How big was your premmie at 34 weeks??

[Mummy2Noah]

Hey everyone just a few questions for the mummies out there that had there babies 6 weeks early!!!!
How big was your baby??
Did you have any Complications??
Or should i no anything or prepare for anything??
Thanks Hunnies:hugs:

[bootiful]

Hi

My daughter was born at 31w5d. She was always a smaller baby throughout my whole pregnancy. At birth she was 1450g and 41cm long.

She stayed in the SCN (Special Care Nursery) for 30 days. She had no major complications just a bit of jaundice.

Steph is now 15 1/2 months and to watch her you would never know she was a premmie baby. She has caught up nicely.

Just some things to know;

* It is traumatising and painful to watch them in the SCN.
* It is heartbreaking to go home every night without them.
* There are a few adjustments that must be made as far as what you did expect, more care must be taken.

BUT IT DOES GET EASIER, BETTER, AND MORE FUN.

Once you have them home you forget about the rest!

Just keep your bundle in there as long as you can, enjoy the rest of your pregnancy, and just be prepared at home :D

PS Watch out for the steroid injections...they are like poison darts, kill like hell.:eek:

[Lirael]

my son was in SCN for 2 weeks, not prem, but major compliations. I was very lucky, to stay with him at the hospy. because we have ppl from out of town that may need to travel for hospy, they have special rooms. so I never had to leave him.
it was heartbreaking,seeing him go through so much and being quite helpless. but they were all lovely and supportive (I was ALONE- had noone to help or support me)

cant say it was traumatising though.

[Lila]

we were lucky,i had an em cs in week 34 (general) and my son was 1860g. he was only 1 hour in the incubator, and this was only because of the fact, that he was too cold, due to his skinnyness...we were out with him one week later, but had to do lots of weighing and stuff, too make sure he wouldn´t lose any of his weight...no special care necessary here!

[Mummy2Noah]

PS Watch out for the steroid injections...they are like poison darts, kill like hell.:eek:

I think thats what i had on the weekend i had 2 needles 24hrs appart and it was to mature the lungs i had one in the thigh and one in the butt the both stung like crazy!!!:thumbsdown:

[Aquamarine]

My sister in law had her baby 5 weeks early and she weighed 5.3 pounds. Not sure in kgs.

[TwoBlue]

My little man (DS#1) was born at 36 weeks, he was 6lb7oz, so quite a big boy.. I had GD.

He was really unwell and spent 10 days in NICU (neo natal Intensive care) then in the space of a few days he worked his way down into special care and was then home...

Traumatic? Yes definately.. and I only lived 5 mins away from the hospital so that was helpful.... but seeing your little one covered in tubes and monitors... it breaks me now when I see a baby like that ( I know that "saving babies" show is going to leave me a blubbering mess :o )

No doubt about it though, the care is awesome and the dr's and nurses are all wonderful.

I hope your experience is not too negative or traumatic, just remember that they are in the best hands :thumbsup:

btw Thats him in my avatar.. :) Almost 3 and full of spunk... but he was behind in all his development and still is in some areas, otherwise though he is a normal, gorgeous little boy :D

[MummyCharmzy]

DS was born at 31 weeks and was 1260grams. DD was born at 35 weeks and was 2615grams - BIG difference!

DS spent 6 weeks in SCN and for the most part things went smoothly. He is 4 now and has come very far as he was assessed as developmentally delayed from 10 months - 2.5 but then at 3 had caught up a lot and now at 4 is actually excelling in most areas. He is still tiny for his age though.

DD spent no extra time in hospital, she came home with me 4 days post-op and aside from problems feeding from not having the sucking reflex down pat she thrived and is now 19 months and doing perfectly in every area and is on the bigger side of 'average'

[megey]

My son was born at 34 weeks and weighed 4lb 10oz which is 2.1kg. He was 43cm long. He had no complications. The birth was not traumatic just very quick at 2.5 hours and he was my first. There was no medical reason attributed to his early birth - just one of those things. I had an excellent preganancy and was in good health. I did not drink one drop of alcohol, do not smoke and ate primarily organic foods pre pregnancy and during preganancy and breast feeding.

He spent the first night being monitored in the NICU but had no feeding tubes etc. He fed from a bottle with my husband about 30 mins after birth and continued to feed at 3 hours throughout the next 24 hours and indeed the next 2 months!

He is now 3 and is perfectly healthy and has never had any health problems. He is above average in height and is average weight. Developmentally there are no issues.

One positive is that you have a little baby for longer! But by 9 months my son had caught up with the averages. The downside is that it can be hard to buy prem clothing and nappies here in australia. My son was born in London and the chain pharmacies and baby stores stock a really good range of prem products.

Best of luck and don't panic - it can work out OK

[HoopDeeDoo]

DS1 was born at 35 + 4 he was tube fed with special formula to start with and then my EBM once my milk came in and I also BF him when he was awake enough. He was in an open crib from the first day. He was 5 lb 4. By the time he came home at 10 days old he was fully breastfeeding and gained weight really well.

DS2 was born at 34 +6 and he was really little at 4 lb 7. He was tube fed, had a drip in because he had low sugar levels, and was given antibiotics because my waters broke. He also had jaundice so had to have treatment for that with the blue lights. He was in an inclosed crib and there were a few days when I couldn't hold him, just touch him through the holes in the crib. He was tube feeding for 2 feeds when he came home at 10 days. He took a lot longer to fully BF, and didn't gain weight as well as DS1, but he's just a smaller build.

Both are happy and healthy now though, it's a really tough and emotional start but it should all work out just fine. PM me if you want to chat, check out my profile I've just put photos of the boys when they were first born, and recent ones too

:hugs: hope all goes well

[Cordelia]

My daughter was born @ 36 weeks and weighed 2070g (4 lb 9 oz)... she had some jaundice and was tube feed for the first few days as her sucking reflex hadn't developed yet... all good tho!

[~V&M~]

( I know that "saving babies" show is going to leave me a blubbering mess :o )



I watched all of 5 minutes and was an absolute blubbering, sobbing mess! 9 weeks on it's still too raw to see those tiny babies in the incubators :crying:

Well, my little boy was born at 34w2d, weighed in at 2710g (5lb 15oz) and 46cm. He was tiny, but a great size for a 34 weeker. No idea why he decided to come early, guess he just thought he was ready. And yes- those roid injections KILL!!! I had a wonderful natural birth, it was everything I wanted.

He had no major complications and only spent 11 days in SCU. That being said though, it's really hard to go into the nursery and see your baby with all sorts of tubes and monitors coming off them. Despite the assurances from the wonderful nurses I was still freaked out to see more machine than baby!

He was tube fed for about a week until he got his suck reflex and stabilised his breathing. He spent a few days in an incubator because he wasn't breathing properly and then once he worked through that he spent a day in an open cot then got severe jaundice so had to spend a few days in an incubator under lights. That was the worst part I think. Thinking he was getting stronger and better (and therefore closer to coming home) only to have another isse to work through.

Going home without him was nothing but traumatic! I was sobbing when we left and I think I just sat at home and cried non-stop until we went in for the next feed, it was awful! I had major issues with being separated from him for ages.

He is now 9 weeks old and is lagging in weight, height, development etc. I'm sure he'll catch up eventually but I just notice the little things that he's not doing and find it difficult to gauge his development because he's more advanced than his corrected age but not advanced as his proper age, if that makes sense! He kinda gets lost in between. He didn't cry until 5 weeks, didn't get tears till 7 weeks and now at 9 weeks is only just starting to control his head a bit better when other babies his age are HEAPS better!

My only adive is take a million photos because they grow so incredibly fast. If you think you've got enough photos, take more just in case! We already look back on his photos and can't believe he was ever that small and it was only 9 weeks ago!!

Enjoy it, it's the most precious experience you'll ever go through :yes:

[whiteynow]

I havent had a premmie baby, infact im still preg with #1, but I was a premmie baby although i was 5.5 weeks early (close enough to 6)

When i was being born my nother had pre-eclampisia and I was breech and had to be turned around.
But after all that drama I was born 5 pound 11, and a little under 49 cm long.
I was in a humity crib (what ever its called) for a week then was taken home when i was 10 days old, although I was taken back to hospital within a few days due to breathing difficulties.
Nothing to serious though because I was taken back home the next day.

There were no other problems with me

[Nickyps]

Hi,

My son Dallas was born by emergency c-section at 33 weeks, due to PROM (premature rupture of membranes) at 30 week, infection and breech presentation.

He was 2.035kg, and was in hospital for just over 3 weeks. He was really **** a holding his tempreture, and was on C-PAP for a few days also. His biggest thing was that his stomach wasnt digesting his EMB. They would tube feed him then do an aspirates an hour or so later, and it would still be the same quanity. Once that sorted itself out, it was just a matter of learning how to breastfeed, then it was home time for us.

When he was about 8 weeks old he need a hernia operation, which is pretty common for prem boys I've been told.

Oh, and I've gotta agree... Those steroid injections hurt like a b*%ch!!!