early. She was healthy for the most part, but had a little trouble learning to nurse, which could have been the aftereffect of the spinal I had, rather than her gestational age. She also had terrible jaundice that was dangerous because she also lost a LOT of weight-- 20% of her body weight-- which was a side effect of her nursing difficulties. They tried to put her in NICU, but my midwife helped me keep her out of there, and she came home with me on time after a few days in a bili-light blanket.
DS had some minor trouble, too. He didn't breathe right away on his own, and needed oxygen for a few hours after being born, or he'd go blue. He had trouble maintaining his body temperature for about a week, so I had an incubator in the room with me to help him warm up when I couldn't hold him skin to skin (him being a twin and all, and DD needing to nurse alone because of the bili blanket). The idiots in the hospital claimed he had low blood sugar, but I've since learned that this was nonsense and the result of a faulty test instrument and a fair load of ignorance about normal breastfeeding. He also had jaundice, but because he was so much bigger than DD, it never became dangerous to him and we nursed right through it with very little trouble. Nobody mentioned NICU with him.
I had my twins at just before 37 weeks, by planned c-section because I had liver disease that was potentially a threat to their lives. They both had minor difficulties, but it's hard to say whether it was prematurity, twinness, or the trauma of a planned cesarean and the aftereffects of the spinal.
DD2 was a little small- 5 1/2 pounds- but we attributed that to her being a twin, mostly, rather than being early. She was healthy for the most part, but had a little trouble learning to nurse, which could have been the aftereffect of the spinal I had, rather than her gestational age. She also had terrible jaundice that was dangerous because she also lost a LOT of weight-- 20% of her body weight-- which was a side effect of her nursing difficulties. They tried to put her in NICU, but my midwife helped me keep her out of there, and she came home with me on time after a few days in a bili-light blanket.
DS had some minor trouble, too. He didn't breathe right away on his own, and needed oxygen for a few hours after being born, or he'd go blue. He had trouble maintaining his body temperature for about a week, so I had an incubator in the room with me to help him warm up when I couldn't hold him skin to skin (him being a twin and all, and DD needing to nurse alone because of the bili blanket). The idiots in the hospital claimed he had low blood sugar, but I've since learned that this was nonsense and the result of a faulty test instrument and a fair load of ignorance about normal breastfeeding. He also had jaundice, but because he was so much bigger than DD, it never became dangerous to him and we nursed right through it with very little trouble. Nobody mentioned NICU with him.
