Tell me your premature birth story...

[CloverHeart]

Spoken to my consultant after a scan and baby isn't growing as she should. Basically, they will rescan me at 28 weeks and if still IGUR they will induce me at anytime from 28 onwards depending on how at risk she is.

I'd like to know what your preemie birth was like in preparation of what might come. I hate not knowing and it would really help (before and after) to have something to relate to.


Gestation of birth:
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early:
Reason for premature labour/birth:
Sex:
Weight:
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section):
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU):
Weight on discharge:
Problems after birth (mum and baby):

[PenguindreamsofDraco]

I don't really like to let my mind go there too often but since I well remember the panic of feeling so out of control, I will try and help! You're already past when I gave birth, and today I have a very healthy happy 3.5 year old, so you have a lot of room for optimism

Gestation of birth: 26w+2
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early: I was expecting twins and I was told to expect 'early 30s' delivery
Reason for premature labour/birth: One of my sons died, which triggered labour a couple of days later for my surviving boy.
Sex: Both male
Weight: 2lbs
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section): Vaginal, no drugs probably as a kind of self-flagellation exercise (not that I was thinking rationally!)
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU): In total NICU/SCBU for 77 days
Weight on discharge: No idea. Under 4lbs though.
Problems after birth (mum and baby): I had a massive 3 litre haemorrhage and needed loads of blood/antibiotics etc. Son had the typical problems of such an early prem - IVH x 2, PDA, ROP, hernias, loads of infections etc. But actually as I now understand, he had a fairly trouble-free trip through (the consultants were telling me that at the time ) But you would never know it now. He is still a bit of a titch but is bright, chatty, strong etc etc. Honestly, even with such a rotten start, you would never know.
Keep strong.

[minipie]

Hi, my story may not be particularly relevant to your position but will share anyway in case it helps.

Gestation of birth: 34 weeks

Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early: 34 weeks, waters broke suddenly

Reason for premature labour/birth: Not sure. Possibly an infection.

Sex: Female

Weight: 4lb 15

Delivery (Vaginal/C-section): Vaginal

How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU): 24 days, mostly SCBU. Mainly not for medical reasons but because she took so long to learn to feed (later found out she had tongue tie)

Weight on discharge: Not sure - similar to birth weight I think, she lost a lot in first few days and then regained it slowly

Problems after birth (mum and baby): None for me. Her - not breathing at birth for a few mins (more due to being squashed on exit than being prem I think). After that, only very minor issues - bit of jaundice, temp control etc. Developmental milestones all met at corrected age. All seems fine now at 19 months.

Very best wishes to you and your daughter.

[AmeliaToppingLovesShopping]

Gestation at birth: 34 weeks
Gestation I was told: I was admitted to hospital at 32 weeks and told she would be delivered early the Friday before she was born
Reason for premature birth: pre-eclampsia
Sex: female
Weight: 3lb 1.5oz
Delivery: c section
How long in special care: she was in NICU for just under 4 weeks in total.
Problems after birth: none really but she has had difficulties at school and learning difficulties have been mentioned. This of course could be unrelated.

[AmeliaToppingLovesShopping]

Missed one!

Weight on discharge: 4lb something (she will be 13 in December!)

[DebH1975]

Gestation of birth: 34+5
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early: 22 weeks
Reason for premature labour/birth: twin pregnancy - lost one of my twins at 21 weeks - chance of infection therefore early delivery
Sex: female
Weight: 4lb 9
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section): c section
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU): 12 days in SCBU
Weight on discharge: 4 lb 1
Problems after birth (mum and baby): only 3 weeks old soca t really answer this, currently struggling to put on weight

[AnotherStitchInTime]

Gestation of birth: 34+6
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early: 20 weeks, nearly delivered early at 26 weeks after massive antepartum haemmorrhage and had steroids then.
Reason for premature labour/birth: Placenta praevia with percreta (my placenta grew into my bladder).
Sex: M
Weight: 7.5 lbs
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section): elcs
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU): not at all, but I was on hdu and he stayed with me.
Weight on discharge: similar to birth (he lost 300g)
Problems after birth (mum and baby): mum - massive 6L haemmorrhage (more than total blood volume) and an emergency hysterectomy to save my life. Baby had transient tachypnea for a while and had to go under a heat lamp, soon settle down after he finally got skin to skin and a feed from me (7 hours after birth as I was still in theatre). Managed to breastfeed solely until we started weaning last week aged 5 months.

[InternetFOREVER]

Gestation of birth: 35 weeks
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early: 32ish weeks
Reason for premature labour/birth: pre-eclampsia
Sex: male
Weight: 5lbs 1
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section): vaginal
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU): none at all - was in transitional care with me on ward for a week
Weight on discharge: can't remember
Problems after birth (mum and baby): none for me, DS does have some delays at 3 but no way of knowing whether they're related to his prematurity.

Hope next scan goes well xx

[Mama1980]

I don't really like to think about this too often and I'm not sure if this will help but I do understand how terrifying it is to feel so out of control. If it helps your baby is already less prem than both of mine. So there is every reason for optimism.
First ds
Born 26 weeks. Had no idea he was going to be early he was delivered following a car crash, my placenta ruptured.
Crash c section.
He had numerous issues needed heart, bowel and stomach operations. He was pretty much in hospital for 18 months, he had a very tough fight but now he's no different from any other 6 year old.
Second ds
Born 24 weeks, I knew he was going to be that early I had been in hospital for months, (there was risk to my life) This was due to existing complications following the birth of ds1.
Just prior to delivery I began to haemorrhage. He was born by crash c section again. I was in icu for weeks and came home just before ds was discharged.
Due to all of the above he had received mag, steroids etc whilst in utero, this made a huge difference they believe.
He came home a week before his due date weighing just under 5 lbs. he's now 17 months and developmentally on target (whatever that means ) and other than still being tiny you'd never guess how early he was.

[Mama1980]

Oh and if this is a concern for you, through extensive pumping I was able to breast feed my eldest for 3 1/2 years and still feed my youngest.
Bets of luck with the scan

[neversleepagain]

Gestation of birth: 34+5
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early: 13 week scan (50% of twins are born early)
Reason for premature labour/birth: Waters went with twin 1
Sex: 2 girls
Weight: 5lb4 & 5lb8
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section): EMCS
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU): NICU 2 days, SCBU 11 days
Weight on discharge: 5lb4 & 5lb9
Problems after birth (mum and baby): Twin 2 had reflux and sleep apnea. My c section scar took a while to heal and became infected.

[lotsofcheese]

Gestation: 29 weeks
When I knew delivery would be early: 28+4 - had 2 lots steroids
Reason: severe PE & DS had severe IUGR
Delivery: EMCS (vaginal delivery unsafe for very small, fragile babies & my organs were failing)
Weight: 720g/1lb 9oz (below 0.4th centile)
Days in NICU: 95
Problems: for me HELLP syndrome (related to PE)
For DS: needed ventilated, resuscitated, infections, close to needing surgery for retinopathy, came home on oxygen for 6 months. Had severe reflux for nearly 4 years. He's fine now, but it has been a journey.

Bliss, the charity for premature babies, has a good website & message board.

Maybe you could think about a NICU visit before?

[NearlySchoolTime]

Gestation: 32 weeks
When I knew delivery would be early: 32 weeks
Rason: still not sure - labour just started
Delivery: breech vaginal
Weight: 3lb 11
Days in SCBU: 6 weeks, mostly learning how to feed and putting on weight
Weight on discharge: 5 lb 11
Problems following the birth: me: none. DS: immediately after the birth needed ventilation and then cpap, and had a touch of jaundice. Also silent reflux for the first year or so. Also hernias soon after discharge, but not sure if that's related to being premature. Otherwise completely healthy.

Good luck, OP - I am wishing you all the best, and I second the recommendation of the Bliss site.

[Mousybrown]

My twins were born at 30 weeks due to growth problems (ttts) I knew they were possible gonna be early from about 26 weeks.
They were delivered via c section after we had been transferred via ambulance to several hospitals as we needed two nnic beds. Weights were 2lb 15 oz and 3lb 3oz when delivered.
They were in hospital for 7 weeks but had complications and went back in together for 1 week and then one twin went back again following an rsv infection.
Both needed to be fully ventilated for a time, then moved on to CPAP and then nasal cannulas.
Both had holes in their hearts, one suffered from a septicaemia infection twice that ment he was extremely poorly for a time.
All the usual infections, jaundice, blood transfusions but we were very lucky in the end with very few lasting effects.

[MrsSpencerReid]

Mine is quite different to your situation op as mine were too big not too small!
Ds1 born at 35+0 (34+4 according to hosp dates) weighed 6lb9oz emergency section as he stopped moving, found out about 45min before he was born. think my placenta was failing, spent 3 days in nicu, needed cpap for breathing and iv glucose for low blood sugar, 1 in high dependency and about 8 on the ward trying and failing to establish bf, no post birth probs for me, ds dropped through the centiles and had milk allergy, he is now a happy and healthy 26m bundle of energy!!
Ds2 born at 35+6 (35+4 hosp dates) was having regular growth scans and he suddenly shot off the top, found this out on tues, admitted wed for steroids and had him via section Friday am, weighing 7lb13oz! he had low blood sugar but only needed formula top up to bring it up, spent 2 1/2 days in hosp, and no probs for either of us he is a happy 5m fatty now

[MrsSpencerReid]

Weight on discharge: ds1 about birth weigh as he had to regain before we were allowed home and ds2 no idea as he was treated as 'normal' so not weighed again in hosp.
Actually, I just remembered, ds2 needed forceps to get him out so was very bruised and so had jaundice for about 2 weeks but that went away by itself

[lotsofcheese]

Oops, forgot to add in DD!!
Gestation: 35+6
Knew she'd be early for last few weeks of pregnancy, was having regular scans.
Delivery: EMCS as breech
Reason for delivery - low liquor volume (fluid round baby was low)
Days in scbu: 8, due to jaundice, poor feeding, low sugar & difficulty regulating temperature.
No problems for me this time, apart from low BP & big blood loss in theatre
DD Weighed 5lb 2oz at birth, dropped to 4lb 12oz (nearly 10%) couldn't latch on, needed formula, was tube fed. I expressed for her but struggled to get an adequate supply.

[Poppet45]

Gestation of birth: 27w
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early: About two hours before she arrived so too short for steroids to work on her lungs.
Reason for premature labour/birth: Still don't really know but the suspicion was an infection that crossed the placenta, she was born with suspected congenital pneumonia
Sex: female
Weight: Born 1040g, fell to 885g (1 lb 15oz)
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section): was to be a vbac, but she went breech mid labour and given her fragile state, and diminishing hr, she was an emcs. Born with an apgar of 1, only a sub 40bpm heartrate left, no cry, breathing, or movement, blue. Put straight on a ventilator.
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU): 81 days
Weight on discharge: 4lbs exactly, she was discharged I think, just before she was 36 weeks gestation.
Problems after birth (mum and baby): Lots. Brain bleed, BPD, hole in heart, suspected meningitis, start of congestive heart failure, left sided weakness suspected mild cp - slow to walk. Bit of a rollercoaster but she did well for a few weeks at home, then rehospitalised with an acute zinc deficiency - all the skin on her face basically burned off was awful far far worse than anything in the nicu. The diuretics used to treat her congestive heart failure flushed away all her zinc reserves too. Then rehospitalised at 18 months when a family cold turned into pneumonia in her case. Longterm she has had 5 consultants, 60 outpatient appointments and was on 16 meds a day for her first year. Had horrendous reflux, couldn't tolerate solids til almost a year - she still has major problems with milk and soya, and potatoes so meals are fun. Slow to walk and although she spoke young slow to work up to full sentences. She's now almost three and all kinds of awesome. Off all her meds, rules the roost and apart from being small people never suspect she was prem - only telltale sign is all the old needle mark scars all over her hands and arms (her zinc levels were retested for months which she hated).
Problems me: Am definitely a bit more nuts these days.

Good luck, good luck, good luck. We're here for handholding.

[Poppet45]

Oh she was bfed for two years btw. I took the no milk and therefore no chocolate diet I had to be on to feed her as a penance for her arriving early I think.

[CloverHeart]

Oh wow what a response! Thank you so much for all your stories, reassurance and offers of hands to hold. I'm weeping away right now reading some of them so will return later for a proper update and tooo read some more

[Pipsmilkmaid]

Gestation of birth:29+6
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early about 2 hours before :
Reason for premature labour/birth:don't know waters started going with a trickle at 27+2 I thought it was bladder incompitance.
Sex:male
Weight:3 lbs
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section):emergency c-section
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU):35 days. I did lots of pumping and kangaroo care
Weight on discharge:4lb 5 oz
Problems after birth (mum and baby)mum fine. Baby apnoea but was sorted before discharge. Reflux still a problem.
He was only ventilated for 9 hours pulled it out himself but the rejected cpap but luckily the NICU had vapor therm was on that for a couple of weeks then just a little bit of oxygen for a week then air though he did need a mask a few times till his reflux was under control.
Is 10 months actual now and doing well very happy smilely baby.

[Convergent]

Gestation of birth: 29+6
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early: 4 days previously
Reason for premature labour/birth: not sure as went into labour spontaneously (possibly an infection, but all swabs/tests came back clear)
Sex: female
Weight: 2lbs 10oz
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section): vaginal (very fast and relatively easy)
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU): 55 days
Weight on discharge: nearly 6lbs
Problems after birth (mum and baby): mum - physically excellent, except having to go to theatre to have retained placenta removed (scary but fairly pain-free). Emotionally wrecked:)
baby - all the usual prem problems, but none of the worst complications. good apgars. didn't need ventilating at all but was on CPAP and caffeine for 5/6 weeks for apnoea/bradycardia. was fed mostly by IV for about a week, before going fully to ng tube for a few weeks (breastfed on discharge and still breastfed now). mild jaundice and anaemia, but both got sorted out very quickly. good weight gain throughout and developmentally on track so far (11 months).

Good luck, OP - let us know how you get on. I know it's a terrifying time. For me, the few days before she was born were in some ways worse, psychologically speaking, than the days after. At least, I felt there were things I could do once she arrived (going to see her, kangaroo care, expressing, taking photos, etc.).

[Convergent]

Should have added that my DD is a lovely, smiley, sociable baby who hasn't had any particular health problems since discharge - in fact, she was about 9 months old before she caught her first cold!

Also 55 days was the total hospital stay. NICU (while on CPAP) was about 40 days, and SCBU (once the CPAP was off) was about 15 days, I think.

[MultipleMama]

Don't like to think of the details too much but I like to help where I can. So here's mine :)

Gestation of birth: 31 weeks exactly
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early: Was booked for a ELCS at 31+4 or risk losing T2 to serve Symmerical IUGR.
Reason for premature labour/birth: Oligohydramnios and Iron levels.
Sex: girl & boy.
Weight: Girl - 3lbs 1oz & Boy - 1lb 9oz
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section): Vaginal. No pain relief by choice.
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU): Girl: 8 weeks & Boy: 20 weeks.
Weight on discharge: Girl - Around 5 or 6lbs, I think & Boy - Around 4lbs I think.
Problems after birth (mum and baby): Oh boy, this is will be a long list... I was completely fine. DD had some breathing and latching problems but didn't last long. DS had; PDA, heart murmur, irregular heartbeat, brain bleeds, ARDS,(gram negative) Sepsis, blood transfusions, cardiac & respiratory arrests, chest drains due to damaged lungs caused by sepsis and ARDS, PM surgery at 3mo old (still in NICU), MVP and regurtitation due to his heart surgery. He has asthma and serve BPD due to his heavily scarred lungs so he's on home o2 and inhalers, he's on 7 different meds a day to be taken twice a day, he has suspected SPD and is due to have OHS in Aug for his MVP. It was touch and go a few times during his stay but at 8mo old he's coming on well :)

[BritInTDot]

I was the premature baby - 32 years ago. I'm still amazed at what was possible even back then!

Gestation of birth:27 weeks
Gestation you were told/knew baby would be early: 26 weeks
Reason for premature labour/birth: incompetent cervix
Sex: I'm female
Weight: 2lbs 10
Delivery (Vaginal/C-section): vaginal
How long in special care and where (NICU/SCBU): 6 weeks
Weight on discharge: don't know
Problems after birth (mum and baby) a small hole in my heart which healed itself. Minor problems were not being able to make any sound when I cried, blood transfusions and needing to be tube fed. Luckily I had pretty well developed lungs so didn't need any help there I'm told.

These are just the details I remember from my mum telling me.

There is so much that can be done for preemies, please try to stay positive!

[BigTroubleinSmallBoots]

Hello. I saw your post last night and had to reply as I know only too well the mind numbing panic of the sudden plunge into the world of neonatal care. Retrived Dd's notes from drawer as I couldn't remember all of the details - at the time everything will be clear and sharp as ice, but afterwards it all kind of merges into one ball of horror. It's the brain's way of coping with it all I think. Good luck, be strong for your wee one and yourself and take it one day at a time. Dd is 13 months now, and I have just wiped the toast and hummous of her face. All terribly normal and utterly brilliant because of that.

Gestation: 25 weeks 3+ days
Gestation you were told your baby would be early: 15 hours before delivery.
Reason: Waters broke 3 days before, but had thought I had pregnancy related incontinence. Nice. Placental abruption whilst being checked out in hospital after feeling unwell for 3 days - not unwell, in labour. ho hum. Other reasons - infection etc. unknown. We have put it down to v bad luck.
Sex: Female
Weight: 744g or 1lb 10oz.
Delivery: Vaginal
How long in hospital and where: 73 days in total. 40 in NICU high dependancy. 33 in low dependancy/special care.
Weight on discharge: less than 2kg, about 3lbs 12 I think.
Problems after birth for mum and baby:
Me - nothing physical, other: PTSD.
Dd - ventilated for 35 days, on oxygen altogether for 8 weeks, PROM, PPHN, suspected NEC, hypernatraemia, jaundice, hyperglycaemia, hypotension, 8 blood transfusions, one collapsed lung, two infections from naval blood lines, v small brain bleed, stage 3 ROP.
She was very very ill, we nearly lost her many times in the first few weeks. Then she kinda pulled her socks up and slowly slowly got better. Since leaving hospital we've learnt to breatsfeed, I carried on expressing for 10 months. No readmissions this far and she is a sparkly, wonderful baby who crawls and babbles at her brother and us. Have hope and courage. Sending un-MN hugs. xx