32 week premmie

Hi,
I had my baby Bianca in 25th October 2006 (15 weeks ago) at 32 weeks, my waters broke early in the morning and she was born almost midnight that night.1930grams and 43cm long.I had a viginal birth.We had a few intense times where she stopped breathing and when she was fighting the infection that broke my waters.Bianca is doing so well , I am breastfeeding and she is now 3330grams and 53cm.She has bad reflux which wakes her up a alot so she gets very little sleep. Has anyone got any suggestions on how to settle her??I am also woried as when I meet other babies at the same "corrected age"they all seem to be alot bigger, and i am wondering if she isn't putting on enough weight....If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it..
Cheers Rach80

Hi Rachel,

Firsltly a big big congratulations on the birth of your gorgeous Bianca.

What a sensational name! Bianca is a name I'd love to call a daughter however can't see it happening as my DH sadly isn't quite as fond of it as me.

Re your worry about Bianca's size... Don't worry about comparing Bianca's weight or length at this stage. She was born early and so her growth will not necessarily follow the usual growth charted path. Fifteen weeks post birth is no where near enough time for her to "catch up" to even her corrected age peers. Our Neonatal Paed has always said that the premmies should all eventually "catch up" by school age. My DS seems like he'll never get there but we are assured he will. He is currently 18 months old and weighs 7.8kg - which is a common weight for a 5 or 6 month old. he he. Have you had any medical advice confirming diagnosis of reflux and how to manage it?

Hi Kirsty,

Thanks for your reassurance on Bianca!!She laughed at me today a very beautiful moment...With the reflux, she hasn't been diagnosed by a dr yet, but ever since she was born the nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit told us that she has suffered from bad reflux from the start ,one Dr told us that she was just expressing herself.Which is true, she screams and scrunches up and sometimes wouldn't eat properly..Which is expressing herself that she is in pain.!!I put her on her side untill she goes to sleep and have the bed elavated on one side as the nurses did and advised us to do. It doesn't seem to do that much. One Dr told me that she will grow out of it.I was just hoping there was sometime to help relieve the pain as she doesn't get much sleep because of it.
Cheers
Rach x

Hi Rach,
congratulations on the birth of Bianca! What hospital did you have her at?
Regarding reflux, are you seeing a Paediatrician at the moment? They should be able to help or even your gp to begin with, she might need to get some med's for it. Nixon was diagnosed with reflux at about 10weeks actual and we tried a number of things then finally got him onto Zantac, combined with all the others things like evelating cot, tummy time minimal trying to feed him elevated and keep him elevated atleast 30min after each feed it slowly got better. Every baby is different depending on the extremity of it but Nixon's finally got alot better once he started sitting up.
How long did she spend in hospital?