1 in 8 babies is born to soon...

Today is Prematurity Awareness Day.

To learn more, visit the March of Dimes.

Click here to read our NICU story (Cuddlebug and Bearhug were born 6 1/2 weeks early due to severe pre-eclampsia).

Here's a repost of my earlier prematurity awareness post (slightly edited):

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you know that 1 in 8 babies is born prematurely in the U.S.? In approximately 40% of cases, the cause of premature labor is unknown, and it can happen to anyone. I have shared our story before about Cuddlebug and Bearhug's premature birth, but I think it's worth examining what a difference it makes when a baby is able to be born full term. In contrast with his brothers being born 6 1/2 weeks early, Little Bitty was born 1 1/2 weeks late. Being pregnant with him a full 8 weeks longer felt like FOREVER in comparison, lol, but of course it was well worth every minute because I knew he was where he needed to be (and unlike the situation with CB and BH, it was safe for him to remain in the womb).

What a difference those 8 weeks made! Here is a comparison of their footprints:


I scanned them all together so they would be proportionally accurate. Every time I look at these I'm just amazed at how tiny Cuddlebug's foot was compared with Little Bitty's. The size disparity between Cuddlebug and Bearhug was due to TTTS.

In addition to their sizes, here are some other differences we experienced between our twins' premature birth and the full-term delivery of our youngest. I only have my own experience to draw from, so this may not be applicable to everyone, but I'm sharing it to highlight some of the benefits of full-term delivery and why prematurity awareness is so important.

1. Being able to hold your baby right away. We had to wait 8 days before we could hold Bearhug for the first time, and 2 days before we could hold Cuddlebug. I was able to hold Little Bitty within the first few minutes after he was born. It was an amazing experience!

2. Being able to bring your baby home with you. Cuddlebug and Bearhug spent 22 days in the NICU before we were able to bring them home. Some premature babies stay much longer, depending on how early they are born and their health. Some preemies have medical challenges ranging from mild to severe, while others just need a little extra time to grow.

3. Getting a little more sleep at night. Like most newborns, Little Bitty woke up to eat about every 3 hours when he first came home. Because of their small size, Bearhug and Cuddlebug couldn't hold enough food in their stomachs to last 3 hours and needed to eat about every 1 1/2 hours. Add to that the fact that the effort they had to put into eating often wore them out before they were full, and sometimes we didn't even make a whole hour before they needed to eat again. That's a recipe for exhaustion for mom and dad (although well worth it of course!).

4. Less susceptible to illness. Cuddlebug and Bearhug needed 6 months of RSV shots as a precaution since they'd had respiratory distress early on. We had to be very careful about taking them out and having visitors. We were cautious with Little Bitty also, but the risk level for full-term babies is generally not as high.


The March of Dimes has more on why getting at least 39 weeks is best for babies if at all possible. Did you know the March of Dimes is responsible for leading the call to develop Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU)? They also funded the research that led to the use of surfactant to treat respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). They have had many other successes as well, but for those two reasons especially, I will be eternally grateful to them!





If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Read More >>

1 in 8 babies is born too soon...

Today is Prematurity Awareness Day.

To learn more, visit the March of Dimes by clicking the banner below.



Click here to read our NICU story (Cuddlebug and Bearhug were born 6 1/2 weeks early due to severe pre-eclampsia).

Here's a repost of my earlier prematurity awareness post:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you know that 1 in 8 babies is born prematurely in the U.S.? In approximately 40% of cases, the cause of premature labor is unknown, and it can happen to anyone. I have shared our story before about Cuddlebug and Bearhug's premature birth, but I think it's worth examining what a difference it makes when a baby is able to be born full term. In contrast with his brothers being born 6 1/2 weeks early, Little Bitty was born 1 1/2 weeks late. Being pregnant with him a full 8 weeks longer felt like FOREVER in comparison, lol, but of course it was well worth every minute because I knew he was where he needed to be (and unlike the situation with CB and BH, it was safe for him to remain in the womb).

What a difference those 8 weeks made! Here is a comparison of their footprints:


I scanned them all together so they would be proportionally accurate. Every time I look at these I'm just amazed at how tiny Cuddlebug's foot was compared with Little Bitty's. The size disparity between Cuddlebug and Bearhug was due to TTTS.

In addition to their sizes, here are some other differences we experienced between our twins' premature birth and the full-term delivery of our youngest. I only have my own experience to draw from, so this may not be applicable to everyone, but I'm sharing it to highlight some of the benefits of full-term delivery and why prematurity awareness is so important.

1. Being able to hold your baby right away. We had to wait 8 days before we could hold Bearhug for the first time, and 2 days before we could hold Cuddlebug. I was able to hold Little Bitty within the first few minutes after he was born. It was an amazing experience!

2. Being able to bring your baby home with you. Cuddlebug and Bearhug spent 22 days in the NICU before we were able to bring them home. Some premature babies stay much longer, depending on how early they are born and their health. Some preemies have medical challenges ranging from mild to severe, while others just need a little extra time to grow.

3. Getting a little more sleep at night. Like most newborns, Little Bitty woke up to eat about every 3 hours when he first came home. Because of their small size, Bearhug and Cuddlebug couldn't hold enough food in their stomachs to last 3 hours and needed to eat about every 1 1/2 hours. Add to that the fact that the effort they had to put into eating often wore them out before they were full, and sometimes we didn't even make a whole hour before they needed to eat again. That's a recipe for exhaustion for mom and dad (although well worth it of course!).

4. Less susceptible to illness. Cuddlebug and Bearhug needed 6 months of RSV shots as a precaution since they'd had respiratory distress early on. We had to be very careful about taking them out and having visitors. We were cautious with Little Bitty also, but the risk level for full-term babies is generally not as high.


For more information on prematurity, visit the March of Dimes. Did you know the March of Dimes is responsible for leading the call to develop Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU)? They also funded the research that led to the use of surfactant to treat respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). They have had many other successes as well, but for those two reasons especially, I will be eternally grateful to them!



If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Read More >>

How old is he?

K posted recently about answering the question of a child's age. I was surprised at the range of emotions I felt as I thought about my own answers to that question in the nearly eight years that I have been a mother.

It seems like a simple question, with a straightforward enough answer. Usually people who ask are either curious or just making conversation. Sometimes, though, the answer seems more complicated than it ought to be.

When Bearhug and Cuddlebug were babies, I always gave two answers - their actual age and their gestational, or "adjusted" age (the age they would have been had they been born on or near their due date).

"They're 2 months old, but their adjusted age is 2 weeks."

As they got a little older, they grew quickly and didn't seem as small for their age, but I still felt the need to qualify my answer since their developmental milestones were more appropriately gauged based on adjusted age.

"They're six months old, but their adjusted age is 4 1/2 months."

By the time they turned one, they were actually big for their age rather than small. We joked that maybe it was the steroids they received at birth to help their lungs develop.

I don't remember exactly when I stopped telling people their adjusted age, but as they entered the toddler stage my perspective on the question of age changed a bit.

As children move through the toddler and preschool stages, people tend to stop asking and make assumptions based on size. I became very sensitive to this because my boys were large for their age, but increasingly delayed in their development. Their behavior was more like children younger than them, but people assumed they were even older than they actually were, so it was a "double-whammy" in terms of the gap between where they were and where society at large expected them to be.

I became eager to set the record straight and make sure people knew they were "only 26 months" or "barely three" as a way to help explain their behavior (didn't know their dx yet) and insulate them (and us, let's be honest) from the harsh judgments of those who assumed they were older. They were big enough to look as much as a year older for a long time, and the "isn't he a little old to be acting like that" stares got old in a hurry.

At least that is one worry we don't have with Bitty... he is right-on average size for his age, so he's not typically mistaken for being older. On the other hand, his delays are pretty significant in some areas, so that "gap" between reality and perceived expectation is still there.

I hate to admit it, but one thing I was not looking forward to about his fourth birthday was having to tell people he is four now. It just seems to highlight the difference between him and other children his age. When he was three, I could just say, "three" without getting specific. I didn't tell people he was almost four, I just let them assume that perhaps he was a "younger" three.

Sometimes when I tell people Bitty's age, I get confused looks in response. I usually just smile and let it go at that (although if people are genuinely interested, I am more than willing to share, in fact I often appreciate the opportunity to do so). But after all, in the bubble that is my life, Bitty is a "typical" 4-yr-old :).





If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Read More >>

November is Prematurity Awareness Month

Did you know that 1 in 8 babies is born prematurely in the U.S.? In approximately 40% of cases, the cause of premature labor is unknown, and it can happen to anyone. I have shared our story before about Cuddlebug and Bearhug's premature birth, but I think it's worth examining what a difference it makes when a baby is able to be born full term. In contrast with his brothers being born 6 1/2 weeks early, Little Bitty was born 1 1/2 weeks late. Being pregnant with him a full 8 weeks longer felt like FOREVER in comparison, lol, but of course it was well worth every minute because I knew he was where he needed to be (and unlike the situation with CB and BH, it was safe for him to remain in the womb).

What a difference those 8 weeks made! Here is a comparison of their footprints:


I scanned them all together so they would be proportionally accurate. Every time I look at these I'm just amazed at how tiny Cuddlebug's foot was compared with Little Bitty's. The size disparity between Cuddlebug and Bearhug was due to TTTS.

In addition to their sizes, here are some other differences we experienced between our twins' premature birth and the full-term delivery of our youngest. I only have my own experience to draw from, so this may not be applicable to everyone, but I'm sharing it to highlight some of the benefits of full-term delivery and why prematurity awareness is so important.

1. Being able to hold your baby right away. We had to wait 8 days before we could hold Bearhug for the first time, and 2 days before we could hold Cuddlebug. I was able to hold Little Bitty within the first few minutes after he was born. It was an amazing experience!

2. Being able to bring your baby home with you. Cuddlebug and Bearhug spent 22 days in the NICU before we were able to bring them home. Some premature babies stay much longer, depending on how early they are born and their health. Some preemies have medical challenges ranging from mild to severe, while others just need a little extra time to grow.

3. Getting a little more sleep at night. Like most newborns, Little Bitty woke up to eat about every 3 hours when he first came home. Because of their small size, Bearhug and Cuddlebug couldn't hold enough food in their stomachs to last 3 hours and needed to eat about every 1 1/2 hours. Add to that the fact that the effort they had to put into eating often wore them out before they were full, and sometimes we didn't even make a whole hour before they needed to eat again. That's a recipe for exhaustion for mom and dad (although well worth it of course!).

4. Less susceptible to illness. Cuddlebug and Bearhug needed 6 months of RSV shots as a precaution since they'd had respiratory distress early on. We had to be very careful about taking them out and having visitors. We were cautious with Little Bitty also, but the risk level for full-term babies is generally not as high.


For more information on prematurity, visit the March of Dimes. Did you know the March of Dimes is responsible for leading the call to develop Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU)? They also funded the research that led to the use of surfactant to treat respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). They have had many other successes as well, but for those two reasons especially, I will be eternally grateful to them!

For more bloggers writing about Prematurity Awareness, visit Kristie McNealy.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Read More >>

Seven years ago today... (part 7 & final)

For the month of June, I decided to write a series of posts about my twins' first month of life to help raise awareness about prematurity and TTTS (twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome). This is the 7th and final post in the series.

Seven years ago today, after 22 days in the NICU, we were finally able to take our baby boys home! In a way, it was a little nervewracking. I'd gotten used to having those beeping monitors to let me know everything was ok with them, so I worried about how I'd know they were ok once we got home. We'd gotten used to having the nurses around too, help nearby if we had questions. Now we were on our own.More than that though, we were soo excited to finally bring our babies home. No longer would we have to visit them every day, no longer would their cribs at home be empty. They would be home with us where they belonged. Here they are on the day we brought them home from the NICU.


At that point, Cuddlebug was about 5 lbs, Bearhug about 6 lbs. They were still small and needed to eat about every 1 to 1 1/2 hrs so between feeding, burping, diaper-changing, and oh, maybe trying to fit in a little sleep here and there - they kept us pretty busy.

Seven years later, they are still keeping us busy :) but at least now they let us sleep! (Little brother is a different story, but that's another post!)

Read More >>

Seven years ago today... (part 6)

For the month of June, I decided to write a series of posts about my twins' first month of life to help raise awareness about prematurity and TTTS (twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome).

Seven years ago today, Bearhug and Cuddlebug were finally able to co-bed in the same crib together in the NICU. They seemed much happier to finally be together again. They both still had their feeding tubes in... sometimes they'd get their arms out of their swaddled blankies and pull each other's feeding tubes out. Talk about working together :).

To be continued...

To learn more about TTTS, see http://www.tttsfoundation.org/
For more info on prematurity, see http://www.marchofdimes.com/

Read More >>