How early was your bub?

[2girls&1angelboy]

hi everyone,
just wondering how early your bub was and what treatment, how long was you in hospital.
I am begining to think that this bub wont stay in much longer and its starting to worry me.
Dr already said at the start of this prenancy that they think bub may arrive from 32weeks from my history.
Thank you in advance.

[sowanttobe]

Good Morning.

I just wanted to wish you luck with your little one! My son was born in 1997 at 26weeks 4days weighing 700g. He is now nearly 6ft tall with size 14 feet! He is also an Australian Champion in his chosen sport - in the Open/Adults division. He won this title at 12 - the youngest ever.

I know you are scared at the moment, but cherish every day and try to keep as positive as you can. My son was in hospital for 98 days and we have been very lucky every since. Listen to the nurses, the doctors and most importantly, yourself. You know your body, so listen to what it says and trust yourself!

Best of luck and I can't wait to hear that your "bump" is safely in your arms!

sowanttobe

[mumtomarmalade]

I currently have a 32+2 baby in the NICU. We have been there 3 weeks tomorrow. He had Chronic Lung Disease and is being treated for that. We are told he will be in beyond his due date. (Currently 35+1 corrected.)

Good luck to you. I hope you can keep bub in for as long as possible.

[preemiemum]

Hi, I had a little girl back in April 2011 she was born at 25 weeks. She was in ICU/SCU for 3 and half months, she came home 5 days before her due date. She is an absolute angel, everything that went wrong she fought back. When she was born she had APGAR of 1 and then 9 at 5 minutes. In the time I was at the hospital everyday I learnt that preemie babies have spirit, there tough little fighters. Good Luck :fingerscrossed:

[madjedjjlill]

I had my eldest at 33 weeks, water broke five days before so had the steroid injections. She was in hospital for 31 days an is now 17 and about to start uni. Fx your little one stays put for as long as possible.

[chameleon]

sowanttobe, that is tiny!!

DD1 (who is now 6) was born at 32 weeks and was low birth weight, so the size of a 29 weeker, but lucky had no massive problems (just a bit delayed.) We had to wait for her to reach 2kg's before we could take her home so that was 5 weeks. I am so grateful there was nothing more serious.

[QUIXOTE]

I had twin girls At 23 weeks.

Twin 2 (635g) was Intubated for about a week, then onto CPAP etc she had a pretty cruisy run. She was in NICU for 99 days.

Twin 1 (745g) took AGES to get onto CPAP and it was found she had narrowing of her airway. She was in for around 140 days.

Neither of them had any real complications. No ROP, No Brain bleeds, No NEC, neither of them needed any surgery. We were very lucky. Preemies are truly little fighters.


DD1- 2007
DD2 - 2009
DD3 & 4 - 2011, my miracles born at 23 weeks

[TripleTime]

My 3 were born 28+3 weeks may 2009. Weighing 1056, 1124 & 1404 grams, spent 7 weeks in NICU & SCN.

Theyre now almost 3 & you wouldn't know they were early.

[dicey]

I had DS at 34 weeks, he weighed 2835g because he was a fatty. He had some feeding issues and spent 3 weeks in the SCU learning how to suck/swallow/breathe.
He came via emergency c-sec because I had placenta previa and had a large bleed.
I had two lots of steroid injections and his lungs and other organs came out perfect.

He's now 4 months old and is reaching his milestones well ahead of his age. You wouldn't even know he came a bit early!

[BaronessM]

Hi girls, My god, some of you have superstar stamina. 140 days in SCN~ what a journey.

Dicey, have found same as you. My guy reaches his milestones about a month earlier than my friends bubs of same age. He had to be a fighter~ had a REALLY bad placental abruption. 70 to 80% of placenta looked like swiss cheese and I suppose he had to persevere in order to survive.

His path went something like this:

Born at 34+5, 1759g, size of a 30w bub (precisely what my last scan predicted). Induced vag birth to save him before placenta completely packed it in.

Off CPAP in 11hrs
Out of NICU in 2 days
Out of isolette in 2weeks
Off all monitoring at 2.5weeks
Pulled his feeding tube out at 3weeks and it never went back in, despite all assurances it would have to
Out of SCN and hosp after a month.

He was in longer than most bubs of his Gest Age due to being in bottom 2% weightwise for babies of his Gest age. All he had to do was grow! A touch of jaundice, but other than that, the worst he has had in his 7m of life was a blocked tear duct. We were so lucky. There was a scare at one point about his tiny head (28cm head circum.), they scanned looking for calcification of cranium. They quickly thought to ask me my head size, and it turns out his tiny head was the result of my tiny head! A v minor Left to Right shunt heart arrhythmia (how do you spell that?) that fixed itself up fast.

I almost had 'survivor guilt complex' watching others' difficult and heartbreaking journeys when we seemed to have such an easy time of it.


He was born with a strong suck reflex, I think due to the 3 steroid injections to ensure lung maturity. Apgars of 9 and 9. Had 3 anti-D shots throughout the preg ~ actually found out he was in danger when I was told I had to go in for one of these injections. Why, I asked, as it was not routinely due for rh neg women till later in preg. Was told I'd had a bleed. Bleed, what bleed? Nice of someone to tell me! Of course it was a concealed abruption, so the blood just accumulated in there, further dissecting the placenta from uterus. Scary, to say the least. So the pregnancy was actually a lot hairier and more stressful than the SCN stay, as I didn't know if he'd make it.

Thanks for this chance to tell our story. Hope all your bubs stay in as long as possible, and emerge healthy.

[tayasmummy]

I had dd at 35 weeks, she was 2.2kg and 49 cm. we were in hospital for 4 days...she was admitted, only because she was under 36 weeks, but didnt have to go to special care. She was under blue light thingo for one night (they put it in my room - not cool)


Reading these above post either makes me realise I very lucky that dd wasnt in for long.. but then makes me think maybe she should of been admitted to special car or stayed in hospital for longer :/


Hope all goes well & Goodluck xxx

[nat11]

DS was born at 34 weeks weighing a good 2650g. He spent 4 days in NICU and 12 in the SCN. He had CPAP for 3 days, lights for 1 day, 12 days learning to feed and then we were able to go home. I don't think he was ready to go home after the 16 days and fed poorly. It took 6 weeks to put on any decent amount of weight and that was after a return admission to the Children's Hospital with Bronchitis. It was the most intense month of my life but you'd hardly even know he was a premmie now. He's a walking, talking 11 1/2 month old (10 corrected) and is doing so well. Good luck and I pray bub stays in for a while yet. :)

[BaronessM]

Hey Nat11, 2.6 is an amazing weight for a 34wker!

I often think some prems/small bubs come home too quick, and thank god we're not similar to the USA, where they send you home with feeding tubes, oxygen concentrators, even Biliblankets for jaundice. They rarely end up breastfeeding, as is common for prem bubs here, and have frequent return hosp stays. The other day I heard of a bub that went back to hosp after stopping breathing, turning blue, etc. She was on a monitor, and oxygen, but none of that helps Mum and Dad if bub stops breathing. If you watch 'Make Room for Multiples' on cable telly, you often see parents happy their bubs are home, but so stressed trying to provide a hosp environment and wishing bubs was back in hospital receiving proper care. It's truly horrid and I'm so grateful they get such good care here in Oz. No-one with a prem deserves the extra stress of trying to look after complex health needs at home, basically being a NICU nurse and mummy/daddy. I also feel for mums and dads who live far, far from a hosp with NICU.

[BaronessM]

Hey 2girls1angelboy, you'll have to change that now...to three girls! Just noticed your signature change and that your bub stayed in till 34.4 ~ woohoo! You made it past 32! How is she? It's been 6wks, are you home yet? Please let us know how it went and how you and bubs are doing. Cheers!

Ps. Mine was 34+5. How big/small was your little muffin?

[tayasmummy]

Hey Nat11, 2.6 is an amazing weight for a 34wker!

I often think some prems/small bubs come home too quick, and thank god we're not similar to the USA, where they send you home with feeding tubes, oxygen concentrators, even Biliblankets for jaundice. They rarely end up breastfeeding, as is common for prem bubs here, and have frequent return hosp stays. The other day I heard of a bub that went back to hosp after stopping breathing, turning blue, etc. She was on a monitor, and oxygen, but none of that helps Mum and Dad if bub stops breathing. If you watch 'Make Room for Multiples' on cable telly, you often see parents happy their bubs are home, but so stressed trying to provide a hosp environment and wishing bubs was back in hospital receiving proper care. It's truly horrid and I'm so grateful they get such good care here in Oz. No-one with a prem deserves the extra stress of trying to look after complex health needs at home, basically being a NICU nurse and mummy/daddy. I also feel for mums and dads who live far, far from a hosp with NICU.



I was suprised DD was sent home so soon! I found it stressful and very daunting having such a small bubba at home :(

[Jemleevan]

My girl was born in November last year at 31+2, 42cm and 1.78kg (perfect for her gestation). She was born spontaneously with no health issues, however developed a perforation in her colon and had emergency surgery at 3 days old.

She was rushed to Mater Mothers for the surgery and spent 11 days in critical care. Was then transferred back to Gold Coast Hospital and spent a further 3 weeks in SCN. She came home at 36 weeks, as soon as she could handle full suck feeds (was less than 2.5kg). When I stayed in the Maternity Ward overnight before bringing her home, she was the smallest baby by far, in there!

She had a further four days in the Mater at 2 weeks corrected when she had to undergo followup surgery, but we haven't looked back since!
Apart from the colon surgery, Seraya's had no health problems at all (not even a cold!) and is reaching almost all milestones at her actual age, rather than her corrected age.

We think of her as our little miracle baby and I love hearing of other premie success stories!

[BaronessM]

Hi Jemleevan, a perforated colon ~ that must have been a shock! Glad she recovered so well. We're constantly amazed at the health of our little boy (story above, somewhere), he was the same size as your Seraya! Was born at 34+5, though I was told he'd be the size of a 31-32w bub. He's had not so much as a cold, either! A blocked tear duct is the worst he's had. He also reaches most of his milestones early ~ is 8.5m corrected now, and has over ten words under his belt (frequently says 'hello mum-mum' ~2 word sentences at this age!).

Ialso think premmies are incredible and love hearing and reading all the stories. Happy Mothers' Day to all the Mum's of premmies in here!:D

[RissaAnne]

My TnT was born at 31+1 he was 3pound 8 or 1.766kgs born, I had spent 11weeks confined to a hospital bed to spend a further 6weeks in hospital, 5 of them in RPA NICU and another week in Wollongong NICU......but now....he will be 4 in October and is about 100cm and in a size 12 shoe, so he has well and truly made up for it lol.

[jess_live_die]

my little man was born at 36 weeks 4 weeks eary

[Bundleoflove]

My little man was born at 35+4 and weighed in at 2810g or 6p3o. I was surprised and the hospital staff even more so! My waters broke early and he was born via emmergency CS. Besides low glucose levels and a poor sucking action he was perfect. But still stayed in special care for 2.5 weeks until he could feed without the tube.
It was hard to begin with, but listening to the special care nurses was the best thing. They know what they're doing and can be quite helpful in other areas. We had a couple of lactaction consultant qualified nurses so made our extra time in the hospital very informative too.
Also take each day as it comes, and don't expect too much too quickly. They can turn corners very quickly but also have slow days too. They will do things when they're ready and it's the surprise when the nurses say one day "bub can go home tomorrow" that will be an awesome feeling! :)
My little man is nearly 16 months now and is above average in growth milestones and people seem shocked to hear he was that early!
I hope things go well and bub stays in there as long as possible!

[ElleB]

My daughter was born at 28+4 via emergency cesarean due to sudden onset of Eclampsia and Hellp Syndrome.

She was in ICN1, then ICN2 and finally special care; altogether in hospital for 9w and 1d.

She came home last Thursday (37+5) and weighs 2.5kg (was 830g born). She's been very lucky and hasn't really had any issues besides jaundice on day three and a blood transfusion from low iron/turnover of blood cells.

Is doing very well at home and everyone comments on what a doll she looks like! She's just too precious. :)