Preg after having premature baby

[tess01]

Anyone who has had a premature baby, or has a premature baby like to come and start a new support thread with me

myjobismum glad you come to join us hope others follow suit. I think there is a lot of people out there who could benefit from this sort of support thread

I have had 3 premature babies, at 35, 31 and 33 weeks, am 18 weeks pregnant

DS has cerebral palsy (not due to his early deliverly, happened in pregnancy)
DD1 has cerebral palsy and ADHD due to her premature deliverly
DD2 is healthy.

We are lucky that DS and DD1 can walk, though slower than a normal child.

I have been lucky in my hospital care this time. I decided to move hospitals as I wasn;t happy with my treatment during pregnancy or the kids treatment while in SCBU. This time I have been scanned 3 times, am on asprin to thin my blood (consultant thinks that my blood is clotting too much) and I will be scanned 4 weekly after 20 weeks, I will also be admitted at 28 weeks for steriod injections (Yah!! can't wait!! )

will do. Its nervy thinking that I could be over halfway through my pregnancy already, but I really want to get to 36 weeks this time, I will be happy with that.

I'll be joining the thread, my first child was a prem boy at 24.5 weeks. Lived 90 minutes.
Since had DD1 - now 8 and DD2 - now 7.

Welcome sparklygothkat and kaloo20

sparklygothkat - im sorry to hear that youve had 3 premature deliverys, i no how difficult a time it can be, you must be a strong person. Im glad that your hospital is finally looking into why this keeps on happening, keep in touch feel free to discuss anything.

kaloo20 - im sorry to hear you lost your son through premature birth, i can only try to imagine the devastation this must caused. How was your other two pregnancys, were they early or did you go to term.

myjobismum - were the two premature babies youve mentioned ok

My second child was a premature baby, he was born at 34 weeks, in most ways he has come out unscathed but we do have difficulty with his eating, he has had loads of tests over it and they put it down to being psychological problem, this being caused by the tubes in his throat when he was on the neonatal unit

One more thing, as much as I worry about this pregnancy being premature, i do have to mention that the whole experience changed my outlook on life, to see them tiny babies strugglering for the chance to live, i no longer can waste my life no matter what.

Im sorry if this upset anyone

Tess my dd1 had feeding problems for ages, they thought at one point she had a form of CP in her throat muscles. It took years to sort itself out, but she is 7 on wednesday and is now fine. When I look at her, as tall as her 9 year old brother, fighting fit,I found it hard to believe that she was a tiny baby in SCBU fighting for her life.

My ds was born at 34 weeks as I had severe pre-eclampsia. I had the horrible steroid injections but he still had to be ventilated and ended up spending 7 weeks in SCBU. Would love to have another one at some point but am terrified of it happening again (although chances of getting PE are less the second time round). Ds now 10 months old and very healthy - chattering very loudly to himself at the moment although he is meant to be going to sleep .

Sparklygothkat - wow 3 prems and pregnant again - you must be very strong! Best of luck and also to tess01 for your pregnancies.

Hiya,
2 premmie births here.
Ds1 was 8 days overdue lol.
Ds2 was 6 weeks early at 34 wks. 4lbs 14ozs. Only in hospital for 13 days. Aged 3 now, has only ever been ill twice & is now 35lbs (he's tall aswell for his age).
DD was born last July at 32 wks weighing 3lbs 12ozs. (Started contracting at 25 wks, then dilated to 2cms at 27wks, spent alot of time in hosp). She was only in for 3 wks & is now nearly 11mths old, weighs 22lb & is advanced for her age.
Needless to say I've now been sterilised as my next pg would be in line for mc (already had 4) or would be seriously premature so we decided to cut our losses

The thing with me, was DS was born at 35+5 and was ok, only in SCBU for 1/2 day for low blood sugars.

When I was pregnant with dd1 no-one expected me to deliver at 31 weeks, we all thoguht I would go to the same stage as DS, maybe even further.

When pregnant with dd2, I was told that I still had a 70% chance of carrying to term. When I passed 31 weeks we all relaxed a bit, was still being scanned weekly, but had her at 33 weeks.

I know that there is a chance that the hospital might admitted me at about 30ish weeks for bedrest.

When pregannt with dd2 I was in hospital for 3 weeks on bedrest, wasn;t allowed to lift DS and dd1 (which was hard as dd1 wasn;t walking and DS needed help when he fell) and wasn't allowed sex.

I am realy hopeful that I will carry further this time, I am older now, my body is more mature and I know the signs now.

Dd was 4 weeks early and had to stay in scbu for a week as she couldn't feed when she was born and had to be tube fed, she was also grunting. She was small and it took her a long time to put weight on, weighed just 9 and a half pounds at 3 months. Ds1 was 38 weeks and fine. Ds2 my waters broke at 22 weeks and we had a hellish time until he was born. I was constantly at the hostpital and had weekly blood tests and scans.

I had steroids with all of them as I had PE with dd, early contractions wih ds1 and waters breaking early with ds2.

They're all fine now

I think there are quite a few of us premmie mums on here! DS was born at 30 wks, I'm currently pregnant with DC2 & we are now 34 wks (yey!). I had severe PE with DS which is why he had to be delivered early. I find the Pregnancy support board on the Bliss (premature baby charity) website really good- see: www.blissmessageboard.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=7

Good luck to all of you xxxxxx

Hi

I had DS at 29 weeks after I developed PE - he was in SCBU for 10 weeks but no real problems since being discharged and is now a very jolly 2 yo who runs me ragged...

Now pregnant again and am 36+3 today! Can't wait to meet baby now and feel like a small whale...

[waves to mmnika!}

our last baby was born at only 28 weeks and 3 days, although our first 5 babies were all full term and beyond, so had to be induced first 5 pregnancies, but little one born almost 12 weeks early for some reason and weighed 2lbs.14oz...........and was in scbu for 10+ weeks and had to have surgery at alder hey for hernias on both sidews. He also has a birth mark called a haemangioma above his eye. He was born breech too, which was a blessing considering that right up to night before his birth he was lying transverse, which would have meant c-section! But thank god he managed to manoevure just in time!!
Anyway my main cornern now is that I am pregnant again, just over 1 month at the moment, but I am petrified of having another premature delivery.
Can anybody tell me what the chances are of me having another premature labour? I am sick with fear. To make matters worse, I did conceive last year but miscarried in august at between 6-8 weeks. I am aged 37. I keep checking for blood - i am so paranoid, i know it doesnt help at all, but its always on my mind.

HI all
DS2 was born at 28wks, 2LB 11OZ & we had the usual very bumpy ride in SCBU, with all the usual complications.
He's 4.5 now & very cheeky, he does have mild CP & behavioural problems similar to autism & severe asthma.
His brother was born full term & I have no idea
why ds2 was in so much distress & hence the prem birth.

Forgot to say that DS was 2lb, 2oz at 29 weeks so suffered from IUGR too - no sign of it with this pregnancy though.

Rosequartz, I would definitely advise badgering your community midwife to book you in early and to see a consultant asap to agree a care plan, this has greatly helped my peace of mind with this pregnancy and meant that I have been watched like a hawk! The consultant can go through your previous pregnancy notes and advise you about the chances of another premmie. Would also recommend the Bliss messageboard for more info.