*HELP* Taking home a 35 weeker, born @ 33 + 3

*HELP*

My little girl was born last Monday night, and since birth she has gone forward in leaps and bounds, she has started to put on weight, then last night lost is again, plus a little more, we did however switch her from 3 hourly to 4 hourly feeds yesterday, which explains the loss as she adjusts.

Yesterday her feeds were all Boob/Bottle (EMB), with some formula for top up if needed, she is latching on real well, and love the boob or bottle, no problems for he, for me her mouth is a little small, so BF'ing is a little painful, but it will get better in a few weeks as she gows.

The pediatrician came in the morning and said we could go home, we removed the gavage tube as we don't need it anymore.

Have anyone taken their premmie home this early, she will be 35 weeks Thursday 10th July, I am thinking either Friday or Saturday. I am bording with her and can stay as long as I need to. I have been doing all of her feeds, top ups etc, filling in her charts :lol: the MW's are just amazed to my competency and have mentioned it numerous times. But now I am terrified!!

We thought the journey home was going to take a lot longer, now that we can go home, I am pretty scared, and am looking for advice support from anyone who has been through the same.

Thankyou so much for any support/feedback etc

Oh sweety I don't have any advice on prems but just wanted to pop in and say that it is terrific Nakita is doing so well and you will have her home so soon! I am sure you will be great and will have lots of support - here and elsewhere, but you will soon get into a great routine of feeding and sleeping and I'm sure she will settle in quickly! She sounds like a strong little champ! :hug: and you are a terrific mummy!

i just wanted to say congratulations on how well you are both doing. Thats great news that she is ready to come home this soon. I think that i t is understandable to be nervous, every new mum is when they take home thier newborn. I have not had a premmie baby so i can not offer you any advice but just good luck and i am sure that you will be just fine.

Nikki

Okay, I took my DS1 home at 10 days old, he was 34w born, so 35+4 when I took him home. He was 1900gms born, and 2020gms when I took him home. He was born in May and I took him home to Shepparton which is in country Victoria.

The most important thing for me was the SUPPORT network that was put in place. I had a midwife/MCHN come and visit me every day for the first week (XH was back at work) and we did weighins every second day. In terms of feeding, I BF him, even though I had 20GG boobs and he was so tiny. I ended up expressing a lot and feeding via bottle as he had difficulty latching on.

I loved it that he was on 4 hourly feeds - I kept to it overnight but fed more often during the day. I usually expressed 2 hours after feeds during the day to try and increase my supply.

He was my first, and my Xh wasn't very helpful, so I was doing all the work.

The most important thing for the MCHN was for him to put on weight, so I fed him LOTS and most importantly, kept him WARM! Keep the house warm. Also dress her warmly - little beanies are the greatest thing invented, I used woollen ones that my grandmother knitted for me from a dolls pattern, otherwise they were too big. I wasn't scared of topping him up with formula either, as it was more important to build him up weight wise, so that if he DID get sick then he had some reserves. I only bathed him every 2-3 days, otherwise I did a top-and-tail.

I had a c/s so didn't get out very much, staying at home and SLEEPING whenever he did, it was marvellous.

Also if you have ANY fears or insecurities about Nakita's health, take her straight back to hospital/doctor - these tiny premmies need medication ASAP if they get sick.

Also remember - YOU are Mummy, you're a WONDERFUL woman and you are the BEST mummy your daughter can ever have.

If you have any queries please let me know. HTH.

Congrats on your bubba coming home soon
my twins were born nearly 10 weeks early and came home at 36 weeks weighing 1792g and 2640g. The MCHN had to weigh them everyday to ensure weight gain was happening as well.
I second everything Divvy said!!!
esp keeping bubba warm esp their head as they loose so much temp from the top of their heads!

take care and good luck it is so liberating to bring your bubba home and be responsible for them all by yourself!!
take care and good luck
odette

It sounds like Nikita is doing so well and thats such fantastic news.
my son was born at 33 + 3 also and went home at 37 + 3weeks weighing 2650g and i was still nervous.
My only input may be that for the next 4-5weeks she might sleep a lot (i know newborns sleep alot anyway) but i remember thinking in hospital that i had a baby that never cried, it wasnt until around his due date he started to act like a "real" baby so to speak.....

ask a thousand questions before you leave if you have to, the nurses wont mind, anything you think of even if you think its silly just ask them, they are there to help. they helped show me how to wrap, etc i dont think i would have had a clue otherwise.

good luck with her home coming its so exciting take heaps of pics!!

Thankyou all so much for your messages!

I had a bit of a break down-freak out yesterday, very teary morning, but after having another chat with one of the midwives here at the hospital, and my OB's midwife popped back in again last night, I feel a lot better and know that even though we are leaving the hospital we will still have lots if support.

My OB and MW want me to come into their clinic regularly, so that can keep an eye on me and bubs, and I will also be coming into the hospital clinic so the pediatrician can keep and an on Nakita.

We are organising a heater today as her room will be quite cool, and her temp does fluctuate if we don't get the wrapping right, atm she has a muslin wrap, then a flannelette wrap, then a fleecy wrap and a hospital blanket overe the top, plus a beanie and full length bodysuit and singlet.

Over night she put back on the 40grams she had lost the night before she she is up to 2200grams or 4lb 14oz. her bith weight was 2350grams, how long did it take for your bubs to get up to their birth weight, she is 10 days old now.

Divvy I have to agree with the four hourly feeds!! OMG the 3 hourly ones were so tough, especially when we were in Women's and Children's, and I didn't want her to get much formula, but it is okay. Last night her 7pm feed she didn't want the top up of EBM from the bottle, and I had warmed it up, then at 9:30pm she was hungry so I gave her a 30ml top up of EMB. Then her 11pm feed she had the boob and the and I didn't have any spare EBM cos I had to throw out the 30ml I had heated up for the 7pm feed, so I gave her 30ml of formula via the bottle, which she guzzled and settled straight away. She went through right to 3am for the next feed. Which was all Boobie or EBM.

I feel really good that she put on the weight, I feel like I can support her now.

I have to find some more beanies, we have two that fit her, all the premie ones we have are just too big, and don't stay on her head, so I will be going hunting for some more.

I also took your advice on the sleeping, I had a hour nap before her 11pm feed and also one this morning after her 7am feed and after easting breaky.

I am also writing a list of questions!!

My OB and MW are popping back in tomorrow morning before we go home.

So I am guessing I might get a big shock in about 4-6 weeks, when she really wakes up!!

It is just such a relief to her from other great mummies who have taken their premmie bubs home early and that it is okay, that we aren't being rushed and I have another source to ask questions, who understand and have been there before!

THANKYOU!!!!

i think Nixon took about 2weeks before getting back to his birth weight.
born at 2296grams
went down to 1980grams
took him home at 4weeks old weighing 2650grams.

40g gain is great too, wont be long before she is back to her BW i am sure.
she must be doing so so well, as nervous as you may feel now, imagine how great it will be that you can sit and look at her whenever you want and not have to wait until returning to the hospital again!!

Don't forget that sleeping = more BM too.... also drink lots of water.

You will do FINE. Check out the Women's and Children's Hospital shop - they often have premmie beanies. Or get an oldie from a nursing home to knit a few from a doll's pattern - that's how my Grandma made DS1's.

Best wishes.

Thankyou all for your messages :)

Just to update you with our progress, Nakita started putting on weight, at 3 1/2 weeks she got back to her birth weight (after going backwards our first week at home - which was very disheartening), but we then followed with gains of 170grams, 130grams and the last week to Wednesday she put on 280grams.

We had however both noticed that her jaundice was returning to her arms and legs, so my MW called her Paediatrician and we had to get her bilirubin levels redone. That was a nightmare, the nurse didn't want to do the heel pr!ck, instead she went in the arm - OMG her arms are very tiny, I had to hold her down and her arm our straight, by the time she started getting blood she had drawn the needle almost all the way out and only got 1/2ml, so had to do the other arm, she poked and prodded, blood everywhere outside of the needle, none in it, Nakita still screaming. She blamed me for not getting the blood, I held her arm damn still so we could get it over and done with. Eventually she did the heel pr!ck and got a good flow, poor little tike, 15minutes it took :( I was in tears and she had her first tears, not happy!!

Our appointment with the Paediatrician got brought forward to Friday, and he did the full 6 weeks check up. Her Bilirubin levels were 169, the exact same figure as they were when we finished the phototherapy at WCH, the levels went back up after we finished it, so it too her 4 weeks to get the levels back down herself. It is referred to as Breast Fed Jaundice, which is caused by the same thing that breaks down Breast Milk, breaks down Bilirubin, so they are competing, there is no concern as her direct levels were only 5, it may take until she is 3 months for it to go completely. All her other BT's were great. Which I am thrilled that we don't have to go through the BT's again, for hopefully a long time!!

The Paediatrician is still astounded by her development, one of the best performing prems he has seen in a long time. He gave us the all clear!! Woo Hoo!!!

So as we approach her EDD, we have a fit and healthy, 00000 wearing, solely breast fed, not MCN wearing yet (needs to be a bit bigger to fit them!), and gorgeous (albeit a bit yellow still) little girl, we are thrilled and it is the support of all my BB friends that has given me the confidence to make it all happen!!

Once again, thankyou :hug::hug::hug:, we survived bringing home a premmie and we can now pass on our confidence to other mums who might be in the same situation!!! :wiggle:

well done mum and well done bubs

never under estimate prems- they are fighters!!!
and boy that fighting spirit stays with them when they grow up as well

so glad that everything is going well. take care of yourself. Having a prem is a very different experience from having a full termer- so make sure you are getting the emotional support that you need. There are nurmerous playgroups out there for prems and their mums to be able to de-brief. Its very important to talk. often the smallest milestones for a full termer are huge for a prem- so celebrate them!!!
take care and give you geogous little fighter a big cuddle from all her cyber aunties

odette

wonderfully said Odette - Congrats Beema - you've done a marvelous job :clap:

Thanks Odette, your post made me look beyond and I have found a network of mums of prem babies and I am hoping to get in contact with some mums in my area, there isn't a lot in SA at the moment. I have an appointment with the CAYHS nurse on Friday, and they tell you about services etc, including getting you in a mothers group so I am hoping that she will be able to guide me as well.

Sometimes it is difficult to find when I best fit, especially in Baby Buddies, even though she was born end of June her development isn't up with those bubs.

I've given her lots of big hugs from her cyber auties :grouphug:

Hey Beema,

You and Nikita are doing such amazing job she is just such a little trooper!
Tyron even though he was FT had BF jaundice for almost 3 months. I was always concerned about it, he never went under lights in hosp but was always borderline and then every check up from MCHN i alwasy voiced my concerns, i even took him to my gp because it seemed to start to go and then a few days later come back. he had a further heel ***** showed it was still lingering but not at dangerous levels. Boo Hoo to that nurse prodding and probing her, it would have been much easier for her and Nikita to do the heel ***** in the first place!
when Nix was born i was in Melb and i actually found a premmie playgroup that started off as a 8 week research program for mums and prem bubs. It was priceless we all gained so much from it and became friends, so search around in S.A i think i found it by surfing the net.
There was another in Melb called the featherweight club so i am not sure if this is run in each state or just Melb. But the community you have now touched base with is very supportive and there are a few new mums in SA so hopefully you can all meet up!

Well done Beema, sounds like you're doing just marvellous.

I did find that there were times when I had a mini-breakdown because it was all so hard, especially people blaming me for his prematurity, and I didn't cope well with that. Sometimes I'd say he was born in July (his due date) rather than May, because of the comments people made. DS1 is still small (he's the 8th oldest in his kinder class but always in the first row of photos because he's so short). But he more than makes up for it in attitude.

Best wishes for the future. If you need ANYTHING, just let us know. It's sometimes a hard road, but more than worth it. Nakita is a beautiful little girl and you are a great Mummy. Well done.

Congratulations on the birth and coming home!!!

Odette, well said!!

Brendan was 6 weeks old when I bought him home, that was at 36weeks. He was 2090gms. I was very isolated, living on a farm approx 40kms from the closest "town" whch had one dr who knew nothing of premmies. I made sure that I always had someone to talk to, I rang my mum nearly everyday. The first week was the hardest, trying to adjust and constant waking to see if he was still breathing. Make sure you surround yourself with positive people and if someone offers help, dont be afraid to take it!!

Take care and good luck *hugs*

Thanks mums :)

Yesterday was Nakita's EDD so she is now 6 weeks 4 days / 1 day corrected.

She isn't takin the boob by itself any more which is disheartening, but fine with the nipple shields, I spoke with my MW/LC and she said not to worry and we will try her in a couple of weeks. As log as she is getting the milk it doesn't realy matter

Nickers - I havn't had any luck with a premmie playgroup, but I have the no. for SA Playgroups and will give them a call, if I have no luck there I will give WCH a call, there were posters up about sessions for parents with premmie bubs but the sessions were always on at feeding time, and I wasn't ready to deal with it at the time. But hoping they have something..... done a lot of net surfing about it too - not a lot of luck for SA :(

Divvy - I cannot believe people blammed you for his prematurity, that is just cruel, it wasn't your fault :hug: :( How early was you little fella?

Brendansmum - wow you did an amazing job being so isolated, I find if she is quiet in the car I start to get worried, and try to feel if she is still breathing!

I often wonder if I pushed myself too hard in the pregnancy, prior to I was pretty fit, doing a lot of weghts training - to the point I was lifting more than my own body weight, I did train down while pregnant and did it all under the guidance of a PT and kept my OB in the loop and my physio (Pelvic Instability as well). But I only finished weight training 6 days before she was born, was doing yoga the night she was born - a 1.5 hour session, but it was modified for pregnancy, my OB was also happy with this. It would be nice to have some answers or a reason, but unless my OB has news at our next catch up in two weeks then it was just meant to happen..... I do wonder whether next time I will be classed as higher risk, my OB will probably monitor me even closer, she was pretty thorough this time.

I have a septate uterus but don't think that is a reason behind it, I had excess amniotic fluid during my pregnancy went through the 2 hour GTT - came back with flying colours, a number of BT's which all came back clear, there was no apparent reason for it, the levels had dropped at about 30 weeks, my 32 weeks appointment I think it may have been on the rise again as there was a big shift in my fundal height measurements, my BP was a little elevated, and my platelets were dropping. But at the moment we just have PPROM to go by.... But I won't be surprised if it is just one of those things...

Thankyou all :grouphug:

Dont blame yourself hun *hugs* They say that you should keep doing the things you were doing prior to pregnancy, and you were doing with help and the right way. As for Breastfeeding, Brendan only BF via a nipple shield until he was 5.5 months old, then with a combination of a refluxy baby, he wasn't fully draining me, manual breast pumps are crap, my milk dried up.

As for the car thing, yes... thats me even now that he's almost 18 months, I still check to see if he's breathing.

Lots of hugs, you are doing so well.

Take Care