any premmie bub mums around??

[mumwith_6]

hi all..
our little girl was born on 6th march 2006 and i was due 26th may 2006..
im interested in hearing any stories about yr experiences thoughts feelings whilst on this crazy journey..
our little girl is doing wonderfully..
my labour could not be stopped after so many days so it was decided to do a cesar(all my bubs delivered this way).. she was born breathing with apgars of 9 and 9.. and weighing 1145grams, length of 35cms.
she has not needed to be ventilated and had two cycles of cpap and NO oxygen!! we are so proud of our little fighter..
today she weighs a grand total of 1730grams and length of 40.5cms..
she is about to have her first blood transfusion possibly friday, so that will be her only major hiccup(in our books)...
id love to hear from you all!!

[bootiful]

Hey there mumwith_6

I had my daughter in October 05 and she was just short of 32 weeks.

She came out via emergency c-section(I developed sever pre-eclampsia in week prior) and was 1450g and 41cm.

She was in SCN for a month and was on c-pap for 2 days.

She is now a very healthy bub and is amazing all the medical experts by growing at the rate of a normal 5.5 month old not a 3.5 month old. :smiliedance:

I am convince that at even such a young age they know to fight and come out winners.

If you have any questions feel free to email me or msn me;

angeleyes013_5@hotmail.com

Hope to hear from you soon!

[sshellzp]

Hey girls, my little girl was born 23 of jan and was due 28th of april this year. she is 2400grams at the moment but was born 780grams. my email is Shez_00@hotmail.com I also have msn messenger if you would like to chat on there. Emerald is doing really well and should be home in a few weeks :fingerscrossed:

[TwoBlue]

Hi guys

My DS was not super prem, he was born naturally at 36 weeks (just decided it was time) unfortunately he wasnt so well though so spent 10 days in NICU on Cpap and antibiotics for a blood infection he developed. It also took him ages to be able to regulate his body temp on his own so he wasnt allowed out of his humid crib for ages :(
I remember it like it was just yesterday and he turned two a few weeks ago :smiliedance:

He is like every other 2 year old (a pain in the butt!! :laughing: )

Big Hugs to all mums of premmies, its a long and hard road but our bubs make it very worth the travel !!

good luck with the blood transfusion this Friday mumwith_6

and angelbaby013 you are soooo true, they are fighters :D

[mumwith_6]

wow thanku ladies..
im finding it hard to 'bond' with her.. i feel as though she is the hospitals baby not mine.. im so confused on how i am supposed to be feeling and what i should be doing etc..
im on msn too lotsa_us@yahoo.com.au
kerri

[3Byrnes]

Hi Kerri

Did your daughter get the blood transfusion?? How is she doing??

My son was a 25 weeker and I can relate to not feeling like you are bonding. It was so hard to feel like he was my son---I felt like an outsider for the longest time, he had the nurses and doctors to take care of him, I was just the lady who came to visit him and provide the milk. But once he was out of the isolette and I could pick him up anytime I wanted---I took full advantage of it!!

My son weighed 754 grams when he was born, and 12 1/2 inches long. He was on Vent for 4 days, Cpap 52 days, had 3 blood transfusions, in the hospital 87 days (NICU and SCN). He is now 3 years old and as mentioned about another little one here----a royal pain in the butt!! He has caught up with his peers and has no sign that he was ever a preemie!!! He is practically perfect in every way!!!:smiliedance:

Another MSNer here: byrnes214@yahoo.com

Hope all is well with your little one!!

Mary

[Mamina]

hi mumwith _6! hang in there precious, i havn't delivered any premmie bubba's but i was born @ 26 wks almost 32 years ago. according to mum waters broke and i was coming no if's or but's. lucky for me i arrived safe and small (2 pound 6 ounces) and no complications. i arrived in June, was meant to arrive in October, wasn't able to go home until November. my mother was not able to touch me until that time. 32 years ago they didn't have the facilites and equipment like they do today. your baby girl is in safe hands.

we do fight and come out winners.

Mamina

[MummyCharmzy]

hi kerri, nice to see you here! Hows everything going with your little princess?!

[sky]

hi all
my baby was born on the 6th of march, due on the 18th of may, she is doing realy well and i should be bring her home in 10days, she has been a real fighter as all brems are, we have had a ruff six/seven weeks though and with one already at home aged 19months i have been emotionaly and physicaly drained, Kayla was fine at first apgars of 9, and not needing any ventalation at all, and flew through her 1st few days going to HDU, then she developed a stomach olser and a intestinal infection and was moved back to SCN2 where she stayed till the other day, she narrowly escaped surgury thank god and got better befor getting nemonior after that she wouldnt take any fluids and kept vomiting so she lost a lot of wieght after her wieght stabalised she was fine again and touching wood will continue to be, she back in HDU we are just etabulashing breast feeding, born 1300g dropping to 892g and now 1900g i count every day a blessing
it can be a hard road but to every one thats is going through this type of hard yard it is worth it in the end just keep the faith
godbless

[CarolineF]

My gorgeous daughter was born at 35 weeks - not very prem. But she had her fair share of problems. She went blue almost immediately and was rushed off to NICU where she remained on CPAP for 5 days, tube fed. Her lungs were not developed notwithstanding steroid injections, she had wet lung, a heart murmur caused by a congenital heart defect. Had jaundice etc but most importantly had spirit.

That little monkey was smearing pooh around her SCBU humidicrib at about 2 weeks!!! At 4 weeks she had a minor heart op.

Now? she's nearly 6. sees a cardiologist annually now but is thriving, gobby, gorgeous and practically perfect in every way!:smiliedance:

[rach74]

Hi mumwith_6,

My gorgeous bay girl was due on the 2nd Oct 2005, instead Abby was born 2 July 2005. My water broke when I was 23 1/2wks. I ended up in hospital & was told to rest. I was able to hold her until I was 26 +5 then I had an emergency ceasor.

Abby weighed just 915gram & was 33cm long. We have been so lucky from the time she was born. She was off CPAP quickly, she only had 1 infection. She had 3 blood transfusions. She was in hospital for 71days.

I spent all day every day at the hospital with her, go home, have dinner & go back at night. I did as much kangaroo care as I could. Some days I would sit there with her down my top sleeping for 2 or 3hrs. Then I would put her to bed for a rest, I would have lunch then do the same that afternoon. She loved it & so did I. I think that helped both of us bond better. She also loved kangaroo care with her dad & did this most nights.

Some days I would feel like she wasn't mine. I think because one minute she was in my tummy, I went to sleep & next minute the doctors told me I had a little girl. This feeling went away as each day past & she grew bigger.

We have been so blessed with her. She is now 9 1/2mths(6 1/2 corrected) & doing very well. She now weighs about 6.7kg. I didnt think we would ever get this far! She is such a little angel & very cheeky at times. She keeps us so busy & so entertained.

I am still expressing for her. Sometimes she will feed from me but sometimes she is just lazy so I have to give her a bottle. I dont mind though. While ever I still have milk for her I will keep doing this.

Sorry this goes on a bit. :ecomcity: Hope everything is going well with your little one.

rach74 :)

[sky]

just updating
kayla has taken a turn for the worst and wont be coming home now for a while, so i am realy upset, but whats a few more weeks at this point of time

[MummyCharmzy]

Sorry your little girl isnt doing so well at the moment, I hope things improve very quickly and she can come home with you were she belongs!

Take care,
Charmaine

[melsmidgets]

HI all,

My twins, Felisity and Connor were born at 33 weeks by emergency c section.

i had cholestacis (sorry bout spelling) ( my liver stopped functioning), gestational diabetes and undiagnosed placenta preavia.

Felisity was on oxygen for 2 days and connor for 4 days. He alwya seems to be a couple of days behind in everything. Felisity then came out of crib and jsut went in normal hospital cot for another 2 weeks as she had to be monitored until 35 weeks and she wasnt eating, she was tube fed. Connor stayed in crib for another couple of days then came out for 24 hours, had to go back in as he couldnt keep his temp up. He then came out 3 days later to be tube fed, he was drip fed originally.

I know what oyu mean bout not feeling like they are your baby/ies. Mine are 7 weeks old now and still have trouble bonding with them ,not sure if thats ceasarian or SCn or a bit of both. I wasnt even the one supplying the milk to them as they were tube fed then bottle fed.

Felisity came home on the friday, 2 weeks after being born and connor came home the following monday.

It is a great day when you finally get to bring them home.

[madis_young_mum]

Im the premmie young mum to Madi... born at 26 weeks now 3 1/2 weeks old and doing as well as could be expected.

She was born 2lbs 3 ounces (1kg) - very resonable for a baby so early. She now weighs 3lbs - slowly getting there. She is now 43 1/2 cms long.

We are not out of the woods yet but she is going well - every day she is here on earth is a good day!

She currently has no health complecations, she is just very frail and tiny, still tube feeding.

[tired*mummy]

HI all

My daughter Ally was born at 23 weeks, due to an infection in my placenta which made it tear from the back. I was also bleeding heavily from 11 weeks. She weighed 1lb 2 oz which is 513gms and was 30cm long. Apparently the dr's said that was a good size for a 23 weeker.
She was in NICU for 5 months and on oxygen for the whole time until a few days before she came home. It was very hard to bond with her aswell... felt like she was the hospitals baby and we were jsut visiting and sometimes i still find it hard to bond with her and shes 2 and 1/2 now. She is doing extremely well though for everything she has been thru. She is upto the development level of a 2 1/2 year old and actually talks better than my other daughter did at that age. The only thing she has gotten out of being so ealry is Chronic Lung Disease... which isnt too bad. We have to watch her when she gets a cold and shes been in hospital 3 times since she was born with bad chest infections, which she has needed oxygen for.
I think the only good thing about her being in hospital for so long is that now she is a very good sleeper. Since she came home, we jsut have to put her down for her nap or at nighttime and she doesnt complain at all. And she's always slept at least 12 hrs overnight... even when she first came home. I'm happy about that because my 3 and 1/2 year old is quite a bad sleeper and still wakes at night and refuses to go to bed :)
:wave:

[ShanMac]

Hi

That is an excellent weight for 23weeks. :smiliedance: :smiliedance:

I had twins at 32 weeks our little one Oliver was 1000grms v small for date and had stopped growing - hence why they were born and Hamish 1700grms. We spent 10 weeks in hospital and at 16weeks Hamish is now over 5kg!

We lost Oliver at 10weeks due to complications from heart surgery - but everyday with him was special.

All the babies i got to know that were around 24,25 weeks were 400grm-700grms and all did famously!

Having a preemie can be a v stressful journey so if you need anyone to chat to and offload be happy to help!

Shannon

[whitsundaysmumma]

Girls, the ups and downs, highs and lows of the premmie bub journey. I salute you all.:hugs:

[cassi*girl]

Hi there I thought I would pop in and add my story to this premmie thread, but after reading all the others I hardly think it is worthy!!!
My DS was born at 36 weeks, he decided the time was right, and thank goodness he did. My placenta had shut down and the Dr's tell me that if he hadn't have come when he did he would more than likely have been a stillborn :(
He was small for dates weighing only 4lb 5oz (1970 grams) and also had a hyperspadius (the hole in his willy was in the wrong spot!!). This is so common in premmie boys apparently - one in four I am told........
He had a double hernia operation at 7 weeks and has had 2 operations on his hyperspadius - one just after he turned one and the second just before his second birthday! We go for a check up next month to see if it is fixed or if a third operation is req'd.

He stayed in special care for 15 days. Was tube fed for about 5 days then we attempted breast feeding. He has slight nerve damage in his bottom lip so breastfeeding was just awful - real mess! So at 12 weeks he went onto bottle.

From the start he was always about a month behind things like walking, crawling etc, but now I would say he is well and truly normal. His weight is still a worry for us although his Dad is tall and thin so I would think he has his build.

I have found that he has been a fighter from birth! This was awesome early on as he grew well and all of that, but now I have such battles with him. He is nearly 3 and OMG do we have some tantrums...lol. Stubborn little bugger he is!

Now that I am pregnant with #2 I constantly wonder what it will be like if it goes to term and just how different that will be. I don't feel in any way cheated by his birth or the time he spent in SCN, just so thankful that he came when he did.
I almost don't think I want a full term baby as I don't know if i will cope with a new baby full on sort of thing. It will be very different I imagine.

Sorry to go on a bit..........:)

Sandi :)

Hope all your babies are fighters like my little bloke and are out and with you soon.

[Ponyboy]

After reading all the stories, I think we got off lightly.

Anaki was born at 34 and half weeks weighing 2.53kg and 40cms long. She scored 9 in both apgar tests and was only in SCN for 3 days. She was in the incubator for 2 days and that was just for her temperature regulation. She had antibiotics (I think) injection, plus had to have her sugar levels measured constantly. Once out of the incubator she was hooked up to heart monitor on her foot.

My hind waters started leaking on the Tuesday evening and I had her on the Saturday morning - they were going to induce on the Monday. I had to have 2 injections of steroids for her lung development.

She's now 4mths (18 weeks) old and weighs 7kg (last Tuesday weigh in) and is doing wonderfully. I'm having her 4mth development tested this week but was told to expect that she might be a bit slower picking some things up. So far, from my opinion she seems to be doing ok.

[meeper]

Just reading all these stories brings it all flooding back - and the tears!
Our first son (now a healthy 4 1/2 yr old :smiliedance: ) was born at 34 weeks, and his apgar score was 0, and had to be resucitated. It was a quick birth, we were on holiday for christmas at our parents and set off down the motorway only to turn back. we were very lucky we got to a hospital with a SCBU in time, which still meakes me cry thinking how lucky we were.
He was in the hospital for 3 weeks, the first 3 days in intensive care. I'll never forget any of it. We spent new year drinking grape juice with the nurses listening to the fireworks outside.
This was in Glasgow Scotland, and four years 2 days later our second son was born bang on due date, v.healthy and we watched the Sydney new year fireworks out the window all together.
There I go, mushy again. To those of you who are going through it now, our thoughts are with you, hold on in there. Just like many other premmies he is brilliant now, and a right wee rascal (as they say home in Glasgow!!) :kiss:

[gidgeroo]

Hi premmie mums,
my experience with this is still quite recent. I was having a fantastic second pregnancy - all going well and then on 3 Jan 2006 at around 28 weeks preggie I went into labour while visiting my parents with my 3yo son. A couple of calls to my doctor - the first call I was told it was probably braxton hicks and to lie down and it would subside and then later I had a show and called again and this time was told to get to hospital - I had to go by Ambulance which was bizarre - all I had with me was my handbag! No time to pack a bag - besides I was in denial and thought they would stop the labour when I got there! My DH and Doctor beat me to hospital and about 45 mins after arriving (45 minutes of labour, crying, freaking out and panicking) James was delivered by emergency ceasar - he was crying and kicking and at 1.2kg was big for his dates. He was stabilized, ventilated and then rushed by the Newborn Emergency Transport team to a hospital with a NICU. I recovered in the hospital and expressed milk for him - my DH would come and collect me and the milk and deliver us both to James - he was on C-Pap for 3 days and had an infection (the cause of his earliness) and a blood transfusion, spinal tap and countless other things done to his tiny little body. He was so covered in sensors and tape that you could hardly see him - I think I cried for 3 weeks straight. After 4 weeks of twice daily visits, kangaroo care and containment holding he was moved back to the hospital where he was born and stayed there for another 4 weeks. It was amazing how different each of the hospitals were in terms of their processes. Being in hospital almost becomes routine and when James came home it felt strange because he'd had a team of doctors and nurses looking after him around the clock!
He's nearly 6months now (corrected 3months) and is gorgeous! He's crying :crying: so I have to run but good luck with all your beautiful precious premmies - they are so special and such fighters! :ecomcity: :ecomcity:
love to all gidgeroo

[iluvella]

Hi all,
It's been really great reading everyone's stories about their tiny babes. It's just nice to know that others share similar experiences, emotions, victories...

My little angel was born at 34 weeks with a very dramatic enterance into the world. I'd had a severe placenta abruption and it was touch and go for both my daughter and myself as i needed a blood transfusion as i'd lost 2 and a 1/2 litres of blood. My mum had had the same problem with her youngest baby (no. 5), my precious sister Holly, but unfortunately the result was not as positive as my own as she was stillborn.

My daughter spent only 3 weeks in the NICU - which was a great achievement...but soooo difficult for us parents (i so understand what it's like to feel that ur baby belongs to the hospital) and it's just not what any parent imagines their 1st - or any number - baby experience to end up like!

Ella is now 10 months old and a perfect baby - she's leaps ahead developmentally although i was told that it could take up to 2 yrs to catch up - and if anything our experienced has made my husband and i treasure her even more...we definately don't take life 4 granted!

Best wishes to u and those special little bubs of urs :)

Me - 26
Hubby - 27
DD - Ella - 10months

[sexcbec]

my baby girl was due to be born in august she just wasnt waiting any longer, Kylie Anne Marie was born 6:06am on 3-6-06 , 12 weeks early.

kylie was taken to the mater hospital was in icu for about 2 days only on cpap for about 2 hours, was in special care nursery 1 for about a week and now closer to home in tweed hospital.

shes charging on im so proud of my baby girl, cant believe how strong she is.
its hard leaving her in the hospital every night, told she will be in there close to my proper due date possibly, then again could be a month to seven weeks all depends on what kylie decides to do lol

they have her on theophyline at mater they had her on caffeine, they are also looking at doing a blood transfusion, which sounds alot scarier than it is, so everyone keeps telling me.

i dont know how im coping , its so hard thinking of my baby girl like that , i just want her home with me, i guess im not alone there hey girls!

anyone in the same boat wanna chat just pm me

[sexcbec]

wow thanku ladies..
im finding it hard to 'bond' with her.. i feel as though she is the hospitals baby not mine.. im so confused on how i am supposed to be feeling and what i should be doing etc..
im on msn too lotsa_us@yahoo.com.au
kerri

i feel the same, its so hard

[sexcbec]

thanx everyone for all your help and support

dont know where or what state i would be in if i didnt have everyone from bubhub to support me.

hope everyones babies are doing as good as mine , kylie had a blood transfusion yesterday and looks great, better than she has, no more bradys well not as many, her colours back, she looks healthy and happy shes gotta feel it to.

cant wait to see my baby girl today, hopefully i get to bath her for the first time, kylie anne marie is 3 weeks old today 24-6-06
cant wait until i can take her out of tweed for good, cant wait il my baby girl comes home. i break down every night i have to leave her in the hospital, its killing me, i guess everyone would know where im coming from.

if anyone wants to chat , pm me

thanx everyone xox
my premmie precous
kylie anne marie

just a cury what does everyone think about the clothes line-
premmie-precous????
pm me as i dont always have time to chase the threads

[kateka]

Hey guys,
My little darling was born on the 1 st may due on the 17th june and was a 33 weeker, she was delivered via emergency ceaser after 19 hrs of labour she had respitory distress and recieved c pap for 3.5 days and slept in a hot bed she also had the iv fluids ,tube feeding and developed an infection needing antibiotics.We also had jaundice and was treated for it twice but we are home now doing well learing each day she seems to be right on her corrected age with milestones maybe a little bit behind but that just means she wants to be a baby for longer.
If any mums wanna chat Kate-kar @ hotmail.com:smiliedance:

[kyles84]

Hey
My Gorgeous little princess was born on 28th March due on 8th June 2006.
It started on Monday morning i went to hospital when waters broke docs did lots of tests and gave me steroids and drugs to stop labour.They strapped ECG belt around me to check babys heart rate and contractions. Things were progressing slowly but they discovered babys heart rate dropped with every contraction. They decided to take me in for c-section.
At 1:16am Tuesday Bethany was born weighing 1163gms and 37cms long.
She wasnt breathing for about 4 minutes as doctors tried frantically to resucitate her with success thank goodness. She was then rushed to NICU where she was put on ventilater and in humidy Crib.
I did not see her until the next day.
She was on ventilater for about a week then went to CPAP.As she only got one dose of steroids before she came into world her lungs were not fully developed. She stayed in Humidy Crib for 4 weeks then went to open cot. She progressed everyday. They started feeding her 1ml breast milk every 4 hours through NG tube.Then when she tolerated that it increased.
She then spent another 4 weeks in the general nursery learning to feed from bottle and not through tube.
It was a long Journey Going back and forth from hospital (as i was discharged after 3 days) for the 8 weeks but i look back and it is all worth it to have our little angel home with us.

She is now 4 months and has come a long way from feeding 1ml every 4 hours to feeding 190ml every 4 hours.
She is doing so well since she has been home and has no sickness or flus or any problems.(Touch Wood)
Would love to hear from others who have had similar experience.

[kateka]

HI... My baby girl was born on the 1st may 2006 at 32 weeks... my waters broke 3days earlier and there was no stopping her .. I developed a uterine infectio and we were induced after 19 hours of full on labour my cervix was still closed , so i had an emergency ceaser... My lil one was on c pap , she also had an infection,she was tube feed and we had jaundice twice... I know what you meanabout them not feeling like yours but once you get home its all so worth it! hang in there try kangaroo care that really helped me...:thumbsup:

[RacOOooOOoon]

Hi ladies,

My son was born at 27+3 weeks on the 17th March 2006 so 13 weeks early.. He was in hospital for 110 days and whilst he was on oxygen for a long time he actually went home with none which was great!

He is now 5 months (10wks corrected) and doing everything he should be doing! He's a little more advanced than the usual 10wk old but it's a pleasure watching him grow each day.. :smiliedance:

If anyone is interested his website is HERE (http://www.totsites.com/tot/ronantoivonen) which is where i did journaling for the whole 110 days..