Monday, July 18, 2011

28 weeks!!

Today is a big milestone.  Hooray!  I'm doing a little dance in my head.

Some info on why it's such a big milestone from the book: When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads - Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy by Dr. Barbara Luke and Tamara Eberlein:

The duration of stay for newborns who gestated 25 - 27 weeks is 71 days on average.  From 28 - 30 weeks of gestation, 39 days.  This is similar to what the on call doc in the hospital meant when he said that each day I keep the babies in my belly, it's one week less (fewer? since you can count it? but sounds funny. grammar dork, I know...) in NICU.  Luke and Eberlein describe Weeks 25 - 28 as "very early preterm for mlutiples: The odds of survival are better, but babies born during this period must still spend weeks or months in the NICU.  They are at substantial risk for long-term medical consequences."  Whereas Weeks 29 to 32 is considered "early preterm for multiples: ...Although the babies typically remain in the hospital for several weeks or more, depending on their medical condition, the outlook is generally good.  If the mother received steroids to hasten the babies' lung development prior to delivery [I did], the infants have a distinct advantage."  Of course, I hope we'll deliver in the preterm or term for twins time zone, but I'm pretty happy to be where we are.

I haven't read many pregnancy books, but I do highly recommend this book for anyone preggo with multiples.

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