Bubs that are born 35-36wks - What was your experience? Did they need SCU or NICU?

Hi all,

Just wanted to find out about your experiences. My bub is on the small side, and I have been told that depending on my next u/s which is next week, bub may need to be delivered early. they are hoping to push it until 35-36wks, but may need to come earlier than that.
I am currently taking thyroxin and also on insulin for GD, and also need take aspirin as I am ANA postive.
So if you had to bring bubs early due to being small or due to IUGR, how early and did bub need special care and for how long?
What should I expect?

As I mentioned atm nothing is confirmed as to how early they expect to deliver bubs, until after Tuesday's u/s which then I may know more. I am hoping bub has a good growth spurt as at last u/s just under 3wks ago bub was measuring at the 6th percentile, and abdominal circumference was approx 3rd/4th percentile.


Thanks in advance

DD2 was born at 36 weeks, she was admitted to SCN due to low BSL's but she got to room in with me the whole time and we were never seperated. She was discharged the next day. we were very lucky, hopefully u will be too

At that gestation, bub could very well be with you all the time. Unless there are breathing issues (not very likely), I would say SCN rather then the NICU.

My DD was born at 36 weeks and they expected troubles as my placenta was started to show signs of it failing. She spent some time in SCN due to extremely low BSL but I had GD (on insulin) I expressed milk while waiting for the cs and they said that helped bring her BSL up. See if you can do that if the situation needs it

She had a little trouble maintaining her temp for the first few hours but other then that she was completely healthy

My cousin's DS was born at 36 weeks. Her waters broke a couple of weeks before she was to be induced, but I'm not sure if she started labour spontaneously or had to be induced. He spent a few days in SCN.

Sam was born at 36 weeks. At that gestation a lot of babies don't have a suck reflex, so you may have to express and bub will be fed through an NG tube until they are able to suck. Sam had no breathing issues as a result of his prematurity (had a few problems a couple of days later as a numpty nurse put in an NG tube that was too short), but it took him ten days to get out of hospital. After 8 days he was tried on all suck feeds, on day 9 he was allowed to room in with me as he'd coped with the full suck feeds and then on day 10 we were discharged. I was lucky as it was a private hospital and very quiet over the Christmas period so I was able to stay in with him the whole time.

The nursery at the hospital takes babies from 34 weeks, so if you get to 35-36 weeks you are looking more at SCN than NICU - depending on other issues bub may have.

BW

to be honest it all depends on what bubs is like when he/she is born but a stay in SCN is not unusual. if baby requires help with breathing then they are more likely to go to NICU but otherwise will stay in SCN. i was insulin dependent GD and DS was put on a sugar drip after he was born for 24 hours to stabilise his sugars. plus babies dont develop their sucking reflex until 36 weeks gestation in womb anyway so he/she will need a feeding tube until they can manage to suck without any issues. HTH :D

DD2 was born at 35 weeks and she had three courses of steroids, the last less than 48 hours before delivery. We had a short cuddle then she had to go to SCN, she was blowing bublles and pausing her breathing, her Paed was concerned it was going to develop into Hyaline membrane Disease (Respiratory Distress in the Premature Infant), so she went into an Isolette and on O2, and the quick action of her Paed ensured that she didn't end up getting transferred to a NICU hospital. She was weaned off the O2 within by that night (born at 11:35am), but once I had settled into my room after my CS they bought her in in the isolette with the oxygen and monitors, and I was able to take her out and give her cuddles after a few hours, her sats improved dramatcailly when she was getting skin to skin :D She was quite mucussy for a few days as well because she didn't get the squeezing that comes with a VB.

She stayed in the Isolette for a couple of days to help with maintaining her temperature, and so that she could focus on learning to feed rather than that and maintaining her temps as well. She was able to suck on day 1 with lots of encouragement and begging from me :lol: nipple shields would be really useful as well especially if she is a bit small and you want to BF. I also escaped her having an IV, NGT and bottles, due to speaking with her Paed and planning a course of action prior to delivery, and he was fully supportive so she was fully BF'd from the start :D

Take care hun and I will catch up on everything in other threads now I have written my BS! xxoo

I forgot to mention I too has steroid shots in the 5 days leading up to Dd's birth.

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DD2 was born at 36 weeks, she was admitted to SCN due to low BSL's but she got to room in with me the whole time and we were never seperated. She was discharged the next day. we were very lucky, hopefully u will be too

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Thankyou Skybie, I am hoping to not be separated from bub when he/she is born. I am glad to hear you were lucky and didnt get separated from your DD2. I am having everything crossed that I will be too. Thankyou again for sharing. hugs

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At that gestation, bub could very well be with you all the time. Unless there are breathing issues (not very likely), I would say SCN rather then the NICU.

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They are worried about bubs size which is the main reason for them talking about bringing bubs early, yet they have also mentioned that once bub is delievered they will have a pead in theatre with us, to check bubs over. They also want me to be prepared that bub will be monitored when born with breathing etc due to me being on the insulin. I am really hoping that bub wont need to be in scn. Thanks

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My DD was born at 36 weeks and they expected troubles as my placenta was started to show signs of it failing. She spent some time in SCN due to extremely low BSL but I had GD (on insulin) I expressed milk while waiting for the cs and they said that helped bring her BSL up. See if you can do that if the situation needs it

She had a little trouble maintaining her temp for the first few hours but other then that she was completely healthy

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Thankyou Nic, I too am on insulin which has me even more concerned now, especially with bubs being small for gestation. This is why I want to prepare myself jic she isnt with me straight after she is born and me from theatre, due to a c/s. So thankyou for sharign your experience. I think that is something for me to ask about is expressing while waiting for my c/s. They only thing is Im worried about how my BM will be, especially after my last 2 pgcys, my milk wasnt much good. Thanks again hun.

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My cousin's DS was born at 36 weeks. Her waters broke a couple of weeks before she was to be induced, but I'm not sure if she started labour spontaneously or had to be induced. He spent a few days in SCN.

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Thankyou too hannah. hugs

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Sam was born at 36 weeks. At that gestation a lot of babies don't have a suck reflex, so you may have to express and bub will be fed through an NG tube until they are able to suck. Sam had no breathing issues as a result of his prematurity (had a few problems a couple of days later as a numpty nurse put in an NG tube that was too short), but it took him ten days to get out of hospital. After 8 days he was tried on all suck feeds, on day 9 he was allowed to room in with me as he'd coped with the full suck feeds and then on day 10 we were discharged. I was lucky as it was a private hospital and very quiet over the Christmas period so I was able to stay in with him the whole time.

The nursery at the hospital takes babies from 34 weeks, so if you get to 35-36 weeks you are looking more at SCN than NICU - depending on other issues bub may have.

BW

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Thankyou BW about the NG tube info, what a silly nurse putting the wrong size tube in, poor little Sam. Im glad you were able to stay the whole 10days in hospital with Sam, I know I will be in for 7days so hoping to be taking bub home with me if they do decide to bring bub early. Thankyous again. Hugs

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to be honest it all depends on what bubs is like when he/she is born but a stay in SCN is not unusual. if baby requires help with breathing then they are more likely to go to NICU but otherwise will stay in SCN. i was insulin dependent GD and DS was put on a sugar drip after he was born for 24 hours to stabilise his sugars. plus babies dont develop their sucking reflex until 36 weeks gestation in womb anyway so he/she will need a feeding tube until they can manage to suck without any issues. HTH :D

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Thankyou teresa, and for the sugar drip info also, I too am insulin dependant, so this helps to prepare myself for what may lay ahead for this bub, and re the feeding tube. hugs

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DD2 was born at 35 weeks and she had three courses of steroids, the last less than 48 hours before delivery. We had a short cuddle then she had to go to SCN, she was blowing bublles and pausing her breathing, her Paed was concerned it was going to develop into Hyaline membrane Disease (Respiratory Distress in the Premature Infant), so she went into an Isolette and on O2, and the quick action of her Paed ensured that she didn't end up getting transferred to a NICU hospital. She was weaned off the O2 within by that night (born at 11:35am), but once I had settled into my room after my CS they bought her in in the isolette with the oxygen and monitors, and I was able to take her out and give her cuddles after a few hours, her sats improved dramatcailly when she was getting skin to skin :D She was quite mucussy for a few days as well because she didn't get the squeezing that comes with a VB.

She stayed in the Isolette for a couple of days to help with maintaining her temperature, and so that she could focus on learning to feed rather than that and maintaining her temps as well. She was able to suck on day 1 with lots of encouragement and begging from me :lol: nipple shields would be really useful as well especially if she is a bit small and you want to BF. I also escaped her having an IV, NGT and bottles, due to speaking with her Paed and planning a course of action prior to delivery, and he was fully supportive so she was fully BF'd from the start :D

Take care hun and I will catch up on everything in other threads now I have written my BS! xxoo

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Beema hun, again i am so happy you got to take home your gorgeous little princess. It was a hard journey you travelled and you should be so proud of yourself. I am glad you had a quick thinking Pead that was also on the ball. You have me thinking now about talking to V's pead again especially if they do decide to bring bubs early. I am hoping that he can check bubs over when he/she is born, and due to all the stress they put me through with V, I am hoping not to go through that again, so having her pead the head pead at the hospital I will be having bub at helps especially if he can take over the care for this bub on arrival. I have an appt with him in a couple of weeks, so I should have a good idea by then on whats happening. So will defiantely have a chat with him when I see him. (gee I felt like that was a huge ramble. The info you have provided has also helped to prepare myself. Thanks again hun. hugs

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I forgot to mention I too has steroid shots in the 5 days leading up to Dd's birth.

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Nic - I have been told that if they do decide to bring bubs on early at 35/36wks, then due to me being on insulin they will be giving steroids as they told me that bubs born to mothers with GD (now I cant remember if it was just insulin dependant ones) that there lungs havent matured as quickly. So they have also prepared me for that too. Thankyou again hun. hugs

My DS was born at 33 weeks. He needed to be on a ventillator and spent 5 days in NICU and a total of 27 days in hospital.

If bub is quiet small they may not be able to hold their body temperature and need to be in a humidicrib.
The sucking reflex usually kicks in around that 35-36wks so may or may not be an issue.
but every day and every week makes a big difference so the furthest you can get is going to help bub have the best start to life

Thanks all for your replies. Hugs

Well my little Chloe arrived at 38wks and 4days gestation, she was a tiny 2.375kg hc 33cm and length 43cm. Due to me being insulin dependant Chloe was taken straight from theatre to NICU where she ended up being admitted for 3-4days. She had low sugar levels and was admitted at 28mins old to NICU and put on insulin and was tube fed. Thankfully she wasnt there for a longer stay than what she was. I only got to see little Chloe for about 5mins when she was born and didnt get the chance to see her again until a day later. Although due to me needing to recover as well the lovely NICU staff brought her down to me the next day after my first visit. Although not for very long periods it was still nice to see me gorgeous little girl. It was even more special once she was discharged from NICU and kept with me.

I did however feel quite lost not having my bub with me after birth, and actually didnt feel like I had my bub. it was a strange feeling. Did anyone else feel that way. it just didnt seem real.

Yet it most definately feels real now though. lol

csab - i found that. despite having had a baby and being a first time mum, it really didnt hit me until we bought him home and i suddenly had this extra little person that i had to take care of. it was 16 hours between the time i had him and when i saw him next. i wasnt allowed to have him in my room at all and he was never allowed to leave the scn.
glad everything worked out well for u xx

Yep. I honestly felt like my baby belonged to the nursery and not me. It was a very strange and upsetting time.

BW

Thanks BW and teresa. Im glad I wasnt the only one that felt that way. I couldnt stand not having bub with me, let alone not getting to see bub for so long afterwards. Hugs