I had a 34 weeker too. Ignore the midwife, the best thing you can do is offer the breast, it is part of the bonding process as well as helping them to learn about feeding.
It's hard being away from them so that little bit of contact is important for both of you.
Congratulations Kitty on your new little bundle. You will have him home in no time. How much does he weigh?
I second the PP's above. Do what feels right to you. Hold your little man at feeds...we did way before DD was able to suck. It was not even just about developing the suck reflex for us, but about wanting to hold her every minute we were with her. DD came out of me at 29w 6 days and was fully breast feeding at the equivalent of 35 weeks and 3 days. So she was home after 6 weeks 4 days.
It is horrible leaving the hospital. I carried a photo album with me everywhere, and had a teddy bear i slept with at home and cuddled a lot as a "baby substitute". Helped me a bit. It is normal to cry a lot and be overcome with emotion. You are going through a hard time but your boy will grow and before you know he will be all yours. Come in here and vent, cry, ask questions or just share with us with is going on. I was so thankful when I found this section as it has really helped to share the journey with others.
I know how difficult it is leaving your little one in care of others but please take comfort in the fact that he is in the best place possible at the moment.
Offer him your breast when it feels right for you to do so. I found that some nurses were just lazy and liked to stick to their feeding time schedule especially if the unit was full.
I starting Bfing DS at 35 weeks. As he was still on oxygen it was a slow process of trial & error. I had to be careful not to exhaust him too much as it sometimes resulted in a relapse back onto CPAP. At 35w he was on 1 suck feed per day and by discharge at 40w he was on 4 per day, within a week of being home he was fully breast fed.
Ask if the unit has a lactation consultant and also have a chat to them or contact the ABA as they have some excellent reference material.
Every bub will be different, hoping that your SCN journey is a smooth one and your little one will be home in the arms of his family really soon.
Congratulations KittyK. The suck feeding is normal, the best thing you can do is have him at your breast for every feed. At 34 weeks it is possible the suck reflex is there, it just might be a bit weak. My DS2 was 34+3 and I put him on the breast before every tube feed and the tube was only used for a top-up, he was an exceptional prem and was fully suck-fed by day 4, fully breastfed by 1 week and discharged on an early release program on day 9. They discharged him completely on day 11. Apart from jaundice and reflux the only other issues he had were in the first 24 hours (ventilated and cpap). However he has a few ongoing issues now.
DS1, was 30 weeks and we had a lot more troubles, especially with feeding.
Thank you guys for all your advice and support. Sorry to not be on sooner, my days are filled with getting to the hospital at 8am then we get home around 9.30pm so its been long long days and I just want to crash whenever I am home. I have family cleaning my house so it looks more beautiufl every time I get home. So thankful.
shazzi: he was 2.66kg when he was born on Tues. On Thurs he went down a little to 2.53kg and today he was 2.51. The dr said not to worry, they don't expect the babies to start putting on weight until they are 7-10 days old. They said he was a very good size for a 34 weeker. Nurses were saying if he had gone full term he would have been huge! You know one nurse gave me a lecture for about an hour because I was holding him for no reason...I was like, lady I gave birth to him a day and a half ago, excuse me if I want to hold my baby a little more than just at feeding time. Seriously PO'd with that nurse.
He is doing really well, I can't believe its only been a couple of days. He has slight jaundice but the level isn't high enough that he needs any treatment yet. He gets his blood taken daily though just to check his levels.
His only issue when he was born was that he was breathing quite fast so they have him an a sleep apnia machine when he sleeps but his hasn't gone off at all. I'm just thankful I was given so many steroid shots to mature his lungs, I had 2 at 28 weeks and then another at 33 weeks.
And the great news is at some feeds yesterday and more today he has actually been breastfeeding So proud of him. In the afternoon yesterday he did a 25 min feed, then at night was a little more tired and did a 10 min BF needing a little top up thorugh his tube. This morning still tired, same 10min BF with top up. Then just before lunch huge 25min BF. After lunch a little lazier, again the 10min BF with top up, But for the last two feeds we were there for tonight 25 min BF each feed. He is impressing everyone And he is having more alert periods where he just looks around and makes noises. Ahhh patience, it is a virtue.
I have to go to bed now, early wake up tomorow so we can get to the hospital in time for the morning feed Thank you guys again so glad there is a support forum. I think for a couple of days after he was born Dh and I didn't fully understand why he was in the SCN or what that meant exactly for him and us. Seriously no one came and explained anything, to me at least. So the day I was discharged alot of what they were saying went over my head. Luckily there are some great nurses in the SCN (aside from the lecturing one) and I finally got explanations and things are finally making more sense.
So glad to hear he is doing so well Kitty.
When you bub goes to the SCN or NICU it can be a very frightening and lonely experience.
Leaving bub at the hospital each day is just heartbreaking.
With the way he is going hopefully it won't be long and he will be home with you.
Remember to take care of you as well...you health is very important.
KittyK, he's an excellent size for a 34 weeker! He's bigger than my 36 weeker (2.48kg) that everyone was telling me was going to be enormous!
I hated SCN... I hated the feeling that I had to ask permission to do anything with my baby. I also had the frowny nurses at times. I remember being frowned at for touching the blankets he was under the night he was born, and this was just after being told I couldn't hold him. I know they say that being held tires them out, but it's not like we're dealing with super-early prems! Anyway, I really just wanted you to know that we've all been there and we understand.
But it sounds like he's doing amazingly well! He could be home before you think!
kittyk - congratulations on the birth of your little baby. i had a 34 weeker and it can definately be a stressful time. i never got in trouble for holding him for no reason but i do remember that i had a horrible nurse in there have a go at me coz DH and i lived an hour away from the hospital and we could only afford to come in for one feed a day at the time. we were waiting for him to be transferred to the hospital closer to home but werent sure when that was going to happen. anyway the nurse was so rude saying we should be there at 7 in the morning and not be leaving until 9 that night and we should be doing all this other stuff. i was in tears thinking that i was a bad mother. i had only had a c section a week earlier and i was still tired and sore from that plus we still had a lot of stuff to organise at home for when he came home. when he was transferred it was fantastic as we only lived 5 mins from the hospital and could just be there for almost all of his feeds.
your little one sounds like he is just coming along so well. dont forget to take care of yourself too.
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So proud of him. In the afternoon yesterday he did a 25 min feed, then at night was a little more tired and did a 10 min BF needing a little top up thorugh his tube. This morning still tired, same 10min BF with top up. Then just before lunch huge 25min BF. After lunch a little lazier, again the 10min BF with top up, But for the last two feeds we were there for tonight 25 min BF each feed. He is impressing everyone
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