Premmie Mums #6

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 there is anything you would like to discuss about the thread or have any problems then please contact one of the moderators. All emails/PM's are treated confidentiality.

Astrolady astrolady@bellybelly.com.au ~ Administrator
kirsty kirsty@bellybelly.com.au
Ambah Ambah@bellybelly.com.au ~ Senior Moderator
Sammi-j raven@bellybelly.com.au

Hi Girls

Old thread can be found here. You may have noticed that the details have now been removed at the start of the thread. The reason behind this is found is Messages from BellyBelly and applies to all forums.

Love

Buggar, we only just got the details up!! oh well...

Tiff OMG i cant believe the twins will be a year old this time next week... time just goes by way to quickly!!

Anneliese is almost 6 months old... she's getting so big, in 000's LOL i look at pics i have of her at hours old, and think that cant be the same baby...

oh bummer! after all that to get it up here i think we had it for a few weeks only. i always liked having it on belly buddies i looked through it but oh well guess i'll get used to not having it there also.

simone i know what u mean, i was changing Nixon thismorning and his legs are hanging over the bed im thinking he is just growing before my eyes!

Hi girls,

sorry my computer had a min meltdown so i was out of action for a few days (heheh stuff got done around the house though) Thanks for all the nice welcomes. There seems to be a few mums here from austprem too. Airlie is now 10mths 7mths corrected and 6.1kg last weigh. She is so cheeky she has now worked out that the video player has a window and you can put stuff in it and that you can pull on the blinds. She is so going to be a handful i can see it now :eek: No its not that bad just i cant believe how far she has come really from 861gms to this its fantastic. We are going to our Royal North Shore NICU grad party early DEC are any of you going to grad parties? I am so excited to see all of them again!!
Fiona
ps Tiggy i am from Blue Bay near The Entrance
Nic if you want me to i will send you my number and you can pass it on to Julia for me just so your not giving hers out. We had planned to meet up as we chatted on austprem but then i changed my email and messenger addy which i emailed her but she seemed to be having probs with her messenger too at one stage. anywho i message you Thanks for that.

Fiona

Hi all,
Hi Fiona- Ooh, Airlie does sound like a cheeky little one! It is amazing how quickly time passes, I saw a 6 week old the other week and was thinking how tiny the bub was when Kyla was half of what she was...You would hardly know it now! The grad party sounds like heaps of fun! We don't have that, but we had Kyla transferred to a local SCN asap.

Tiff - Wow, I can't believe your little ones are nearly 1!! Are ya having a big party?

Nic - How was the trip?

Hi Carrie,
We had a party last weekend, so we are just having a quiet one on the day - there are piccies on their site if you want a looksee. I thought I might just have quiet reflection on the 30th but now I find out there is a teacher's strike! I guess I will have to wait to reflect on their birth and the last twelve months.
Anyhow, Dave's parents and sister are coming for dinner and my mum too. So, with them and all the kids it will be a Tregenza instant party! LOL So that will be us wrapped up. I can't believe it either, Carrie. They're not allowed to grow up too quickly!

Oooh Tiff, I just had a look at the pics. They're gorgeous! You must be so proud of your beautiful little babies. The cakes looked great and the little lolly bags with their photos were a fantastic idea!

Hi Girls

Just a quick one as it is 11pm !! Ashtons naked weight is 3.55kg so I know now there was a 110g difference between what he was wearing yesterday and being naked. He is 53cm long as well. So he is doing extremely well !! Will catch up properly tomorrow I hope. I have Lachlan sick with a bit of a throat infection and high temps atm. :(

Love

Hey Astro - that's great that Ashton putting on weight well!! Hope Lachlan is feeling better soon and that he doesn't keep you up tonight!

Hi everyone!

We brought Macauley home on Monday, and i am so pleased, he is now just over his birth weight which is great and he is feeding really well too which is a bonus, i haven't even had to think about putting him on formula which my other boys had.

We are still trying to get the family into a routine that suits all of us, but he sleeps 5/6 hours at night which i'm grateful for

I will come back tommorrow to do personals

I hope you are all well and that all the babies are thriving!

Oh Naomi

I am so happy to hear that Macauley is home finally, and great that he is sleeping so well.

Just keeping an eye on Ashton this morning as he is feeling a tad warm now. Might msg Andrew later to buy a digital thermometer that i can put under his arm. Hopefully it is just cause of the fact it has been warm weather here. I have stripped him right down to just a singlet and nappy.

Already have Lachlan back in bed and asleep. He woke up with a high temp again, so changed from Dymadon Paracetamol to Panadol and have put him back to bed. He is on anitbiotics now as well so should be feeling better by morning. I hope !

Love

congratulations Naomi on getting Macauley home!

we flew home yesterday, had a great time away but Nixon is a little sick.
he developed a cough 4 days ago which in the begining i thought was just him deliberatly coughing, but then Thursday night he started coughing in his sleep.
yesterday coughed all the way home & by last night it got worse and his temps were high 38's. i was getting a bit worried cause he has never been sick b4.

anyway panadol got the temp down, he has gone off his milk a little though and not interested in water (but still doing plenty of wet/dirty nappies)
just to be safe took him to my gp (well my normal gp wasnt working today but same place) she said he just had a viral infection but his chest sounded very good and cough sounded a bit mucousy... but i thought she was pretty blasae about the whole thing like i was wasting her time....

Nixon is still smiley most of the time so i guess not too bad. But as we get into early evening his temp has gone back up to mid 38's. so just gotta keep a close eye on it tonight. i was just worried it could turn into broncholitis.

Congrats Naomi on getting Macauley home. It's a great feeling when you finally walk out of the hospital with your little one in your arms!!! :confetti:

Oh No!! Nic I really hope Nixon doesn't have broncholitis and has to go into hospital. I'll be thinking of you both sweetie, and get better really soon little man.:hugs:

Raven

Hey nic, hope things work out, bronchiolitis is a viral infection, so if you feel he's not doing well over night, take him in to get checked out. Its best to get onto it early before they get so worn out its harder for them to recover quicker. But nixon's a strong little man, he should be fine. you have my number on the junies list, if you need to ask anything, please dont hesistate to call me, both Xander and Anneliese have had Bronchiolitis 4 times between them... :hug:

Congrats Naomi on getting Macauley home!! Its nice to take them home and get back to your normal life :)

Hi there -
Naomi- YAY on Macauley's homecoming!!!! That's great that he's feeding well and sleeping well too!
Nic- IKWYM, hate it every time Kyla gets sick, it's so stressful! Every time I've goneto the Dr they act as though you're over-reacting. Hope he's feeling better soon.

Thanks Simone!
Its just taken almost an hour & a half to get him off to bed, poor little boy i can tell just doesnt feel well, he has just been moaning and whingy all night, he'd get almost asleep then start crying even when i was there. the sec i would go to walk out he started up again so i sat beside the cot stroking his head/arm.
given him panadol, just in a nappy & singlet with summer sleeveless sleeping bag & wiped a cool washer over his face hands and feet.

so if the doc said he has a viral infection then i wonder at what stage does it stay just that or turn into something worse? she really didnt help out at all i left more uncertain then b4 i went!
i know i am probably being over precausious but i suppose its best to be. only cause i know premmies are more suseptable to bronc and Anneliese & Pat both end up in hospital from it.
oh well fingers crossed he has a good nights sleep and wakes up feeling better tomorrow

With Anneliese she was sleeping a lot more than usual, feeding less, and when i put her to bed at 8pm and woke her up at 6am, and her nappy was still dry, thats when i made the decision to take her in. You just know when its gone on long enough and they need some help. Im here if you need me... i know how stressful it is, i remember when i had Xander and i was trying to figure out whether he needed to go to hospital, or it was just me being a neurotic mother... our little premmies are more susceptible, Allie and Pat had Bronchiolitis before their due dates, but Xander was 42+3 and he has it 3 times in his first year. Good luck :hug:

aww Nic. I hope Nixon is feeling alot better by morning. I thought Ashton may have been coming down with something today with Lachlan being sick as he felt more warmer than usual, but he seems okay by this evening so must just be because of our warmer weather. He doesn't do warm weather too well just like mummy LOL

Love

Nic :hug: Thinking of you and Nixon, hope that it isn't bronchiolitis.

Naomi! YAY!!!!!! Good to hear that your little guy is home.

Carrie, thanks, yes, iIam very proud of them. They really have come so far in a year.

Kathryn, hope that Ashton and Lachie get better soon. Yay for his weight gain.

Well, we went to the opthalmologist on Friday. Ivy is shortsigted and will need glasses but he wants to wait a little bit and Noah is longsighted! Talk about two ends of the stick!
Their birthday is fast approaching and I have been thinking about this time last year. What a whirlwind 12 months it has been.

I cant belive they are almost a year old... time does fly. It will be such a pain trying to get such a little girl to wear glasses!! Im so proud of your beautiful children, and wish them a very happy birthday :) I love the new ticker pic of them :D

AWWWW thanks Simone, what a sweetie!

Not a prob at all tiff, i've watched your 2 littlies come so far, and when i think back a year ago... they dont seem like the same 2 children. I smile everytime i see a pic of them :)

Well thankfully Nixon doesnt have Broncholitis or croup.
I took him to my GP today (so much better then the other one we had on sat) she atleast listened to my concerns and gave him a very thorough check.
He was asleep when we got there but then woke up and gave her a big smile (typical seeings he hadnt smiled all day!)

he is still off his food only taking in about half of what he usually does but wet/dirty nappies are for no conocern.
His cough sounded just as bad if not worse thismorning thats why i decided to get back to the doc. to be on the safe side she booked us in for a check up tomorrow.
so just been giving him panadol & got the vapourisor in his room other then that just wait it out until he recovers from it, he made me teary tonight when he was not crying but moaning and looking at me as if to say "Mum please help me" ohhh so sad, geez what will i be like as he gets older and gets sick or breaks a bone or something!

Poor Ivy having to have glasses, but oh she will look soooo cute with them!
Are they getting another cake for their bday?!

got come concreting done around the side of the house today so Nixon left his hand print/name/date in it!

Nic I really hope Nixon gets better soon. There is nothing worse then having your little one sick and there is nothing you can do to really help them.
We had a busy morning, took Kayla up to the school for 1 of her 2 Orienataion mornings. She got to meet her year 5 friend for next year. Next week she meets her Teacher and sits in the classroom for an hour with her classmate, while the parents sit in the hall for an information session. I can't believe how quickly the years have gone, I know I'm going to cry her first day of school. I think I'm more scared then what she is....lol.
Willow is really good she is sitting up all by herself now. She can only sit by herself for about 5 mins at a time then falls down, but its a start.

Raven

Hi Raven - How exciting for Kayla...and exciting/scarey for you!!! Hope she has a great time next week. Yay to Willow for sitting too!

Nic- Glad to hear that Nixon hasn't got anything too serious, I hope he is feeling better soon though and back to his normal self.

Tiff- Ditto what Nic said about Ivy! How long will they wait for glasses? Gosh it'll be difficult keeping them on her!! Kyla loves pulling my glasses off!!

We are going well here - Went into the RCH for Kyla's last assessment as part of the VIBES prem study. They will send out a writted report, but the results were much what we expected - great with her fine motor skills and a bit behind with her gross motor skills.
One great thing has happened in the last week though - with the great help from the physio - Kyla now stands (with me holding onto her - or again objects), she is also pulling up onto her knees when holding objects, which is a big step for her...YAY!

Carrie- Wow thats a great step for Kyla sanding! where did you come to do this VIBES study? I am going to a seminar this Friday at the Austin in Heidleberg called Preemie HUGS. its a 2 hr session and then we will be allocated into an 8 week program starting in Jan i think.
Its mostly for research for them to assess, but good for parents and babies too, they give us info plus we fill out questionaires. I have filled out the first one and apparently through the course there is one and then one at the end.
It doesnt cost anything and im looking forward to it, if i can help them in their research then Ive done my little bit, its all this sort of stuff that kept our babies alive and well after all. And maybe i'll meet some other nice mums and bubs at the same time.

Nixon is going ok, not any worse today thank god. a little bit happier in himself but still pretty miserable overall. I noticed his top tooth looks like cutting through also so this is not helping the cold! i am surprised how much snot can come from such a little nose my god!

Raven- oh how exciting orientation! but scarey all the same

Hi Nic - THe Vibes study contacted us after Kyla was in the RWH. I thought that same, that I wanted to help research into prems in anyway that I could. The initial stage was when Kyla was in hospital, a psychologist visited and helped with reading bubs signs of anxiety and stress (they were looking at the effect of intervention on prem brain growth), then at her due date they did an MRI and we got brain photos! Then over Kyla's 1st year they did a series of visits with a physio and psych, looking at her milestones and giving me activites to help. The last was an independent assessment at 1yr corrected. I also filled out heaps of surveys.
The one your going to do sounds excellent. It's great to have some idea of where your child is at compared to other prems, as they don't always fit into "normal" milestones of full-termers. Plus the support from other prem parents will be fantastic.
Poor Nixon - the teething would definately not help with the cold!! IKWYM with the snot!! Snot and blocked noses make feeding sooo hard! Kyla seems to be just getting better after haveing one cold straight after the other! Bring on summer I say!

Hi Girls

haven't been in for a little while. Just not really finding the time at the moment. I haven't got Ashton weighed since the last one I posted about, but he has just gone into 000 of Bonds Wondersuits only cause he needs the length. Everywhere else hangs off him LOL. Last night was the first night he slept for 6 hours so I only had to get up once.

Naomi - How is Macauley doing with being home ?

Raven - Kameron my oldest should have been doing his school orentations as well, but he is being kept back in kindy for up to another 6 mths due to speech therapy. Had one mum tell me the other day (her daughter is going to same school that Kameron will be) all about going shopping for her daughters uniform etc and I couldn't help being slightly envious thinking "that should be me" Oh well in 6mths it will be.

Love

Hi Ladies how are you all going? we are great trying to get everything ready for christmas. We have our NICU GRAD party at Royal North Shore on Monday I cant wait to go. Hubby has to work but the 2kids and I will go down.
I am also going to a function on Thursday for Pre Eclampsia in Sydney run by PEARLS I am going with a fellow suffer from the coast so it should be a very interesting experience. Pearls are a sydney group made up of doctors and sufferes (i think) they raise lots of money for research and I hope to help in some way. I really want as many people to know about PE and HELLPS.
Have a few chrissy parties and birthday parties coming up too so its just so busy.

Miss Airlie is getting cheekier and cheekier. She is pulling herself up onto anything she can and we have had a few wipe outs. She loves to go to the video player and try and put her hand or anything in it into the hole now.

Miss Airlie is now 6.7kg dressed wahoooooooooooo she turns 11mths/8mths corrected on the 6th of Dec. I can not believe that she is almost one and so big now. To come from 861gms to 6700 it just so amazing. I am so proud of her!

Nics sounds very interesting I hope Nixon is getting better too.
Naomi how is your baby boy doing?
Carrie wow standing look out now she will want to do it all the time
Astrolady yay for the long sleeps
Raven81 ohh big school - i returned home for a few days when Mason started Kinder this year. Airlie was still in NICU at the time in Sydney. I choked back the tears and he was fine. The second and third day he did get a bit teary though but after that he was fine.
Tiggy maybe one day we can meet up love to meet your munchkins

Hope your all ready for christmas ... cause i am not.
Merry Christmas all. Last year was special for us spending it with my family in years but this year will be even more special with Miss Airlie and all that we have overcome.
Be proud girls we have all done great!!!!!

Fiona xo

Hey ladies

sorry i havent been in here, things have been so busy...

Im just wondering if anybody knows when the RWH Xmas party is?? I have to take a scrapbooking page i made up and present it to them, but i wanted to wait until the xmas party...

Hi All,

Well Nixon is all but well again, just a bit of a stuffy nose still but atleast his cough has mostly gone, i woke up thismorning with an extremley sore throat so i hope i am not getting it now! (i thought mummys didnt get sick they only looked after all the sick kiddies and husbands LOL)

Simone & I went to the Vic xmas party for Austprem today. It was really good to meet up with everyone and see older kids that were extremley prem doing wonderfully.
Fiona that function sounds like a really good cause, its great when they have this sort of stuff that we can get involved in and hopefully help them in the long run.
The seminar went really well, there were about 15 of us and 10-12 of us are now starting this playgroup that lasts for 8 weeks, first one next Friday then break for christmas and coe back in the new year.

Hi All,
Had a busy week last week. I did my RSA course on thursday and passed....yay.
So it looks like I will be going back to work soon. I can't believe how quickly the year has gone and we still haven't got anything ready for xmas :oops:
Willow is great. But she is a bad little girl, she now likes to slide along the floor and get to the DVD player. I think we have to get her a playpen now.

Kathryn, Kayla has a speech problem but the school said they can put her in a class that will help with that as all as being in her normal class and being around other kids she should pick things up quickly (Well we hope anyway)

Nic, LOL Mummys get sick too, thats why theres Daddy to look after Mummys. I'm really happy to hear that Nixon is feeling better.

Fiona, I'm glad to hear that Airlie is doing so well, 861gms to 6.7kgs. Way to go not so little one anymore...lol.

Anyway glad to hear that everyones bubs are happy and healthy.

Raven

No Nic,
The Mummies still get sick...they just have to keep going to look after the sick babies AND the sick Daddies because, you know, they get sicker than everybody else!!!!

Hope you are feeling better soon.

Gosh you all sound so busy. We have been busy too. This week we had Ivy and Noah's first birthday and the big girls' ballet concert, paed appointments and all sorts of other things.
Christmas is coming so fast, I feel as though my head is spinning trying to buy for 7 kids!

Raven - Yay for Willow that she is getting around!

Fiona, I would like to meet you and Airlie too. Yay for her weight gain and that she is climbing up on things too.

Nic and Simone, The meeting sounds interesting and the party and Grad things sound interesting too. Our hospital doesn't do anything like that which is kind of sad.

Kathryn, glad to hear that Ashton is growing beautifully.

Yep that right tiff, i have a broken wrist, but declan and dh are bothsick, so i still have to cook and clean and wash spewy towels... its never ending!!

Hi all - Gosh you can tell it's that time of the year, all of a sudden every one's lives seem to go on fast forward mode!!

Things are ok here, DH has gone oversea's for a bit over 2 weeks so it's just me and Kyla. The physio came today and was really happy with Kyla's progress, so that was good.

Hope everyone's well.

Kayla has a speech problem but the school said they can put her in a class that will help with that as all as being in her normal class and being around other kids she should pick things up quickly (Well we hope anyway)


My boy Jack suffers from a Speech problem called Apraxia of Childhood Speech. Iput him into a mainstream school and now he is in Yr 4. Being with the other children has helped him a lot and his teachers involve the children in as much as they can with the Sounds and how to pronounce them properly.

Kayla spent an hour with her teacher and classmates yesterday, after they came out her teacher came up to me and said her speech is 100% better then the first time she met Kayla. So she will be fine next year. She will still need to go into a special class to help her with that, but hopefully for not as long. Just hope that Willow does not have the same problems cos she was born 10 weeks early.

Raven

Hi Girls,

Well the NICU party was great got to meet up with alot of our roomies and also see alot of the nurses which was so great. The nurses were so proud of the babies and they could believe that Airlie was crawling so well and at her size too.

I also went along to the PEARLS function and it was so excellent. I was told there that the research is going quite well and they think they may have found the protine that could cause Pre Ecmlampsia. This is so exciting cause then they can design a test to pick up that prtine and then act if need be. I may never have any more children just dont know yet but if Airlie does or anyones elses daughter then I hope this test is out there to stop this from taking mothers and babies lives.

Did you know that It is the most common reason for babies to need neonatal intensive care. Pre Eclampsia can affect as many as 10% of pregnancies, which makes it one of the most common pregnancy complications.Severely premature babies have a higher risk of disability.
On a world scale, the problem is much larger, with some 800,000 to one million women affected each year. It is impossible to predict with certainty who will suffer from Pre Eclampsia. Every woman should be considered at risk in her first pregnancy, although the risk is greater for those with a strong family history of the condition. Younger mothers (teenagers) and older mothers (those over 35 years of age) may also be at increased risk in their first pregnancies. If Pre Eclampsia occurs in a first pregnancy, then it may on occasions recur in subsequent pregnancies, particularly if a woman is carrying a multiple pregnancy, or has one of several chronic medical disorders, such as hypertension, kidney disease, diabetes, or lupus and other similar autoantibody diseases.
It was a really informative night and I cant wait for another one. They were also talking about holding women's helth talks and having PE as one of the topics which would be great as well.

Sorry to post so long but WOW I found it all so interesting and wanted to share

Merry Christmas

Fiona

Wow Fiona that is really interesting heres hoping they can come up with a test that can help Mum's and Bub's from all these health problems.
Oh yeah.... I have some great news too. Willow is only days from crawling too, she is finally getting her knees up and is pushing herself along the floor. :confetti: :confetti:

Raven