NICU Mom's tell your story..

[kendra76]

I guess I am curious how many NICU mom's we have on the APA..

I will start..

Andrew was born at 35 weeks 5 days. He was 5 pounds 13.5 ounces. He was born anemic and had 3 blood transfusions after he was born. He spent 14 days in the NICU. He was only given IV's for the first 9 days and then EBM in a bottle as they had to slow feed for fear of kidney or liver damage. Andrew was in level 3 for 9 days and 5 days in level 2. I pumped 100% for 7 weeks. Andrew had nipple confusion and the bottle was easier to him.

He is now 7 months and is doing great. At his 6 month check up he was 20 pounds.

He still can't sit up on his own. He can't crawl or scoot. He just surfs. He is just now starting to take solids, once or twice a day. He kept screaming when I would give them to him. I am now making his baby food and that seems to help alot. He is sleeping through the night, but I think it's because he refuses to nap during the day. Also he does respond to his name and will grab for things. He is just now learning to use his voice. He loves to try and mimic you.

ETA to add more info that I just remembered..

so how are your babies doing?

[MommaBear]

Thank you for starting this thread, Kendra! It would be fantastic if future moms whose babies come early or with problems feel like they can come here for support. :D

Jamie was born at 33 weeks 6 days and weighed 4 lb 10 oz. Although he could breathe on his own, he stayed in the NICU for 3 days and a level 2 special care nursery for another 10 after that while he learned to eat (ie: get off the feeding tube) and regulate his own body temp outside of the incubator. He also needed light therapy for a day due to slight jaundice.

Like Andrew, he can't sit up on his own or crawl-- although he does wiggle himself into position so that he can roll his way around. His hand-eye coordination seems dead on for his age and he consistantly responds to his name. He made it to the 50th percentile or higher for legnth and weight and now takes 1-2 small meals of solids a day in addition to nursing every 1.5-2 hours during the day. It took 4 months to get over his nipple confusion and get him onto the breast. He isn't sleeping through the night or even waking at normal intervals (anywhere from 2-5 times in a normal night, and takes anywhere from 30 seconds to an hour to get back to sleep).

Sorry for the book, I think I remembered everything.

[jaycee01]

Autumn and Mattea were born at 34 weeks Autumn was 5 pounds 11 ounces and Mattea was 4 pounds 7 ounces. Mattea dropeed to 3 pounds 8 ounces and Autumn dropped to 4 punds 9 ounces and developed a NEC infection. Both were on oxygen 70 percent and Autumn was intubated and on a feeding tube at 3 days old. Matty stayed in the NICU for 2 weeks and Autumn for 3 1/2. Autumn was transported to Denver Childrens where she underwent a platelette transfusion. She was given a 50/50 chance at that point and we expected to lose her. She brought her platelette levels up shortly after the transfusion and was able to come back to durango for 4 days and then come home. Considering the fact that I have a friend who lost a baby to NEC at 34 weeks we feel very lucky to have caught it so early and still have her here. They are doing great for preemies. Both are pulling up and almost walking and can say, "Mama" "Dada" and "Dog"

[camdel]

Welcome NICU MOMS!

Cameron:

My first, Cameron, was born weighing a whopping 1 lb. 9 oz and was born at 27 weeks. He spent 99 days in the hospital, and had blood transfusions, vented, c-pap, and nasal canula in his stay. He developed NEC, scariest part of his preemie course.

He is now 7, and is still developmentally delayed. He has social issues, and has been diagnosed with "rule out PDD" which is a form of autism. He is a fighter, still, every day. He still has OT/ and other services. He still has poor muscle tone.


Delaney, was born at 36 weeks, and came home with me...


Madelyn was born at 33 weeks, and weighed 3lbs. She stayed in the NICU for one week, and CCN for 3 weeks. She had a grade 4 brain bleed, on one side of her head, which is effecting all of her development. She is now 11 months, can't crawl. She can sit on her own, and is finally clapping. Because her bleed was on one side of her brain, it is affecting the right side of her body. She has PT and OT still. She is eating well, but still chokes on "real" foods.

[BBKCD]

Thanks for sharing your stories ladies :D
I'm sort of preparing myself for the risks of preterm birth- statistically, there's an 83% chance my previa isn't going to move, so I'm at high risk of bleeding and premature labor.
I didn't realize there could be so many developmental delays, even with babies born at 34-35 weeks gestation. I have a cousin who was born at 30 weeks, and I don't ever remember my aunt mentioning much (she's now 19 with no problems what-so-ever)...

[Peanut's Mom]

Elliot was born at 35 weeks, 2 days. He weighted 5 lbs, 3 oz and was breathing on his own, but struggled slightly so he needed to go to NICU to be evaluated. DH went with him and watched everything. After about 5 minutes, he was breathing just fine and didn't need any oxygen.

The pedi thought he had some kind of infection going on due to a high white blood cell count, so he was on antibiotics for 48 hours while they did the culture to see what was going on. He was a little jaundiced and had light therapy a the first day and a couple times his second day. Blood culture came back negative so antibiotics were stopped.

I agreed to formula at first because I didn't know better, and the pedi had me worried one day with no milk would make him loose too much weight. He was breastfed every 3 hours for 5-7 minutes, then given a bottle since it took less energy to drink from a bottle. We switched to only breastmilk on day 2. After 5 days of being stressed about every little half-ounce in weight, we were able to take him home.

Developmentally, he was slightly behind but has caught up. He's off the scale for his height (33" at 1 year) and at about 50% for his weight. The only thing he doesn't do that some other 17 month olds are doing is saying more than a handful of words.

[twinmom34]

I am in too much of a hurry to post the twins story but will later. I have a question that hopefully you preemie moms might know the answer to. One of the twins PKU tests came back abnormal. CAH Congenital Adrenal Hypertrophy. They are repeating it on Tues b/c they say preemies can be abnormal. Did any of you have abnormal results on your babies? Mine were born at 35 weeks 4 days.

[landon6]

I am still living my NICU experience,

Ryan was born @29weeks 5days. He is a surviving triplet (we lost his twin brothers @18weeks) delivered via emergency c-section, weighing in at 3lbs 6oz.
Today marks 8weeks that Ryan has been in the NICU, the night he was born he was on the ventilator for a few short hours, thankfully his lungs where in very good shape. Ryan spent 7days in level 3 and has been in intermediate/special care/level II (what ever you call it) since. He had jaundice & had light therapy for 4 days, he had a ng tube for feeding for 6 1/2weeks, he was on caffine therapy until 34weeks to help with apnea, he has a low crit and is on 3 shots per week to help build his crit levels.
He has been on breast milk since he was able to eat. He's now slightly over 7lbs and doing very well.
Ryan was due to come home tomorrow, he had a feeding related spell saturday night/sunday morning and will not be coming home until maybe this week end. I miss my baby boy & I just want him here to hold.

***UPDATED***
Our NICU experience has come to an end :D Ryan was discharged after 61days in the NICU, he came home weighing 7lbs 7.2oz. He has to have 2 bottles perday of extra calories, other wise he is breastfeeding, he also came home on polyvisorin. Ryan was sent home with the understanding that he may still experience small spells when burping (he some times chokes on a wet burp) & I need to provide stimulation. It really sounds worse than it is, well maybe i am used to it. i have to feed him with the lights on and pay close attention to him, if he starts to turn pale & blue in the lips he needs to be sat up immeadtiately and pat his back firmly. He brings him self right back, it doesn't bother me, I am so used to it. plus he gets better with it every day :D He has to have a follow up eye exam in 3 weeks & his first pedi appt. is monday, he's doing GREAT & I am exstatic to have him home.

[MommaBear]

*big big hugs Mandie*

[DucksLikeRain]

I am in too much of a hurry to post the twins story but will later. I have a question that hopefully you preemie moms might know the answer to. One of the twins PKU tests came back abnormal. CAH Congenital Adrenal Hypertrophy. They are repeating it on Tues b/c they say preemies can be abnormal. Did any of you have abnormal results on your babies? Mine were born at 35 weeks 4 days.

Haven't had an abnormal test yet, but I AM a carrier for CAH. My mom is as well, but luckily my dad isn't. My dad's sister and my mom's brother are married (weird, huh?). Anyhow, they're both carriers and they've got 7 kids. ALL 3 of the boys have CAH and the 4 girls are all carriers. With their oldest it wasn't caught until he was 3 or 4 (this was before the battery of tests that are run now). It has caused some issues for him, but mainly only because it wasn't caught early enough. He's now fully grown and only 5'2". He's got to carry adrenaline shots with him everywhere because if he even falls and skins his knee his body doesn't produce enough adrenaline for the rest of the natural body functions (clotting, etc) to happen in even a minor trauma. He couldn't do any sports because of the risk of internal bleeding. But the youngest two (twins) are doing just fine. They've got Aspbergers (autistic disorder) and really, that causes more issues than the CAH does. They actually had some sort of testing done prenatally so they knew about this before hand and had all the right doctor teams ready to figure out their game plan. It's great that they're catching it now. Not all states have CAH on their battery for testing. I have to find out if Oregon does because we've recently found out DH is also a carrier. But as far as manifesting, it almost never shows up in girls (other than as a carrier) but instead it shows in boys of kids with 2 carrier parents.

[landon6]

*big big hugs Mandie*

Thank you :) I really need them right now :)

[kendra76]

*big big hugs Mandie*

Thank you :) I really need them right now :)

hugs.. it's so hard...we are all here to support you!! if you need anything.. let us know..

again, sorry about the clothes, but I am so glad that he is getting so big and has no need for preemie clothes..

[landon6]

thanks Kendra :D I'm so glad you ladies are here to lend me a shoulder.

please don't worry about the clothes, I had no idea he'd grow so fast!!! We will just save them for the next preemie mom who needs them.
It would be nice (when we get our preemie forum :wink: ) to maybe set up something where we can offer to send new preemie moms our preemie clothes, I know I had nothing when Ryan was born & I couldn't go out & get him anything sseing as I was in the hospital for so long, thank goodness my mom is close by & she got him some clothes.

[newmami]

HUGS to all you wonderful ladies who have to deal with preemie babies
My heart goes out to all of you!

[kendra76]

thanks Kendra :D I'm so glad you ladies are here to lend me a shoulder.

please don't worry about the clothes, I had no idea he'd grow so fast!!! We will just save them for the next preemie mom who needs them.
It would be nice (when we get our preemie forum :wink: ) to maybe set up something where we can offer to send new preemie moms our preemie clothes, I know I had nothing when Ryan was born & I couldn't go out & get him anything sseing as I was in the hospital for so long, thank goodness my mom is close by & she got him some clothes.

that is a great suggestion!! I will hold onto them until the next preemie is born.. even though I hope it doesn't happen, but at least we can all be a good support system for them..

I am so glad that Ryan gained weight so fast!!

[camdel]

Hugs to you Mandie...

NICU is such a roller coaster ride. I hope that this week flies by for you so Ryan can come home with his family, and Shawn can start terrorizing him like big brothers should do!!!

[landon6]

:D thanks

[YellowRose]

BIG HUGS to all of you!!! You're amazing women!

[DJsMommy]

Oh the day my life changed forever:

I went to the doctor on July 27, 2006 for my 2nd check up for the week. I had to have a level 2 sonogram 2 times a week due to the blood flow in the umbilical cord starting and stopping. The first appointment my husband didn't go to with me because the hospital is 2 mins from my office and it would take him 20 mins to get here. I told him no reason to come I will get the sonogram and be done in 5 mins. Well at the appointment my doctor informed me I would be admitted to the hospital 6 1/2 months pregnant for the LONG haul! I could be there until October. I called my husband and he was like "aren't they going to let you go home and get clothes?" I said no come here when you get off of work. Fast forward 12 LONG days. I had to go to sonogram every other day and be monitored 2 times a day. Monday morning after breakfast off to sonogram I go with my husband who I told to go to work late that day. Dr. Rosnes says "we are having a birthday party today at 2:00" we will do an emergency C-section.....OMG I was so scared. He said be prepared your baby is little and may have problems. He is really small for his gestation....okay a million things running through my head. They take me to L&D for monitoring until 2. DJ was born at 2:45pm weighting 2lbs 5oz. Straight to NICU Level 3. I went to recovery and didn't find out how much he weighted or see him until 5:30 2 hours after he was born.

The NICU experience~~~~OVERWHELMING~~~~

I get in there the next morning (due to epidural) and see my sweet little boy. What a blessing how lucky am I to have him. He was in the incubator had a nasal canula, a feeding tube, IV's through his umbilical cord and IV's in his foot. I pumped, pumped, pumped. I remember being so excited when they told me he had 2 cc's of EBM. I remember when we were like OOHHH he opened his eye, look he moved his foot or his arm. It took 5 days before I could kiss him and it took 2 weeks before I could hold him. I have never been so scared in my life than when he was in the hospital. He then went to 4 cc's, 8 cc's, 10 cc's, 14cc's and so on with EBM. We were so excited! He got his nasal canula out and then was put on life support for 4 devistating days! He just gave up breathing. We couldn't touch him or anything. Very hard leaving your baby on life support at the hospital. He got better and did wonderful he actually moved from a incubator to a regular bed after 6 weeks and 7 1/2 weeks in the NICU level 3 he was able to come home on oxygen, sleep apena machine and a sensor on his foot to measure oxygen in his blood. He was stuck in his bassinet and moving him was a chore in itself. Wires everywhere. We didn't rest peacefully to say the least. Those machines would go off and survival mode kicked in. He had breathing problems and the machine sounded one to many times for my nerves. I had to rattle him a few times to get him to breathe. Scary scary scary. 9 months down the road my man will be 11 months old in four days and he is doing great.

I am blessed and take NOTHING for granted since my life changed on 7/27/06. I find myself a lucky lucky person! :D

[kendra76]

wow DJ's story is amazing.. I am so glad that he is doing great now..


I remember how exciting it was when Andrew got to take 5 ml of EBM!! it was amazing!! I remember crying when I couldn't touch him. He would cry if we touched him since he was so sensitive to touch. I also remember being so heart broken when we would leave the hospital. Oh and the IV's and alarms, there were so many of them..

[DJsMommy]

Thanks Kendra! I am excited to know that Andrew is doing great as well.

We have to be strong for our little ones but boy is it hard. The hardest IV for me was the one they put in DJ's head, it was hard to look at. I don't miss the NICU but I would do anything over again plus more to have him.

[MommaBear]

I remember when we were like OOHHH he opened his eye, look he moved his foot or his arm.

I cried when I read this, there's nothing quite like staring at your baby in an incubator for hours and being impressed when they finally have the stregnth to open their eyes for a moment.

[DJsMommy]

Thanks mommabear, it is so true their strength they have to have just to open an eye is amazing when you look at it that way. It was such hard work for him to do anything. Staring into a an incubator is HARD work on mommy and daddy's part to!

[Mrs.Quintero]

You girls had me in tears, your stories are amazing. You mommies are so strong and your little ones are wonderful little blessings.

[kendra76]

We have to be strong for our little ones but boy is it hard. The hardest IV for me was the one they put in DJ's head, it was hard to look at. I don't miss the NICU but I would do anything over again plus more to have him.

oh I remember the pic line too (or central line). That is why it took us SO long to get to hold him. They couldn't get the line in. They tried like 5 or 6 times, they were about to give up and put it in his head and I just cried when they told me that.. but luckily the last try worked. He had it under his left arm. (in the arm pit area) (For Andrew he had to have the pic line put in since they were blowing out viens with all of the IV's, the pic lines can be used for multiple things and they don't have to keep poking them) Once they got it in we got hold him!!

[moosh34]

I have a pretty atypical NICU story because my baby wasn't a preemie. He was born 3 days after my due date! I hope that I can help anyone who has a similar experience. Here's my story:

A few hours before I was ready to deliver, the nurse noticed meconium. They told me that it would most likely be okay and not to worry, the doctor would just clean the baby out as soon as he was born. So when he came out my doctor immediately cleaned out his nose and mouth and set him on me. He gulped and spluttered and the nurses came to clean him up. I never really found out if he aspirated the meconium or not. Anyway, the doc told me he weighed 9 lbs 7 oz. BIG surprise. I only gained 21 pounds during the pregnancy. Then all the drama started. He was not breathing normally. They wheeled him out to the NICU with my husband following.

The pedi came immediately and checked him out. All we knew at first was that he was acting sick, main symptom was his rapid breathing and low blood-oxygen levels. The pedi suspected sepsis and had him put on antibiotics right away. They cultured out the bacteria and found that he had Group B Strep. I had tested negative for Group B Strep, so it was quite the mystery. He had to receive the antibiotics for a minimum of 7 days and receive oxygen through a nasal cannula.

I know most of you had it worse...but it was torture not to be able to hold him until he was 48 hours old. I was crushed that I didn't get to put him on the breast in the delivery room as I had been picturing in my mind for weeks. Pumping was the pits. He received only saline and lipids via IV for the first three days. Then he was allowed the colostrum and then breastmilk through a feeding tube. We held off feeding him by breast or bottle because his rapid breathing made it likely that he might aspirate the milk. I was so worried that we weren't going to be able to breastfeed. Finally on day 4 I was able to try breastfeeding...it took some work, but we basically had the hang of it by the time he was released on day 7.

I felt robbed that I didn't get to give my baby his first bath (the nurses didn't even call my room to ask me if I wanted to help.) I didn't have the best of feelings towards most of the nurses. I hate to admit it, but I kind of felt like they had stolen my baby from me. It hurt so badly to see all the IVs in him (especially the ones in the head.) I absolutely BAWLED the night we went back to our apartment (to shower and get clothes) because I didn't have my baby with me. I have so much respect for you ladies that had your babies in the NICU for weeks.

We brought Vaughn home on oxygen. He stayed on the oxygen for a week. I was so glad to be rid of all the wires and equipment. Since then he's been doing great. Hasn't been sick since.

To all the ladies who are currently or will have a NICU experience, my heart goes out to you and I hope you'll come here for support.

[hopefully_us]

Like Mandie, we're still living the NICU experience. Also, like Mandie, our babies were due on the same day (July 18th) but came early :)

Now, diverging a little...

Isabelle was born on May 30th, at 2lbs 6.6oz.

Leading up to Isabelle's birth
I had pregnancy-induced hypertension since week 30 (and was being monitored for pre-eclampsia after that point). Isabelle was born an IUGR baby (Intrauterine Growth Restriction) which means she was unable to grow normally inside me due to the placental damage caused by the hypertension. She was measuring at ~ 3rd percentile for size at 32 weeks which was cause for concern. They hospitalized me and essentially waited for one of us (baby or myself) to "give".. and then deliver Isabelle.

Isabelle's birth
Isabelle was delivered by c-section at 33 weeks gestation because of her size and the fact that there was little fluid left to cushion her if I was induced to deliver naturally. She was delivered crying and scored 8 and 9 on her apgars, which is apparently pretty good.

Following birth
Isabelle needed no help breathing but had an umbilical catheter for 8 days after she was born. She developed an infection at day 7 (which was very scary) due to it, but was treated quickly. The infection caused her to have a few brady spells for two days, but other than that she had been and has been spell-free. She had some feeding intolerance during her 3rd day of life - luckily it wasn't due to NEC. She wasn't able to tolerate the premie formula - my milk hadn't come in yet so they tried to start her on formula. via a NG tube. Once she had breastmilk, she didn't have any signs of intolerance to either that or formula (when I didn't have enough breastmilk).

She was in an isolette for just over 4 weeks until they believed she was able to maintain her own body temperature. She was moved to a cot 6 days ago and has been doing very well with that.

Friday, Isabelle may be coming home if all goes well. I have my fingers crossed. I heard Mandie's little boy might be coming home then too... I have my toes crossed for them :D

edited to indicate Isabelle was delivered at 33 weeks gestation

[landon6]

Friday, Isabelle may be coming home if all goes well. I have my fingers crossed. I heard Mandie's little boy might be coming home then too... I have my toes crossed for them :D

I also have my toes crossed for Isabelle's home coming :D

[kendra76]

Friday, Isabelle may be coming home if all goes well. I have my fingers crossed. I heard Mandie's little boy might be coming home then too... I have my toes crossed for them :D

I also have my toes crossed for Isabelle's home coming :D

I am praying for both Ryan and Isabelle to go home!!

[camdel]

Yay to Ryan and Isabelle...Good job guys...

Hopefully_Us...My 1st and 3rd (Cam and Maddie) both had IUGR too. My heart sank with Maddie when I had an u/s at 28 weeks that said she was 2.8 lbs. 30 weeks, she was 3 lbs. 32 weeks, 3 lbs. She was born at 3 lbs.

[camdel]

I know most of you had it worse...

.

I doubt it. It sucks having a NICU baby. Plain and simple, one day or 4 months, it still sucks.

[camdel]

I felt robbed that I didn't get to give my baby his first bath (the nurses didn't even call my room to ask me if I wanted to help.) I didn't have the best of feelings towards most of the nurses. I hate to admit it, but I kind of felt like they had stolen my baby from me. It hurt so badly to see all the IVs in him (especially the ones in the head.) I absolutely BAWLED the night we went back to our apartment (to shower and get clothes) because I didn't have my baby with me. I have so much respect for you ladies that had your babies in the NICU for weeks.

.


I can't believe that they gave the baby his first bath. How awful.

I felt the same way at first with the nurses, only I felt hopeless...I'm a mommy and I can't take care of my baby. Only these strangers can. :(

And nothing is worse than leaving a hospital after giving birth, empty handed.

With Madelyn, the hospital I delivered in you had to share rooms. Mom's of NICU babies they put together. But the other mom's had the baby in NICU for like a night, then got to take them to their room. They had visitors, and all that. I was depressed and sad and heartbroken. I just wanted to cry, and didn't even have the privacy to do that. On top of it, my blood pressure wouldn't go down so they made me stay. They were like, isn't it great you get to stay close to your baby? I was like, um, no. I have 2 other kids at home, and I know whether I stay an extra day or not, my baby is not coming home with me.

Sorry to mini-rant. Just wanted to say that it sucks leaving without a baby.

[kendra76]

And nothing is worse than leaving a hospital after giving birth, empty handed.

especially when you leave with the flowers and ballons and no baby!!!!

people look confused..

or you run into someone that knew you were pregnant and is very curious where the baby is.. an hour later, they probably wish they hadn't asked..

[jules]

I am currently just getting started on my NICU journey. Last friday the 29th my little girl was delivered emergency c-section at 29w5d. She weighed exactly 2lbs and is 14 inches long. I had developed severe preeclampsia and she was suffering from IUGR. They took her when I took a sudden turn for the worse becoming very sick with the high blood pressure, failing liver and high protein levels...it was very scary and happened in a matter of an hour. Emma was born at 5:42 am Friday and I was unable to see her until Sunday morning around 9:00 am, that was the hardest part. Everytime I tried to get out of bed I would pass out and the doctors could not figure out why. Luckily Emma is a little fighter and she is doing very well. She is on a ventilator and she has the tubes in her belly button (I am not good with medical terminology so I will just explain what she has), she is also on oxygen and is under the humidifier tent to keep her skin moist. They just started giving her 2 ml of breast milk every six hours and she is tolerating that. She was under the lights for her jaundice but she is out now and is doing well.
The hardest part for me is that she is here in Denver and we live in Kansas, so our family will now be split for the next couple months until Emma is able to come home. My husband and our seven year old son will stay in Kansas and come visit every other weekend and I will stay here in Denver with Emma. Luckily I do have family and friends here in Denver that I can stay with and help me emotionally through this. I know that Emma has a long road ahead of her I just hope that she keeps getting bigger each day and keeps her fiesty personality that the nurses say she has.

[kendra76]

Jules.. i am so sorry.. Emma sounds like such a fighter!! keep us posted and if you have any questions just let us know!!

[BBKCD]

I am currently just getting started on my NICU journey. Last friday the 29th my little girl was delivered emergency c-section at 29w5d. She weighed exactly 2lbs and is 14 inches long. I had developed severe preeclampsia and she was suffering from IUGR. They took her when I took a sudden turn for the worse becoming very sick with the high blood pressure, failing liver and high protein levels...it was very scary and happened in a matter of an hour. Emma was born at 5:42 am Friday and I was unable to see her until Sunday morning around 9:00 am, that was the hardest part. Everytime I tried to get out of bed I would pass out and the doctors could not figure out why. Luckily Emma is a little fighter and she is doing very well. She is on a ventilator and she has the tubes in her belly button (I am not good with medical terminology so I will just explain what she has), she is also on oxygen and is under the humidifier tent to keep her skin moist. They just started giving her 2 ml of breast milk every six hours and she is tolerating that. She was under the lights for her jaundice but she is out now and is doing well.
The hardest part for me is that she is here in Denver and we live in Kansas, so our family will now be split for the next couple months until Emma is able to come home. My husband and our seven year old son will stay in Kansas and come visit every other weekend and I will stay here in Denver with Emma. Luckily I do have family and friends here in Denver that I can stay with and help me emotionally through this. I know that Emma has a long road ahead of her I just hope that she keeps getting bigger each day and keeps her fiesty personality that the nurses say she has.

Congratulations...
ALL of you are incredibly strong ladies! Hats off to you!
jules--are you Erin's friend?

[MommaBear]

Jules, I'm glad to hear the details of how Emma is doing... we've been thinking of and praying for the two of you since we found out you went to the hospital. I'm so sorry that you are having to be split from family during such a trying time. :( Hopefully Emma continues to be a fighter and you two can return home to Kansas healthy and happy soon!

[jules]

Thanks everyone for the well wishes, I am looking forward to feeling better and being next to Emma every step. I will keep you posted on her progress.

[camdel]

Jules...

Sounds like you have just endured one of the scariest times of your life. What you described sounds like me, 7 years ago. I too had pre/e with a failing liver. The Dr.'s told my dad (wrong person to say this to) that if I wasn't in hospital at the time, that there was a good chance they would have lost both of us. They said that my liver functions were so bad, that they only had a 45 minute window. Scary. I'm so glad you are both safe now.

Did you have pre/e with your first?

I'm sorry that you are seperated from your family. I hope that the weeks and months go by quickly and cutie pie Emma is home with her family.

We will be here for you.

[jules]

Yes I did have preeclampsia with my son as well. He was born at 34 weeks and spent nine days in the nicu. He was much bigger, 4lb6oz, than little Emma is. My husband and I are saddened by the fact that I got preeclampsia again as we both feel that now it would be too risky to have anymore children. It is a tough place emotionally but we are thankful that both of us made it through this time. My husband said he was very scared that I was not going to make it, that had to be a horrible feeling for him. I just wish they knew more about preeclampsia and why it happens, it would be nice to have answers.

[soccer]

Hi everyone,
I have been reading over the past few days and been thinking what to say. Marco stayed in a Medical/Surgical ICU for 3 weeks and then recovery floor for another month and half. In total we stayed in the hospital for 2 months and 5 days.
During our ultrasound at 18 weeks we found out Marco had Congenital diaphramatic hernia and his bowels were in his chest cavity. He was born at almost 36 weeks weighing 5 lbs. 2 oz and 19 inches. He had surgery to repair the hernia at two days old, he was born great with apgars at 8 and 9 and good cry, color, etc He was intubated right away and I saw him for two seconds before he was taken to Children's Hospital (next door to my hospital). He was extubated after 15 days and was on oxygen until 2 weeks prior to coming home. We had lots of ups and downs and then after a month or so we learned he needed another surgery, which he did well.
We came home for almost two months now and he is doing great. He is doing a lot developmentally and continues to gain strength and weight. Our biggest challenge is that eating is inconsistent especially since he is on a special formula that I make which is 40 extra calorie per oz than a regular formula (enfamil and then additives). This protein, fat, and carbs formula do a number on his poor little belly and he is very gassy and colicky but at this time we can't change because he is gaining weight and he burns a lot of calories by eating and playing as he is working on less lung. His left lung which was compressed in growing very well and he is breathing very well. Amazing how the body compensates.
It is nice to have a forum such as this and can't wait to read more stories and get to know you guys!! Take care, Ana

[FlowerBaby]

I am a long-time lurker, but this new forum has made me take the leap and finally start posting. My NICU baby was not a premie. She was actually a week overdue, and at 8lbs 6 oz, she was a giant in the NICU.

My pregnancy was completely normal, but I had a very, very long and stressful labor resulting in an emergancy c-section. When DD was born her apgar was a 1. Five minutes later, it was a 2. She swallowed muconium, had a stroke during the labor, and I had an infected placenta that caused her little body to become infected as well.

She was in to NICU for 12 days, and during that time she had a spinal tap, EEG, two MRI's and many other tests. Her MRI revealed that she had brain damage to the left side of her brain. We were told that she would have a 2/3 chance of having some sort of developmental delays, or even cerebal palsey.

She is now 9 months old and is doing great. She waves, says "hi", does 'so big' and is almost crawling. She's our little miracle!

[kendra76]

soccer.. thanks for posting your story.. Marco sounds like he is doing great..

flowerbaby... welcome to the APA.. I am so glad that she is doing so good!!

[MommaBear]

I know I've said it before, but I'm just so happy that we finally have this forum. Reading the different stories, I can't imagine going through that alone. Hopefully future NICU mommies who come here can borrow some stregnth from you amazing women!

[kendra76]

I know I've said it before, but I'm just so happy that we finally have this forum. Reading the different stories, I can't imagine going through that alone. Hopefully future NICU mommies who come here can borrow some stregnth from you amazing women!

me too..I am so glad that they finally created it..

[camdel]

Thanks for sharing ladies!

[Angelwings]

I am so touched by these stories! Thanks for sharing Jules,Flowerbaby, and Soccer...it's a scary journey but it's great to have people that can relate to what you are going through.

Keep us posted on these babies :D

[Marquette Fan]

I feel very fortunate in that my daughter Abbie's NICU stay didn't end up being very long but I decided I would go ahead and post her story since she did spend some time in the NICU.

My water broke with meconium in it the day before my due date. I labored about 12 hours dealing with some decels and looking at times like I might have to have a c-section. But I had a regular delivery at 6:44A on my due date and Abbie weighed 6 lbs 12 ounces and was 20 inches. I waited about 15 min. to hold her while some NICU staff worked on her due to the meconium. At first I thought everything was ok but while still in my LDR room I asked to breastfeed and the nurse said she was concerned about a high respiratory rate and wanted a NICU nurse to look at her. The NICU nurse wasn't available right away and after a bit the nurse in the room said the respiratory rate was better and they prepared to transfer us to my room (in retrospect DH and I think we were being rushed out of there to clear the room and think the NICU nurse should have looked at her then).

Up in the room, the nurses were concerned about her blood sugar being too low. I tried breastfeeding for a little bit and that didn't go too well. They ended up giving her some formula due to the blood sugar - I wasn't happy about the formula but felt pressured. Then around 2:30p a nurse came in and was concerned about the respiratory rate and basically whisked Abbie out of the room. DH was livid as they hadn't even really said what they were doing or where they were taking her - I was so exhausted from being up all night and labor that I didn't have the energy to get as fired up as him. After a bit, we went to the nurses station to find out what was going on - they got a hold of our pedi who said to send her to the NICU.

Abbie was sent to the NICU observation nursery at 4p Wed. (day she was born) and we were told she could stay there for 24 hours before they decided whether to admit her to the NICU or not. All we were really told about her condition is it's usually seen in c-sections and it would just take care of itself in time. I was going to try breastfeeding her in the NICU but her resp. rate was too high that night and they were either bottle feeding or tube feeding her. They got me setup to pump that night and I took the little bit of milk I got to the NICU to feed her. The next day we really couldn't find out what was going on with her - we weren't getting any kind of definitive information and were hearing different stuff from different nurses. I had an attempt at bfeeding in the morning in the NICU and ended up working with an LC that afternoon. After the afternoon session with the LC, her respiratory rate was too high to breastfeed or bottlefeed the rest of the day. When we were down there with the LC, there was some confusion as someone showed up to do a stat xray and the nurses didn't even know it had been ordered. About an hour before our 24 hours were up, no one could tell me if she was going to be admitted to the NICU or not (I figured she would be but wanted some more defintive information).

Feeling terrible mentally and physically I broke down talking about this to the nurse on my floor. She found out right away for us that they were going to admit Abbie to the NICU and told us a NICU doctor would soon come to my room and talk to us. This doctor told us they were still checking for an infection and if they found an infection she'd have to stay in the NICU for at least a week. And he said she'd likely be in the NICU for at least 3 more days and I was supposed to be discharged the next day. At one point my DH said something about having trouble finding out what was going on with dd and the doctor said 'Your baby isn't the only one in the NICU.' We weren't thrilled with the comment - we obviously knew Abbie wasn't the only one in the NICU and she was in good shape compared to a lot of other babies there but we still had a right to know what was going on with our daughter. The information this doctor gave us was the kind of information we were trying to get.

At 2:30A Friday Abbie still had to be tube fed and when I got up around 6A that morning I figured I'd be leaving the hospital with her still there. I did get to go down and breastfeed her for a little while around 8A. DH and I were about to go back to my room and find out how late I could be discharged when one of the NICU doctors came by on his rounds. He surprised us by saying he was discharging Abbie from the NICU and she could go home with us. They brought her to my room and we were out of the hospital with her within an hour of that. It was quite the unexpected turn of events. We did end up making a visit to the pedi the afternoon we brought her home from the hospital as things didn't seem right with the respiratory rate but everything was ok.

It was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for me when Abbie was in the NICU but like I said in the beginning of this post I feel extremely fortunate I got to bring Abbie home with me.

[MommaBear]

I can't believe that so called professionals would treat the mother of a baby in NICU that way. :shock: I'm glad Abbie's stay was a short one, I would hate to leave my baby in the care of people like that for long!

[landon6]

:shock: I can not believe the doctor said that to you!! It's ther job to make you feel like Abbie is (was) the only baby in the NICU, she is your only baby!!! That makes me furious!!! I am glad her stay was short & she is healthy.

[1stgradeteach]

Wow, you are all amazing women and your babies are so special!

[Mom22preemies]

My first daughter Kylie was born 2/2/03 delivered via c-section at 33wks at 3lbs 6 oz due to my severe preclampsia and surprising enough didn't have many issues except regulating her body temp and eating. She spent 6 1/2 wks in Nicu before getting to come home and now is a very smart and healthy 4yr old. I watched for all the signs in this 2nd pregnancy and was for certain this was going to be my full term baby girl because she was different she was extremely active and I seemed to have no issues with blood pressure (I was monitoring it daily as well as looking for swelling etc.) Well on 7/1 I knew something wasn't right she wasn't moving and called my Dr. who sent me to hospital since was Sunday. The did the ultrasound, checked for protein and blood pressure then did fetal stress test. After all this she was rated a 2 out of 10 on stress test and was delivered 3 hrs later at 2lbs 10 oz. Ariawyn has now been in Nicu 19days and not likely to be coming home soon. She had some trouble regulating blood pressure thought was something with heart that all turned out ok was on vent for about wk now off that and is gradually being given breast milk thru the tube. The big hurdle that is coming up is the scan they will do on her brain to see if it was w/out oxygen during the issue she had inside. They advise can't do that till 6wks. This time around has definately been alot scarier than the first.. I guess because last time it was my issues that forced the delivery and this time it was something with her. They say that it looked like my placenta was aging faster that it should and that the oxygen/nutrients etc that she was getting from embilical cord was meeting resistance (can't tell me why thought) and just the day before was moving as actively as ever. My husband and I have come to the conclusion that we aren't likely to have term babies after this one since was two different issues and our baby Ariawyn will be our last. Would appreciate all prayers for her scan and her development to go well

[jules]

I am in almost the same boat that you are in right now. My daughter was born three weeks ago weighing 2 pounds. They did her brain scan last Monday and thankfully it checked out okay. I wonder why you are having to wait so long to get the scan done. I hope that everything turns out okan, I am praying for your family and your little girl.

[soccer]

Sending prayers your way.
I know that Marco had a brain scan soon after birth so I hope they can do it soon to figure something out.
Take care.

[kendra76]

Welcome to the APA and thanks for sharing your story..

hugs.. I can't believe that they are waiting that long to do the scan.. Andrew had one about 10 days old..

we are here for support.. let us know if you have any questions or just want to chat..

[Angelwings]

Welcome to APA Mom22preemies! Thanks for sharing your story and I will certainly keep your family in my prayers :D

Keep us updated on how's she is doing~

[momma2luke]

I went into labor with Luke at exactly 29 weeks. My pregnancy up until that day had been perfect, and I thought the cramping was just from dehydration. I was admitted, and over a period of a week was given two rounds of Magnesium Sulfate to stop contractions, and steroid shots to mature his lungs. Luke was born at 30 weeks, 1 day and came out breathing completely on his own, and even let out a little cry. He was 4 lbs exactly and 17 inches long. After bringing him to me for a quick kiss, he was taken to the NICU and I saw him about 2 hours later. I was able to hold him that night and do some "kangaroo care." I started pumping that same night and he started getting my breastmilk by gavage by the next day. Luke never required any help breathing and his only complication in the NICU was jaundice for a few days. By 33 weeks, he was able to hold his own body temperature. By 34 weeks, he was able to feed from a bottle and from the breast occasionally. Luke came home from the NICU at 35 weeks old.

Today at almost 11 months, Luke is about 22 lbs, and extremely healthy and doing well developmentally. He is above the 50th percentile in all areas for an 11 month old. I feel very blessed that he was is so healthy and I did not have to deal with any serious complications.

[kendra76]

Brooke (BES) I am so glad that Luke is doing great!!

[kendra76]

bump.. so we don't loose this..

[btriplets]

I saw this post a while back and wanted to add my story to hopefully give some encouragement to ladies out there that have premies. I wish that no one would ever have to go through the NICU experience but it isn't always horrible.

Here is some background on our story. As you can see by my username I thought I was having triplets when I registered. I ended up in the hospital on COMPLETE bed rest at 17 weeks. I had done so well on bed rest that at 26 weeks I had asked my doctor if I could just have 1 shower a week and she agreed. After my first shower I ended up rupturing with baby A that night which lead to 2 ultrasounds. The doctor on call came in that night and did the first ultrasound and asked me how many babies I was supposed to be having and I told her 3. She kept repeating that she was just so tired but she thought she saw 4 babies but couldn't be sure and wanted one of her partners to come confirm it with another ultrasound in the morning. I laid in bed all night scared that it might actually be 4 babies and having contractions that at one point they were 5 minutes apart. It was one of the longest nights of my life. My DH and I had finally gotten excited at the thought of having 3 babies which was a complete shock in the first place because we didn't use any infertility medicine. We were already trying to figure out how we were going to financially manage 3 babies at once. The partner confirmed that yes in fact there were 4 babies but the baby that ruptured he couldn't give me any information about because there was just no fluid around the baby to determine anything. I was told I could go on for weeks or months ruptured with baby A as long as I didn't develop an infection and that they could keep contractions under control. In my 28th week the doctor thought I was developing an infection which she didn't want to spread to baby A and the magnesium sulfate that they had put me on 3 days prior was not quite controlling my contractions so it was decided that it was much better for the babies to be delivered.

At 28 weeks and 1 day I delivered 3 boys and 1 girl. Baby A was 1 pound 10 ounces, Baby B was 1 pound 15 ounces, Baby C was 2 pounds 4 ounces and Baby D was 1 pound 13 ounces. Both baby A & B went straight to nasal C-PAP and babies C & D had to be on a ventilator for less than 12 hours. Babies B & C seemed to do the best of the bunch. Baby B had a blood transfusion and had to be on an antacid for a short time. Baby D had a grade 2 brain bleed on the left side but that has all resolved and needed a few blood transfusions for anemia. Baby D came home on oxygen and apnea monitor and we had to give her caffeine up until last week to combat the apnea spells. Baby A is the biggest fighter of the bunch. That poor little guy has been through a lot!! He was moved from level 2 NICU back to level 3 NICU for an eye surgery to correct Retinopathy of Prematurity. After the surgery he developed a gram negative blood infection that almost killed him. He had never been on a ventilator until the surgery and they couldn’t get him back off of it which scared me. The doctor called and wanted to run lots of tests including a spinal tap to find out what was going on. We went up to the hospital to sign the consent form and to take infant CPR because baby C was coming home in a few days and we found baby A cold, unresponsive and gray in color. They luckily got the antibiotics started in time to save him but I left the hospital that night and cried the entire night just terrified we would loose him. I am happy to say he was ready to come home the day they stopped the antibiotics. He also came home on oxygen and apnea monitor which he came off both of them last week! They all are just growing like weeds and at their 4 month check up the pediatrician happens to be next to the hospital where they were born so both DH and I took them over so the nurses who took care of me for 3 months could finally see them. Everyone is so surprised and tells me that they definitely don’t look like they were ever premature. I think we had one of the best neonatology groups and every day they would call and tell us that our babies were leading a very charmed life because they just were not having any problems. Our biggest scare was the infection and that can happen to anyone.

I hope you guys can find some encouragement that babies can come at 28 weeks and be as small as 1 pound 10 ounces and do well. We had Early Childhood Intervention people come out and evaluate the babies a few weeks ago and they are already starting to catch up to their developmental milestones. I knew our babies would come early but I had no idea the impact the NICU would have on my heart. My heart goes out to every parent that has a child in the NICU and I pray every night that they all do well.

[moosh34]

btriplets...wow, you are brave. Four...I can't imagine. Your story was beautiful and it seems a miracle that you have four happy healthy little ones!

[kendra76]

btriplets...wow, you are brave. Four...I can't imagine. Your story was beautiful and it seems a miracle that you have four happy healthy little ones!

I agree. what a blessing..

[camdel]

My first daughter Kylie was born 2/2/03 delivered via c-section at 33wks at 3lbs 6 oz due to my severe preclampsia and surprising enough didn't have many issues except regulating her body temp and eating. She spent 6 1/2 wks in Nicu before getting to come home and now is a very smart and healthy 4yr old. I watched for all the signs in this 2nd pregnancy and was for certain this was going to be my full term baby girl because she was different she was extremely active and I seemed to have no issues with blood pressure (I was monitoring it daily as well as looking for swelling etc.) Well on 7/1 I knew something wasn't right she wasn't moving and called my Dr. who sent me to hospital since was Sunday. The did the ultrasound, checked for protein and blood pressure then did fetal stress test. After all this she was rated a 2 out of 10 on stress test and was delivered 3 hrs later at 2lbs 10 oz. Ariawyn has now been in Nicu 19days and not likely to be coming home soon. She had some trouble regulating blood pressure thought was something with heart that all turned out ok was on vent for about wk now off that and is gradually being given breast milk thru the tube. The big hurdle that is coming up is the scan they will do on her brain to see if it was w/out oxygen during the issue she had inside. They advise can't do that till 6wks. This time around has definately been alot scarier than the first.. I guess because last time it was my issues that forced the delivery and this time it was something with her. They say that it looked like my placenta was aging faster that it should and that the oxygen/nutrients etc that she was getting from embilical cord was meeting resistance (can't tell me why thought) and just the day before was moving as actively as ever. My husband and I have come to the conclusion that we aren't likely to have term babies after this one since was two different issues and our baby Ariawyn will be our last. Would appreciate all prayers for her scan and her development to go well

Welcome...I have two NICU babies, and both were related to pre/e. Both my NICU babies head u/s were done within days of being born, and they would repeat every 7-10 days. Turns out, my first baby had no problems with brain bleed, and he was the micropreemie. My dd had a grade 3 that went to a grade 4. It resolved, but we are still working on the issues that go along with that.

BTW my last pregnancy, same exact thing happened. I had been doing REALLY well, the Dr.'s were even getting cocky. Then she stopped growing, and my placenta was "aged". I got an abruption that put me into labor and my water broke. Needless to say, I delivered within in hours.

Good luck with the girls. Sorry that you had to repeat the NICU...Ariawyn is a gorgeous name. I'm sure she will continue to be a fighter. Keep us posted!

[camdel]

I saw this post a while back and wanted to add my story to hopefully give some encouragement to ladies out there that have premies. I wish that no one would ever have to go through the NICU experience but it isn't always horrible.

Here is some background on our story. As you can see by my username I thought I was having triplets when I registered. I ended up in the hospital on COMPLETE bed rest at 17 weeks. I had done so well on bed rest that at 26 weeks I had asked my doctor if I could just have 1 shower a week and she agreed. After my first shower I ended up rupturing with baby A that night which lead to 2 ultrasounds. The doctor on call came in that night and did the first ultrasound and asked me how many babies I was supposed to be having and I told her 3. She kept repeating that she was just so tired but she thought she saw 4 babies but couldn't be sure and wanted one of her partners to come confirm it with another ultrasound in the morning. I laid in bed all night scared that it might actually be 4 babies and having contractions that at one point they were 5 minutes apart. It was one of the longest nights of my life. My DH and I had finally gotten excited at the thought of having 3 babies which was a complete shock in the first place because we didn't use any infertility medicine. We were already trying to figure out how we were going to financially manage 3 babies at once. The partner confirmed that yes in fact there were 4 babies but the baby that ruptured he couldn't give me any information about because there was just no fluid around the baby to determine anything. I was told I could go on for weeks or months ruptured with baby A as long as I didn't develop an infection and that they could keep contractions under control. In my 28th week the doctor thought I was developing an infection which she didn't want to spread to baby A and the magnesium sulfate that they had put me on 3 days prior was not quite controlling my contractions so it was decided that it was much better for the babies to be delivered.

At 28 weeks and 1 day I delivered 3 boys and 1 girl. Baby A was 1 pound 10 ounces, Baby B was 1 pound 15 ounces, Baby C was 2 pounds 4 ounces and Baby D was 1 pound 13 ounces. Both baby A & B went straight to nasal C-PAP and babies C & D had to be on a ventilator for less than 12 hours. Babies B & C seemed to do the best of the bunch. Baby B had a blood transfusion and had to be on an antacid for a short time. Baby D had a grade 2 brain bleed on the left side but that has all resolved and needed a few blood transfusions for anemia. Baby D came home on oxygen and apnea monitor and we had to give her caffeine up until last week to combat the apnea spells. Baby A is the biggest fighter of the bunch. That poor little guy has been through a lot!! He was moved from level 2 NICU back to level 3 NICU for an eye surgery to correct Retinopathy of Prematurity. After the surgery he developed a gram negative blood infection that almost killed him. He had never been on a ventilator until the surgery and they couldn’t get him back off of it which scared me. The doctor called and wanted to run lots of tests including a spinal tap to find out what was going on. We went up to the hospital to sign the consent form and to take infant CPR because baby C was coming home in a few days and we found baby A cold, unresponsive and gray in color. They luckily got the antibiotics started in time to save him but I left the hospital that night and cried the entire night just terrified we would loose him. I am happy to say he was ready to come home the day they stopped the antibiotics. He also came home on oxygen and apnea monitor which he came off both of them last week! They all are just growing like weeds and at their 4 month check up the pediatrician happens to be next to the hospital where they were born so both DH and I took them over so the nurses who took care of me for 3 months could finally see them. Everyone is so surprised and tells me that they definitely don’t look like they were ever premature. I think we had one of the best neonatology groups and every day they would call and tell us that our babies were leading a very charmed life because they just were not having any problems. Our biggest scare was the infection and that can happen to anyone.

I hope you guys can find some encouragement that babies can come at 28 weeks and be as small as 1 pound 10 ounces and do well. We had Early Childhood Intervention people come out and evaluate the babies a few weeks ago and they are already starting to catch up to their developmental milestones. I knew our babies would come early but I had no idea the impact the NICU would have on my heart. My heart goes out to every parent that has a child in the NICU and I pray every night that they all do well.

What a story! I hope you have a mini-van...LOL. OMG...I can't believe they didn't know it was four until a two weeks before delivering.

The babies sound strong and like fighters. Having only one 1.9 lber, my only advice is to do all the research you can on the impact of prematurity as they grow. Keep EI involved for as long as you can, and trust your gut. :wink:

What are their names, and do we get pics?

[Daisy]

My gosh. I can't believe what you all have gone through.

I was so fortunate with Charlotte. She was born at 34 weeks 1 day and only spent 4 days in a level II special care nursery. She needed a ng-tube and some help with her breathing to get her O2 levels up. She had a hard time regulating her blood sugar and body temp due to my GD. I'm one of the few people to have delivered a 7 pound preemie!

She had no issues to speak of after that besides being a bit lethargic especially during feedings. I know how fortunate we all were, especially after hearing the stories you have shared about your babies.

[btriplets]

The babies sound strong and like fighters. Having only one 1.9 lber, my only advice is to do all the research you can on the impact of prematurity as they grow. Keep EI involved for as long as you can, and trust your gut. :wink:

What are their names, and do we get pics?

Thank you for the advice about researching the impact of prematurity. My DH thinks I'm crazy because I watch them for every little thing that might be a sign of a problem. :roll: But I figure better safe than sorry. :) The first EI evaluation they had went really well and in some respects they were ahead of where they should have been. They wanted to stop checking on them but I asked if there was any way they could at least track the progress in case something came up so hopefully we are going to get evaluation forms every 3 months to keep in touch with them.

Their names are:
Baby A is Matthew
Baby B is Andrew
Baby C is Nicholas
Baby D is Avery

I will post a picture of them as soon as I can get some help from DH. We just had professional pictures done a week ago so will post one of those.

[landon6]

Kristen so glad you posted your story, it is truley an amazing one!! Big smooches to those 4 chunky monkeys for me!!

[jld52900]

where to start?! well my name is janette from erie, pa. i'm 25 single mom to jacob who is three and jacey who is 3 weeks old. Jacey was born seven weeks early. it was the scariest pregnancy and labor i could imagine. i found out when i was 3 months pregnant that she had club foot in both feet. so i had an amnio done which revealed that she had extra genes on chromosome number ten. which means hand and foot abmnormalities. then around my fifth month i found out that she is missing her tibulia bone in her right leg and her right leg is 2 cm shorter then her left leg. her legs are smaller then the rest of her body. they also discovered that she had fluid around her brain.

if all that isn't scary enough. doctors said that if i go into labor early they wouldn't recommend intervening (sp?). they also said that i should be prepared for her not to live. and to possibly be born still birth. they recommended an abortion. i understand y some have abortions but i personally would never do that regardless of any problems. so i didn't. of course.. i can't tell u how many doctors have told me that she probably wasn't to live.

well aug. 16th i went into the hospital with contractions. i was dialated to three cm. but my contractions were a half hour apart so they sent me home at 7pm. when i talked to the doctor that day he said "i doubt she's going to live." i responded with i doubt she's going to die. so i go home and relax. i ate around 11pm. laid down for bed.

i'm still having contractions. around one i call my mom who was working third shift, to tell her that we need to go to the hospital now. so she says ok. then i said. well i need to shower. that takes me awhile no use in missin work, she makes a good chunk of change lol, so i said i would call her when i was almost ready. so i get in the shower and i'm in horrendous pain.

so i go lay down and i have another contraction i feel fluid. i'm like great my water broke. i look and there is blood everywhere. i called 911 and an ambulance came to get me. i hadn't called my mom but i did while waiting for the ambulance and she met me at the hospital. good thing. she would have been salty with the blood in her car! so after every contraction theres more and more blood. they call the dr on call who is by the way the same dr that said he doubts she was going to live. he makes it to the hospital in about 15 mins. seemed like forever to me.

i got put to sleep and had a c section. she was breech. ms. jacey madison was born aug. 17 2007 at 3:55am. she weighed 2lbs 15oz and was 14.5" long! when she was born, she wasn't breathing. they had asked me if i wanted nature to take its course or if i wanted her on life support. i said to keep her on life support til i woke up to see her. and i wanted jacob to see her if she wasn't going to make it. they worked on her, got her breathing and put her on life support.

less then 24 hours later, they took her off, she was breathin on her own with help of 30% oxygen. she is doing wonderfully. tomarrow they are splinting her left foot. her right foot is really bad, so its going to need surgery between 6mo-a year of age. the dr from shriners said that someday she will be able to walk.

they did a sono on her brain and there was no fluid! she is missing a crease in her hand though. and her one finger is always bent a weird way. nurses and doctors believe that she "wont meet her developemental milestones" meaning she may be possibly retarded. i really don't care i'm just thrilled she's alive. she's my miracle girl!

also she has no father. he is a jerk who can go to hell. she can't be his beacuse she has problems. so i don't care really. i'm sorry so long! there is alot going on! if i can figure it out i will get a pic of miss jacey on here!

[kendra76]

jld52900 welcome to the APA..

your story is happy and sad at the same time.. hugs to all that you have been through.. you are truely and amazing mom..

Congrats on your miracle..

[MommaBear]

Janette, your story is a moving one. It's so wonderful how you fought for your baby even when doctors told you not to. I'll keep your family in my prayers. That little girl really is a miracle!

[blueeyekids]

My story has a sad and a happy ending. First the sad to get that out of the way.

A year after my husband and I got married, I found out that I was pregnant. Went to my first appointment to indeed make sure that I was pregnant and not just wishing that I was. Before I could make it to my second appointment I lost my babies. I say babies because when they did an ultrasound they could see two sacks, but they were empty. They were lost before they could generate a heart beat. It doesn't make it any easier to know that though, a loss is a loss no matter what.
This February they would have been 3.

Now for the happy ending.

In October of 2004, after months of wishing I could get pregnant, being depressed because I wasn't, all of my friends around me getting pregnant, me wanting to be numb so that I couldn't feel, and at the point of wanting to give up all hope and faith, a breakdown at church later, I found out that I was pregnant.

We were happy and scared at the same time. Made it to the appointment to hear the heartbeat and was so happy to actually hear it.

Things were going great, had an issue that was strange, don't remember what it was called, but basically I was leaking water everyday, supposedly it wasn't the water from the sack but today I am not so sure.

In May, I ended up getting a cold, which turned into pneumonia (didn't know I had that until after I delivered). Anyway, I took a few days off of work because of my cold and then went back on a Friday. By the time that I got back home on Friday, I was starting to have some pains, that I was denying were contractions. It was too early. By about 1 am and more pain, I told my husband that we had to go because something wasn't right. So we got our other two kids and put them in the car, just so you know the two kids we have are not my husbands biologically, and we took them to my parents house.

We went to the hospital where they tried everything they could to stop the contractions. Because they couldn't stop them, we were transfered to another hospital that had a level 3 nicu.

Once they stopped trying to stop the contractions, they were hoping that I would progress and everything would be fine. All of a sudden it was no longer going fast enough for them and they decided to do an emergency c-section.

Our baby girl, Tierney, was born weighing 3lbs and 13ounces. She spent just about an hour in an incubator, but after that she was not in one again. I didn't get to see her for a week because of my pneumonia, and then when I could finally see her, I still couldn't hold quite yet just in case. Luckily for her, it was me getting sick that made her come early. She still spent 32 days in the nicu, but she was otherwise healthy.

Today, Tierney is 2, she is healthy, and she is little miss independent.

Thank you god for little miracles.

[kendra76]

blueeyekids.. welcome to the APA..

you are truely blessed..

btw.. blueeyekids is my best friend.. I got her to join and share her story.. she was a wonderful help when Andrew was in the NICU.

[blueeyekids]

I have been here for awhile, but haven't had the time.

[camdel]

Welcome...

How wonderful and sad for you. But, I love happy endings...and for the record...I LOVE the name Tierney...so pretty!

[blueeyekids]

thank you. The name Tierney means noble and lordly.

[LaurenA]

I have been reading your stories -- you are all amazing ladies, big hugs to you all!

My son was born on August 3 and in the NICU until August 8. The reason he was there was one of the more "minor" reasons I've heard - he was a large baby (9-13) therefore had some glucose issues and needed to be on IV - but it still took a toll on my mental state. I still have trouble wrapping my brain around the idea that he is mine - and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I didn't get to see or hold him after he was born for 14 hours (I had a c-section) and the fact that we weren't together in the hospital.

I know that my situation is quite minor compared to the rest of you. But it has still changed me in a way. I often wonder how things might be different if all had gone according to plan. I love my baby boy with all my heart but I do feel like I "missed out" in a sense. It may sound terrible but I don't feel like I'm his mom! Maybe this will come with time.

I just wanted to say hello to you all and share my story.

[MommaBear]

I still have trouble wrapping my brain around the idea that he is mine - and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I didn't get to see or hold him after he was born for 14 hours (I had a c-section) and the fact that we weren't together in the hospital.

I think that disbelief is a common trait among mommies of NICU graduates-- regardless of the duration of baby's stay there. It took a while for me to really feel like I was Jamie's mom, too. Not to say that I loved him any less, but I just didn't really feel connected to him. It was like the love you feel for your DH... I would have given my life for him but I didn't feel like he was a piece of me, KWIM? It does come in time, though. Just give it a while.

Your son is so handsome, btw!

[LaurenA]

I still have trouble wrapping my brain around the idea that he is mine - and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I didn't get to see or hold him after he was born for 14 hours (I had a c-section) and the fact that we weren't together in the hospital.

I think that disbelief is a common trait among mommies of NICU graduates-- regardless of the duration of baby's stay there. It took a while for me to really feel like I was Jamie's mom, too. Not to say that I loved him any less, but I just didn't really feel connected to him. It was like the love you feel for your DH... I would have given my life for him but I didn't feel like he was a piece of me, KWIM? It does come in time, though. Just give it a while.

Your son is so handsome, btw!

Thank you so much for this reply... I often feel guilty and abnormal for feeling this way so it's comforting to know that others have had the same experience.

[kendra76]

I still have trouble wrapping my brain around the idea that he is mine - and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I didn't get to see or hold him after he was born for 14 hours (I had a c-section) and the fact that we weren't together in the hospital.

I think that disbelief is a common trait among mommies of NICU graduates-- regardless of the duration of baby's stay there. It took a while for me to really feel like I was Jamie's mom, too. Not to say that I loved him any less, but I just didn't really feel connected to him. It was like the love you feel for your DH... I would have given my life for him but I didn't feel like he was a piece of me, KWIM? It does come in time, though. Just give it a while.

Your son is so handsome, btw!

Thank you so much for this reply... I often feel guilty and abnormal for feeling this way so it's comforting to know that others have had the same experience.

Oh I still feel the same way sometimes.. It's like I feel like he is still on loan.. :shock:
I hope that it does pass though..

[kendra76]

bump.. just so we don't loose this sticky..

[landon6]

bump again, is it 30days & you lose the sticky??

[kendra76]

bump again, is it 30days & you lose the sticky??

yes it is.. thanks for catching that..

[Panda]

Brianna Marie 8/7/94-12/7/94 34weeks 1 day!!

I have a realy hard time typing my story out and talking about this to this day! I typed this out on Dec 7 07 for a few friends! I dont remember everything its been 13 years and I was drugged up for alot of it!

I was 16 when I found out I was pregnant! I was already 4 months and didnt know cause I had my AF every month till I was 6 months! I had a average pregnancy other then the bleeding! I didnt get an ultrasound till I was 3 days shy of 34 weeks it was my 17th b-day! I had a sh*tty OB! Well I was laying on the table and the guy said "is this your 1st one" I said yes sir it is WHY? "Well you are having a girl and you need to go to the hospital for a better ultrasound" I was like why whats going on? He wouldnt tell me so he took my mother out to the hall way and explained to her that he saw alot of shadows on the scan!! He never really explained it to my mom and she came in and said lets go we need to go to Maine medical Center(Portland) To have a better scan done! I was like ok cool I get to see my now baby girl again!

So we get to the Maternity ward at the hospital and they admit me right there and I was like whats going on?? They said what the Periantoigest(sp?) didnt tell you! I said nope and they started to explain things to me! Bri had 3 holes in her heart, she was missing part of her brain and had really small lungs!! They did an amnio on me and gave me one of the lung enhancer shots and sent me home to go into labor

On Aug 7th at about 5am I went into labor (all back labor) Called my mom cause I was at my ex DHs parents house and my mom came and picked us up and rushed me to the hospital! At 10am they were prepping me for a c-section causes I hadnt dilated at all!! So at 1048am My baby girl was born and rushed to the NICU


She had a colostomy bag and was intubated for bout a 3 weeks then on the CPAP for almost all of the rest of the time! She started to get better around Halloween and was taken off all vents and was good for about a week!

Then all hell broke lose (they say they get better before they get worse) ANd she stopped breathing and and had to have CPR and be bagged all over again! She had 3 major surgeries after this to correct her heart and it did no good! So after all of this on December 5th they told us we needed to decided what we are gonna do cause she would never be able to eat, walk or talk on her own or breath without help So we decided on the 7th that we would have her baptized Methodist (thats her dads religion) and then spend the afternoon with her and pull everything at 630p that night! She lived on her own till about 1130pm and past away on her father while she was looking at me right in the eyes I saw her last breath and her eyes gloss over

OK this is all I can do right now Im crying again sorry!

[LanceBabe]

Well, I'm new here and this is my very first post. I gave birth to my daughter Erin on May 5, 1986 at 25 weeks. She weighed 1 lb. 12 oz. and they said that was big for a 25-weeker. It took them over 12 hours to get her stablized on a respirator and oxygen. When she was two days old, they said her kidneys were not functioning and we had three choices: 1) give up and let her go; 2) give her some medication that MIGHT get her kidneys functioning, watch for other systems to start failing, and then maybe let her go depending on how bad she gets; or 3) fight to save her no matter what happens. We chose option #2. Thankfully the medication worked, but she still wasn't out of the woods for many, many weeks. She had bleeding in the brain when she was 10 days old; she had surgery for PDA; at one point they said her eyes were so badly damaged from the pressure of the respirator and from the oxygen that she would be blind (MAYBE able to see shapes and light enough to not bump into furniture); she developed hydrocephalus three months after birth because of the bleeding in her brain when she was 10 days old and had to have a shunt inserted to drain the fluid from her brain; she was on the respirator for more than three months. Surprisingly, other than the lung problems, she didn't develop many of the most dangerous complications that many preemies suffer. She came home 4 1/2 months after she was born, weighing just under 6 pounds. The damage to her eyes somehow corrected itself and her eyesight was fine. She DID have to be on oxygen until she was 13 months old and she had frequent pneumonia for a couple years, but she is now 21 years old and pregnant with her own first child (due May 30, 2008). I know I've forgotten many of the details of what she went through 21 years ago, but she will always be my miracle baby.

[nurseamyt]

I've been meaning to post our story, but it's hard when you have a new baby at home.

Christian was born at exactly 40 weeks, on his due date. During labor they noticed late decels and figured his cord was around his neck. To make matters worse, when he came out, we finally saw meconium in the fluid and placenta. So, with the tight nuchal cord he was unable to expel the fluid in his lungs. His apgars were 8 and 9, so I was able to hold him and try to breastfeed him right away.

The LC came in and was trying to help us and noticed that he needed to be suctioned. They took him to the nursery to check him out. His oxygen levels were low and his resp. rate was really high. A few hours later the doctor came in and told me they were admitting him to the level II nursery for oxygen and antibiotics. Because I am a critical care nurse, I understood all of this, but when I went to see him later in the afternoon, it was so hard.

Like others have said, I felt disconnected from my baby. He was all wired up and we weren't able to hold him until he was 3 days old. They didn't start doing any feedings until then either. So, at 3 days we were able to give him his first breastmilk in a bottle (10oz!). The next day he was weaned off the oxygen and they increased his feedings. He was a very hungry boy and tolerated the feedings very well. They also took out the feeding tube.

Day 5 he was able to come home. It was so overwhelming to have him home. We had been going to the hospital every 3 hours to make sure that he got BM and not formula.

Today, he is almost 11 lbs. His birth wt was 7 lb 10 oz. He is growing and doing fantastic.

Hugs to all the NICU moms.

[denvermom]

Here's my story as well.
My pregnancy had been going pretty well! In fact I loved being pregnant. I didn't have any morning sickness, just extreme fatigue in the first trimester. And then after that, felt great to be pregnant. My quad screen did come back abnormal at about 16 weeks and we decided to have the amnio. About 1 week later, we found out we were having a perfectly healthy girl, just a little small, at 1 week smaller than gestational age. So I had close follow up with both my ob and the perinatalogist. I was having u/s every 3-4 weeks.

Then Sunday morning at 10 am, after eating a big pancake breakfast, I felt some wetness and then saw the blood. It was gushing! So after calling the on-call ob (yes, I actually took the time to call her first - stupid me), my husband drove like mario andretti to the hospital. It was there that I found out I was having a placental abruption and would need an emergency c-section. Our daughter was born at 11:45am at 30 weeks 5 days weighing 2 lbs 13 oz. I heard her squeal briefly and then she was fairly quickly taken out of the room. I was sent to recovery while my husband followed her to the NICU. She was intubated initially, but fought it for 4 hours. They even tried to take it out and replace it but she just wouldn't have it. A fighter from the start! She was ultimately placed on cpap for another day and then to oxygen. I was able to 'kangeroo' with her the next day. Because I lost so much blood (1 1/2 L) she was anemic. We opted to avoid a transfusion and gave her epogen shots instead. This worked and we were relieved she didn't need a transfusion. She was cleared for any brain abnormalities. However she had a heart murmur that was then found to be a hole in heart, which normally closes before term babies are born. Again, they said she may need surgery but they wanted to try some medicine first, called indocin to close the hole. Again, this worked and she didn't need surgery.

She had several a's and b's while in the NICU (for those of you that don't know, this is apnea and bradycardia's where both the breathing and heart beat slows), and required caffeine for a while. I was determined to breastfeed, in fact before she was even delivered I asked the neonatalogist if this was an option and he said not likely b/c she was so early and my body hadn't had time to produce milk. But like I said, I was determined. So she got only me from the beginning and I believe that helped immensely. I pumped every 3 hours, round the clock, every day, even setting an alarm overnight to wake up and pump. She didn't actually begin to nurse until she was almost 36 weeks and then by the time she was term gestationally, she could nurse without problems. We were able to take her home 6 1/2 weeks after she was born.

Believe it or not, the hardest day was not the day she was born. For some reason I was very calm. And it just never occurred to me that she may not make it. I just felt in my heart that she was going to be okay. Yes, I did mourn not being pregnant anymore. I mourned not having her to myself and not feeling her inside me anymore. I was upset that I didn't get to be pregnant the entire 40 weeks. I know it sounds crazy, but like I said, I loved the feeling of being pregnant.

The hardest day was when I had to leave the hospital to go home without her. I cried and cried that she would be there without me. But the nurses reassured me that I could come to the NICU any time of day or night. I could call any time of day or night. And I did. Unlike some, I loved my NICU nurses! They were a god send. They treated me, my husband and my daughter like family. Those women, no, angels, gave my daughter such great care! I did not mind if they gave her a bath, or fed her, or held her to calm her when I was not there b/c I knew that she would sense their love and that would help to heal her. They also gave me support when I needed it, like when I returned to work for 2 weeks before she came home. I only get 12 weeks fmla, and had to take 4 weeks for the c-section recovery but I wanted to have at least 8 weeks with her at home so I had to return to work for a short time until she could come home. I felt like such a bad mother but they reassured me again that I could call anytime and just think of how soon she would be coming home. I thank every one of those nurses and think of them often.

My daughter is now almost 15 months and doing great! She is a little behind developmentally for her age, but appropriate for her gestation. She is definitely a little spitfire as evidenced in her first hours of life! I feel truly blessed to have her and it has changed my perspective immensely on life. What a gift she is! Now we are expecting our second and hoping this time, to continue to have a great pregnancy and a full 40 weeks!

[MommaBear]

Rachel-- I am so sorry for your loss. I wish I had an eloquent and inspirational response to give, but I don't. *hugs*

Erin-- Your daughter truly is a miracle, and it is so wonderful to hear her story. I can't imagine how amazing it must be to watch your little preemie grow up and carry a child of her own.

Amy-- I didn't realize you'd had a NICU experience. It's great that you were so determined to give him your milk.

Denvermom-- Yay for another BFing preemie mommy! I definately see where your daughter got her determination! :) I think we can all relate to the difficulty of going home without your baby. The NICU staff at both hospitals were great to me, but it still broke my heart to leave with empty arms.

[flatoutgallop]

Everyone probably knows my NICU story..but anyways...

At 34 weeks I changed MW because my first MW wasnt listening to me when I said I felt like baby wasnt growing (I hadnt gotten any bigger since 30 weeks.. if im not growing, how can he be!) and she wouldnt listen to me, so I got another MW. The 2nd mw saw me twice (35 and 36 weeks) where my fundal height was still 32wks, and baby was still breech.
at 37 weeks exactly, I was sent for a malpresentation scan, which included a growth scan as well.
The scan showed that the baby's head measured 35 wks, abdomen 31 wks, and femur 27 wks. He had approx 1/2 normal bloodflow from placenta, and a low HR of 98.
He was ironically head down for the first time (must have shifted that night).
They guessed his weight as 4lb 11oz.
I was told to call the MW in about an hour, so we went home and waited an hour.
I called the MW who said - call back in 10, im on the phone to teh surgical registrar.
We called back in 10 mins, and she said we needed to get to the delivery suite quick smart.
We left RIGHT AWAY...but even so - she still called us 1/2 way there to tell us to hurry up.
When we got there, they hooked me up to measure his HR (which had gone back up to 120). I was having contractions 4-5 mins apart, but they were only mild ones.
They said I could either be induced or go straight for a c/s.
They checked my cervix to see if I was ok for induction - and I was 80% effaced, but not dialated at all - but she said 80% effaced is ideal for induction.
We thought about it and went for the c/s. I was given a 40-50% chance of a c/s if we went for induction anyway.

The scan happened at 11.30am, and he was born right on 3.54pm.
He weighed 4lb 8oz and 16inches..He was smaller than most of the 32 weekers in NICU, and smaller than ALL the 34weekers!.
His APGAR scores were 7 - 9 - 10 (1min, 5mins, 10mins), They took him straight to Level 3 NICU.
He was put on CPAP for a little bit - but didnt actually need it - it was just a precaution. After that he had no breathing help. He came down to level 2 NICU after about 2 hours.
I didnt get to see him until 10pm that night, and didnt get to cuddle him until the next morning.
In level 2 he did well, he had 2 bad bradycardias on day 1, and had to be bagged. but other than that, all his bradycardias and desats and decels were self reverting.
He was in level 2 NICU for 7 days, in that time he went on the bilibed for 2 days, and on day 4 we were able to try bottle feeding him - which he took to like a fish in water.
On day 7 he was transfered up to the nursery, where he spent 2 days perfecting his feeding..then he came home!

Hes now 8 weeks old and still only weighs 6lb 14oz at last weigh, so hes tiny!..but hes slowly growing :)

Wow that was long..lol

[tamara6]

well,, my children were both NICU babies,,our son born 1 day before due date,and our daughter born 7 days before due date,,,C-SECTIONS,,fluid trapped in the lungs for both,,i never got to hold either one after they were born,,it was hours later that i actually got to see them,,all hooked up to machines and iv's,,,but im not complaining,,when i entered that room all i could think about is my baby,,,AND THEN I SAW THEM,,,MANY OF THEM,,,babies that were so little and truely helpless,,yes i cried but not for my babies,,but for all ones that were not as lucky as mine,,i hated that room with a passion,,i knew many of those babies would never go home,,i saw parents sitting next to them hours on end maybe even days,,they never saw me,,because they couldnt look away from thier own baby,,but i saw them,,and i cried for them,,mothers and fathers filled with so much love,,the room was so quiet,,like a church in prayer,,not even a whisper could be heard,,nurses and doctors husseling around with tubes and iv's,,machines beeping nonstop,,yet those parents never blinked,,afraid they would miss some sign that thier baby was getting better,,they reminded me of baby birds,,so fragile,,when i took my son home,,i started singing him a song that i had made up,,,,baby bird,,he was the cutest baby birdie in the neighborhood,,then i took him home and he grew and grew and grew and grew,,then he wasnt a baby birdie any more,,no more birdie.......and soon ill be having c-section again,,i know ill be visiting this horriable room once more,,,,but i have no complaints

[tamara6]

i'll never forget that room or those parents,,and i am very lucky and thankful

[reidsmom]

My darling sn Reid was born 36.5 weeks. He seemed o.k the first few hours but when they checkedhis blood sugar it was really bad. He was having a hard time keeping food down and was jaundiced as well. When the nicu nurse came to my room to tell me they were taking him down there...I lost it. I rolled up in a ball and sobbed while my DH went with the nurse and my new baby. Once he was stabalized and I was calm they let me come to see him. The nurse met me at the door to warn me that he had an i.v and was on antibiotics for an infection. They also had him under the lamp because his jaundice was getting worse. He was there fr 3 nights and my DH and I never missed a feeding...every hour and a half we woul trek down the hall to see our orange little boy. They wouldn't let us take him home until it got a little better. It was in feb in oregon and there was no sunlight to speak of. we took home a little pad to put him on and it took a few weeks for the jaundice to clear up. He is a healthy happy boy now.

[jmjohnson]

My second daughter Haylee was early. She was delivered by c-section on exactly 36 weeks because I had ogliohydramniosis. Because I had no fluid for so long, her lungs hadn't developed yet, so we spent quite a bit of time holding her while she was hooked up to a ventilator. She was released about a week and a half later, weighing 5.6 pounds (My first was 9.4 so it was quite a difference!). It took me forever to get used to how tiny she was, but she just had her first birthday about two weeks ago, and is weighing in at 19.3 pounds already. :) She's also just learned to crawl -- so you know -- nothing is sacred anymore. The NICU staff was amazing at the hospital I delievered at, and if by unlucky chance we had to do it again, I would be more than comfortable with them taking care of this baby.

Here she was when she was a week old...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/maloreej222/Haylee028.jpg

And now...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/maloreej222/Haylee.jpg

[lou4480]

Ok here goes. I am currently in the NICU with my daughter Kendall. She was born Wednesday March 12th weighing 5lbs 6 oz at 35 weeks.

The week before she was born i had a doctor's appointment and explained that I had been having some cramps, my doctor told me if they weren't happening consistently not to worry....so the following monday (march 10th) i called the doctor again and said i was still cramping...they told me to push the fluids so i lied and said that the baby wasn't moving as much and they wanted to see me right away. they checked my cervix and i was 3 cm dilated so my doctor told me i had to begin maternity leave that day and to take it easy so we could hopefully make it to 37 weeks. the next day my water broke. I am mad at myself for not requesting to be checked at the first doctors appointment beause i was probably dilated then and since i work with children each day and never get to rest it probably would have been better to be out of work a week earlier ARGH.

So Kendall was grunting when she was born and was taken to the nursery to be monitored. after 4 hrs she hadn't stopped grunting so she was transferred to the NICU. There was fluid in her lungs so she was hooked up to the cpap machine. after 24 hrs the fluid hadn't cleared so the doctors are thinking it may be pneumonia. she was started on antibiotics on wednesday and will have to continue for 7 days. On Friday Kendall was able to come off the cpap and my husband and i were able to hold her and bottle feed. She has been under the lights for 2 days because she is jaundice but we are hoping she can come off tomorrow. She is only taking 23 cc's per feeding and she needs to take 40 in order to be released. If all goes well she will be drinking what she needs to and off of the antibiotics by wednesday so she can come home with us.

My husband and I spend every waking moment in the NICU and I think we are going delirious. This is not what I had been picturing for the past 35 weeks.

My heart goes out to all of you that have gone thru this or are currently going thru it. Thank you for letting me read your stories and share mine. I have found some peace and sanity :)

[MommaBear]

Welcome to APA, although I'm sorry that you are going through this experience, I'm glad that you will hopefully be able to lean on us for support. Don't feel guilty about not asking to be checked sooner-- you followed your instinct and it was 100% right. Going through the what if's won't do any good, just try to focus on how it was YOU that made sure you were checked when you were. We're all here for you. :comfort:

[4BoysAGirl&A?]

So I guess I will post my NICU story...


I was diagnosed with cervicle cancer in 2001 and told I was never going to have anymore children. I was crushed I had two wonderful sons and really wanted a little girl. After treatment and a visit to another Dr. for a second opinion I found that I was fine and I was pregnant.

At my anatomy scan at 20 weeks my miracle baby (another boy) was diagnosed with Chiroid Plexis Cysts on his brain and some abnormalities with his fingers and toes. Dr. says it's Trisomy 18 and I should abort my child because it would probably die inutero anyway. I of course told him absolutly no way God gave me this child for a reason and that was not an option. I switched Dr.s and after another scan they told me the cysts were not gone and told me to have an amnio. I elected not to do that either. I was prepared to love whatever God had given me.

March 8 2003, my water broke at 34 weeks gestation Jaxon James was born. He was not breathing and was wisked away to the NICU. After hours of waiting I got to go see my miracle baby. He was tiny but alive and breathing. He had ultrasounds on his head and the cysts were still there but smaller, his hands and feet were perfectly normal (with the exception of being slightly crooked) he was jaundiced and had light therapy, he had bouts of apnea often, and a slight case of pnuemonia which he had IV's in his cord and his head. He could not maintain his body temp, or his oxygen saturation. Amazingly they let him come home ten days later with a clean bill of health no cysts, no Trisomy 18, no nothing.

Next Day
We lived above Park City UT at the time which is about 8000 ft elevation. I was holding him and he turned blue. I rushed him to the ski resort clinic because the hospital was an hour down the canyon. They took one look at him and called the ambulance, they transferred him to children's hospital where he stayed in the emergency room for five days (lack of beds no room) and then stayed in a room for a few weeks. They found he had GERD so bad that it ate his esophogus away and made it swell shut. My grandfather that raised me died that day. My son was discharged with apnea monitors, pulse ox monitors, oxygen concentrators and bottles, and stayed on oxygen for about a year I guess they figured he could not maintain his oxygen sats because of elevation, but I am not sure all I know is if he didn't have oxygen he could not breathe.

He is now five and completely normal (kinda dorky) and doing very well.

Phew sorry that was so long.

[landon6]

Chari, I had no idea............

I am so sorry for your struggles and so happy to hear that your cervical cancer is gone (true?) and that Jackson is a happy healthy 5yr old, which I knew from being a fellow July 07' momma, what a scary time that must have been. Kuddo's to you for sticking to your guns and listening to your heart & not your doctor.

You are one strong woman, your children are blessed to have you as their mother.

[4BoysAGirl&A?]

Thanks Mandie

Yes it is gone. It was very scary but very worth it.
You are the one that deserves kuddo's for staying strong while struggling through the heartbreak of losing your angels Josh, and Owen. Then having Ryan in the NICU for so long and if I remember correctly he was not close to home until right before he came home.
My dad always told me, God gives challenges to people he knows can handle them. I guess he thinks we're strong women.

[landon6]

Oh good I am so glad your okay!!

I am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason, I still haven't figured out all the reasons yet but I know they are there. Maybe your twins needed my twins to play with, I like to think all of our angels are together, keeping each other warm & happy :wub:

It's getting really close to Owens delivery date (4/28/07) I hope I can be a strong women then........................

[4BoysAGirl&A?]

I am sure you will have your moments when you will ask "why?" and wonder what would it be like. Go to Shawn and Ryan because they will be your strength, your back bone, to get through it. I am very thankful for what God has given me, and I know he has reasons for taking those angels back. I know he has a job for them to do. I am pretty sure that Josh and Owen watch after your boys everyday all day long. I know how hard it was for you last year and it is probably not ever going to be easy during that time. I also know how happy you were to get Ryan here safely. I will be thinking of you April 28th and May 4th. You are strong and you will be okay.

[landon6]

Thanks Chari :silly:

[earnestlizard]

My girl was born at 30 weeks, weighing a whopping 1lb 7oz. She did great from the start. Although needing a transfusion here and there, she was tolerating feedings, not needing cpaps or canulas, just chilling in the NICU. She is on week 5 now and eating like the big girls. However, with her accelerated eating, she is getting more desat spells and generally scaring me to death. I feel all the feelings everyone wrote about: anger, frustration, the whole "why me" thing. I am so jealous of all those moms out there who didnt have any complications with their deliveries (I had preeclampsia and type II diabetes) and can have their babies at their sides. I am still in the middle of my NICU experience so I cant tell you how it ends. All I know is that it is a struggle to remain positive when my girl is having problems, and extremely challenging to not be overly confident she is coming home soon when she does good. My only advice to all those NICU moms out there is to keep your head up. There will be up's and down's so throw on your life vest and hold on tight, the waves will be frequent but worth the ride, even if you cant swim!!

[Love_My_Babies]

Welcome to the APA! Thanks for sharing your story and I hope she makes it home soon!

[earnestlizard]

I remember how awful it was to have all the flowers and balloons and no baby. I balled my eyes out the first night. I also get jealous that my baby sees her nurse more than me. I see them cuddling her, telling me how adorable she is. I know my baby is confused as to who her real mom is. She has been in the NICU for 5 weeks now and I still can't believe I am a mother because my baby is not home.

[earnestlizard]

Thank you so much for this reply... I often feel guilty and abnormal for feeling this way so it's comforting to know that others have had the same experience.

I'm relieved to hear this too. I'm currently on maternity leave and sometimes I just don't feel like I was ever pregnant or gave birth. I was only pregnant for 7 months, never gained any extra weight, really had no morning sickness or anything, and then gave birth through emergency c-section when my preeclampsia was discovered a week prior; everything happened so quickly. It is all so surreal and sometimes I just don't feel like a mother. The NICU gave me a onesie she had soiled. Doing my laundry, and finding her onesie in there, made me cry because there was proof that motherhood is here, even though my girl is not home yet.

[Love_My_Babies]

I remember how awful it was to have all the flowers and balloons and no baby. I balled my eyes out the first night. I also get jealous that my baby sees her nurse more than me. I see them cuddling her, telling me how adorable she is. I know my baby is confused as to who her real mom is. She has been in the NICU for 5 weeks now and I still can't believe I am a mother because my baby is not home.

I know just how you feel sweetheart. I was [I]so[I] jealous of the nurses. I still am, I'll admit. They got to give him his first bath and put him in his first little onesie. I cried when I found out they had done it.

I'd love to tell you it gets better (I'm sure it does). I just got my littlest Mr. home on Friday and I'm still adjusting to being his mom. It feels so weird, ya know? There's this little adorable person that I've just been aching to have home for the last 8 weeks. Now he's here and I'm like "Now what?"

Big BIG hugs, and I hope things start looking up. I'm glad she's doing so well!

Rachele

[flatoutgallop]

I'd love to tell you it gets better (I'm sure it does). I just got my littlest Mr. home on Friday and I'm still adjusting to being his mom. It feels so weird, ya know? There's this little adorable person that I've just been aching to have home for the last 8 weeks. Now he's here and I'm like "Now what?"

Lucas was only in NICU 2 weeks, but I got that samet hing. I got him home and was like 'ok, where do we go from here'...it took a couple days to finally be like...'omg, thats MY baby thats lying there!'

[Allie1980]

Hi there, I don't think I have shared my story yet, even though I've been on the boards for awhile..... after two early miscarriages, I became pregnant again in December of 2006.... for the first twelve weeks I used progesterone to help sustain the pregnancy. After that things were great....however, I remember a few times around 19 or 20 weeks I had a couple of days where I felt TERRIBLE like I had menstrual cramps but they went away and I know after that my Dr. checked me and I was closed and long (cervix was).....

One day at 32 1/2 weeks I felt terrible with cramps again, but I thought it would go away.....that night I felt a TON of pressure and I went to the bathroom and saw a lot of mucous....I thought it might be my mucous plug....so I went into L and D.... they put me on the monitor and I had contractions....after a cervical check they said I was 1-2 cm dilated...I was so scared....they admitted me and gave me nifedipine....the contractions stopped and I didn't dilate anymore...after two days in the hospital they sent me home....but they said I didn't need to be on bedrest (which I think was a mistake)..... So, I continued like normal....Exactly a week later, the contractions reved up again so I went to the hospital and I was now 3-4 cm dilated. This was 33 1/2 weeks. They stopped on their own....later that week, at exactly 34 weeks, I had a regular OB check-up and I was still 3 cm.... The next week I felt fine, but then I saw a bloody mucous after going to the bathroom..., so I went to the hospital again....I was now 5 cm dilated.....they watched me but my contractions stopped.....I was kept over night and sent home August 8, 2007...I just felt so tired that day...I slept all day... later that night I was sitting on the couch and POP!!! My water broke at 9:45 pm....we rushed to the hospital....it started hurting REALLY bad......I was checked as soon as I got there and they said I was 6 to 7 cm dilated.... Finally got an epidural at 9 cm dilated.....(12:30 am)....started pushing at 1:00 am....Rachel was born at 1:28 am.... I was 34 weeks and 6 days. :)

Rachel was 6 pounds 15.5 ounces, 19 inches long....(very big for that gestation)... she had no trouble breathing at first.....4 days later, they noticed her oxygen stats were a little low when she was sleeping and feeding, so they put her on oxygen ...she went home on oxygen, and used it until she was 2 months old.

I'm positive that I would have made it longer if I would have been on bedrest.... The times my labor started again was the days I went out and about doing things. Next time they said they will give me progesterone from weeks 16-36 as this has been a successful tool in preventing preterm labor in moms like me. I'm excited to try for next time!

[aamato]

Hi all -

I just started reading the postings here again and thought I would share my story because we were just released from the NICU after a rocky 7 1/2 weeks.

Little history...after 2 miscarriages, this pregnancy started with 12 weeks of progesterone. After that, I felt great, then started having cramping at approx 20 weeks. Dr said it must be "ligament stretching," but, after 2 weeks, I went in for a routine check and the dr decided to do a pap. Thank god, because she discovered I was 2 cm dilated. She sent me right over to L & D, where I was diagnosed with an incompetent cervix and had an emergency cerclage put in. From that point, I was on strict bed rest at home. I had weekly maternal fetal medicine dr visits and at 28 weeks, the dr just started to lift my bed rest restrictions (yeah, we could go out for dinner) when we discovered I was now 3 cm dilated and my cervix was much thinner. That day, I was admitted into the hospital again on strict bed rest. I couldn't do anything upright (nothing!!) After 1 1/2 weeks, my water broke in the middle of the night and the dr came in and took out the cerclage...we thought I would have the baby right away, but, it didn't happen. After 4 days of "leaking" (sorry tmi), I didn't think I could handle being on such strict bed rest anymore and prayed god would let me have a healthy baby. In fact, we waited another 5 days for anything to happen. On the 5th day, I had our baby boy after a quick labor. He was 3lbs, 6oz and wisked away to the NICU. Thankfully, god watched over all of us because Alex only needed oxygen for the first few hours of life. The NICU was all very scary because of the unknown. Right after birth, Alex had surgery because one of his testicles was twisted sometime during birth and they needed to save it. After that, he went through jaundice a few times, had a pic line, central line through his belly button, central line to his heart (too small veins), blood transfusion, crit shots (anemia), discovered he has a milk protein allergy (no breast milk), had numerous apnea and bradacardia spells, etc. It was definitely a roller coaster ride while in the NICU, but, thankfully the drs and nurses were amazing with their care. Alex now has a lot of girlfriends (nurses) in the NICU! Happily, Alex has been home for a week, is now 6lbs and is doing really well. We can only pray that things continue going so well.....Alex is our little tough guy and truly a blessing!

Thanks for letting me get this out.......whew!!

[sparks3]

Hi! I am new to this forum, but since things have finally started to settle down, I'd like to share our story:

I am 27 years old, with chronic hypertension for some unknown reason. I was diagnosed at the age of 16. I found out that I was pregnant with our first child Sept 26, 2007 by chance. I was only a few weeks along at that point. I immediately was told to switch my BP meds to Aldomet because it was safe to take during my pregnancy. On my first docs appt (10 weeks) my BP was 140/90. Clearly the aldomet wasn't as affective as my other meds, so we spent the next 8 weeks changing the dosage each doc visit (every 2 weeks). Finally, at 18 weeks Toprol was added. Each visit, it was increased as well. At 25 weeks I was placed on bedrest with a BP of 150/100. At 27 weeks I was hospitalized with BP of 170/110 (Monday March 10th) and 200 mg of protein in my urine. On Friday March 14th the baby's movements had slowed down, and they were unable to get his heartrate to speed up with the "zapper". The doctor on call came in and did an ultrasound. Luke scored an 8/8 on his bio-profile, but the end-diastolic flow velocity in the umbilical artery was "absent". The doctor advised that I could go 2 more weeks or 2 more days before delivery. They didn't know. They did know however, that I needed to be at a hospital that had a level III nursery in case I had to deliver soon. So, I was transported at 11:30p that night by ambulance to Indianapolis. They had already started a 24-hour urine -- my urine went with me to complete in Indy. My husband was already on his way home for the night, so I had to call him and tell him to come back to the hospital and that I was getting transferred.

I got checked in and settled on the high risk floor at the St Vincent Women's Hospital in Indianapolis at 3am on Saturday morning. I still remember my nurse saying "I've been doing this for a long time, and I give you 10 days before you deliver". I was 27 wks 4 days. By 4:42pm that day, Luke Bradley graced us with his presence by emergency C-Section. He weighed 1lb 15oz, and was 14 inches long. The 24 hour urine test came back showing that I had 6100 mg of protein in my urine. They had to deliver! I was placed on Mag Sulfate for 48 hours, and did not get to see my baby until 9p Sunday night. His apgars were 1 and 7, so my husband got to see him when he was stabilized. He was so proud!

We spent 10 weeks and 1 day in the NICU, where Luke had a pretty uneventful stay (thank the lord!). He was on the CPAP right away for 2 days, and then put on the vent for 5. He was then back on the CPAP for what seemed like an eternity. He came off at the end of April. He did have 1 blood transfusion, and developed pneumonia from aspirating milk which probably only set him back a week. He was discharged from the hospital on Memorial day this year, a month ago today. When he was discharged he weighed 5lb 3oz, and now he's weighing in at 6lb 14.5oz!

Our stay in the NICU was an emotional rollercoaster, but it was overall a very positive experience. We are now at the point where we're thinking about whether having any more children is worth the risk. Because I have chronic hypertension AND now a history of preeclampsia, my risk is even higher of getting it again. But, I wonder if my BP was under control with meds that I could take during my pregnancy before I got pregnant, if I would have even developed pre-e at all. Clearly my BP was high from the start, so when I hit my 3rd trimester (the stage where typically women's BP raises naturally anyway due to extra fluids) I had nowhere to go but even higher!

I hope our story encourages any other moms out there that have gone or are going through the same thing. Don't ever underestimate the power of chronic high BP....I think pre-pregnancy control is so important in the outcome of a pregnancy!

[camdel]

Hi! I am new to this forum, but since things have finally started to settle down, I'd like to share our story:

I am 27 years old, with chronic hypertension for some unknown reason. I was diagnosed at the age of 16. I found out that I was pregnant with our first child Sept 26, 2007 by chance. I was only a few weeks along at that point. I immediately was told to switch my BP meds to Aldomet because it was safe to take during my pregnancy. On my first docs appt (10 weeks) my BP was 140/90. Clearly the aldomet wasn't as affective as my other meds, so we spent the next 8 weeks changing the dosage each doc visit (every 2 weeks). Finally, at 18 weeks Toprol was added. Each visit, it was increased as well. At 25 weeks I was placed on bedrest with a BP of 150/100. At 27 weeks I was hospitalized with BP of 170/110 (Monday March 10th) and 200 mg of protein in my urine. On Friday March 14th the baby's movements had slowed down, and they were unable to get his heartrate to speed up with the "zapper". The doctor on call came in and did an ultrasound. Luke scored an 8/8 on his bio-profile, but the end-diastolic flow velocity in the umbilical artery was "absent". The doctor advised that I could go 2 more weeks or 2 more days before delivery. They didn't know. They did know however, that I needed to be at a hospital that had a level III nursery in case I had to deliver soon. So, I was transported at 11:30p that night by ambulance to Indianapolis. They had already started a 24-hour urine -- my urine went with me to complete in Indy. My husband was already on his way home for the night, so I had to call him and tell him to come back to the hospital and that I was getting transferred.

I got checked in and settled on the high risk floor at the St Vincent Women's Hospital in Indianapolis at 3am on Saturday morning. I still remember my nurse saying "I've been doing this for a long time, and I give you 10 days before you deliver". I was 27 wks 4 days. By 4:42pm that day, Luke Bradley graced us with his presence by emergency C-Section. He weighed 1lb 15oz, and was 14 inches long. The 24 hour urine test came back showing that I had 6100 mg of protein in my urine. They had to deliver! I was placed on Mag Sulfate for 48 hours, and did not get to see my baby until 9p Sunday night. His apgars were 1 and 7, so my husband got to see him when he was stabilized. He was so proud!

We spent 10 weeks and 1 day in the NICU, where Luke had a pretty uneventful stay (thank the lord!). He was on the CPAP right away for 2 days, and then put on the vent for 5. He was then back on the CPAP for what seemed like an eternity. He came off at the end of April. He did have 1 blood transfusion, and developed pneumonia from aspirating milk which probably only set him back a week. He was discharged from the hospital on Memorial day this year, a month ago today. When he was discharged he weighed 5lb 3oz, and now he's weighing in at 6lb 14.5oz!

Our stay in the NICU was an emotional rollercoaster, but it was overall a very positive experience. We are now at the point where we're thinking about whether having any more children is worth the risk. Because I have chronic hypertension AND now a history of preeclampsia, my risk is even higher of getting it again. But, I wonder if my BP was under control with meds that I could take during my pregnancy before I got pregnant, if I would have even developed pre-e at all. Clearly my BP was high from the start, so when I hit my 3rd trimester (the stage where typically women's BP raises naturally anyway due to extra fluids) I had nowhere to go but even higher!

I hope our story encourages any other moms out there that have gone or are going through the same thing. Don't ever underestimate the power of chronic high BP....I think pre-pregnancy control is so important in the outcome of a pregnancy!


Wow, your story is similar to my first as well...only I don't have chronic hypertension, I did have pre/e. I too delivered at 27 weeks, and my baby was 1 lb 9 oz.and spent 99 emotionally driven days in NICU. I had a healthy second baby, and a 33 weeker. I do think starting off with MFM doctors are the key...congrats!

[sweetheart]

I just had my daughter at 24weeks 2 days. She's so tiny. We don't know why she came early. We may never know. I will be back with the story.

[camdel]

Welcome Tonya!!!

Congrats again on your baby girl. I love her name!

[flatoutgallop]

Welcome Sweetheart!!
Congrats on your little girl :)

[sweetheart]

My daughter, Allyson Christine, was born on July 2, 2008 at 1 LB 8oz and 12 1/2 inches long. She was 24 weeks and 2 days. I have her story at
www.caringbridge.org/visit/allysonchristinenelson (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/allysonchristinenelson)


Tonya

[bmelissa]

So I'm a long time apa'er and peek in and out of here. I feel like I've told my story many times, but for some reason have not posted the story in here.

So here it goes. . . .
I had a normal healthy pgcy. No issues, all was good. At around 32 weeks I started getting this feeling that the baby was coming, crazy I know. It was unexplainable and I was having a lot of braxton hicks but none out of the ordinary to my knowledge. At 33 weeks I went to my check up and told the Dr. how I was feeling. . . she was also 33 weeks pg and told me that in first time pgcys the baby's really like their due dates, not to worry. So no internal exam. So I went about my merry way. I was a subsitute teacher and didn't sub everday but spent a lot of time on my feet when i did.

Anywho, I woke up on April 11, 2007 at 33w 6d and felt that the baby had dropped and was in a manic mode to return duplicate baby stuff, wash clothes, stayed up until 11:30 writing thank you notes. Woke up at 12 a.m. on the 12th to pee, 1 a.m., and 2 a.m. those were the exact times. Crazy I know! So anyone at the 2 a.m. potty break I felt some leakage as I rolled over to get out of bed. 2 times I felt it before getting out of bed. It felt like I was peeing and I put my hand down to make sure I wasn't dreaming. So as soon as I stood up I knew when I felt it running down my legs that it was my water, ran to the bathroom and a big gush.

Went to the hospital (4cms and 95% effaced) where I was told NO EPIDURAL b/c of a low platelet count. So I went through 8 hours of labor, dialated to 10started pushing when they realized that Logan had flipped breech sometime during that last hours. His butt and testies were already coming out of me but they had to deliever via c/s b/c it was against hospital policy to deliver a breech baby. So off to my emergency c/s where I was put totally asleep b/c I couldn't receive a spinal or Epi b/c I'd bleed into my spine b/c of the low platelets.

Let me speed this up. . . I saw Logan about 5 hours later for about 2 mins. He was transferred to a hospital 1 hr south. I saw him 2 days later on the 14th. I demanded to leave my hospital a day early.

He spent 7 days on cpap and under the bilibed. He had a pda and received treatment to close the hole in his heart, which worked. He was also give surfactin for his premature lungs. I held him at 7 days for the first time and nursed him at 12 days.

Oh yeah, He weighed 4lbs 15oz at birth and his weight went down to 4lbs 8oz. He spent 15 days in the NICU. I pumped every 3 hrs. All I have to say is that God gave me something special to help me through that time. I hated every minute of the NICU. It is all a nightmare to this day!

Thank the Lord though that now. . . he is 23lbs 15 months old and just started walking a few days ago.

It could have been a lot worse and my heart goes out to all of you other mamas and babies. I realize how blessed I am!

[kendra76]

thanks ladies for posting all of your birth stories...

[bmfosterbarrett]

Here is my long story.

Jackson arrived Friday, August 08, 2008 at 3:30 pm, he weighed 7 lbs 11.4 oz and 21 inches long. He was born via c-section. I was induced into labor Friday due to my high blood pressure (preeclampsia) and then before we decided how to induce they did an ultrasound and the little one was breech so I had no options but to have a c-section.

Thursday night we arrived at the hospital around 10:30 pm. My blood pressure was at 175/116 before we left home. I was kept all night to finish my 24 hour urine collection and my protein levels were extremely high (354) and they should be between 50-100. Around noon the decision was made that we would be having a baby on 08-08-08. That's when we found out that the little one decided he flipped himself upside down and his head was around my ribs.

**Chris gets to tell this part**
Because of his breech presentation, they had to do a c-section. Brianna did really well throughout the surgery. I watched them pull Jackson out, and take him over to clean him up. He turned pink pretty quickly, but was not crying quite as much as they wanted. He would cry when stimulated, but was otherwise grunting. He was taken to the NICU (Neonatal ICU) for observation. Brianna did really well in recovery, and they took us by to see the baby in NICU before we went to our room. They were monitoring him, as there was some fluid still in his lungs. They wanted him to cry, and scream, to help clear his lungs, but he wouldn't do it (a good trait for later on, I hope...). They basically wanted him to keep his oxygen level up, without grunting (which means that he is working to exhale, because of the fluid). They put him on a c-pap during the night Friday night, to help with his breathing. They also started antibiotics in his IV as a precaution against infection.

Yesterday (Saturday) seemed to go well, with no real changes. We went down several times to see him, and around 3pm, Brianna asked if we could hold him. We were able to hold him for a while. While I was holding him, he started crying, which seemed good, based on what they had told us earlier. I noticed that his crying got a little weaker, and his oxygen saturation went down into the 60's (it's a percentage, and 90-100 is good). His little hands and feet were turning blue. A nurse grabbed him from me, and they went to work on him. He had bilateral pneumothoraces, which essentially means that a weak spot in the lung tissue had ruptured, allowing air to escape into the chest cavity. Air pressure builds up in the chest, and does not allow the lungs to expand. They decompressed his chest, and ended up putting chest tubes in both sides, to allow the air to escape. They also intubated him, so that they could put him on a ventilator, so he does not have to work to breathe.

We don't quite know at this point how long he will be here, but the ruptures in the lungs will have to heal, there is a possibility that he has pneumonia, which the antibiotics will treat. He will be in the NICU until any pneumonia is cleared up, and he can maintain his O2 saturation on his own. He is stable, and it looks like he should recover, hopefully without any long term complications. Jackson came home on August 19th after being in the NICU for 12 days.

[camdel]

Wow...poor Jackson...I'm glad he is home with you now.

Oh Chris, wow...how are you doing?

[bmfosterbarrett]

I really wish I would have seen this forum when I was in the NICU with Jackson - I felt all alone there.

[CatandDylan]

I really wish I would have seen this forum when I was in the NICU with Jackson - I felt all alone there.

Your story is very similar to mine. DS had a pneumothoraces too and on antibiotics. But they didnt put chest tubes on him, they put him on an oxgen helmet. He was a full term baby in the NICU for 9 days. So I know exactly how you felt and how you feel now. PM me if you want to talk about. I'm glad he is home now. ((hugs))

[NATI21]

MY NAME IS STEPHANIE I AM 21YRS OLD, MY STORY IS A LITTLE BIT LONG I HOPE MY STORY HELPS SOMEONE SOME DAY!!

When I Was 4m Pg I Was Told By My Ob That My Son Was Losing Fluids. They Didnt Know From Where Because All The Test Came Back Negative. I Was Check Every Wk From That Day Until My Son Was Born. On Sep.19.07 I Was Rushed To The Hospital Because My Baby Didnt Have Enough Fluids(the Whole Time I Was Told My Son Wasnt Going To Survive)i Was Indused And Was In Labor For 3 Days Finally On Sep.21.07 My Son Was Born Through Emergency C-section weighing 2lbs 11oz, 15" long.

He Was Going To Have To Be In The Nicu Until His Term Day, At Least Thats What We Where Told. He Didnt Need The Ventalator, He Was Able To Breath On His Own From Day One. 2wks Went By And In The Process Of Those 2wks We Were Told That My Son Was Going To Have To Be Transfer To A Different Hospital Becasue They Didnt Have The Proper Equippment To Help Diagnose What Was Wrong With Him Because He Wasnt Able To Gain Weight And His Body Was Obsorbing The Proper Nutrients. When We Got To The Other Hospital We Were Told That His Liver And Pancreas Werent Working Properly.

7wks From When He Was Born He Was Then Transfered To Another Hospital Because They Where Going To Beable To Help Him Better.(keep In Mind They Are Still Telling Us He Sint Going To Make It)when We Get To This Hospital #3 After Having Chromosom Test Done In All 3 Hospitals All Coming Back Normal. The One That They Did At This Hospital Comes Back Positive, He Was Missing 10 Genes Fromthe X Chromosome. They Didnt Know If The Genes He Was Missing Was Causing Him To Have So Many Problems, Because They Didnt Know What Each Gene Did Inside His Body.

It Is So Hard To See Your Precious Baby Have All These Testing Done. To Be Able To Know How Damaged His Liver Was Do Be Able To Decide If He Was Going To Need A Liver Transplant He Had To Go Into Surgery So That They Could Get A Piece Of His Liver And Do A Byobyopsy On That Piece Of Liver To Determine How Badly The Liver Was Damaged. In The Mean Time There Was The Risk Of Him Not Having Enough Platlets Which Could Cause Him To Bleed To Death. The Surgery Was A Success.

Out Of All The Nurces That Were Taing Care Of Him There Was One I Disliked With A Pasion. The Day Of His Surgery When They Took Him Back To His Room And This Nurse Decided That Since He Was A Little Bit Cranky To Sooth Him She Placed Him On His Tummy After Having Surgery On His Tummy. You Have No Idea How Mad I Was, And To Top It Off I Couldnt Touch Him, And I Had To Wait For The Nurse To Be Done With What She Was Doing So That She Could Turn Him Over, In The Mean Time He Is In Pain And On His Belly Trying To Flip Himself Over. I Was So P/o, I Practically Yeld At Her. We Ended Up Knowing That His Liver Was Midley Damaged And That He Wasnt Able To Get A Liver Transplant Because He Was Too Small.

The Dr That Took His Case Didnt Want Us To Take Him Home After Him Telling Us Over And Over Again That He Wasnt Going To Survive Past 1yr. We Had A Meeting With The Director Of The Hospital, The Dr, Everyone That Was Training Us In Knowing How To Take Care Of Him. We Finally Were Able To Take Him Home On New Years Eve On Hospice Care And With A Feeding Tube.

15 Days Later My Son Past Away Jan.14.08 I Still Have A Hard Time Believing He Isnt With Me Anymore, I Know He Is With Me In Spirit, But I Want Him Here With Me He Will Be A Year On Ld On Sunday, I Am Praying To Be Strong For That Day Because I Want To Be Able To Visit Him With Out Crying.

MY BRAVE ANGEL THAT IS IN HEAVEN, YOU TOUGHT ME ALOT!

[sweetheart]

I am so sorry about your beautiful little boy. He's a little angel. I read his story and wanted to cry. Say strong and I will be thinking of you!

[prememum]

Well I will post my story, then I will see if I can figure out this whole picture thing LOL

It all started on a Monday, I work in a pharmacy so I am on my feet all day, well we were especially busy that day and I was literally running for about 5 hours that day. I went home and my feet were swollen and I was exhausted. The next day I was having mucusy brown discharge, I thought it was weird but didnt really pay attention, by thursday morning I was still having it, so I called my OB, I had an appt later that day but they wanted me to come in that morning just in case. So I left work and went in, they hooked me up to the NST and nothing. No contractions, my OB checked me and she said my cervix was a bit irritated but no active bleeding and I was ok.

I decided to take the next day off of work and just relax, that night I slept like crap, I woke up at 7 am with cramps. I was having cramps all morning and they were starting to get bad, my DH finally convinced me to call the doc, they told me to drink 2 glasses of water, take a warm bath for 1 hour and count them and call them back. well I had 13 in one hour. They had me come in again and hooked me up to the NST and again nothing. OB checked me and was like WOW this looks nothing like it did yesterday ! then she said im going to check this for amnniotic fluid! I was like WHAT!?? I started panicking, my first two trimesters were PERFECT in fact at one of my appt. that was the exact word that the NP had said was your pregnancy is PERFECT!

She came back in and said I tested positive for amniotic fluid and I was going straight to the hospital and not coming out until I had my baby. She sent me to a certain hospital that had the best NICU in the area. She said she was going to keep me pregnant as long as possible, that was her goal and she would try her hardest to do that! I went to the hospital where they put me on magnesium sulfate ( worst drug ever) and antibiotics since when you rupture you are susceptible to infection, and fluids since I was dehydrated. I got the two shots of steriods and sat in the hospital for a week until I had my Collin.

When I went into labor they wouldnt take me seriously until I was 4-5 centimeters. When I was 1-2 my ob was like some women can sit on that for a good week! LOL I got the epidural, which they put it in the "wrong canal" so I went completely numb and every time they checked me, the nurse would have to move my leg for me, and everytime she touched me I couldnt feel anything! I was like how am I going to push?

WHen COllin came out he was screaming! THANK GOD! I was so scared he would come out like a lump He weighed 3 lbs 6.7 oz and was 16 1/2 inches long. He was on the c-pap as precaution for 1 day, then on oxygen for 1 more day as precaution as well. At 32 weeks gestation he was in an open crib, at 33 weeks he was taking bottles he probably could have take them sooner but thats the earliest the NICU would allow them to try the bottle , the neonatologist said it takes about 2 weeks for babies to get bottles down, it took Collin 2 days. They took him off caffeine at 33 weeks but a few days before we went home he had 2 bradys that required stimulation, so they put him back on the caffeine and a monitor to go home on. They kept saying he's so young, babies usually dont do as well, and I was like I dont care he is doing everything he needs to lets go home! He went home at 34 weeks 2 days at 4 lbs 11.8 oz. At his first pedi apt he weighed 5 lbs 2 oz he gained 6 oz in 3 days ! I realize how lucky we truly are that Collin is doing so well! My NICU was the closest one in the area, so there were alot of babies from all around the state. I have so many more stories about our NICU journey but Im sure this is long enough!

[minna_k04]

I'm not a NICU mom, but I'm a NICU aunt, so I guess I can share.
My older sister got pregnant for the first time just a few short months after getting married. She was 23 weeks pregnant. She called my mom and told her that something didn't feel right, mom told her to call the dr. She did and the dr. shrugged it off as first time mom jitters and braxton hicks. Told her it was normal he would see her at the end of the week for her appt. She still didn't feel right so she called my mom back, mom convinced her to get dressed and get to the hospital. By the time she got there her contractions were coming quick and so was the baby. Caley was born an hr or so later. She was doing okay, they said she was actually quite mature for 23 weeks, but so small. We were all in shock as it was and then about 12 hrs later the dr came in and very bluntly with no tact told my sister that her baby was dying and there was nothing they could do. She was hemorrhaging. At only 15hrs old she went to heaven. It was horrible, my sister was so depressed that we didn't leave her alone for 3 months. We were scared of what might happen. But life goes on and she finally came to terms with it. She changed drs at my insistence. She decided she wanted a baby, so she did everything right, went to pre-conception apts and everything. Then she got pregnant. She was excited but scared, the dr couldn't and still can't find any reason why she can't carry a baby to term. He said it must have been a fluke. It wasn't. Around 25 weeks she started having contractions, dr sent her to the hospital, stopped her labor and put her on bedrest. She was in and out of the hospital until 36 weeks. Then Sarah-Cate was born. 5lb 2 oz. She was a little small, but not too small. She was in NICU for a long 11 days. The longest of out lives. Then she came home on a Apnea monitor. Beck insisted on thing for 2 months, she was so scared. She wouldn't allow her out of her sight for years. Sarah-Cate is now 5 and healthy as a horse. Beck and her husband decided they wanted a boy, they were scared but the dr said they would watch her close. So they tried one more time. She did great until 31 weeks. Then she started dilating and the dr put her on bed rest. The stress and worry sent her into labor the next day. It took 3 days on high doses of mag to stop it,but they did. Last week, at 36 weeks and 2 day, Austin was born. He was born on Thursday and is coming home tomorrow. He is beautiful and we do not regret the decision to try one more time. This is the last though, they decided that 2 is plenty and there is no point in risking it again

[mom2dylan_lani]

Preg/Birth:
My pregnancy started out trouble from the very beginning with some bleeding at 10 weeks pregnant. That all ended up being okay. On August 10, 2008 at 28 weeks pregnant I started having cramping at work so I decided to leave and go get checked out. When I got to the hospital I was dialated to 3.. They decided to send me to a hospital with a NICU in case I delivered. They put me on mag sulfate (worst med ever) until my labor stopped. I was in the hospital for a week. I went home on complete bedrest and I had 2 NST a week and I saw the doctor once a week. I ended up staying pregnant for 5 more weeks. I went on September 11, 2008 for my routine NST. I was 33 weeks pregnant. I told them I was having some cramping so they decided to have the doctor see me just in case. I was dialated to 4-5. My doctor decided to take me to labor and delivery. I sat in observation for a couple hrs with contractions off the chart until they decided to keep me. About an hr later they checked me and I was 6-7 with bulging water. They told me my baby would be born in a hospital with no NICU because they couldnt send me by ambulance just in case my water broke and I delivered in the ambulance. They "put me on my head" and gave me mag again to try to stop the labor. A couple hrs later I was in a lot of pain, they checked me and I was at 8. I started getting really sick from the mag because it made my blood pressure really low. I demanded them to take me off it, and give me an epi. I waited all night dialated to 10 for the doctor to come break my water. At 8:59AM on September 12, 2008 I had my beautiful daughter weighing 4lb 2oz 18in. I named her Elaina Grace. I wasn't due until October 30.
NICU:
3 hrs after my daughter was born NICU came and took her by ambulance to their hospital due to breathing problems. I got discharged from the hospital that night, and went to see her the next morning. The first time I saw her in the NICU she wasn't on any oxygen or anything. They told me she had been on the CPAP but wouldn't need it anymore (she could breathe on her own). I didn't get to hold her until she was 2 days old. But she developed jaundice and I only got to hold her once a day until it went away. She stayed there for 15 days. I took her home September 27,2008 perfectly healthy. She is now 7 weeks old and weighs 6lb 8oz, and is doing great.

[adidasgirl75]

I became pregnant with quads thru our first IUI with follistim. From the beginning I was terrified something bad was going to happen. I knew since we had a hard time getting pregnant there was a higher risk of miscarriage, as well as there being 4 babies was extremely high risk. Around 10 weeks the fertility doctor noticed one of the babies heart beats was slower than the others. This progressed until 4 weeks later at our 1st ultrasound with the high risk obgyn. At that point there were only 3 heartbeats. Our angel Aaron/Erin left us. For months after that I was constantly worried something bad was going to happen. My husband couldn't figure out why I wasn't excited about the babies or didn't want to talk about baby names. I think I was trying to stay as far mentally detached as I could. With every doctor's appointment and ultrasound I became more encouraged. From 24 weeks on my doctor told me to bring a bag to stay in the hospital to every appointment. I was stubborn and didn't want to stay in the hospital, so I did exactly what he told me to and it worked. After the loss of Aaron/Erin the rest of the pregnancy was uneventful. Every appointment he told me I should have a list of things wrong with me, but I was perfectly healthy: no high blood pressure, few contractions, no diabetes, ect. He tried to a admit me for weeks. It was fun to frustrate him and get to go home each week, but he always gave me an open invitation to go into the hospital when I was ready. He made me feel good, as well as his nurse practitioner, because they said I should be a poster child for a triplet mom. That my body was built to carry 3 babies. At 33.6 weeks I admitted myself, after stopping off for one last descent meal. At 34.2 weeks he decided since they were having trouble keeping track of all their heartbeat, we would do the c-section. Really it was because I wanted them to be delivered on the same day as his twin daughters birthday and they had persuaded him to go to the John Mayer concert.

At 8:57, 8:58, & 8:59 am, the babies were born via c-section. All 3 came out butt first and screaming! Noah was 4lbs 6 ounces 17 3/4 inches. Olivia was 3lbs 15 ounces 18 inches. Hannah was 4lbs 17 1/2 inches. My husband and I waited franticly for the Special Care nurses and doctors to check them over. They weren't in a hurry. They even took time to take photos of all the babies, Mike cutting the cords, and a group photo, of course all while they were sewing me up. We were so lucky. From birth they breathed on their own. No intubation tubes or oxygen was needed. While in Special Care they were in the isolates for only 3 days then were transferred to open air beds. They did have iv's for a few days just to make sure they were receiving enough fluid and feeding tubes to finish what food that wasn't taken by bottle. Poor Noah kept pulling his iv out and blowing veins, so eventually they had to put it in his head. I know it was for the best, but it looked so painful and I cried every time I saw him with it. After a couple days it was out. They were each hooked up to apnea, heart rate, and oxygen level monitors as precautions. Within 24 they each were eating from a bottle. I stayed in the hospital for a week and could see them 24/7. Leaving was so hard. It cried every time we left. With each day they were eating better. It took some time to catch onto the techniques to get them to eat. They did have some troubles staying awake and focusing on eating, so they would have to get about half of their feedings by tube for 8 days. Hannah had her tube take out at 8 days but it had to be reinserted a day later because she was getting too tired from eating and couldn't finish her feedings. Two days later it came out and stayed out. Olivia's came out as well. Noah still had his. He just didn't have enough energy to eat all his food. At 13 days old Hannah and Olivia surprised us by coming home early. The Special Care doctors said they would be in there for 4-6 weeks. Guess our babies have my stubbornness. Noah had to stay in the hospital due to his feeding troubles. To our amazement the doctor's called us on day 14 and told us to come get Noah on day 15. Even though it was only a couple of days until he came home, it was tough and our family was incomplete and I felt like I was abandoning him. At 15 days old we had all 3 of our babies home with any medications or monitors. I was so afraid something was going to happen that I would stay up with them all night, but nothing did except for acid reflux, which is minor compared to the possible complications.

At 16 weeks old they are doing great. Noah is 12 lbs 23 inches. Olivia is 13 lbs 7 ounces 24 inches. Hannah is 13 lbs 12 ounces 23 3/4 inches. Everybody is on the growth scale between the 10th and 50th percentiles. They are also meeting all the mental and physical milestones for their actual age. We know how lucky were are. I want to give hope to others that being a preemie and in Special Care/NICU, while overwhelming and scary, there can be positive outcomes. We have proof of that times 3! Sorry for the book. There was so much that happened. Good luck to all and to all those NICU parents, stay strong. It's tough but you can do it! Just take it hour by hour and day by day.

Melissa

[MrsH]

Bump

[earnestlizard]

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v207/163/4/1043213010/n1043213010_116394_3894.jpg
My Isabella was born at 29 weeks, weighing 1lb 7oz. She was a fighter from day one scoring 9/10 on that checklist they do with newborns. For every 3 steps forward, she took 2 back. I remember the pik line, those monitors, and many times rubbing the chest to make her heart start beating again. Those NICU days were so scary and we were praying everyday for her. We loved her so much when everyone else was too scared to. She was in the NICU for 2 months. We were so frustrated to see all the other babies come and go when ours had been there for so long. You felt jealous and terribly guilty for feeling that way in the first place. Our baby had hernia surgery and a breathing tube after her surgery that nearly took her life twice. All those painful memories just fade away once you have that baby home. That is when the real journey begins, no one there to help you, to tell you her heart is beating, she is breathing, or how to feed her. Those moments outside of the NICU, in your home, are even more special. You can finally be normal parents, with that fear of losing your baby fading each passing day.
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v359/163/4/1043213010/n1043213010_179710_1876.jpg

[FireflyRainy]

Mariah, my precious DD, who is now 4 years old, was due on June 10th, 2004, but I suppose she had other plans in mind. My pregnancy up unto this point was very easy with no problems whatsoever. Suddenly with no warning at all at 26 weeks, my water broke! I immediately went to L&D and was admitted. They tested me to confirm that it was in fact amniotic fluid...I was transported by ambulance downtown to hospital with a Level IV NICU.

They tested my amniotic fluid via amniocentesis where it was revealed that there was an infection in my fluid so it was necessary for me to be induced and deliver. She was not in distress the entire time, which was a blessing in itself. They hooked me up to pitocin, I rested, and a few hours later, I was in active labor. I delivered Mariah vaginally at 10:39AM on March 7th 2004. She weighed in at 1 lb. 12 oz. and was 13 inches long...

She was suddenly cleaned off, weighed, placed in an incubator, and whisked away by a team of 6 members of the NICU staff before I could even really see her. My heart broke that I could not even touch her. When taken to the NICU, she was immediately placed on a ventilator...Hours later she was placed on the CPAP and was doing well. To make a long story short, she stayed in the NICU for about 8 weeks and then moved to the PICU for about 5 weeks....all in all, she was in the hospital for 3 long excrutiating months and a week....The only real challenge she faced in the NICU was overcoming acid reflux, and once she was placed on meds, she started tolerating her feeds much better, gaining weight, etc. She had two transfusions while in the NICU. All of her tests turned out negative by the grace of God. She has no complications or delays whatsoever to this day and I am so grateful! I've decided to share some pics...

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s281/uspruill/Mariah%20Spruill%20Gibbs/scan-1-1.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s281/uspruill/Mariah%20Spruill%20Gibbs/100_2309.jpg

[Suzanne10502]

I just discovered this room so wanted to share.

Zachary was born at 35 weeks (born Nov 2nd, but due Dec 8th). I had a very uneventful pregnancy and on Nov 1st, I was shopping with my mom, about to walk into Target and my water broke! I went to L&D and they confirmed and on Nov 2nd at 3:20am Zach joined the world. He was 5lbs 4oz and 18 1/2 in. long.

He was in the NICU for a week and what a tough week. I got discharged and cried so bad that I had to leave him there. We are so blessed and lucky that overall he was in really good health. He just was breathing a little bit fast at times but that resolved in a few days. He did also have some jaundice which also cleared up as well.

My little piggy is now 10lbs 10z and 22 in. long and doing fantastic. Healthy as can be and a strong little man!! DH and I could not be more blessed to have him here with us.

[DeDee]

Our story begins in Dec 07 actually. I was horribley ran down and sickly then I found a lump under my arm. So, I went to the dr. Luckly my lump was nothing and I had a sinus infection. 10 days antbiotics, I was good to go. I got a AF in Jan but Feb showed up and after the 21st I started counting days. I was not thrilled to say the least:ohno:But I'm a great prenatal advocate so....

8wks..dr appt. normal things and then so happen u/s was open. Heard baby's hb and baby stole mine.

12wks ..Not so good.. high bp put on meds and 24hr urine. Since I had lost our first lo at 10wks.With the exception of the other things, 12wks was a happy milestone.

13wks to the day.I started bleeding real bad. Went to dr,crying. We did u/s. I couldn't look. Then.. I heard it, a wonderful hb. lo was still there. Couple days rest and upped my bp meds good to go.

16wks bleeding again. I was convinced baby wouldn't be. My dh went with me and dr did u/s again . HB and the most precious pics of baby's little hands.

20 wks I'm for sure a little boy and proud to show it. Upped bp meds again

28 wks preterm contracts

31 wks Hospital bp 190/96 more meds, 24hr urine ,work restiction

Next wks NTS every wk raised bp meds AGAIN.

Sept 26 U/S for growth and fluid

Then It happened....Sept 30th .. 37 wks..Full blown pre eclampsia and the fri u/s showed baby was low on fluid and now he only had a few pockets around his face. DR said WE ARE DONE.

Induction began at 4:30 that afternoon along with magnesium sulfate for bp.

Oct1 Dr broke water at 1:00, epi in at 2:30, lo started to decel at 3:30 and got worse, I was told to start pushing and not to stop. 3 good ones and he was here. Jesse Nathaniel came into this world at 4:27pm . He cried. And the OR team was sent packing.. But about a hr later he showed signs on "transitioning" But after a couple more hrs he was worse. Jim had gone home about 45mi away. At 10:30 they came and said we had better transport ( nearest NICU 60mi away) JIm and NICU team both on thier way. I sat with Jess as he struggled,holding his hand and praying.

Oct2 at 2:00 a.m. team arrived, got Jess ready, and as fast a they came they were gone. I didn't even get to kiss him good bye.
I had to stay to finish my mag and plus I had alot of bleeding. We finally made to the hosp at7:00 that night. When arrived we learned he had sepsis,stopped breathing and he was fully intebated and on a resp plus they thought he had a nemothorax(sp). I was CRUSHED, between the pg, del, asking if we wanted the chaplan after being told all he needed was cpap, I LOST IT!!! It was bad. I needed my church family. I couldn't stop crying.

Oct3 Oblivious to anything

Oct4 I was able to have a conversation and I had some questions. 1st was he going to live and why did this happen. I asked if I was able to carry him longer would this had happened? Dr honestly answered, No, if I would have carried even a day or 2 Jess would be dead. They don't really know why his lungs didn't develope but after 2 doses of surfactant(sp) he came around.

6 days on resp,2 days cpap ,jaundice lights, 10day antibiotics, and relearning how to eat.

October 16 at 10:15 a.m. Our lives began again. Jesse came home.

Today Jess is a happy,smiley bundle of love. He is something I never thought of ever wanting and is more than I could ever ask for. I thank the dr's, resp therapist's, and nurses for caring for him. But thank GOD for letting me have him. He completes me. And, yes, I do it all over agian.

http://img5.glowfoto.com/images/2009/03/31-1757255652T.jpg (http://www.glowfoto.com/user_imageredirect.php?iid=2433226) http://img4.glowfoto.com/images/2009/06/08-2056001383T.jpg (http://www.glowfoto.com/user_imageredirect.php?iid=2488272)
http://img5.glowfoto.com/images/2009/03/29-2144509613T.jpg (http://www.glowfoto.com/user_imageredirect.php?iid=2431920)

[cheeksy]

Dear ladies, popping from Oct BD to say your stories are so touching and special. Big hugs to you all and you are in my thoughts

[Kurt's Mom]

Dear ladies, popping from Oct BD to say your stories are so touching and special. Big hugs to you all and you are in my thoughts
Ditto

[Jenzign]

I'd like to share my happy ending... :)

We always new I'd be High risk pregnancy: I had cervical
Cancer in 2004!
I had surgery to rid the Cancer, Clean margins! :)

Because of the surgery we knew holding a baby may be
complicated!

Got pregnant finally after 3.5 yrs on Sept. 2008 (after
a loss, 8 mon. prior)

Cervix was holding up until 20wks of pregnancy...every 2wks.
cervix got thinner and thinner!

Went for routine check up on March 31st...4 CM dilated! :shock:
(Baby not due until May 20th)

Went into labor April 4th! 12hrs. later Baby Sal arrives @
33wks. gestation! 3lbs. 14oz.& 17 in. Breathing on his own from Day 1!

Apgar scores were 9/9!

My amazing miracle is due to come home to me early this
week....We can't wait! :):):):):)

[XangelaX]

I had a weird pregnancy from the get go. I never honestly felt pregnant, Just kind of different. On Halloween of 2008 My boyfriend proposed to me:hooray: and a week later i got my BFP.
I remember making our first Thanksgiving dinner and it making me feel so sick, I had still not accepetd the fact i was pregnant. Finally in the middle of december i called to make my first appt, i told them all my dates and she said well wait untill January 16th to have you come in, something about being so early blah blah

January 16th (my 25th birthday) it becomes offical. After this i still didnt feel pregnant just fat and kinda sloppy :silly:
Fast forward to 23 weeks
I have my glucose test, then the problems begin. My blood pressure was 187/107. The nurses freak out so of course i will, i lay on my left side in a ark room and wait. My actual doctor comes in and takes it 168/89. She tells me im possibly showing signs for Pregnancy Induced Hypertension and hands me a jug! The infamous 24hour urine test.
I was terrified and i remember getting on APA and telling all my July mommies and being so scared and everyone of them being so helpful and calming me down.
Then began weekly nst and bpps
Well my urine test came back normal so i thought it was a stress situation and i should just take a day off and calm down.
that Thursday i was admitted into Ante Partum and from there i lost it In between nst and bpps the doctors said id now need dopplars twice a week:ohno:
My little girl was suffering in a way. She had Inuterinine Growth Restriction and wasnt getting what she needed to grow and survive. Even as I type this i start crying. My body was failing completely, I had done everything right. I didnt drink caffenine, i took my prenatals, i stayed off my feet when i could, I mean i went overboard to keep her healthy, and something i couldnt prevent happned.
I recieved betamethasone shots for her lung develpment and was told id have to deliver soon and her survival rate would be about 75%She then told me that i was spilling 4+ protein in my irine and that my liver was showing signs of failure. My placenta was aging and if we didnt watch closely id be at risk too.
I remember looking at DH and seeing his face drop and it broke my heart, we didnt know if wed lose our only baby or if wed both go. I have never said this to him but id have gladly gave my own life to save hers, and i almost did.
skip to week 28
The doctors notice her flow had improved! My bps were good! i was still spiliing alot of protein so ante partum became my new home! I recieved another round of steroids and all we could do was laugh and make fun of me taking "roids"
Then it happens

May 15th i go down for my u/s, nst and bpp Everything looked ok! I was thrilled. I had a week with no bad news, a week without worry and a week without crying all day.
My doctor stays on my belly saying this is amazing, you and her have improved.
Then she sees the flow stop. The cord started to push blood back into my baby. She froze and said Ang, your 30 weeks, Lilly looks great but we have to get her out.
By the grace of god she spent that extra time on me and found this, if she hadnt Neither one of us would be here right now.
I called DH and bext thing i know im getting my spinal preping for a c section and Lilly is here. Breathing on her own and crying
She weighed 1lb 15 oz and was 14 inches long. DH stood up to see her and tears poured down his face. We had beat the odds for now, I was alive and so was our 1ST daughter.
she recieved a 8/9 on the APGAR and the nurses even waited for me to look and see her, she was so tiny and perfect. All the pain and worry came to a stop. She was here and doing great
I didnt get to see her anymore that night because of the Mag ( this stuff is the devil)
The rest of that night is a blur, Saturday i was sooo happy id get to go see her:hooray::hooray: I pulled myself up and made my way to the bathroom! I remember crying i was so happy! I told my nurse i had to puke :ohno: and that afterwards id feel better!
I wake up to 6 nurses yelling and blood everywhere. The doctor ran in and took my vitals my bp was77/40. I was diagnosed eclamptic right there and was told id had a seizure and i was going back to L&D I cried the whole time, I wanted to see my baby and noone would let me. I spent all of saturday on mag, while dh vistited Lilly and took lots of pictures for me.
Sunday whe i finally saw her was the greatest day of my life, she was so tiny but she looked right at me. I think she knew and understood what happened. I told her i was sorry it took so long abd i held her little hand forever.
On the 19th I was discharged and it broke my heart. I hate not being with her 24/7. My doctor told me if i plan to have antoher baby i will be watched like a hawk because it came on so fast.
Skip to today May 21st 2009. Lilly is 6 days old, she now weighs over 2 pounds! She is eating 7ccs of food! She cries when her diapers dirty and will eat her fingers when shes hungry!!! She had a brain u/s and it came back perfect!!!
The NICU doctors told us today that he believes she will be perfect. She shows no signs of anything except being a tiny tot :laugh: (our doctors like to joke around and it helps me)
I never would imagine being a mom to a preemie, i want to bring my baby home and look at her, instead i have to go see her, but its worth every second of all the pain and worry.
We brought a healthy little girl into the world and she has fought to be here from day 1. I pray her NICU stay is short, but im so thankful for these guys and The March of Dimes.
I hated my doctors at first but they really did help me in the end
Shes my little miracle and because of all this its made me a stronger and better person. Im a mom
I wanted to add that I am blessed to have found all you ladies, the july girls sent me here and all your kind words really helped me. I read each and every story each day being in ante partum and just would wish if have half of any of you ladies strength. NICU parents seem to have a bond that ill cherish
(sorry this is so long and misspelled! cell phone internet:eyeroll:)
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h170/xangeyfmx/lilly1.jpg
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h170/xangeyfmx/lilly7.jpg

[Joie]

On October 20, 2008 we got our BFP. It was DH's 37th birthday, and we'd only been TTC since August. I had a very uneventful, perfect pregnancy until March, when I got the bladder infection that would not go away. I did everything in my power to get rid of it. I drank a ton of water, cut caffeine completely. I did everything right. Fast forward to Memorial Day. I'm 34 weeks along, and have been feeling fine. Just finished another round of antibiotics, and felt really good. I wake up the morning of Memorial Day, May 25, really needing to pee. Nothing unusual there, but when I sat up in bed I felt a gush. Sure enough, my water had broken. We rushed to L&D, where they put in the IV and make it clear that I won't be leaving pregnant. They tell me that it could be that day, or a few weeks. I start having contractions sporadically, and Trinity's HR and everything look fine. She's still kicking up a storm. That evening they let me eat, and then the next morning I'm allowed to have breakfast. Right after breakfast I go into active labor. Between the labor, and being terrified that my baby girl would be born six weeks early I cannot manage the pain on my own. So I go ahead with the epidural. I don't regret that for a moment. At about 9pm I started pushing. My contractions weren't very close together so I pushed for over an hour. The entire time I kept praying to hear her cry. Finally I heard a little whimper and the doctor put her on my tummy. I got to rub her head briefly before they had to whisk her off to NICU. My heart broke when they took her away.

DH went down to NICU to spend time with her while they got me all cleaned up. She gripped his finger and recognized her name. While I was still recovering the doctors came to see us. They mentioned that her lungs were a major concern, and she could have a heart murmur. There was also the possibility of infection because my water had been broken a while and because of my bladder infections.

I finally got to see her a few hours later. I couldn't stop crying, seeing my little girl laying there and knowing there was nothing I could do for her. I started pumping milk as soon as I could. Twice during the night my nurse checked on her for me. She just kept improving. By morning she was no longer on oxygen! We got to see her and while there was still concern of infection, they were no longer worried about a heart murmur, and since she is breathing on her own her lungs are clearly doing better.

Overnight last night she was moved to an isolette. She is now able to hold her own body temperature, is breathing on her own and is taking formula through a feeding tube. I'm still pumping for her, and am getting just enough to give her a taste. She loves it!! She is the feistiest little girl! She gets mad, and lets everyone know! Hopefully DH and I can hold her today.


The July Due Date ladies have been such a blessing. Knowing how well Lilly is doing has been inspiring since we found out Trinity would be a preemie, too.

Thank you for letting me tell our story.

[kendra76]

On October 20, 2008 we got our BFP. It was DH's 37th birthday, and we'd only been TTC since August. I had a very uneventful, perfect pregnancy until March, when I got the bladder infection that would not go away. I did everything in my power to get rid of it. I drank a ton of water, cut caffeine completely. I did everything right. Fast forward to Memorial Day. I'm 34 weeks along, and have been feeling fine. Just finished another round of antibiotics, and felt really good. I wake up the morning of Memorial Day, May 25, really needing to pee. Nothing unusual there, but when I sat up in bed I felt a gush. Sure enough, my water had broken. We rushed to L&D, where they put in the IV and make it clear that I won't be leaving pregnant. They tell me that it could be that day, or a few weeks. I start having contractions sporadically, and Trinity's HR and everything look fine. She's still kicking up a storm. That evening they let me eat, and then the next morning I'm allowed to have breakfast. Right after breakfast I go into active labor. Between the labor, and being terrified that my baby girl would be born six weeks early I cannot manage the pain on my own. So I go ahead with the epidural. I don't regret that for a moment. At about 9pm I started pushing. My contractions weren't very close together so I pushed for over an hour. The entire time I kept praying to hear her cry. Finally I heard a little whimper and the doctor put her on my tummy. I got to rub her head briefly before they had to whisk her off to NICU. My heart broke when they took her away.

DH went down to NICU to spend time with her while they got me all cleaned up. She gripped his finger and recognized her name. While I was still recovering the doctors came to see us. They mentioned that her lungs were a major concern, and she could have a heart murmur. There was also the possibility of infection because my water had been broken a while and because of my bladder infections.

I finally got to see her a few hours later. I couldn't stop crying, seeing my little girl laying there and knowing there was nothing I could do for her. I started pumping milk as soon as I could. Twice during the night my nurse checked on her for me. She just kept improving. By morning she was no longer on oxygen! We got to see her and while there was still concern of infection, they were no longer worried about a heart murmur, and since she is breathing on her own her lungs are clearly doing better.

Overnight last night she was moved to an isolette. She is now able to hold her own body temperature, is breathing on her own and is taking formula through a feeding tube. I'm still pumping for her, and am getting just enough to give her a taste. She loves it!! She is the feistiest little girl! She gets mad, and lets everyone know! Hopefully DH and I can hold her today.


The July Due Date ladies have been such a blessing. Knowing how well Lilly is doing has been inspiring since we found out Trinity would be a preemie, too.

Thank you for letting me tell our story.

congrats on your LO!!! I really hope that you can hold her today.. please let us know if you have any questions.. we are all here for you.

[Joie]

congrats on your LO!!! I really hope that you can hold her today.. please let us know if you have any questions.. we are all here for you.

Thank you so much. We weren't able to hold her yet. They couldn't put the new IV line in yet. She currently just has one in her belly button. They tried to give her some formula through a tube (my milk hasn't come in yet) and she couldn't digest it yet. Trinity has some gas bubbles in her tummy and had some green fluid. They don't think her bowels are obstructed and she's been pooping regularly. She'll have another X-ray in the morning to check on her tummy again.

[hls02]

Hi ladies!

This is my first post, bear with me!
I am not yet a NICU mom, but I hope I can post here. My son is due in August, and he will be in the NICU as soon as he is born. He was diagnosed with an Omphalocele at 23 weeks. His is a small one, from what the Drs say. An omphalocele is pretty much the organs growing in the umbilical cord, usually the bowels, stomach, liver, spleen. Rare cases the heart I've read. Our son seems to just have his intestines in there. If he is born healthy, he will have surgery shortly after his birth and spend anywhere from a few weeks to a few months in the NICU. There are other birth defects that go hand in hand with an "O", all blood tests have come back normal, we are not doing an amnio though. We will have all the genetic testing done after he is born, and hopefully he will be born healthy otherwise.
I found this site through google, looking to read about what moms go through when they have babies in the NICU. I really just want to prepare myself, even though every baby is different.
I've read though all the stories here, and there are some amazingly strong mamas and babies here. I hope I can be strong when the time comes!

Thanks for reading!

[lou4480]

Hi ladies!

This is my first post, bear with me!
I am not yet a NICU mom, but I hope I can post here. My son is due in August, and he will be in the NICU as soon as he is born. He was diagnosed with an Omphalocele at 23 weeks. His is a small one, from what the Drs say. An omphalocele is pretty much the organs growing in the umbilical cord, usually the bowels, stomach, liver, spleen. Rare cases the heart I've read. Our son seems to just have his intestines in there. If he is born healthy, he will have surgery shortly after his birth and spend anywhere from a few weeks to a few months in the NICU. There are other birth defects that go hand in hand with an "O", all blood tests have come back normal, we are not doing an amnio though. We will have all the genetic testing done after he is born, and hopefully he will be born healthy otherwise.
I found this site through google, looking to read about what moms go through when they have babies in the NICU. I really just want to prepare myself, even though every baby is different.
I've read though all the stories here, and there are some amazingly strong mamas and babies here. I hope I can be strong when the time comes!

Thanks for reading!

I don't really know much about "o" but I just wanted to give you some big :hugs: mama.

[hls02]

Thanks mama! I didnt know anything about it until we were diagnosed, so I understand! We just try to stay positive, take it day by day.

[EKZZS]

July 28. I woke up with a backache and generally felt pretty crappy. But I thought, “Hey I'm 7 months pregnant, what do I expect.” Went to work. I had this backache that seemed to come in waves. I checked the clock, every 15 minutes one would hit, radiate from my center back to around front, then be done. “Interesting,” I thought. I had a meeting during lunch, we got there late so I had to stand still having the pains, still every 15 minutes. I thought I was dehydrated so I asked for a little food and as large of a drink as he could get me, I figured that'd make them stop. I ate a BLT and a large Root Beer from Sonic. Pains kept coming, still every 15 minutes and were getting annoying. After work I met up with hubby. We grabbed Taco Bell since we had childbirth class that night. I picked at some nachos and got a large lemonade. Went to a two hour childbirth class. Still having pains, roughly every 10-15 minutes. Head of L&D said if pains are at regular intervals to at least get checked out, so I asked her about them after class. From what I described she didnt think it was labor and to go home, drink a big glass of water, put my feet up, and if they didnt get better I might want to think about coming to the ER. I went home, got comfy, drank some water, and sat down in the recliner with a heating pad. Pains kept coming every 10 minutes. I went to bed. Couldnt get comfy, couldnt rest. I took a Tylenol PM still couldnt rest. Pains were coming every minutes. They were getting worse too. I practiced by breathing that we learned that night. I kept nagging Klay about the pains and he kept telling me to just try to rest and get some sleep. I felt sick, but couldnt throw up. I felt like I had to have a bowel movement. I did, so I blamed part of it on bad gas from Taco Bell. I still kept feeling like I needed to poo, but couldnt. When I got up from the bathroom there was a lot of bright red blood. That settled that, we threw on some clothes and headed to the ER. It was around midnight.

On the way we called our parents. My mom said she'd just wait to hear from me before she came up there. Dad told mom that he felt like I was having the baby and she should get to the ER. Klay called his parents. They were confused since the 28th was KANE'S due date (Klays brother).

We finally got me admitted to the ER. The nurses put me in a gown. Then they checked me for dilation. Thats when all heck broke loose. Thats when they quit talking to me and started making phone calls. I finally asked a nurse what was happening and she told me I was having the baby tonight. I was 28 weeks, 1 day pregnant. I overheard her tell someone I was “complete with bulging bag of waters.” I later learned that thats when you generally start pushing. My doctor shows up and does a quick ultrasound, little one is head down and ready to come. While doing the ultrasound she is on the phone to Children's Hospital trying to get “Angel One” the helicopter in route. Well apparently little one wasnt the only preemie on his way, Angel One is out on a call. So she goes down the list looking for another helicopter. No helicopters were available that night. So she starts down the list again looking for an ambulance. Baptist Medical Center is available and are in route. However, the nurse had to come in from being on call so it takes a while. Roughly 3 hours. During this time I am not allowed to push. We need to hold him in as long as we can since the hospital is not equipped for such a premature baby. I am also not allowed any pain medication of any type as it could slow his heart rate down too much and him being so small that is not a chance we can take. I had wanted a nautral birth anyway, besides, I've already made it through most of labor.

Head of L&D comes in from home and apologizes for sending me home. She then start giving me a quick course on breathing techniques, which we were going to learn in the second half of our childbirth class the next week. Then begins the waiting. And the asking “are they here yet?” At around 5am I get the work that the transport team has arrived. Relief, finally. We just had to wait for them to walk down the hall, which seemed like an eternity. Then I could push. I pushed once not really knowing what I was doing. I pushed again and he was out. July 29, 5:20am. I looked up and opened my eyes just in time to see him be carried out of the room. There was no laying him on my chest. No “Its a boy!” No kisses. No hugs. He was out and he was gone off to someone else. He weighed 2lb 14oz and was 13inches long. We named him Isaac Terry.

The L& D nurses snuck in and snapped a quick picture for me and emailed it to Klay's phone. Before they got him all hooked up to the lifesaving equipment. About an hour later they are ready to leave and they wheel him in for a quick peek. He was on the ventilator, hooked up to Ivs, sedated, and all bundled up. But I was able to reach in and touch his hand. I then got a handbook about what all was going to happen and was told they'd call when they got him admitted and stable. His transport nurse was named Becca.

His APGAR scores were 8 at birth, and 9 a little bit later.

I then ate a bowl of cereal. Made numerous phone calls. Including calling and adding him to the insurance, I knew we were going to need it. The customer service guy on the phone freaked out when I told him I was the mother and that the baby was born at 5:20 am...THAT DAY.

I was released around 1pm. I went home and took a much needed shower. I didnt shower at the hospital because I didnt see the point when I was about to leave and only had the clothes I wore in to put on. Yes, I didnt have a hospital bag. I came in with only my pjs on and my cell phone and wallet.

Around 4, we were finally gathered up to head to Little Rock to see our baby for the first time. My sister in law drove since neither one of us had slept any in a good while. We stopped at Burger King for some food, I was also starving. We got there at shift change so we had to sit in the waiting room for half an hour while that took place.

I dont remember much about the first time I saw him. His nurse that night was Ciara. I do remember trying very hard not to cry because I didnt want anyone to see me cry so I held it in. I had to be strong and positive for everyone else. I didnt want sympathy. I felt like this was my fault. I didnt want hugs, I didnt want anyone to say anything to me.

We went home to sleep in our own beds for at least one night. On the way home I stopped and bought a breast pump so I could start that task. The next morning I began my routine and chore of pumping. We packed up a bag or two and headed to Little Rock to spend the week. We stayed in the La Quinta. My milk came in in a hotel room. I didnt have any nursing bras yet. Not the way it was supposed to go.

Isaac was in the NICU for 63 days. During that time we delt with “normal” preemie stuff. He had a Level II Intraventicular Hemorrhage that progressed up to a Level III before it resolved itself. He had Retinopathy of Prematurity, that resolved on its own. That He had a Patent Ductus Arterious in his heart. It did NOT resolve on its own. Its did not resolve with medication. It was resolved with surgery. He also was on the ventilator for three weeks. He was given steroids for his lungs.

I held Isaac the first time the day before his surgery. It was August 7, he was 9 days old.

At the end of September we were just waiting for him to learn to eat satisfactorily on his own. I decided that was enough of that. He would eat good for some nurses (the nice ones who cared) and not eat for the other ones, who would barely try. We spoke with the nurse and decided to room in so we could work with him and get him home. I had hoped it would only be for one night maybe two. We got there to room in and we walked in the room and he (all on his own) yanked out his feeding tube. My strong strong boy was saying “Mommy, I can do it.” However, we had a rough start. He got his first shots. So we battled fever and a fussy baby, which needless to say meant he didnt eat well at all. The doctor came in the next day and kept threatening putting the feeding tube back in. Doctor was being very hardcore and strict and telling me how he was going to get dehydrated. We were trying to get him to nurse but he lost weight due to the shots so we decided we would just stick with the bottles and get him home. The next day he lost weight again. The doctor told the nurses if he did not take 40mls to put the feeding tube back in. We were pouring milk down that poor baby. We ended up with as much on us as was on him. Hey, milk out of the bottle counted as him taking it. Sure, we may have cheated a little, but we needed him home. I was not going to let him starve, I knew he didnt like strict schedules and “rules”, but I understood the purpose of him. We had some very nice nurses who would “accidentally” forget to come back right at 30 minutes, and who would fudge the number just a bit to make it work. I am thankful for them that trusted us to know we were competent enough to take our child home and care for him. We finally had a weight increase, we just KNEW we were going home. Wrong, doctor came in and said he couldnt “in good conscious let us take him home yet.” I nearly cried. What did he know. He kept calling Isaac a “she” anyway. Stupid doctor. I contemplated ways to sneak out. The next day things were better. A different doctor. Everyone was so convinced we were going home they were coming over from the other unit to say good bye and to steal his monitors. By the time the doctor made rounds we had our bags packed, beds stripped, and Isaac all but in the carseat.

We went home on October 1. Isaac weighed just over 6lbs.

[bmfosterbarrett]

Hi ladies!

This is my first post, bear with me!
I am not yet a NICU mom, but I hope I can post here. My son is due in August, and he will be in the NICU as soon as he is born. He was diagnosed with an Omphalocele at 23 weeks. His is a small one, from what the Drs say. An omphalocele is pretty much the organs growing in the umbilical cord, usually the bowels, stomach, liver, spleen. Rare cases the heart I've read. Our son seems to just have his intestines in there. If he is born healthy, he will have surgery shortly after his birth and spend anywhere from a few weeks to a few months in the NICU. There are other birth defects that go hand in hand with an "O", all blood tests have come back normal, we are not doing an amnio though. We will have all the genetic testing done after he is born, and hopefully he will be born healthy otherwise.
I found this site through google, looking to read about what moms go through when they have babies in the NICU. I really just want to prepare myself, even though every baby is different.
I've read though all the stories here, and there are some amazingly strong mamas and babies here. I hope I can be strong when the time comes!

Thanks for reading!

:hugs:I don't know anything about "o" but I will tell you that this group of ladies is absolutely amazing. Please let me know if you ever need someone to talk to. PM me. :) :grouphug:

[bmfosterbarrett]

July 28. I woke up with a backache and generally felt pretty crappy. But I thought, “Hey I'm 7 months pregnant, what do I expect.” Went to work. I had this backache that seemed to come in waves. I checked the clock, every 15 minutes one would hit, radiate from my center back to around front, then be done. “Interesting,” I thought. I had a meeting during lunch, we got there late so I had to stand still having the pains, still every 15 minutes. I thought I was dehydrated so I asked for a little food and as large of a drink as he could get me, I figured that'd make them stop. I ate a BLT and a large Root Beer from Sonic. Pains kept coming, still every 15 minutes and were getting annoying. After work I met up with hubby. We grabbed Taco Bell since we had childbirth class that night. I picked at some nachos and got a large lemonade. Went to a two hour childbirth class. Still having pains, roughly every 10-15 minutes. Head of L&D said if pains are at regular intervals to at least get checked out, so I asked her about them after class. From what I described she didnt think it was labor and to go home, drink a big glass of water, put my feet up, and if they didnt get better I might want to think about coming to the ER. I went home, got comfy, drank some water, and sat down in the recliner with a heating pad. Pains kept coming every 10 minutes. I went to bed. Couldnt get comfy, couldnt rest. I took a Tylenol PM still couldnt rest. Pains were coming every minutes. They were getting worse too. I practiced by breathing that we learned that night. I kept nagging Klay about the pains and he kept telling me to just try to rest and get some sleep. I felt sick, but couldnt throw up. I felt like I had to have a bowel movement. I did, so I blamed part of it on bad gas from Taco Bell. I still kept feeling like I needed to poo, but couldnt. When I got up from the bathroom there was a lot of bright red blood. That settled that, we threw on some clothes and headed to the ER. It was around midnight.

On the way we called our parents. My mom said she'd just wait to hear from me before she came up there. Dad told mom that he felt like I was having the baby and she should get to the ER. Klay called his parents. They were confused since the 28th was KANE'S due date (Klays brother).

We finally got me admitted to the ER. The nurses put me in a gown. Then they checked me for dilation. Thats when all heck broke loose. Thats when they quit talking to me and started making phone calls. I finally asked a nurse what was happening and she told me I was having the baby tonight. I was 28 weeks, 1 day pregnant. I overheard her tell someone I was “complete with bulging bag of waters.” I later learned that thats when you generally start pushing. My doctor shows up and does a quick ultrasound, little one is head down and ready to come. While doing the ultrasound she is on the phone to Children's Hospital trying to get “Angel One” the helicopter in route. Well apparently little one wasnt the only preemie on his way, Angel One is out on a call. So she goes down the list looking for another helicopter. No helicopters were available that night. So she starts down the list again looking for an ambulance. Baptist Medical Center is available and are in route. However, the nurse had to come in from being on call so it takes a while. Roughly 3 hours. During this time I am not allowed to push. We need to hold him in as long as we can since the hospital is not equipped for such a premature baby. I am also not allowed any pain medication of any type as it could slow his heart rate down too much and him being so small that is not a chance we can take. I had wanted a nautral birth anyway, besides, I've already made it through most of labor.

Head of L&D comes in from home and apologizes for sending me home. She then start giving me a quick course on breathing techniques, which we were going to learn in the second half of our childbirth class the next week. Then begins the waiting. And the asking “are they here yet?” At around 5am I get the work that the transport team has arrived. Relief, finally. We just had to wait for them to walk down the hall, which seemed like an eternity. Then I could push. I pushed once not really knowing what I was doing. I pushed again and he was out. July 29, 5:20am. I looked up and opened my eyes just in time to see him be carried out of the room. There was no laying him on my chest. No “Its a boy!” No kisses. No hugs. He was out and he was gone off to someone else. He weighed 2lb 14oz and was 13inches long. We named him Isaac Terry.

The L& D nurses snuck in and snapped a quick picture for me and emailed it to Klay's phone. Before they got him all hooked up to the lifesaving equipment. About an hour later they are ready to leave and they wheel him in for a quick peek. He was on the ventilator, hooked up to Ivs, sedated, and all bundled up. But I was able to reach in and touch his hand. I then got a handbook about what all was going to happen and was told they'd call when they got him admitted and stable. His transport nurse was named Becca.

His APGAR scores were 8 at birth, and 9 a little bit later.

I then ate a bowl of cereal. Made numerous phone calls. Including calling and adding him to the insurance, I knew we were going to need it. The customer service guy on the phone freaked out when I told him I was the mother and that the baby was born at 5:20 am...THAT DAY.

I was released around 1pm. I went home and took a much needed shower. I didnt shower at the hospital because I didnt see the point when I was about to leave and only had the clothes I wore in to put on. Yes, I didnt have a hospital bag. I came in with only my pjs on and my cell phone and wallet.

Around 4, we were finally gathered up to head to Little Rock to see our baby for the first time. My sister in law drove since neither one of us had slept any in a good while. We stopped at Burger King for some food, I was also starving. We got there at shift change so we had to sit in the waiting room for half an hour while that took place.

I dont remember much about the first time I saw him. His nurse that night was Ciara. I do remember trying very hard not to cry because I didnt want anyone to see me cry so I held it in. I had to be strong and positive for everyone else. I didnt want sympathy. I felt like this was my fault. I didnt want hugs, I didnt want anyone to say anything to me.

We went home to sleep in our own beds for at least one night. On the way home I stopped and bought a breast pump so I could start that task. The next morning I began my routine and chore of pumping. We packed up a bag or two and headed to Little Rock to spend the week. We stayed in the La Quinta. My milk came in in a hotel room. I didnt have any nursing bras yet. Not the way it was supposed to go.

Isaac was in the NICU for 63 days. During that time we delt with “normal” preemie stuff. He had a Level II Intraventicular Hemorrhage that progressed up to a Level III before it resolved itself. He had Retinopathy of Prematurity, that resolved on its own. That He had a Patent Ductus Arterious in his heart. It did NOT resolve on its own. Its did not resolve with medication. It was resolved with surgery. He also was on the ventilator for three weeks. He was given steroids for his lungs.

I held Isaac the first time the day before his surgery. It was August 7, he was 9 days old.

At the end of September we were just waiting for him to learn to eat satisfactorily on his own. I decided that was enough of that. He would eat good for some nurses (the nice ones who cared) and not eat for the other ones, who would barely try. We spoke with the nurse and decided to room in so we could work with him and get him home. I had hoped it would only be for one night maybe two. We got there to room in and we walked in the room and he (all on his own) yanked out his feeding tube. My strong strong boy was saying “Mommy, I can do it.” However, we had a rough start. He got his first shots. So we battled fever and a fussy baby, which needless to say meant he didnt eat well at all. The doctor came in the next day and kept threatening putting the feeding tube back in. Doctor was being very hardcore and strict and telling me how he was going to get dehydrated. We were trying to get him to nurse but he lost weight due to the shots so we decided we would just stick with the bottles and get him home. The next day he lost weight again. The doctor told the nurses if he did not take 40mls to put the feeding tube back in. We were pouring milk down that poor baby. We ended up with as much on us as was on him. Hey, milk out of the bottle counted as him taking it. Sure, we may have cheated a little, but we needed him home. I was not going to let him starve, I knew he didnt like strict schedules and “rules”, but I understood the purpose of him. We had some very nice nurses who would “accidentally” forget to come back right at 30 minutes, and who would fudge the number just a bit to make it work. I am thankful for them that trusted us to know we were competent enough to take our child home and care for him. We finally had a weight increase, we just KNEW we were going home. Wrong, doctor came in and said he couldnt “in good conscious let us take him home yet.” I nearly cried. What did he know. He kept calling Isaac a “she” anyway. Stupid doctor. I contemplated ways to sneak out. The next day things were better. A different doctor. Everyone was so convinced we were going home they were coming over from the other unit to say good bye and to steal his monitors. By the time the doctor made rounds we had our bags packed, beds stripped, and Isaac all but in the carseat.

We went home on October 1. Isaac weighed just over 6lbs.
:hugs: I'm so happy that Isaac is doing so well!

[DeDee]

Hi ladies!

This is my first post, bear with me!
I am not yet a NICU mom, but I hope I can post here. My son is due in August, and he will be in the NICU as soon as he is born. He was diagnosed with an Omphalocele at 23 weeks. His is a small one, from what the Drs say. An omphalocele is pretty much the organs growing in the umbilical cord, usually the bowels, stomach, liver, spleen. Rare cases the heart I've read. Our son seems to just have his intestines in there. If he is born healthy, he will have surgery shortly after his birth and spend anywhere from a few weeks to a few months in the NICU. There are other birth defects that go hand in hand with an "O", all blood tests have come back normal, we are not doing an amnio though. We will have all the genetic testing done after he is born, and hopefully he will be born healthy otherwise.
I found this site through google, looking to read about what moms go through when they have babies in the NICU. I really just want to prepare myself, even though every baby is different.
I've read though all the stories here, and there are some amazingly strong mamas and babies here. I hope I can be strong when the time comes!

Thanks for reading!

BIG :hugs: Sweetie. My cousins little girl was born in Nov with the same condition. She is doing very well. You will do great:hugs: Stay strong and think positive.:hugs:

[Hfrush]

I started going into labor on October 15th, I had started to get a stomach ache after DH and I had dinner. I mentioned it DH and he said that his stomach also hurt so we figured we had some bad food. All through the night I was getting up to try to use the bathroom. I felt like I needed to have the BM of my life but just couldn't go. The next day I had to drive out to the hospital for a diabetic class, that Tuesday I had been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and since I only had 10 weeks left in my pregnancy they decided to put me on insulin. The car ride there was a little rough, I was having some back pain and my stomach felt upset and I had a ton of pressure in my bottom. I tried to use the restroom at the hospital but I just couldn't go. At that point I would say the contractions were coming about an hour apart. All that day I drove around and did this, that and the other. I had to pick up my SS from school so he could spend the weekend with us.. it was an hour drive to and from. After picking him up I went to my mom's and waited for my DH to get out of work. My mom kept commenting to me that she thought I was in labor but I denied it and passed it off as being bloated and constipated. I ended up having my DH pick me and SS up from my mom's. The ride home was terrible, they were coming every 5 minuets or so. WE finally decided to go to the hospital. After a 45 minuet ride and another half hour of waiting to be seen I was finally checked by the Mid Wife on call. She checked me really quick and told the other Mid Wife that she could see my water sack bulging and that I was dilated to 5!
I was told at that point that they could only slow down the labor and that I was going to have Braiden within the next 2 days. They gave me Procardia to slow the contractions down and I was given a steroid injection to help mature his lungs. I had planned on having a medicine free birth, I didn't want an epidural but when 3 am or so on Saturday morning rolled around I begged for the Epidural. It took 3 tries to get it in right I was contracting the entire time and I couldn't relax.
At around 10am or so on Saturday morning the Doctor came in to check me and I was dilated to 9 1/2. They told me that I wouldn't make it to the second steroid injection that I was to have at 11pm that night and that they expected my water to break and for me to have Braiden that day.
As the day went on the Procardia they were giving me had started to work, slowing me down to 7 minuets or so apart. They came back and told me that I wouldn't be delivering that day. Through out the day we had what seemed like millions of specialists coming in the room telling us this that and the other. All I can really remember was them telling me that he had a 90% chance of survival at 31 weeks. They talked about his lungs and his gut but I honestly was in such emotional distress I can't remember what they said. I hadn't had anything to eat since Friday mid-day and they told me that I couldn't eat anything because I was in active labor.
Saturday night at 11pm I got my second steroid injection and at around 3 am Sunday morning my epidural wasn't working any more and the contractions were hitting hard. At almost 11am the doctor came in to check me and I was fully dilated. They took me and DH right back to the OR and broke my water. Braiden was born 40 minuets later. I was allowed to touch his head while he was crowing. When he finally came out they held him up so I could see him and then took him away to the NICU. DH got to go with him.. it was another 4 hours before I was allowed to see him. It was the LONGEST 4 hours of my life.
Braiden was put on a ventilator for 3 days and then moved to a CPAP for a day and then to the nasal cannula for 2 days before he was breathing fully on his own. He developed Jaundice and was on lights for 2 days, it went away and came back and he was on the lights for another day. His Pic line came out after 1 and 1/2 weeks. He was born with Pneumonia so they gave him antibiotics for a week and the rest of the time he was on lipids for weight. When he was born he weighed in at 4 pounds and 3 ounces, at his lowest he was 3 pounds and 11 ounces. As of last night Braiden weighed in at 4 pounds and 11 ounces. He is taking to the bottle.. mostly just for me. is incubator was opened up last week and he is maintaining his body temp well. The doctors say that he will be home in 2 weeks. I am thrilled that he is doing so well and I am super excited to get him home.
I think this experience is something that no one else could understand unless they have gone through it. A lot of people tell me that they understand how I feel but I think it's just their way of trying to make me feel better.
After I delivered and was taken back to my room I watched as other moms who had just had their babies were wheeled back to their rooms holding their children.. it was heart breaking for me to see. I still cry every time I have to leave him and I have a hard time fighting back the tears when I am with him.

[Joie]

:hugs:

There is nothing harder to a new mother than leaving her baby in the NICU. It's not supposed to be that way.

Don't feel bad about having a medicated birth. I wanted to have a natural birth as well...but the pain compounded with the stress of knowing your baby isn't ready to be born yet is too much. I ended up getting the epidural, too.

Braiden will be home soon. The pain of NICU will dim and when it surfaces, and it will, hold your baby close. :wub:

[PreemieMomma]

Hi, my name is Christine. Here's my story. Sorry this is long.

Keep in mind that my due date was December 2, 2009. I started having complications at 30 weeks. I went for an U/S at my OB's office and they found something that wasn't normal. So they admitted me for observation over night. The monitored me and did an U/S with a Maternal Fetal Doctor ( I think it's called a paleontologist)the next morning. When they did the U/S the found that when they looked at the heart rate through the umbilical cord that it was breaking up in between the beats when it should've been a small connection. (If that makes sense. Tried to describe what you saw on the U/s as best as I could.) Plus the blood flow through the umbilical cord wasn't what it should've been. It was less and that was another concern. They also gave me 2 steroid shots, 12 hours apart. That was to help speed up the maturity of Bryce's lungs.

I went for about 2 more weeks to see the paleontologist 3 times a week to monitor Bryce. Things didn't get better but they didn't get worse, either. At the begging of the 3rd week, we went for an U/S on 10-5-09 and things had gotten worse. The amniotic fluid went from 15 the Friday before to between 7 and 8. So yet again, a 3rd complication to add to the others. I was admitted to the hospital right after the appointment and was told I'd be there till I delivered. Well, needless to say I started to have an U/S once a day by the paleontologist and it wasn't looking good. Both that doctor and my OB told me that they both though by the end of the week, I'd be having the c-section to have him.

More complications arose. By the next day, Tuesday 10-6-09, his heart rate starting dropping down to 120 BPM and it would last for about half a minute to a minute. The doctors were concerned with this b/c he would get less to no oxygen to his brain when this happened. Also, the accelerations stopped during the decelerations. While this was happening my OB would get a phone call every time the decelerations would happen. At about 1 am Wednesday 10-7-09 my nurse came in and told me I was going to have the c-section and they started to prep me for surgery. Bryce was born Wednesday 10-7-09 at 2:45am. He weighted 2 Lbs. 10.9 Oz and was 15 inches long. :wub::heart::cloud9:

http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt224/cmbytnar/SANY2404-1.jpg

I had a lot of tugging and some pressure during the c-section. Afterwards, I didn't have pain but a lot of soreness. I was up later that night walking to the NICU to see my precious little man. The nurses kept asking me if I wanted pain med's and I told them no I just had soreness, until about 24 hours later and was still able to get 2 shots of morphine before my time was up for that kind of pain med's. Besides the soreness, I couldn't bend yet.
Once I got out of recovery, they nurse wheeled me into the NICU, so I could see my sweet son, Bryce. The only things that I didn't like after having the c-section was that, they had me in a room with a mother who was rooming with her baby. :huh::mad::hair:I wasn't even in the room and settled for at least a half hour and the other mothers baby was being rolled by. I just broke down and cried. :cry: At this time I was waiting for the wheelchair to go see my son. They considered me a special care mom, having a preemie. Later that night they finally got me my own room for the rest of my stay. The thing that bothered me was that my nurse kept telling me to rest and get some sleep :hair::hair: but she didn't understand that I couldn't with the other mother and company she had and the fact that I had a migraine and hadn't gotten any sleep the 2 nights prior. Plus the cleaning crew would come in and be banging things around to clean, so needless to say all the little disruptions were keeping me up. So were the nurses, when they would come to check on me.

He had to have C.P.R. given to him by the neonaontolagist (one of the NICU doctors that was there 24 hours a day). After that he ended up having a Cpap tube to help him breath as a precautionary measure. He had that removed later that afternoon. He was then breathing on his own. He also had a feeding tube up his nose for almost 2 1/2 weeks. They had a hard time getting an IV in but eventually got it in on the second try and in the other hand. They gave him fluids through the IV. The second day they decided to put a pick line in so they didn't have to remove the IV and give him a new one every 3 days. He really hated that procedure. It really tugged at my heart to see him have to be restrained and crying. :ohno: He was also seen by an eye doctor to make sure his eyes were developing correctly and that there wasn't any disease forming. He had a check up every 2 weeks and they would be that consistent till his due date or shortly after his due date. After 2 weeks he started feeding from a bottle and then a few days later he got the pick line out. He was doing what he needed to do and came home Thursday 10-29-09. :hooray::wub:

http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt224/cmbytnar/SANY2593.jpg http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt224/cmbytnar/SANY2594.jpg

He had a follow up with his pediatrician the following Monday 11-2-09. He got a clean bill of health.He weighted in at 4 Lbs. 1 Oz and 16 inches long. His next check up is 12-1-09 and is 5 weeks from his last appointment. After he left the hospital he had another eye appointment on Tuesday 11-10-09 and has one Tuesday 11-24-09, this coming Tuesday. All is progressing well and he's doing great.

It's been great having him home for over 3 weeks :wub::wub:now but his sleeping and eating schedule is so messed up, it's can drive me crazy at times. Don't get me wrong I love him and cherish him everyday. It's been really hard at times for me having bad migraines but that's when I get frustrated the most.

11-12-09
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt224/cmbytnar/SANY2651.jpg No more wrinkles. Finally growing into his skin. :hooray::wub::wub:

11-16-09
http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt224/cmbytnar/SANY2655.jpg

[atweety82]

Hello everyone. My Ryan who is a girl was born at 32 weeks 2 days weighing 3lbs 13.6oz. She is now 2 weeks old in the nicu. For the most part she's doing very well my water broke when I was 25 weeks and I was on bed rest at the hospital for 7 weeks so when she was born she had an infection and had to have a blood transfusion the first night. As of today she weighed 4lbs 5oz. She is no longer intubated and if iv free. She's on the nasal canula is breathing too fast to start bottle feeding so she's still being fed by tube. Everyday is like a roller coaster I'm so happy that she's doing well but it's still so painful to leave her everyday and go home. At times I feel like a mother with no baby. She is my first child and I'm not really sure if the days are getting easier or harder.

[Joie]

Hello everyone. My Ryan who is a girl was born at 32 weeks 2 days weighing 3lbs 13.6oz. She is now 2 weeks old in the nicu. For the most part she's doing very well my water broke when I was 25 weeks and I was on bed rest at the hospital for 7 weeks so when she was born she had an infection and had to have a blood transfusion the first night. As of today she weighed 4lbs 5oz. She is no longer intubated and if iv free. She's on the nasal canula is breathing too fast to start bottle feeding so she's still being fed by tube. Everyday is like a roller coaster I'm so happy that she's doing well but it's still so painful to leave her everyday and go home. At times I feel like a mother with no baby. She is my first child and I'm not really sure if the days are getting easier or harder.Hello, and congratulations on your baby girl. I love the name Ryan for a girl. You've come to the right place. We've all been where you are. Please feel free to post, ask questions, ask for support, and even just vent. :hugs: Mama. You are a Mommy, and your baby knows you're there and you love her.:hugs::hugs::hugs:

[Tsuuriki]

Hello everyone. My Ryan who is a girl was born at 32 weeks 2 days weighing 3lbs 13.6oz. She is now 2 weeks old in the nicu. For the most part she's doing very well my water broke when I was 25 weeks and I was on bed rest at the hospital for 7 weeks so when she was born she had an infection and had to have a blood transfusion the first night. As of today she weighed 4lbs 5oz. She is no longer intubated and if iv free. She's on the nasal canula is breathing too fast to start bottle feeding so she's still being fed by tube. Everyday is like a roller coaster I'm so happy that she's doing well but it's still so painful to leave her everyday and go home. At times I feel like a mother with no baby. She is my first child and I'm not really sure if the days are getting easier or harder.

:hugs: from a fellow January '10 NICU mommy. I hope she is doing better! And I know exactly how you feel, being a baby-less mom. I'm being discharged from the hospital tomorrow, and am still unsure of when my little Becca is coming home with me. My story is coming up next.

[Tsuuriki]

Here's my story!
I had a pretty easy pregnancy: no complications, no real indication that I was having problems. My weight gain had been steady, and my blood pressure was always perfect. At my 20 week ultrasound, they mentioned that she seemed to be measuring a little small, but not enough to cause them to push my due date back any. Things went along smoothly, but no one really believed I was as far along, because I was still relatively little.
On January 12, at 34 weeks, I had a routine OB appointment. My doctor measured me, and asked again about the ultrasound. He then proceeded to tell me she was SGA (small for gestational age), and he wanted me to go in for another ultrasound. Which brings me to this past week.
On Monday I went in for the ultrasound. They took measurements, and determined that her growth was even (her head wasn't bigger than her body), she was just small.
On Tuesday I went in for my OB appointment. Weight at 170, BP 114/72. He explained what he had suspected at the last appointment: that her growth had just leveled out, and they weren't sure why. I don't smoke or drink, so it wasn't an environmental cause, leaving the possibility of problems with cord placement or the placenta itself. I was put on immediate bed rest, and set up to be monitored twice a week, with my first appointment at the hospital the next day to include an amniocentesis and NST. Doc had mentioned to me that he wanted to induce soon, but make sure that her lungs were mature enough first.
On Wednesday morning before the appointment, I was out of the shower and drying my hair when the thought occurred to me that I should get a hospital bag together, since I had been procrastinating it and didn't know what would happen. I wavered on whether I should take it with me, in the end deciding just to leave it by the door. We went in for the amnio/NST at 1 pm. I was hooked up to the monitors for a while, because my blood pressure was coming in high, ranging 135-150/90-100. At first we figured it was just my body reacting to the amnio, and so I tried everything I could to calm myself down. But I could never get it under 135. This worried them, so at around 3:30 they checked me into L&D, and ordered tests on a urine sample to check for protein. The sample came back positive, and it was decided that they weren't going to wait for the amnio results to come back, but the baby had to come NOW. So we contacted immediate family, and told them to expect a baby by the end of the day. At 4:30, DH ran home to get the hospital bag that I had packed that morning (Good thing I listened to my feeling!!). My mom and MIL showed up for moral support, DH returned at 5pm, suited up and I was whisked off to the OR for an urgent c-section. They set me up with a spinal (which by the way is such a weird feeling), laid me down and put up the curtain, and they were off! Rebecca Alene came into this world on January 27, 2010 at 5:59pm. They told me she was out, and I kept waiting to hear the cry. I was so worried, and I kept asking if she was really out. DH assured me she was. Her APGAR score was 4 at first, her coloring wasn't good and she was having trouble breathing. It took a few minutes before I actually heard her cry, and by that time I was crying too. That had to be the most beautiful sound I had heard all day. DH said she sounded like a puppy when she cried the first time. They recalculated her score a few minutes later, rating at a 9. Then DH brought her over for me to see. I was able to touch her and kiss her forehead before they took her away. It broke my heart, and I had the greatest trouble sleeping that night, if I did at all. At 6:30 the next morning the nurse came in, took pity on me and wheeled me down to see her. I was able to hold her for about 10 minutes before they had to put her back in the incubator. I was still worried about how she was doing, but at least I got to see my angel.
I'm being discharged from the hospital tomorrow without her. But with the progress she's making, I have hopes that she'll be home with us shortly!

[Joie]

Thank you for sharing her story. How's she doing now?

[Jessika]

She's adorable!

[Tsuuriki]

Thank you for sharing her story. How's she doing now?

She's doing so well now. They're talking about taking her out of the incubator in the next day or two, to see how well she holds her own temperature! :hooray:

[Joie]

She's doing so well now. They're talking about taking her out of the incubator in the next day or two, to see how well she holds her own temperature! :hooray:

Oh that's awesome! A big girl bed is a huge step! How is she doing on feedings? Boobie, bottle, or tube?

[XangelaX]

She's doing so well now. They're talking about taking her out of the incubator in the next day or two, to see how well she holds her own temperature! :hooray:

That's so awesome! Lilly was in an incubator for 32 days, 8 days later we brought her home @3lbs!!!

[Tsuuriki]

She's been out of the incubator since Wednesday, 7 pm!! And the NICU social worker said we might be talking about discharge papers in the next day or two!! :hooray:

[Tsuuriki]

Oh that's awesome! A big girl bed is a huge step! How is she doing on feedings? Boobie, bottle, or tube?

She's on the bottle, they want to wait to introduce the boob until they're sure she's alright. I just want to make sure she's getting enough, so I might BF, but also continue to pump and bottle feed to supplement..

[Joie]

So happy they're talking discharge!:hooray:

Trinity came home eating EBM from a bottle. I just kept working with her, and she finally ate a meal from the boobie 3 days before her due date. A full transition from bottle to boob is definitely possible!

[Tsuuriki]

:hooray: :cabbage: DISCHARGING TOMORROW!!!!! :cabbage: :hooray:

(if she continues to do well, and passes the car seat challenge tonight.)

[Joie]

:hooray: :cabbage: DISCHARGING TOMORROW!!!!! :cabbage: :hooray:

(if she continues to do well, and passes the car seat challenge tonight.)

:hooray::hooray::hooray:

Car seat test should be a breeze!!!!

[XangelaX]

:hooray: :cabbage: DISCHARGING TOMORROW!!!!! :cabbage: :hooray:

(if she continues to do well, and passes the car seat challenge tonight.)

I had to leave during the test! I was scared hahah!
Sending pass test vibes!!!!
BTW lilly came home on the bottle EBM/calorie booster. I pumped and tried to get her to nurse for almost 5 months.
Def. Work with an LC if available!!!

[Joie]

I had to leave during the test! I was scared hahah!
Sending pass test vibes!!!!
BTW lilly came home on the bottle EBM/calorie booster. I pumped and tried to get her to nurse for almost 5 months.
Def. Work with an LC if available!!!

Hahaha, they didn't tell me when they did Trinity's car seat test. I was rooming in, but she wasn't allowed to be in my room while I slept. I went to pick her up so I could feed her, and the nurse told me they did the carseat test while I was asleep and she passed! Trin and the nurse got all sneaky:laugh:

[Tsuuriki]

I'm not nervous about the car seat test. I know she'll do fine. But i'm going to have difficulty sleeping tonight. It's just like Christmas! I'm so excited to bring her home! :hooray:

[Tsuuriki]

I'm not nervous about the car seat test. I know she'll do fine. But i'm going to have difficulty sleeping tonight. It's just like Christmas! I'm so excited to bring her home! :hooray: and I got to try my hand at BFing tonight. She started out on my left side, very strong latch. The nurse helping us out was surprised with how well she did on her first try. Had trouble on the right side, but I think she was just irritated and worn out with trying by then.

[Joie]

I'm so glad she latched well!!

[Joie]

Oh, and how was Becca's first day home?

[Tsuuriki]

So far, so good. Though the amount she's eating has dropped off just a little.. She just gets sleepy halfway through her bottle, and I can't get her to wake up for anything.. I worry that she isn't getting enough.. I haven't tried nursing her again, I figure she's had enough excitement for one day, and the concept seems to stress her out..

[Joie]

That sounds normal to me. She's had alot of changes today. She'll probably still be on the NICU schedule for awhile, and she'll get used to her surroundings and even out how much she's going to eat. Trinity got herself on a more natural schedule eventually, and hasn't looked back since. Becca will, too.

[Tsuuriki]

Good to hear. These 2:30 and 5:30 am feedings aren't easy, and it's only day 1! one thing I won't miss is waking up with geyser marks down my front and the sour milk smell at 5:30am cause I was too tired/lazy to pump at 3 am..

[Joie]

Good to hear. These 2:30 and 5:30 am feedings aren't easy, and it's only day 1! one thing I won't miss is waking up with geyser marks down my front and the sour milk smell at 5:30am cause I was too tired/lazy to pump at 3 am..

LOL...she'll make sure Mommy gets up! It'll help once she's fully on the boobie. Then you can just nurse and go back to bed (unless she thinks it's play time). Now, I'm betting you have to warm milk, make a bottle, give the bottle, and pump.

[Tsuuriki]

LOL...she'll make sure Mommy gets up! It'll help once she's fully on the boobie. Then you can just nurse and go back to bed (unless she thinks it's play time). Now, I'm betting you have to warm milk, make a bottle, give the bottle, and pump.

Pretty much. I don't think I'll ever have her fully on the boobie.. By the time I really got her trained, I'd be going back to work..

[Joie]

Pretty much. I don't think I'll ever have her fully on the boobie.. By the time I really got her trained, I'd be going back to work..

Don't give up! Trinity ate her first meal from the boobie 3 days before her due date. I had less than a week after that before I went back to work. I just fed from the boobie when I was home, and she got bottles while I was at work. She transitioned really well between boobie and bottle once she learned to latch. We did it that way until she was 5 months old, and I lost my job. Now I'm a SAHM and she hasn't had an EBM bottle in maybe a month (she still takes them when I can't be with her for whatever reason). You and Becca can do it!

[Tsuuriki]

Don't give up! Trinity ate her first meal from the boobie 3 days before her due date. I had less than a week after that before I went back to work. I just fed from the boobie when I was home, and she got bottles while I was at work. She transitioned really well between boobie and bottle once she learned to latch. We did it that way until she was 5 months old, and I lost my job. Now I'm a SAHM and she hasn't had an EBM bottle in maybe a month (she still takes them when I can't be with her for whatever reason). You and Becca can do it!

Thanks! I get my driving privileges back on Wednesday, so I'll be going back to the hospital to meet with the LC, to get advice on how to get her to transition better between boob and bottle..

[Joie]

Thanks! I get my driving privileges back on Wednesday, so I'll be going back to the hospital to meet with the LC, to get advice on how to get her to transition better between boob and bottle..

Feel free to PM me if you need to talk, or have any questions. You and your baby girl are going to do great!:hugs:

[mommy4life]

Well I am new to this room!! I had my baby at 32weeks and 5 days on Monday July 5th!! She was born by c-section due to the fact that I had a previous c-section and that she was breech. She is in the NICU and for the most part is doing well. She was born at 4lbs and 3oz but has dropped down to 3lbs and 14 oz!! She is currently not photo light therapy for jaundice which she just started today. She is on a thermavapor canula at room air support. She is breathing on her own since birth. She was on CPAP for 3 days. She is at about half an oz per feeding every 3 hrs. We havent been able to really hold her much at all yet. I think its been like twice now that we have held her. The good thing is that its been kanagroo care style! We live about 25minutes from the hospital which is very stressful. We are tring to get a spot at the Ronald McDonald house to help with the stress of driving back and forth. I am pumping and getting about 1 oz every time. I cant wait until she can start taking her feeds by mouth and I can try out BFing. I am very dedicated to it so I hope it works. Ever since my milk has came in it seems she is doing better. I dont know if its really from my breast milk but its nice to think it is.

I have had two other babies that were both born prematurely. My DS was born at 36 weeks due to PROM and my DD was born at 32weeks due to PTL and dialating to 8 cm. She was born by c-section because she was breech and her foot was sticking out. MY DS had to stay in the NICU for 10days because both him and I had infections when he was born. DD had to stay in the NICU for 3 weeks. I am hoping that this NICU stay will be about the same length. Well I guess thats all. If you have questions ask? I am happy to be sharing the journey with all of your support!! Thanks!

[Joie]

Well I am new to this room!! I had my baby at 32weeks and 5 days on Monday July 5th!! She was born by c-section due to the fact that I had a previous c-section and that she was breech. She is in the NICU and for the most part is doing well. She was born at 4lbs and 3oz but has dropped down to 3lbs and 14 oz!! She is currently not photo light therapy for jaundice which she just started today. She is on a thermavapor canula at room air support. She is breathing on her own since birth. She was on CPAP for 3 days. She is at about half an oz per feeding every 3 hrs. We havent been able to really hold her much at all yet. I think its been like twice now that we have held her. The good thing is that its been kanagroo care style! We live about 25minutes from the hospital which is very stressful. We are tring to get a spot at the Ronald McDonald house to help with the stress of driving back and forth. I am pumping and getting about 1 oz every time. I cant wait until she can start taking her feeds by mouth and I can try out BFing. I am very dedicated to it so I hope it works. Ever since my milk has came in it seems she is doing better. I dont know if its really from my breast milk but its nice to think it is.

I have had two other babies that were both born prematurely. My DS was born at 36 weeks due to PROM and my DD was born at 32weeks due to PTL and dialating to 8 cm. She was born by c-section because she was breech and her foot was sticking out. MY DS had to stay in the NICU for 10days because both him and I had infections when he was born. DD had to stay in the NICU for 3 weeks. I am hoping that this NICU stay will be about the same length. Well I guess thats all. If you have questions ask? I am happy to be sharing the journey with all of your support!! Thanks!

I'm sorry I missed this. Congrats on your new baby! It sounds like she's doing really good. I do think the breastmilk helps, I honestly believe that's why my preemie's NICU stay wasn't any longer.

If you need any support, please don't hesitate to post or even PM!

[mother of seven]

Well hello to all i am new to this room but not to preemie's i have had four all born at 32 and 33 weeks first was Faith 4lb 5oz one week in the NICU born 4-19-05, Tristan was 3lb 8oz two weeks in the NICU he was born 7-17-06, Jolene was 3lb 11oz one and half weeks in the NICU she was born 2-16-08, Wyatt was 3lb 12oz week and half in the NICU and he was born 11-30-09 and my next baby is Due Dec.17th and scared out of my mind.
All my preemie have done great No delays, in fact the Dakota who was full term is the one with ear, eyes problems and the delays
what scares me is with each baby I had the life and death problems with Tristan i had a c-section and two weeks later my tummy swelled up to the size of a basketball a infection on the inside from the c-section they had to cut me open pack it with gaze and for four months. but it took three trip in for them to listen that something was wrong so my baby was in one hospital and i was two hours away at another i missed him so much.
and with Jolene i had a VBAC and i sat with my water broke for two weeks before she was born and so i got a infection and it caused a blood clot and had to take blood thinners for six month and blood thinners though the last pregnancy

[Joie]

Well hello to all i am new to this room but not to preemie's i have had four all born at 32 and 33 weeks first was Faith 4lb 5oz one week in the NICU born 4-19-05, Tristan was 3lb 8oz two weeks in the NICU he was born 7-17-06, Jolene was 3lb 11oz one and half weeks in the NICU she was born 2-16-08, Wyatt was 3lb 12oz week and half in the NICU and he was born 11-30-09 and my next baby is Due Dec.17th and scared out of my mind.
All my preemie have done great No delays, in fact the Dakota who was full term is the one with ear, eyes problems and the delays
what scares me is with each baby I had the life and death problems with Tristan i had a c-section and two weeks later my tummy swelled up to the size of a basketball a infection on the inside from the c-section they had to cut me open pack it with gaze and for four months. but it took three trip in for them to listen that something was wrong so my baby was in one hospital and i was two hours away at another i missed him so much.
and with Jolene i had a VBAC and i sat with my water broke for two weeks before she was born and so i got a infection and it caused a blood clot and had to take blood thinners for six month and blood thinners though the last pregnancy

:hugs: Four preemies! Wow. Are you seeing a high risk doctor with this pregnancy?

Welcome to the Preemie/NICU room. It really doesn't get much traffic lately, but I and I'm sure others do check it periodically.

[momma2sjh]

My Samy was born 10/10/11 at 30 weeks he weight 2lb 2.9oz...he is currently on a nasal canula & feeding tube. He just a blood tranfusion yesterday and has an iv in his scalp. I delivered early due to preeclampsia, everything was fine one day and then two days later i was in the hospital being told i was going to deliver. I have a range of emotions most days. I love my husband but it seems all he does lately is get on my nerves. I can't drive or even do most housework, so i rely on his time scehdule to do things and he is a slow poke. I am trying to breast feed but am not producing anything I pump every three hours and make get less than half an ounce. I feel useless most days and my husband doesnt seem to understand maybe he could be on time schedule just once to make me feel better.

[mother of seven]

i have been in the NICU five time all five babies were born at 32 weeks one thing i did learn after the first time i was in there is you have to push. the doctor play it safe mine were crazy safe like wanting them in the hospital for like six months all were out in less then two weeks. god bless. all my babies are doing great they told me boys have a harder time but its not true three girls two boys and healthy kids now you know what your baby needs trust that it wont let you down

[christinea]

I am sitting in my son's NICU room staring at his little face take everything in:) I am a high risk 29 year old mom having cardiac and stroke history who just delivered our wonderful son this past Saturday (10-29-11). My husband was on a business trip out of the state when at 4:45 am....water breaks...REALLY breaks! I drove myself to the hospital (10-25-11) apparently in full labor which they were able to stop. Got to see the wall of my room from my bed for a few days before Gryffen decided it was time he came out to meet us...early! After my nonpainmedicated general anesthesia c section (ow is all I can say), he was born at 4lbs 8 oz and 18# long! They were able to get a full 48 hours of sterriods in me before he made his debut. He was only on oxygen for less than an hour, brought to the NICU, and has been breathing, eating what I pump from a bottle, looking around since and it's already the 3rd of November. The only problem has (knock on wood) been his billi going up and down. I am worried, being brand new first time parents, about bringing him home in a week or two! I want to purchase a nurse to come home with us! Has anyone else been worried caring for their preemie (cause he seems so delicate to me) or have any advice, etc? I am all ears and just need to maybe know everything will be okay:)

[christinea]

I know what you're talking about with the hubby! I'm still here with Gryffen (hubby drops me off here and picks me up after work) and when I get home, it looks like a disaster. I can't bend down yet let alone walk a lot and it is hard to turn a blind eye. Mine always says "it'll get done" or "it doesn't have to be done right away all the time". Problem...his timing...two to four days! In fact, when I was still pregnant a few weeks ago, I told him to purchase a few major items we still needed cause they were special order. "We have time". Yeah. He had to order those items when I was on bedrest a few days back. They are all the same lol! P.S. Best wishes to you and your baby. I am pumping and get about a half ounce each time but, I have noticed a bit more each time. Don't get discouraged. Everyone's body is on it's own schedule. Drink lots of fluid. I noticed if I am a little dehydrated, my supply is suckier. :)

[mother of seven]

it is very scary to bring home a baby but a preemie is even scraier listen to what your told but you will know what your son needs i know they keep him on a feeding schedule but once we were home we did the math if they had him on 28ml every four hours then we would let our baby eat and sleep when they wanted and if at the end of the day our numbers were the same wonderful if not we tried hard at the last feeding to catch up up all our babies dont great with this and even slept six hour at night at two month so they slept good and mommy didn't go crazy our middle son could have formula and my milk never came in so we had to ask for help i think that was one of the only times i felt help less

[christinea]

Gryffen is up to 60 ml now from 12 ml when he was born and he's only 9 days old! Just gotta get him to have the ability to regulate his own temp. He will be in an isolette until he can do so on his own. He's been gaining about a half ounce a day which is awesome. If he can keep this up, maybe he will be out in another seven days! Fingers crossed!

[mother of seven]

it sounds like he is doing wonderful