Our SCBU Story
I have a very positive story to tell of a 10 day stay in SCBU with our identical twin girls in terms of their progress and wellbeing. Although, our stay had no serious concerns it still presented us with a difficult and worrying time.
At 35 weeks plus 2 days the girls were delivered by C-Section just 2 or 3 minutes apart. Twin 1 weighed 5lb 4oz and showed signs of respiratory distress. My husband tells me she had fluid in her respiratory system which needed to be cleared. Thankfully, I was blissfully unaware of this problem due to the drugs administered for pain relief. If I had been aware panic would have set in and the whole situation may have been worse. Twin 2 was the reason for early delivery yet she came out screaming which is the best sign and weighing just 3lb 10oz. She needed no assistance with breathing. They say the tiny ones are the toughest!
Twin 2 was handed to my husband as the machine being used for Twin 1 had malfunctioned and she needed assistance so she got her sisters machine. As soon as everything was ok, the girls were passed by me for a glimpse and taken off with a doctor and nurse each to the Special Baby Care Unit to receive the care needed for premature babies.
It is a strange feeling having just given birth but not actually being able to hold your babies and in some cases they can be taken away so quickly depending upon their condition. I think I was able to be fairly rational and positive about the situation as I was already a mother and had experienced the C-Section birth before so it wasn't completely new to me. I had a fair amount of preparation for the moment and the visit to the Neonatal unit prior to delivery was definitely worth it. We knew all along that they were likely to be premature and that meant that they were just as likely to stay in SCBU. Nevertheless, it could be a tremendously emotional and worrying time for some and I think it would be fair to say that for a first time mother or first time parents this could be even more overwhelming.
After being in post op recovery for about an hour I was wheeled around in my bed to see the girls accompanied by my husband. Once again quite strange because I was horizontal in a hospital bed and they were enclosed in their little incubators being kept warm which meant no skin to skin contact. My husband was able to take some photographs and what was really nice was one of the staff members took a Polaroid to give to me to keep on the ward.
The first room they occupied was full of equipment and bleeping noises and concern immediately sets in. A neonatal nurse was present and could answer our questions and reassure us.
Both girls were attached to various pads and wires and they only had their tiny nappies covering them. I remember the nappies looked huge on their skinny bodies. Twin 1 was quite rounded in comparison to her sister and I am allowed to say this because I am the mother but Tiny Twin 2 looked just like a little chicken. They both seemed to be incredibly long babies but with very little fat. Our joke was that we would take them home when they grew from Chicken sized to Turkey sized.
So, that really was how we first met our girls, just a short visit, and then I was wheeled back to the ward without any babies. I remained positive and put everything into perspective. We were lucky, we had two healthy girls that needed no real complex care; they just needed to gain some weight and become strong enough to feed from the breast or bottle.
If I am completely honest, having previously had a C-Section with full term twins and having to care for them immediately, I was a little relieved that I was able to rest and give myself the time to recover from the operation knowing that my girls were receiving the best kind of care in SCBU.
During the course of the day my husband would make visits to the unit to check on the girls and bring me back an update. It's a little bizarre not really knowing how they are doing unless someone tells you. The ward nurses are massively rushed off their feet and they will always find out any information for you but you can appreciate that for the majority of the time it doesn't happen instantly.
The first day after a C-Section you are given a lot of medical attention. Pain relief is administered, your Catheter is checked and emptied, general observations and post op care given.
Day Two arrived after a fairly good night's sleep plus the removal of the Catheter and I decided I was getting up! I wanted to see the girls and I wanted to make the recovery so my older children wouldn't be too alarmed when they came to see me. I had decided the older twins could only visit if I was upright in bed and able to move about a bit. I knew from past experience that the sooner you get up the easier the recovery can be. It's painful at first but each day gets just that bit easier.
My husband had arrived early to see the girls so he could update me when he came to the ward. In my own time which was rather slowly, I managed to get into a wheelchair so I could be taken around to see the girls. This visit was a little more intimate. We could put our hands through the holes in the side of the incubators and touch them. The nurses said they were both doing really well and would probably come out of the incubators in a day or so. It was difficult for me to sit there for any length of time because I was still recovering so my husband would wheel me back to my bed and then visit the girls without me and then take me again a little later.
I think at this point I was more worried about the older twins as they had never been without their mum for any length of time. Sure they were well looked after by Nanny and Grandad and then Daddy when he got home but it was a very busy unsettling time.
Anyway, the older twins came to visit along with my Mum and we took them to see their little sisters. Once again it was a little bizarre because all the children could do was look through the sides of the incubators so it was all a bit unrealistic for them. Normally children like to have a touch or a poke of the new arrival. Siblings are welcome in SCBU but it's not really a place for young children. To be perfectly honest it's all a bit boring, not enough toys or climbing apparatus!
Another thing I found a little odd was that I was the only mother on the ward that didn't have a baby to look after! It was a busy ward and sounded a like a zoo at times with the various baby cries.
On the third day, my Dad came to visit.
The Neonatal Unit has strict rules for visitors. Obviously parents and siblings are allowed to visit at any time. Grandparents are encouraged to visit. Other family members and friends are generally allowed to visit but not for any length of time and can only be admitted with a parent of the baby staying in the Unit. In our hospital we had a limit of two visitors at any one time and one had to be either myself or my husband. This meant that many of our friends and family did not get a chance to meet the girls whilst they were staying in hospital. I think some family members may not have understood this at the time. Visitors with colds and flu are told to stay away.
After my third nights sleep it was agreed the next morning that I would probably get a better quality nights sleep at home. The doctors made their rounds and I was discharged. Before leaving I made the decision to express some milk to help give the girls the best start. It wasn't practical or logistically possible for me to breast feed so this felt like I was doing my best whilst having to leave them in SCBU.
I was happy to be leaving the hospital but in turn concerned and sad to be leaving the girls at the hospital. That night was a particularly strange time because we had two Moses baskets, one either side of our bed, empty. I spent my time expressing milk much to amusement of my older children. We did the whole "cow" discussion!
From this point onwards family life became quite hectic. We wanted to visit the girls in SCBU but I wasn't allowed to drive which meant my husband took the time off work to drive me. Luckily for us we both work for ourselves so my husband could choose to take the time off although it did put us under financial pressure. The other children still needed caring for and we still had the normal school runs to do. I felt guilty that I couldn't get to the hospital more than once a day and that we weren't taking enough interest in their care or doing enough for them. Ironically, when there I felt that we weren't in control of their care as parents should be and at times felt in the way.
By the fourth day, both girls were out of incubators and into normal cots. They still had the nasal feeding tubes attached but we are able to hold them whilst the milk was fed through the tube straight to their tummies. We could sit with them for a while; we could change their nappies and their clothes. Every visit we would bring new clothes, wipes, blankets, nappies and of course my breast milk which was never enough to feed both all day every day but still it could be used with top ups of the specially formulated premature baby milk provided by the hospital.
After about 5 days we were allowed to try feeding the girls by the bottle. We used the hospitals tiny bottles and we were shown how to make the feeds in the designated area within SCBU. Both the bottles and the teats were tiny. Both girls managed to suck which meant we were closer to bringing them home.
The nurses had put them in one cot together for a while giving the girls an opportunity for cuddles. The nurses also took some pictures. Little gestures like this really make a difference and I am grateful to the Unit for this reason.
Just as we began to feel positive our family was struck by a violent sickness bug. This meant we weren't allowed to enter SCBU and were unable to visit the girls for a couple of days. All we could do was phone several times a day to the Unit and request an update. The updates were always positive and Twin 1 was ready to be discharged. We were now just waiting on her sister to gain a little more weight.
It must have been around day 8 when we resumed visiting and the girls were doing well. With the help of a dummy, Twin 1 had made it to larger 4 hourly feeds. I had my own thoughts on this and knew it was likely we would switch to demand feeding when we got home.
We had been advised from the outset that they were probably looking at a 2 week stay; they actually stayed for just 10 days because on day 9 we were told it was possible we could take the girls home. We decided the best time would be in the morning after the paediatrician had seen them so we went home that afternoon and prepared for their home-coming. We had a degree of panic over our twin pram that should have arrived and the car seats that went with it. We had ordered a Jane Twin Two from a shop in the early months of the pregnancy but they failed to get it delivered. So, we borrowed a couple of car seats.
The next morning we set off with our two baby car seats and outfits ready to bring them home. We arrived with a big basket of fruit for the staff as a thank you for everything they had done. Armed with leaflets, contact numbers, prescriptions for the specially formulated baby milk (Nutriprem 2) we left the Unit. What a tremendous feeling. They were wheeled to the door of the hospital in one cot and typically lots of people came to admire them. Eventually, we loaded them into the car. A fair bit of screaming on the journey and we arrived home. Home at Last. That night the Moses Baskets were full! Brilliant!
Our stay in SCBU was over.
