To be annoyed by '2 weeks premature'

[FlockOfTwats]

Fuck it. I know i'm being unreasonable. I know i'm being pedantic to the level of being a complete arsehole.

But it REALLY annoys me when people describe their baby as 2 weeks PREMATURE when they are born at 38 weeks.

37 - 42 weeks is full term.
YOUR BABY WAS NOT FUCKING PREMATURE.

Go ahead. Tell me i'm being unreasonable. I know i deserve it and need slapping down off my soapbox.

YANBU. Generally people who do this are attention seeking

Anything less than 40 weeks was considered preemie 15 years ago? I was born twice that long ago, was two weeks before my due date and was not considered even remotely premature TBH I think my mum was pretty glad as she was 5'1" and bloody massive.

Damn, caught out by a zombie

YANBU . I was born at 29 weeks but had stopped developing in the womb at 25 weeks and was seriously ill and lucky to survive. I was behind my peers for years and was extremely lucky that the only problem was I hit milestones later than other children, and didn't have any longterm problems. I was 1lb 13 at birth and 4 pounds leaving the hospital - I could fit in the palm of my fathers hand and was very lucky to have survived, I was in an incubator with tubes attached to help me breathe and my parents couldn't cuddle me for weeks - they could just touch me through holes. I've seen pictures from that time and I don't look like a baby. and I was one of the lucky ones who survived, without lasting problems, and can say I lead a relatively ordinary life. you can't compare 2 weeks early to a child being in an incubator and parents not knowing if they'll live or die

I refer to my oldest as born two weeks before her due date. I wouldn't use premature or even early as she was a healthy weight and appeared ready for the outside world.

I refer to my younger as late. I am justified because she was delivered at T+27 on dead certain dates (husband was away for a long period but we met up for two nights) confirmed with early scanning (due to potential issues). The hospital staff found the last two weeks of my pregnancy much more exciting than I did.

Yanbu this really pisses me off my ds was born at 33 weeks and even now at 2 is still in and out of hospital I brought him home after nearly 3 weeks tube fed and had nurses in and out for the first 6 months constantly readmitted and still feeling the effects and I know how lucky we are to have got to that gestation.

I get your point. My baby was 2 weeks early at 38 weeks, not premature

My eldest was born at 35+6 and I say she was four weeks early. Never premature. She was actually classed as preterm. Not premature.

Yanbu, it bugs me too.

Yanbu

My daughter was 4 days early (bang on time by mine and the midwives initial calculations), she was not in any way prem.

I've a friend whose child was born at just over 24 weeks and perhaps because I know the struggle she went through, I find it offensive for the term "premature" to be used inaccurately. Her child is 4 now and doing very well but she lost so much joy because the birth was prem. It is in no way comparable to being a couple of weeks/a few days ahead of schedule.

Its interesting....my ds was born at 37 weeks exactly so classed as a term baby. my dd2 was born at 36+5 so was technically premature. but my ds was a lot more sickly and in need of help as a baby. he spent a week in SCBU, dd2 was only there an hour or so to be monitered.

I also dont understand if 37 weeks is term, why a baby at 36 weeks is then 4 weeks premature. it doesnt make a lot of sense really.

my twins were born at 30 weeks, they were in hospital for 8 weeks. it really annoys me too! i often get told "well twins normally come early!" well no they dont normally come "that" early. i also get told twins normally weigh less, yes but not round the 3lb mark.

luckily my twins were healthy and few complications so i am very lucky however spending 8 weeks back and fourth from the hospital was horrendous when i wanted my babies at home with me

I had Dd at 37 weeks due to pre-eclampsia. I always said 3 weeks early! Ds was born 2 days before his due date. Don't seem to say early with him.

My nephew was born at 30 weeks and I would say he was premature.

I agree.

DS was born premature at 34 weeks. He was thankfully only in hospital a week but this included a short time in SCBU and he has developmental disabilities most likely as a result of coming early.

A couple of weeks early is not a premature delivery.

I have a preemie who is now 12 months old and on the 50th centile. He was 3lb 13 born at 34+1, although my waters went at 33+2 he held on for a bit.
HDU, NICU, SCBU & transitional care for two weeks.
It was harder than anything you can imagine and I still feel strange about it all but as others have said, even I wouldn't know how to cope with a 28 weeker like my friend had.

My PFB was 11 weeks premature - born @29weeks. It does piss me off when 37 weekers are described as prem. Early is much better.

I know I'm a bit late on this, but studies have found that babies born 1-2 before due date haven't finished developing. They are more prone to medical issues than full-term (39 or 40 wks min) babies on top of that. The 37-38 week fetus hasn't developed the proper amount of synapses within the brain, so a baby born that time will more than likely get have sensory issues/learning disabilities, which do make you delayed and therefore not 'mature'.

I've heard stories of autistic people struggling their hardest even though they were fully developed in a physical sense. Do you know the average autistic life expectancy is much lower than the general pop. due to epilepsy/suicide rates? Did anyone have an early preterm baby that turned out to be normal-sized, neurotypical, and no longer having issues in the physical realm?

What's next? A forum discussion about how a 5 week pre-term mom shouldn't tell a story similar to that of an 8 week pre-term mom b/c the 8 week one has it worse? The earlier born, the more health issues, but all pre-term/early-term babies still have something in common.

Why have you revived a zombie thread to say that?

FWIW my brother was born at 27 weeks in 1980. He has no health issues, is NT and 'normal sized', as you put it.

I knew someone who was very preterm. I was born 2 weeks early though I ended up having more mental delays than her. Should I shut her down whenever she tries to relate to my autism experience b/c hers is less severe?

Salem, are you mad or no? I was researching fetal development/ended up seeing this thread. What do you mean 'normal-sized as you put it'? Height range is pretty clear-cut. You're either little, gigantic, or average.

Love and care hit nail on head why is everything a completion? My son was born 35 weeks taken from me within 5 minutes to scbu and spent 3 weeks. Luckily he wasn't a very poorly baby but my experience in terms of sitting on a hospital ward without my baby whilst others had theirs , going home without him , travelling back and forth . The stress on my 4 year old and relationship etc is similar to that of a mum with a baby in nicu I say similar because I didn't have so many health issues to worry about. But does that make my experience worthless?

I never classed my 38 weeker as prem but he was small for dates and failure to thrive but he could have been either of those at 40 weeks too.

My twins were born at 36 weeks - they were premature as in they had breathing problems due to being born earlier. If they hadn't had any health problems I would probably just say they were born a bit early. Does it really matter anyway?

It's not always the number of weeks that determine their health though. DD was born at 36+4 but was fine, just a bit earlier than expected. No special care needed.

DS1 was full term, an eight pounder who rapidly went down hill and spent 10 days in special care. Another parent, a dad, of one of the tiny early babies, actually asked the nurses why my son was there "as he looked ok but you're all fussing over him". She explained that his baby was tiny and early but was healthy whereas mine was full term, good size but seriously ill.

I've only read a few of these posts because it really sounds like prematurity top trumps and it's particularly pathetic.

If not engage with someone who said there kid was 3 weeks premature.

Well I'm not engaging with anyone who's kid is full term!!!!!

My kid was born full term and then spent 4 weeks in hospital, the out for 1 in for 2..... This went on until he was 18 months old, although we still spend lots of time in hospital!!!
He was only 5lb 2oz full term!!!
He's got a rare gene mutation which only 40 other kids in the world have!
He's 7 but behaves like a 18 month old!!! He has severe autism and Cerebal palsy too!!! He also has arthrogryposis and Ehlers Danlos syndrome.
We use two drugs to make him sleep and even then he wakes at 2am as that's his music ring so that's when I get up too!!!

Now shall I carry on ....

Honestly ... Get off the pity parade !!!