Premmie Mums #5

Being a parent can be overwhelming at the best of times & that feeling can be compounded if your baby is premature or has health problems that require a stay in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) or a Special Care Nursery (SCN). This thread is here to help you gain, & provide support to other parents going through similar experiences.

If you would like your baby's details added into this page please email one of the Moderators listed below with the information & you will be added. By emailing us your details you are sure we won't miss them as we may do if the details are left within the thread itself.

Astrolady astrolady@bellybelly.com.au
kirsty kirsty@bellybelly.com.au
Ambah Ambah@bellybelly.com.au
Sammi-j raven@bellybelly.com.au

Member:
Baby's Name:
Gender:
D.O.B:
Gestation at birth:
Stats:
Website:
Reason for bubs early appearance (if known):
Reason bubs spent time in NICU/SCN:
Notes:

Please be aware that this thread is meant to compliment your use of your baby buddies thread & your details will remain on this page for a period of 12mths from your baby's birth, which in most cases will see your bubs development caught up to that of full-term baby's.
__________________________________________________ _____________________________

Member: Tiggy (Tiff)
Baby's Name: Ivy Hazel and Noah William
Gender: Girl/Boy twins
D.O.B: 30/11/05 (due 5/2/06)
Gestation at birth:30weeks
Stats:1600g & 1700g
Website:see hyperlink
Reason for bubs early appearance (if known):antepartum haemorrage,uterinerupture.
Reason bubs spent time in NICU/SCN: Prematurity, low birth weight RDS and apnoea,sepsis
Notes: 9 weeks in the NICU now fine healthy chubba bubbas!
__________________________________________________ _____________________________

Member: RacOOooOOoon (Julia)
Baby's Name: Ronan
Gender: Male
D.O.B: 17th March 2006
Gestation at birth: 27 +3wks
Stats: 1.14kg, 37.5cm length, 25cm head
Website: http://www.totsites.com/tot/ronantoivonen
Reason for bubs early appearance (if known): Ruptured Membranes/ Spontantious Labour
Reason bubs spent time in NICU/SCN: Chronic Lung Disease, PDA, Jaundice & Hernia. Ronan was on Ventilator, CPAP & Lowflow for 3 months, had 2 doses of Endomethisin to close his PDA & spent a long 110 days in hospital (15wks). Before his discharge he had a Hernia operation which was a great success.
Notes: Ronan came home a healthy 4.3kgs and is now 7.5mths old (4.5mths corrected) and weighs 7.2kgs.
__________________________________________________ ___________________________

Member: Nickers
Baby's Name: Nixon Milton
Gender: Boy
D.O.B: 17th April, 2006
Gestation at birth: 33+3weeks
Stats: 2296g(5p 1oz) length: 48cm hc: 30.3cm
Website: http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/p/powpow/
Reason for bubs early appearance (if known): PROM premature Rupture of membranes @ 32+5weeks, admitted to hospital then went into labour naturally 5 days later.
Reason bubs spent time in NICU/SCN: respiratory distress, started on CPAP, then was fully ventalited for 5days. Catheter needed for 48hrs when he was not urintating but pulled it out himself on day 4. Phototherapy for Jaundice. Had lumber punch/ & brain scan & ultrasounds for seizure activity but came back clear. left NICU for SCN on Day 5.
Notes: Came home on day 25 weighing 2650grams (5p 8oz)
continue seeing Paed but no problems since other then reflux.
__________________________________________________ ___________________________

Member: Bellasmum
Baby's Name:Patrick James
Gender: Male
D.O.B: 24th May, 2006
Gestation at birth: 35+5weeks
Stats: 2430g, 32.5cm. APGARS 8 & 9
Website: http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/p/patrickjames
Reason for bubs early appearance (if known): Not quite sure, PROM @ 32wks
Reason bubs spent time in NICU/SCN: Spent 12 days in SCN Shepparton due to low blood sugar & feeding problems, only came home if he put on weight after b/f overnight, put on 5g.
Notes: Patrick is a normal 5mth (4mth corrected) baby. No paed follow ups needed.
__________________________________________________ ________________________

Member: Simone
Baby's Name: Anneliese Bethany
Gender: Girl
D.O.B: 9th June, 2006
Gestation at birth: 30 weeks 4 days
Stats: 1680g (3lb 11oz); 28cm head circ; 38cm long.
Website: n/a
Reason for bubs early appearance (if known): Chorioamnionitis (infection of
the uterus - broke my water at 30+3 and caused septsis to set it, infecting
baby.
Reason bubs spent time in NICU/SCN: Only 27 days !!
Notes: breastfed at 31+4, went home at 34+3, only problem is still has
apnoea episodes, alothough hasnt had one recently... doctors think she might
have outgrown them.
__________________________________________________ ___________________________

Member: Astrolady (Kathryn)
Baby's Name: Ashton Chris
Gender: Male
D.O.B: 12th October 2006
Gestation at birth: 36 weeks
Stats: Head Circ 34.5 ~ Length 47cm ~ Weight 5lb 13oz (2.630kg)
Website: www.theastroweb.com/ashton .... coming soon
Reason for bubs early appearance (if known): Not entirely sure, told GP about Lachlan dive bombing me 2 days prior to contractions starting and he seemed to think it may have help kick start things since I experienced mild pain after the dive bomb.
Reason bubs spent time in NICU/SCN: Low blood sugar levels, meant to be 2.7 and they were 2.0 at birth. Was given top up feeds of formula through nasal tube after being breast fed till the sugar levels stabled, then we got to go home. Lucky enough to be discharged on Day 2, much to some SCN midwifes disgust.
Notes: Was nearly re-admitted on more than one occasion when we came home due to rapid weight loss, but he turned the corner at the 11th hour
__________________________________________________ _______________________________

Member: Noami
Baby's Name: Macauley Bryan James
Gender: Male
D.O.B: November 3rd, 2006
Gestation at birth: 36weeks & 3days
Stats: Weight: 6lb, Length: 47cm, Head Circ: 35cm
Website: Not yet
Reason for bubs early appearance (if known): Spontaneous labour & rupture of membranes
Reason bubs spent time in NICU/SCN: is learning how to feed, & has lost too much weight, & he has a bit of jaundice
Notes: Macualey is on 4hourly breast feeds & is being given top ups of EBM through a feeding tube. Hopefully we can bring him home on Nov 16th if we can fatten him up a bit.
__________________________________________________ _________________________


Hi lovely ladies, here's a new thread for you to all keep on chatting.

Last thread is HERE

Love

I have had a few prams as well over the last 5 years all 2nd hand ;). I did have a great one that was given to me by a playgroup mum, but walking home from kindy one day the whole thing collapsed underneath Lachlan, so we went out and got the pram that we have now.

On the Ashton front all seems to going well. He was bringing up milk after each feed yesterday, so not sure if it was just overspill or if he was a bit heat affected since yesterday was his first hot day since being home. The day he was born it was 39 degrees, but we were in the luxury of air con at the hospital ;) Will see what he is like today.

Gets weighed again tomorrow by the midwife, and hopefully he has put weight on again. If so I am going to stop setting my alarm on my phone to wake him to feed during the night and just let his cries wake me instead. I will continue to feed him 3hrly during the day though. By 3pm I am so exhausted, went to goto bed after andrew got home at 4pm yesterday and then got a phone call from Ashton's godfather to be, to say he was around the corner and was popping in for coffee. ARGH

Love

ohhh now we have just started a new thread can we get our profile thing started?
Kathryn i think it was brought up the same time you just had Ashton but I asked Ambah if we could have a front page thingy like in Baby buddies. which she got back & said it would be organised soon and that details would stay until baby turned 1.
Has anyone mentioned anything to you bout it?

Nic lol about changing them like shoes... No, i get sick of them and get a new one. But i love my latest one, just a kmart 3 wheeler with toddler attachment. Only prob i have with it is when declan is in the toddler seat and Anneliese wants to sit up there's not alot of room for her... But hopefully Declan will be able to stand on the skateboard soon (and i can find it!) and i wont need the toddler seat.

Kathryn, hopefully you can put ashton on demand feeding, i was lucky, when Anneliese came home, she was so good with putting on weight that she came off the 4-hrly feeds and pentative and was allowed to demand feed. While she is small for her birth age, i think she's about normal for her corrected age. And i looked at trhe pics of the boys, i love the one of all 3 of them... Kameron and Lachlan look like such proud big brothers :)

NIC-what are we going to put on the profile thing? Gestation born, why they were prem, that sort of thing? Maybe Birth date and Due date?

Nic - It has been discussed in Moderators and approved. I think Kirsty who also has a Prem babe was going to compile a list of details to run by the mods before it gets put up. She has a few other things on her plate at the moment, so will look into seeing where she is at.

love

Hi girls, :hello:

Well, Ivy is on antibiotics for bilateral middle ear infection and both the babies are on prednisone. Not sure if it is asthma or croup but redipred is the cure all for both.
Ivy has cried all day but has finally exhausted herself and is asleep (touch wood). Noah has gotten his second wind but Dave is settling him.
I think I'm going to ask the paed if Ivy can get grommets when Noah gets his tongue tie done.

Hopefully we'll be on the mend before the weekend, we are off to Trish's boys' christening!

Hi there everyone,
Hope you and the bubs are all doing well. I've checked out a few of the piccies: Tiff, Nic, Rac and Kathryn.
It's so amazing how they are all growing up! Ivy, Noah, Nixon and Ronan all look fantastic and so big!!!

Kyla is doing well - crawling lots now, waving, pointing, chatting and being cute...except atm she has a cold and is teething so is VERY grumpy.
We're seeing a physio now to help get Kyla up on both knee's (she has a strange crawl where she drags one leg behind) and eventually to look at her standing as she doesn't like taking weight on her legs.

Hope to get on a bit more often!

Hi ladies, Well Pat has a terrible cold and wheeze which has turned into asthma! Otherwise I think he is doing well for his age. His little friend who was born at 38w,4 days after us, is up on his knees and starting to try and crawl!I'm not worried though, Pat will do things at his own pace, well he already trys to put his bottle into his mouth!

Morning girls.

Sorry to hear about all the sick babes. We are going along okay just wish I could shake a headache which is mainly from sleep deprivation.. I am one that needs her sleep LOL. It doesn't help when Lachlan gets up at 5.15am in the mornings either. Ashton didn't feed much during the night but surely made up for it at 6am this morning. Today is weigh in day so hopefully he has put a decent amount on in 3 days. I think he has got a tad longer.

Love

Morning all!

Everything is going along in our household, no sickie here atm with the kids (touch wood) i had a bug over the weekend, and i think i've got the same headache as you Kathryn. Behind the eyes and forehead?

Jess, Anneliese has only just gotten control over her head and neck (no more bobbling baby head now!) I figure she'll do things as she's ready. im not worried :)

Yep that is the headache Simone. So annoying.

Love

Declan and Xander are sharing a room now, and although we try and make sure that Declan's asleep before Xander goes in, we went to visit MIL/FIL and got home late... the boys were awake until 11, then Anneliese had her feed at 12 and 3am, and then by the time i got her to sleep (4am) declan woke up (bad dream or fell out of bed) and didnt go back to sleep. I think i deserve a nap... Just hoping i can get the boys to have one too.

Kathryn and Simone, hope your headache goes soon.

Kathryn, how was Ashton's weigh in?

Yeah, i forgot to ask kathryn, i wanted to know how much he put on, and if he did get longer... :)

Still waiting on the midwife atm. She rang this morning and said between 1.30pm and 3pm. It is nearly 2pm. I am a bit ****ty cause I actually have all 3 boys asleep atm *shock horror* and it will probably never happen again in a million years, but don't want to goto sleep to be woken 30 mins later for the midwife, cause then I will feel worse than what I do now.

Love

Okay midwife has been, and he has put on 80g. He is now 100g off his birth weight. I have to get him weighed at his health check on Friday and they midwife will come back out on Monday. Don't know his length but I will probably find that out on Friday too.

Love

I feel for you all with the sleep deprivation, I slept for no more than 1-2 hours a night for the week I was in hospital..I am so lucky that hubby is off work at the moment and doing the night feeds!

Sorry about all the sick babies, I am dreading the day when Kirsten gets sick for the first time.

She still won't breastfeed at all, and I am having to express every couple of hours, but at least is starting to be more alert and to demand to be fed rather than having to be woken up, which is a relief! She is also gaining weight. Hopefully I will be fit to go out by next week to take her to specialist breastfeeding clinic!

She is suffering a bit with her tummy since I am on two lots of antibiotics..we both are!!!! So lots of winding and dirty nappies..the joys!

Marion

x

Hi everyone,

just wanted to share you lovely ladies that my gf had twin girls thismoring!I think she was 35weeks so did extremley well to get so far (She had PROM at 33weeks)
Gemma & Teagan were 5p 13oz & 14p 15oz. I will be visiting them in the next day or two, can't wait to see the little bubs! She had them naturally to which is amazing!

Kathryn- excellent new re: Ashton's weight gain, give it a couple of days and he will have past his birth weight!
i hope everyone's headaches have passed.

Hey nic, i take it you mean 4ld 15oz, not 14ld LOL Congrats to your gf :)How great she had them naturally!

Kathryn, that so good that Ashton's put on weight, anythings a a gain, and as nic said, he'll be at his birth weight in no time :)

Kathryn,
So good to hear that Ashton has put on weight!

oops yeah i meant 4p not 14p!

Its ok nic, i just had a giggle when i saw it :)

Well, i'm putting Annliese into cloth nappies, she's having trouble with disposables-she cant seem to get rid of nappy rash. No matter how much cream i use, although nappy free time helps, as soon as those nappies go back on it flares up. I wanted to try them anyway, this is a good excuse for DH :P

hey tiff, how are the twins today, are they feeling any better?? I hope so xx

I can't wait till Ashton's butt is bigger so we can get him into cloth. I only use terry towelling ones, can't be bothered getting into all the premade/folded stuff. Kameron was in cloth from coming home just about when he was born, so when Ashton hits over 6lb then I might start. Not long to go :)

My headache is still lingering but alot better today. Now that I have some money in the bank thanks to the baby bonus I might finally invest in some new glasses for computer work.

Love

My headaches gone too, both boys slept thru last night and Anneliese only woke up about 3am, as usual. There's always deal around for glasses, you dont always have to spend a fortune on them... I need some too, so i know how you feel :)

Im not goingt o bother with the premade ones, it doesnt take that long to fold them yourself, for all the money you save... i just bought the white terry's from kmart, cheap and easy.

Yep my thoughts exactly Simone about the Cloth nappies.

Love

I was thinking about getting some of the coloured terry ones, just for something different in summer, when the kids pretty much just wear singlets and nappies (boardies and wifebeaters for the boys lol) Anyone know where you'd get those? I've seen the flannel coloured ones, but not terry's (i know this is prolly the wrong place to put this, feel free to move please kathryn...)

just been to c my friends twins, oh they r so cute & little! it is amazing what 6months does, they felt so light!

anyway simone u will have a giggle @ this. took us 3 go's to actually get the the right hospital (royal woman hosp) i picked up dh from work (tullamarine) as we were getting close he says i know where it is, but the was on the mob. we came to a hosp & went in, parked, got nxon out etc & i saw the sign said royal childrens. anyway i said maybe its the building next to it, but ummm no! (luckily parking dude let us out for free!)
he said to to where the big cranes r on xxx street. do that car park full, find a spot go through it all again only to find this time we are at the Royal melb hosp not WOMANS!!! luckily it was within walking distance but by the time we stuffed around we had wasted over half an hr! (dh end up being away from work for 2.5hrs! but this gf used to work with him so they were kinda ok about him going!)

Nic your right, i did giggle at that!!

When i went into labour at 25w, we had FIL's car, a manual DH can't drive them to save his life. But because i was having contractions, he wouldnt let me drive. We were staying in Moonee Ponds, next to the race course, and her decided to try and go the back way to the Womens. He got lost, and kept bunny hopping the car. In the end, i had to drive myself to hospital... I nearly killed him. I felt awful enough without him jumping the car all over the place!!! Its a confusing area, i know it like the back of my hand know, spending so much time around there... i Have to go back soon, instead of making the mounted wall frame thing of pics like everyone else, i scrapbooked a couple of pages, and am goingt o buy an album to put them in, and put it in the parents room near the NICU. and people can add to it, something different. But i've got to take it in, Anneliese has an U/S on her hips next month for hip dysplasia, so i have to go back...

Simone have you tried places like Big W for the coloured nappies?

Love

Not yet, it's abit of a trudge to Big W, been to target and kmart, not much there anymore... Going to BW next week, when i've got money :)

I went to Big W yesterday and we have heaps of cloth nappies there! I would love to try cloth nappies again, but its a bit hard while you are in a caravan

Took Ashton to his 2wk health check and he is now 50cm long !! I knew he had got longer. So that is 3cm since birth. Also going by their scales which are bloody old he is 2.7kg so past his birth weight meaning he would have but on 170g in 2 days (yeah right) so I am not even going to get excited by that and just wait till the hospital midwife comes out and weighs him on Monday.

Love

Wow Kathryn, that is fantastic news! Go Ashton GO! (I would get excited) cos 170 gms on old scales has to be something on newbies!!!

Rofl that is good point Tiff ;) Cant wait till Monday :D

Love

wow kathryn 3cm in 2weeks!! Thats great!

Nixon cut his first tooth yesterday! he was a little sooky the night b4 and kept waking up wanting his dummy (i was thinking if he is gonna start doing this it may be time to ditch the dummy!) but now i know why..... so u can only just feel this sharp little tooth just through... i dont think the other bottom one will be far behind either

awww yay at the first tooth. i hope it doesn't give him too much grief.

Love

Great news about Ashton's weight gain Kathryn :)

Hi Ladies,
Hope everyone is well :)
Have not been online for the last few days. PC problems ended up formatting which only took 2 long days :throw_computer:
Anyway great news Willow finally cut her first 2 teeth :dance: She look so funny when she smiles now cos all you can see is 2 little white teeht sticking up. She also really likes the idea of this food thing too, 2 jars a day! She is starting to crawl (Oh No....hehehe) So we are hoping that she loses a little of her baby fat... She is getting so big now. I still even after having 3 kids find it funny how things all at once.
BTW... Has anyone got an ideas on how I can get her to eat vegies :confused: She HATES them and will not have a bar of them.

Raven

Hi Raven,

wow WTG Willow on her milestones!! Must be the week for teeth as Nixon just cut his first tooth also! wow crawling already thats amazing!
regarding vegies. When she started solids did she eat rice cerial/farex? if she liked this you could try adding a small amount of something (say potato or pumkin) to it. if she eats it gradually add more then she might get used to the taste.
have u also tried just steaming some vegies @ home then mashing/pureeing them?
i havent bought any of the jars of food so not sure but might taste different to the real thing. Not sure what else as Nixon seems to be eating everything so far.