Any one had/have a NICU baby not being prem?

my baby was born full term and had pnuemonia. he was in nicu and special care for over a month. such a hard time for myself and my family. if anyone would like to share stories or just need the support, im here for u :)

DD2 wasn't in NICU, but she was in special care for a few days.
It must have been tough having him there for over a month.
How is your little man going now?

DS was in a Special Care Baby Unit too, because I am a bad mother. (I'm fairly sure that was the reason we were admitted when DS was 6 days old.) He was in SCBU for the first couple of hours of his life, then I got my baby, then when I finally got out of hospital and home for the weekend, we had to be re-admitted on the Monday because... I was being a bad mother. He was only in a few days and I was in with him too: he had a nasogastric tube because they needed to feed him up. I thought he looked pretty cute with it in, but DH hated it.

It was VERY hard for me at the time and for a long while afterwards, but now it is something I can just shake my head at, tut, and point out this is why I'm freebirthing next time! I know my baby and my body and could have told the stupid midwives and baby nurses stuff, if only they'd listen when I was talking. I'm better than a chart!

Wonder what they'd say if they saw him now? "Oh yes, he is a naturally skinny one who eats more than a grown man every day. Guess you didn't need the scare tactics because he wasn't destined to be a fat baby."

Must have been very difficult for you Sharna :hug: Was he born with the pnuemonia, or was it something he caught after birth?

lady zaidie, im sure u werent a bad mother and ur just being too hard on urself. what happened if u dont mind me asking?

sally and fluer, thanks for ur concerns! james was born with the pnuemonia, he caught the infection after my waters broke and i wasnt given the anti-biotics needed. so right from the start he was sick. it was one of the hardest things iv ever had to do. but very worth it. he is 12 months old now and doing great! he is a little on the small side (but i dont mind, he is cute like that) and was given the all clear from all of specialists the day after his birthday!

fluer, how come DD2 was in SCN? i know how hard it is. my heart goes out to u.

Hi Sharna,

My little one was four days overdue when she was born by emergency caesar after getting tangled in the umbilical cord. She spent 19 days in the NICU and 7 more in an ordinary ward suffering from both meconium aspiration syndrome, and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (which is a brain injury from lack of oxygen). Her prognosis was pretty bad, but she's now 18 months old and has proved all the specialists wrong- she's on track or ahead in every developmental area, and just this month is developing fabulous ordinary toddler behaviour, like prima donna tantrums every five minutes :rolleyes:.

I'll never forget that time in the NICU- we were able to stay in parent accommodation, fortunately, but it was just awful- one terrible setback after another, and finally baby steps forward until we could escape. And it was strange having a non-premmie baby amongst all the teeny tiny ones- she weighed in at 3.575kg, measured 52cm, and was so big in comparison that they couldn't find clothes to fit her!

Sorry to hear that your family had to go through the same, and for even longer- it's so good to be past that time :)

YES!!!! Tank was born with the cord wrapped around his neck 3 times...low stats ect. I was very sick towards the end of the pg and docs refussed to c/s me early. We were sent home 8 days after birth adn then readmitted after we noticed Tank twitching one night....ended up he had massive blood clots that had ruptered and one inparticulor had lodged its self in his Vein of Gaylon (main artierial to the brain). I was told he would be luck if he mad it to the 3 month mark and if he did then not to expect any great mildstones.

Phewy to them....he walked on his first birthday, sat un added at 6 months, breast feed well...only problems we've really had were his hips and extremely bowed legs which have improved 90% and his speech is delayed. Other then that he is a normal, intellegant 2 year old...you would never know he has cerebal palsey at all.

I barely remember the time we spent at the hospital but when I see the place I shiver. Auto pilot is a wonderous thing ;)

My baby spent four months in NICU he was born with his intestines outside his body. Its a terrible experience but it made me feel as though every moment was so much more special. You also get to meet other parents in similar situations and made friends for life. Hope all is well

My Ds2 was born healthy at 37 weeks.. Big baby too :) 9lb 14oz When he was 12 hours old he stopped breathing and an hour after that he started having seizures. He was in the SCN for 16 days. He was sedated for the first 6 days of his life as he was given a medication to control his seizures and he was hyper sensitive to it so basically he was sedated until the medication was adjusted to suit him..

He had numerous medical tests including an MRI and a Spinal :( It was a horrible horrible time and I was so scared we were going to lose him.. the pead kept saying what ever was wrong with him wasn't life threatening but you are still terrified..

Anyways I hope your son is better now :hugs:

Well my story is a little bit different, as although DD5 was born at only 2.38kg had Peads checking her everyday a few times a day, and wanting loads of tests done on her, she was still kept with me in the ward. She was born 38wks+.
By the time she was 6mths she had come down with bronchoilits, she wasnt admitted then but at 8mths she came down with it again along with phneumonia, she was admitted at 5.3kg. She got that bad that she was transferred to the childrens hospital by NETS, and placed in induced coma for the trip, was then kept in induced coma /life support in ICU for five days she had many close calls of never getting through it, but she finally improved. She ended up in in total 2wks in hospital. Within the first week of her hospital stay she had dropped down to 4.8kg and stayed like that for a couple of more weeks.

She is now 19mths old and it has been almost a yr since it happened to her. So now quite nervous about this winter. She is still only now 8kg.

Yes, my bub had gastroschisis (same as you Zwan??) and be was born at 36+2 weeks, so just a wee bit prem. He was 2.6kg, looked like a giant compared to the other bubs.