I'm a Neonatal Nurse AMA

[CasualDress]

Hi just thought this might be of interest to some people.
I've name changed to keep this separate from my other threads.
I'm going to work shortly but promise I will answer any questions when I get home.

[Mammyofasuperbaby]

Not a question but a thank you because without nurses like you and your colleagues children like my son wouldn't be here today.
I always think of NICU nurses as gaurdian angels, they protect and care for the most vulnerable and innocent souls.
Hope you have a nice day at work

[CatkinToadflax]

No questions but I just want to thank you for doing the amazing job you do. My DS1 was born at 24 weeks weighing 1.5lbs nearly 13 years ago and was, thank god, in one of the best Level 3 NICUs in the UK. It was the expertise within the unit and superb nursing that pulled him through, as at birth he had a less than 40% chance of survival. He's now an annoying pre-teen! Thank you so, so much for what you do every day in what must be an incredibly pressurised and emotional environment.

[LoveMyLittleSuperhero]

Another thank you without a question. My eldest passed in a NICU but the nurses kindness and their obvious love of all the children in their care made a hard time a lot easier. I can't imagine how hard a job it must be

[CasualDress]

Quick responses! It brings a tear to my eye that people are so grateful, I honestly don't know how parents cope day in day out stuck in nnu with a sick baby.
It's just my job, which incidently I love, but I get to go home after a shift but you guys have to 'live' this day after day.
I take my hat off to you
I work in a very busy level 3 unit so we see babies from 24 weeks weighing as little as 500g
I will be back later.

[johnworf]

Another who like to thank you and your colleagues for doing the brilliant job you do. Without skilled NICU nurses my youngest DD (now 10) would not be here.

Born at 23+5 and weighing 1lb 8oz, she 'had a go' on most of the equipment in NICU! Our particular thanks goes to all those wonderful nurses at St Mary's in Manchester.

You do an amazing job, not just nursing, but also breastfeeding experts and shoulders to cry on.
THANK YOU!

[Mermaid36]

Another huge thank you here too!
My twins were born at under 800g each at 26+1 and spent 16 weeks in NICU.

You guys are just utterly amazing and dedicated...I am in awe of you, being able to work in such a stressful, high pressured environment with poorly babies and traumatised parents!

[Blueroses99]

Another thank you from me. DD1 was born at 24 weeks just 600g and was in NNU for 91 days. Forever grateful for the expert care she received, and all the support we had as parents.

What made you choose neonates?
Do you get attached to the babies that you care for?
Can you tell early on how well (or not) a baby is going to get on or is it quite unpredictable?
Do you find that there are things that parents do that make your job easier/more difficult?
I love to stay in touch with the unit and pop in when I’m nearby. Am I being annoying?!

[CasualDress]

blueroses firstly let me assure you, you are not annoying when you visit the unit! we really love seeing babies come back and visit, we have a photo wall of ex babies!

I came into the job quite late, I worked in a builders yard when I left school! then worked in childcare and got qualifications.
Then I got a job as a nursery nurse in a neonatal unit and then did my nurse training and got a job on the same unit!

I can't really predict how well a baby will do. Some have an easy road, others come across many many obstacles. I'm always amazed how these tiny little mites pull through one problem after another.

It's hard not to get attached especially if the baby was really early and spent 100+ days with us. We become really close with the parents too.

It's great to see parents become confident enough to change nappies and learn to do tube feeds, and a great help to us! some parents will sit next to the incubator all day, others will pop in once a day. I don't judge either way. They have to do what fits in with their family. It must be tough when there are other children at home.
We have a Ronald MacDonald house nearby which is an amazing place.

[Bingbangboo1]

My cousin is in the high dependancy unit now, from the Nici, he was born at 26 weeks weighing 800grams, hes now 33 weeks and weighs 4.5lbs!!
When do you think it's likely he will be home? No one seems to know

[Bingbangboo1]

Oh & i think you are wonderful for what you do

[Marmite27]

My newest dc was born at 35 weeks due to feotal anaemia 15 weeks ago. She had to have a stay in neonatal for a blood transfusion.

At 6lb 11oz she looked like the hulk compared to some of the tiny babies in there.

Big thank you from me, her neonatal nurses got me though some of my darkest hours.

[Parkgardens]

Thank you.

[thisismee]

Another one wanting to say a big thank you .

Ds1 was born 40+13 and was a big boy at 9lb2. Ds2 was 37+1 and was 6lb10 both were born having infections and received amazing care in the NICU .

So thankful to the nurses for helping me establish breastfeeding answering any questions we had.

Having to leave your baby in care of someone else is not something you ever think you will have to do, it is so hard, but knowing you are leaving them in safe hands is so reassuring.

Boys are 3 and 1 now.

[whattimeislove]

What do you think of the push for family integrated care, where families are encouraged to do lots more for their baby than traditionally "allowed"? I'm told some nurses are wary of this?

What do you think about parents being able to sleep on pull-out beds on the ward next to their baby, as it is in some paediatric wards?

How do the nurses get on the the doctors on your unit? Do you feel listened to or do some doctors "lord it" over you?

[Cheerio99]

My daughter has neonatal meningitis when she was born. It was the most unimaginably horrific time and I can’t begin to explain the pain and worry it caused ( although it seems like most people on this thread will relate well to that feeling ). The neonatal nurses were beyond amazing, and sat and let me cry to them hours on end. Big love and thanks xxx

[squirrelclub]

Thank you. I am mum to a 35 weeker. Do you tend to see many mums who have previously had a premature birth? We only had a short NNU stay but the whole experience is the main thing putting me off another pregnancy.

[RoboJesus]

What's harder for you, when a baby dies, or a baby being taken in to care?

[DreamingofSunshine]

What do you think is the biggest challenge for neonatal units in the UK at the moment?

Also, I remember the BBC show where a woman went into early labour with quads en route to the USA and ended up in an NHS hospital in London. There was a big outcry about the cost, but is that sort of thing common?

[JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff]

Thank you OP. My twins were elderly and giant by your standards - 35w and 1.7 and 2.2 kg. They were only in for 2w but the ongoing support from the unit was amazing. DS who had IUGR is now a strapping 5kg 5mo thanks to their help.

Bless you

[elliejjtiny]

Thankyou so much for all that you do. I was wondering whether it would be weird or appreciated to send a photo to the neonatal unit of my ex prem baby in his school uniform in September but I will definitely do it now.

When my son was in the neonatal unit so many people told me about their babies who had been born at 23/24 weeks and were now perfectly fine. Does this really happen to most people? Or do a large proportion of babies born that early have long term problems?

Also do you see many 35 week babies in your neonatal unit? I had a lot of "don't worry he'll be fine" from both obstetric Drs and random people when I was worried about having my baby at 35 weeks.

Mum of a 35 week baby who spent 4 weeks in the neonatal unit and now has long term problems

[Mermaid36]

@elliejjtiny - it's really subjective. My teeny 26 weeker twins could have had brain bleeds, NEC, ROP, heart defects etc due to gestation. They had breathing difficulties (and one is still on oxygen at 27 months) but we got off very lightly/easily...a friend who had her twins at 30 weeks gestation, so technically heavier, better gestation etc has one twin who had NEC, so has a stoma and is peg fed, as well as needing heart surgery, and potentially needs glasses before he is 2.
It seems to be a real lottery as to what happens...

[CatkinToadflax]

When my son was in the neonatal unit so many people told me about their babies who had been born at 23/24 weeks and were now perfectly fine. Does this really happen to most people? Or do a large proportion of babies born that early have long term problems?

I think it's extremely unusual to escape with no long-term problems when born as early as 23/24 weeks. My parents' neighbour - who is a lovely and very healthy lady now in her 90s - insists that she was born at 24 weeks back in 1920something, but if I'm honest I don't see how that could possibly be right. When we were in NICU we were bombarded with so-and-so's friend's aunt's cousin who was born at 21 weeks with no issues whatsoever and is now six feet eleven and President of the United States, but this certainly isn't the experience that I or the vast majority of my premmie mum friends have had. My boy has complex multiple disabilities, but they are milder than we were led to expect, for which we are enormously grateful. In some cases issues crop up as the child gets a bit older - certainly my boy's disabilities have become more severe/noticeable as he's got older. But as Mermaid says, it is indeed really subjective.

[whattimeislove]

But also you can have a load of these things while in hospital but still be fine, e.g.:

• brain bleed resolving itself with no long term health consequences
• CLD resolving as lungs mature
• ROP spontaneously resolving
• PDA either closing or needing ligation & then no problems since

I know a few who miraculously have been relatively unscathed. Maybe not the majority but it happens more than you may think these days.

[Whitelisbon]

My dd1 is named after the neonatal nurse who spent an entire night pacing the corridor cuddling her, as it was the only way she'd settle.
I came to visit the next morning, to be told she'd been a little unsettled overnight, and was treated with cuddles, and another parent told me what had actually happened.
So silly, and totally unimportant, but I still feel so grateful to that nurse, who didn't just care for dds physical health, but cuddled her when she needed it too.
Dd1 is now 15, and you'd never guess she was prem, and fought for her life more than once. She's a little smaller than her peers, but that's it.
So thank you from us too. People like you made a very tough time a lot more bearable, and, knowing dd was in safe hands made it much easier to leave her there!

[elliejjtiny]

Thankyou. I did wonder whether some of these people might be mistaken (I'm sure my mil is happily telling people that my ds is fine now). I'm also wondering if the mums of prem babies who have long term issues just didn't tell me when my baby was in the neonatal unit to try and avoid scaring me.

@Whitelisbon that's so lovely.