i hope you dont mind me poking my head in here as i could do with all the premy advice that i can get for thoses that dont know we have just had our little one at 35wks+5 never had a premy before so this is so new to us me and dw
Welcome to the Squidipa family!! Congratulations on Chakotay's arrival - from your other thread (BA) it sounds as he is doing really well. Please let us know any questions you have and we will do our best to answer them.
thanks i do have a question how do you look after a premy bub when he/she is home might sound silly but this is so knew and i have no idea how to look after a premy bub
Just like any other bub really - some are discharged with medications, some have additional nurse visits, additional paediatrician visits but generally they are just a normal bub only smaller as bubs usually won't be allowed home until they are off all tubes etc and no longer require all the interventions that they have had during their hospital stay.
We were initially told DD would be in hospital for 6 weeks (so until her due date) but she was only in hospital for 15 days (even though they were the longest 15 days of my life). But once we got her home we didn't really treat her any differently (not that we have any other children to compare to though). We were a bit more cautious if people were sick - but I guess any parent would do that. I always made sure she was covered in the cooler weather (it was August so end of winter).
We were also told they would be in until term, Brendan spent 6 weeks Tristan just 8 days. Like TK said they usually don't let them home until they reach a certain weight (which differes between hospitals (ours was 2kg) full suck feeding and off the monitors ect. Tristan was an outpatient for about 4 days after discharge because of his bilirubin levels (jaundice). It really depends on the complications bub has, if they don't have Apnoeas or any other serious issues then they are pretty much like having any other new bub around, except you have to be a little more vigilant on hand washing and sickness ect.
All the best!!
Update on us...
Brendan is sick... again... he has a middle ear and ear canal infection and also a viral infection (his throat is red, tonsils enlarged and lymph nodes and glands in the neck all enlarged. really sick of the ear issues, wish the ENT would hurry up! Got a small list of things to ask the Paed when we have his 3yr corrected appointment in May. Sick of his bowel issues... Tristan's milk poops were thicker than Brendans! Sorry for the TMI
Brendan has been doing a weekly speech group session (two weeks so far) and it's quite good, learning more about the things we are already doing
Had their health checks on Friday...
Brendan is still 12kg has dropped to just above the 3rd %ile. (been 12kg since May 09)
He has grown in height though... 95cms! Just under the 50th %ile :shock: (+3.5cm in 6 months)
The plan for now is to keep going how we are, and see what the paed says. We can't do anything else until he's seen the paed and ENT.
He's just gotten over another ear infection, which was based in the middle ear and the ear canal Also had some klind of viral thing too.
Tristan... is
L: 66.5cms (+0.5cm) 10th %ile.
HC: 43cms (+0.5cm) just under the 10th %ile
Good news is he had a gain... he's followed his line on the graph (which is still below the bottom of the graph lol) he is now 6560gm (+570gm)
He's been referred to physio and may need podiatry because his legs are worse. The left one has not gotten better and the right one, which never had a problem with is now inwards too... He is not bearing weight well either.
Tristan's breathing is a little concerning atm, you can hear him and feel him breathe... so keeping an eye on that!
Don't have time for a long post... But I'm starting to get worried about Sam's speech, or complete lack of. Is it normal to have no words and still just be babbling at 14 months old? Where do I look for information on what's normal and what's not? I just know that if there is a problem, the sooner we deal with it the better. He can say mum, dad, bub - but never uses them in context. I've read about much younger babies already saying "no" but Sam doesn't. I guess my gut feeling is that he's not going as he should in that area, and the main baby I'm comparing him to is also another prem of similar gestation to Sam, and another boy, so they should be doing things at similar times, yes?
Anyway, must get back to work... will try to catch up properly later.
BW, Firstly, don't compare him, I know it's hard, but it is unfair to compare children (even if they are of similar gestations ect). Also try not to read into it much either, Sam might be excelling in other areas so therefore putting more effort into that.
By 18 months they want 50 'words' (they don't need to know the meaning of though) and some basic understanding. How is Sam's understanding? Thats the most important part, if he's got the undertsanding the speech will come. Also remember that our 'words' are usually different to theirs, for instance Brendan says 'dues' and thats his word for 'sore' or 'hurt' lol.
If you are concerned though speak to your CHN (they can refer you to the Speech Therapists if needed) I've found in my own experience that they won't focus on speech so much until after 18 months, unless there is another factor involved. For instance Brendan has being seeing ST's from 9-10 months old due to Tongue-Tie and the inability to eat properly.
If you like I can pass on some tips from our group sessions with Brendan's ST's. Send me a PM if your interested and I'll type out the phamplets, they may help in the meantime while you decide what you want to do or for the speech appointment ect.
Good Luck!
Hi ladies, sorry it's been so long since I've been around. I'm sure you'll understand that things have been crazy! D is doing really well, and will likely be coming home home tomorrow. Thank goodness, I'm so over that place, and just want our little boy home with us. It's four weeks tomorrow since I was admitted, and while we were prepared to be in there longer than that, I'm so glad we're not. He has been a little superstar, doing all the right things. As the paed keeps saying, he doesn't know he's small no one told him. He's now 1900g, and looking like he has a tiny bit of fat on his face he's soooooo beautiful.
Strangely enough, I'm feeling very nervous about bringing him home though. I've been having those weird and awful dreams where I've gone out and forgotten my baby etc. Yuck. And I'm stressed about all the feeding stuff, although I know that patience is required, and time.
How did you all get past the horror of the hospital stay, and everything else? I feel like everyone, DH included, thinks that once he's home it's all over. I used to think that too, but my head is all over the place, and very confused. I'm feeling a bit upset about alot of things.
Janie, to be honest, I'm not sure you ever do get over the hospital stay. I've got another thread in here at the moment talking about how a friend of mine had her baby at a similar prematurity to Sam and it's all come flooding back and leaving me in a bit of a mess. I had nightmares last night remembering being called into the nursery at 4am and being told my baby had "turned a funny colour"... I'm hoping and praying that my friend doesn't have to deal with desaturations and all the rest - but I'm reliving the trauma as though it were yesterday.
I wish you all the best with building your supply.
Janie, I'm so glad to hear that D might be home tomorrow! That's sooo awesome
With Brendan I didn't really want to bring him home, I was soo scared of the stopping breathing (Brendan had Apnoea) and I was worried I would sleep through and not hear him wake (ha-ha)I personally found the few few days at home was awesome, I breezed through them. It wasn't until about 3-4 days later that I realised what I had been missing out on and that's when it hit me hardest. I was so glad my mum was there. It was nice to be home though and being home was never harder than being in hospital. I was so sick of the place and just wanted to sleep in my own bed and have a face-to-face conversation with DP. When Brendan was born we were living about 7 hours drive from the NICU Hospital.
With Tristan his whole journey was so easy and I was not worried about taking him home at all. But I suppose after Brendan I knew that he would be ok being 34 weeks and I was spoilt with him being such a big baby for his gestation too.
Funnily enough, Brendan who had Apnoea I never had any issue with breathing... Tristan however has stopped breathing on me a few times.
Mini Update on Tristan..
He is now in Speech Therapy. ATM he is just included in the group sessions that Brendan is doing and is only being seen when we go for Brendan. He basically has another month to start babbling... I have to get him weighed this week and hopefully we have a nice weight gain, 7kg would be an awesome weight to crack
Janie, so glad to hear that D is doing so well that you both may even be home now. A true Superstar!!
I was very nervous about bringing Angus home as like Sally's Brendan, he also had issues with Apnoea particularly when being tube fed. He was also on oxygen for 14 weeks and they wanted to send him home only 2 days after it was ceased. I refused and insisted that I would not walk out of the SCN until he had successfully been off oxygen for more than a week. The funny thing was when I finally got him home I felt lost, there was no more expressing or numerous trips to the hospital each day and I really missed the daily interaction with all the staff, after 15 weeks I felt like part of the family. I was now confined to the 4 walls of my house and didn't venture outside much. Not like the homecoming after the birth of my other 2 children but I was very thankful that I finally had him home. I never thought that I would ever see the day.
I don't know if you ever get over it...I still voice my anger at women who complain when they are 37 week pregnant and just want it over with. To lose 15 weeks of pregnancy has scarred me for life. I missed the best 15 weeks of pregnancy feeling your baby kicking in side of you, watching your belly grow it's just amazing but so are these tiny little prems that come into the world!
At time of discharge, I promised the staff that whenever I was in the building that we would come and visit. Every time I run into a staff member I breakdown in tears. I can't even read his discharge summary without falling in a heap (just like now). I don't know if it's everything that happened or that I am so grateful that he is here with us today. Maybe it's the combination of both.
Today Angus had an appointment with the NICU follow-up clinic. The Paed that was assessing him was the one that first spoke to us when I was admitted at 24 weeks. He had the difficult job of telling us what was to be expected as well as give us the option to resuscitate and medically assist at birth or the unthinkable to let him pass. Well, there was no way I was giving up on this tiny life and that's what we told him that very emotional day. Today the smiles on these Paeds faces was amazing, they were so proud of my little man and how far he has come and hearing the words from their mouths that they have no concerns at all once again bought me to tears.
Just got home from speech group and CHN. Tristan has cracked 7kg! He is now 7040 grams at 9 months old, up from 6560 grams at 8 months. He is now 67.5cms tall too.
Ran into Brendan's OT and she is going to organise a group meeting for Brendan with OT and Speech (she's leaving ) because Brendan's behaviour is really starting to get to me now...
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for the rest of the challenging things and
for the positive!
for the positives xox
no one told him. He's now 1900g, and looking like he has a tiny bit of fat on his face
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