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Ahead of Schedule

What to Expect When Your Multiples Are Premature

By Amy E. Tracy

For Lauri Griffin, mother of Ben and John, born eight weeks early in Colorado Springs, Colo., bonding with her twins took a little longer than with her first son, Sam. "With preemies, I think you hold back a little at first because you don't know if they're going to make it," she says. "It's also hard to bond when you can't hold them or nurse them."

Bonding also may be delayed because your energy and time is focused on learning about two (or more) sets of medical problems, communicating with numerous medical experts and juggling family and household responsibilities with NICU visits. And let's face it: It's not that easy to sing and talk to your babies with so many strangers in the room.

Fortunately, any nurturing you do in the nursery benefits your parent-child relationship. Softly speaking to and gently touching your babies provide comfort and make you feel more like a parent. As your babies become more stable, ask to hold them. Depending on their health, you may only be permitted to hold one baby at a time, but let the nurses know you're anxious to hold them together.

Resting your diaper-clad babies on your bare chest with a blanket covering you both, called kangaroo care, can also help create an extra-special closeness. Continue kangarooing after homecoming, too.

Another practice that is gaining popularity in intensive-care nurseries is co-bedding, or placing your babies together (preferably in their womb position as identified by ultrasound). Although the effectiveness of co-bedding has not yet been studied, parents and nurses report positive results. "We see babies who were previously agitated immediately settle down when they're together," says Theresa Kledzik, a registered neonatal nurse specially trained in the developmental care of preterm infants. "Their heart rates stabilize, they regulate their temperatures and they usually fall asleep."

Want to see more?

• Are You Prepared for a Preemie? A Guide to Preterm Babies
• Talk about it!
• Nurturing Your NICU Baby
• Going Home Alone: When Preemies Need to Stay in the NICU
• Check out our Article Library.

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