Can anyone tell me anythin about prem delivery?

[SolitaA]

Hi all, due to issues with placenta/growth it looks like I may need to have baby early. This is my 3rd child and first 2 were relatively straight forward so I got to hold baby and recover on the ward etc. I have no idea what to expect this time. I am still a bit in denial of it all and hoping I make it to term but realistically I am 28 weeks and meeting consultant Tuesday after another growth scan to discuss my care plan. I just want to know if anyone has experience of this sort of thing at all, whether induced or naturally prem labour. Do you even get to see baby before they are taken away etc. Who will be in the room? Will it actually be natural or C section? Any answers to the million you can imagine are running round my head would be great. I will of course discuss with consultant if its one of the options she brings up Tues but I currently just can't sleep worrying about it all. TIA

Eldest: Prem. Youngest full-term but so tiny she needed help. Both by c/sec so I cannot comment on delivery options.

I found it was worth asking to visit the NNICU before delivery especially if your baby is expected to need extra help. Its less scary to visit your baby if you can picture where they are before you go in. I warn you NNICU esp the ICU room can be very hot, noisy and a little dis-orientating at first. BLISS produce lots of useful leaflets you can access on their website that might be of help. There may also be a BLISS contact for your hospital that you could contact.
You will have a peadiatrician/ or neo-natologist and staff from the NNICU as well as your ob's team. They are there ready to give any help to your baby that they might need after delivery. Weather or not you can get to see your baby will depend on how they have coped with the preterm delivery. That can be hard to predict. As an example my prem baby was waved in my face for a few seconds before being taken straight out [I had a life threatening PPH hence the speed my baby was whisked off] My full term daughter was so small she went into hypo-thermic shock at birth and I did not see her at all for 12 hours. She was then on transitional care before being moved to BCH to try and find out why she had been so small and was not thriving. Every prem and IUGR baby is different.
Ask your Ob's what they can suggest to help prepare your baby for an early delivery. For example maternal steroids that can help mature a babies lungs that can help reduce the amount of breathing assistance a baby may need.
Have a think about what you might like to send to NNICU with your baby if they need to go straight away such as bonding squares, a premmie octupus [contact octopusforapreemie.com/] You can buy a baby blanket or shawl that can go with your baby- just avoid any lace patterns as they can snag teeny fingers. Cotton fabric copes the best with the heat and humidity inside an incubator and the recommended hot washes.
Leave buying clothes until you know what your baby can wear. Pop n Grow are a UK charity that can supply an initial set of NNICU clothes. www.popngrow.co.uk/
IF you want you can write down your questions as they occur to you to take with you and hand them to the consultant and ask them to answer them for you. There is no such thing as a stupid question if its about something you simply do not know about.

Hope all goes well and that your baby is delivered as safely and as well as is possible and has a smooth journey through NNICU.

Really depends on the gestation Baby is born at. If under 36weeks, likely to have a paediatrician in the room, if under 34weeks may be more of a bigger team. Midwife will catch your baby as usual if it's a vaginal birth. Mode of birth will depend on gestation, growth, condition of Baby, Doppler, presentation. Preterm babies don't tolerate labour aswell as normal growth term babies. The fact you have had two normal births previously is on your favour.
You should be able to hold Baby straight away unless Baby is very preterm, ie under 34weeks or in poor condition. Baby may be able to come to the ward with you depending on weight, condition and gestation (under 34weeks tends to go to special care).

Lots of variables. Good luck at consultant appt

Great info from both thank you so much for responding. I have been writing some questions down but also hoping it doesnt come to that. Roll on Tuesday

My son was born at 33 weeks. Totally unexpected so no time to prepare. It was a c-section as he was breech and his heart rate started to dip, they weighed him, cleaned him up and I got a cuddle before they took him to the neo-natal unit.
When I got to see him in there later that evening, it was quite a shock seeing him in the incubator with wires and tubes everywhere. I second what a previous poster said about seeing if you can get a look round the ward to prepare or a chat with one of the nurses who can talk you through things and tell you what to expect. As it was all out of the blue, I felt very out of control and just didn't have clue what was going on. He was incredibly well looked after though. One of the few positives was that I got a lot more help and advice from the NNU nurses than I did if we were on the postnatal ward - they didn't have many babies in so I got a lot of one on one time with the nurses showing me how to breastfeed, express, bath him, etc
Good luck, I hope your little one gets to stay inside you for a while longer.

Both my first two were 'normal' births. My third was a prem. I had an infection which caused labour to start at 31 weeks, almost 19 years ago now, so info might be slightly outdated.

C-sec or normal delivery depends on baby really, so I can't comment on that.

I was given some meds to try and stop labour, and injections to mature her lungs. Labour stopped for about a day but started up again towards the end of the second day. I was given Pethidine to help with the pain, a light fell off the wall on to me!! and when I said the baby is coming they didn't believe me. It was then panic stations, a incubator was brought into the room, there were a lot of medical professionals about.

After she was delivered, she was taken away, and I presume put in the incubator and taken away for what felt like forever, but prob about 20 mins. They brought her back in all tubed and wired upand then whisked her off to NICU. They too a polaroid photo of her for me to keep, and I was taken to the ward where I was to stay. That was one of the hardest moments. Being on a ward with lots of new borns and I was the only one who didn't have her baby. I did get some looks.

NICU let you visit when you want, but sometimes they need to do procedures which they prefer you to go to the visitors room for. They do like it when you can help with the care for your baby, and encourage it when the time is right.

One of the best feelings and scariest is holding a prem baby. So so small. Mine was 3lb 10ozs.

I expressed milk when I got home and froze it so she could have my milk. Borrow a machine from the hospital if you can. Much more efficient than the ones you can buy. Or at least they were 19 years ago.

I wish you all the best OP

My son wasn't very early at 36+3 but had a lung infection so after a few hours was rushed to NICU. I found NICU to be quite calm actually as they only had 3 babies in and a small team, we were there 2 weeks and you really get to know the staff, who are amazing. Each baby had their own dedicated nurse and they'd be able to give you a full run down at any point.
It's scary at first seeing all the wires and monitors and they often beep or alarms go off in the room but honestly after a day or 2 you learn what each number refers to, the levels it should be etc and half the time an alarm goes off it's because the baby has wriggled and the sensor fallen off
If you're like me I liked to look through his notes file, the nurse explained everything in there, it made me feel I had a bit more control back if I could understand everything.
They'll quickly get you changing nappies through the holes in the incubator, take a deep breath and go for it, you'll quickly become a whizz at working round the tubes/wires. I hope you have a good birth but if you end up in NICU it will quickly become second nature as the staff will make you feel so at home and the level of care for the baby is astounding. I genuinely look back with fondness on that time now x