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Premature birth

Connect with others and find premature birth support.

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Original poster

She's going to be premature

45 replies

dancestomyowntune · 30/01/2015 10:56

Ok, so I have posted elsewhere but was advised to come onto this board. So I am currently 29+4 weeks pregnant and last year I was admitted, and transferred to the RD & E due to preeclampsia. Blood pressure was consistently 160/110 even after a cocktail of drugs. They started me on mag sulphate (which they have just stopped as the consultant feels it wasn't helping me and I felt awful on it). Blood pressure has now reduced (too much! 99/50), so they have stopped anti hypertension meds but are expecting it to rocket again.

I have been told I will not be going to term. I will not be leaving the hospital still pregnant. I will be here now until the baby comes, the question is just when that is safest for me and for her.

Last night was very scary. I am calmer this morning and feeling somewhat better for having had a couple of hours sleep and a cup of tea. But I am still terrified. The neonatal team came and saw me and told me briefly what to expect. They took my mum and husband to the neonatal unit for a look around and they answered questions that were worrying us.

Our care has been fantastic, and I know it's just a waiting game, but I am so scared. I have four other children at home at the thought of being here for weeks is scary in itself.

OP posts:

Ems1812 · 05/02/2015 10:15

Oh bugger- that was meant to be

Nolim · 05/02/2015 10:23

ChamberOfSecrets · 05/02/2015 12:16

Welcome to your baby, dances! I'm glad she's doing so well. That's fantastic. Wishing her a smooth NICU stay.

My DD was a similar gestation and weighed 2lb 10oz. She spent an uneventful 8 weeks in NICU and came out nice and fat.

I hope you're recovering ok and that your blood pressure is stable. Take care of yourself. It's difficult to get much rest between the ward and the NICU (and your other DCs, I imagine!), but don't feel guilty grabbing it when you can. And don't forget to eat!

Original poster

dancestomyowntune · 06/02/2015 09:03

Thank you all ladies. We are both still doing fine and I'm hoping to spend as much time as possible with her today.

OP posts:

lavendersun · 06/02/2015 20:09

Lovely update dances, I hope you had a good day .

Original poster

dancestomyowntune · 06/02/2015 23:17

So today has been another good day for the baby. She has been taken off of the cpap, and I had a lovely long skin to skin session with her this afternoon. We have signed up for the SiFT study (to look at the best ways of increasing feeds for premature babies), as I believe studies like this are very important for the doctors and nurses looking after babies like her.

She appears to be so strong though. I am not naive, and I am aware that the road ahead is long and she is bound to have bad days but so far she has exceeded all expectations. She had an ultrasound scan of her brain today that all looked good too, and that will be repeated on Tuesday apparently.

I am trying to keep upbeat, and the only thing that I seem to be able to do to help her is express milk for her, however it seems to be taking a long time for it to come in and I am desperate to do that for her. I can only get such a small amount at the moment that it feels disheartening, although the nurses all say that getting any is good, considering how early she is. I'm hoping tomorrow to be able to get a decent amount for her.

OP posts:

ChamberOfSecrets · 07/02/2015 03:01

Oh wow - she's already off the c-pap! Amazing! I'm so glad she's doing so well.

I wrote a post on the "Expressing" thread, but shout if it doesn't help.

I hope you have another good day tomorrow.

Katnipp · 07/02/2015 18:56

Sounds like you're both doing amazingly well dances. Expressing is hard but the colostrum they need is tiny amounts and once milk comes in after a few days amounts will build up. If I recall they start on such small feeds (2ml?) that even getting 10-20 ml a day is enough at this stage.

Irelephant · 09/02/2015 13:01

dance I lost the thread on my converations. I was just wondering what had happened today. Belated congratulations

She sounds like she's doing amazing. Make sure you take care aswell it's easy to neglect yourself when your focusing so much on lo.

Original poster

dancestomyowntune · 09/02/2015 13:18

I have now been discharged. I came home last night which was much harder than I had anticipated. The baby is doing amazingly well, and my expressing is going ok. I am still in a lot of pain from the operation, but my mil is taking me up this afternoon to see the baby. She is now off the cpap and breathing completely unaided. She obviously has lots of weight to gain and a long way to go but fingers crossed she is a little fighter and things are going well so far.

OP posts:

Irelephant · 09/02/2015 14:01

It's amazing how strong they are. She has obviously done amazingly to be of the cpap and breathing by herself.

Make sure you take it easy

ChamberOfSecrets · 09/02/2015 17:31

It's great that she's doing so well, dances. For comparison, my DD (whose progress the doctors were very happy with!), was on c-pap for about 5 weeks! I remember one of the nurses telling me that a good start goes a long way in the NICU. I'm also glad that the expressing is going better for you.

Sorry to hear you're finding discharge tough. It's nice to be home in some ways, but it feels so wrong without your baby and there's so much to do as well as all the travelling, and it's all usually around peak baby-blues time. I was certainly a hormonal mess! It does get better after a little while as you get into a routine, I found.

Sorry to hear about the bad pain. Have they given you any painkillers?

Original poster

dancestomyowntune · 10/02/2015 15:17

I am coping on paracetamol at the moment, although this morning I think I have overdone it a bit (went to town to print some photos, got some thank you cards etc).

I know we are incredibly lucky that she is doing so well. She has tipped over into needing treatment for jaundice today and so is under the lights with her shades on but I am aware that even a lot of term babies need phototherapy for jaundice so I am trying very hard to not feel too bad about that.

They have also asked if we mind them giving her a premature dummy. They feel it may help keep her calm as she gets a little cross when they do any thing with her (which is a good sign really, they like feisty!) and may help her to develop her sucking mechanism and therefore help with feeding. I have agreed to this as I also read somewhere that giving a dummy can help reduce cot death.

I am feeling a bit baby bluesy today, but my mum is doing an amazing job of keeping me feeling positive, and so far I have no reason to feel negative as she really is doing amazingly well. I can see that, it's just so hard being away from her and we have worked out that if I visit daily it will cost us £100 a week whilst she is in NICU. That's money we really are going to struggle to find.

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Irelephant · 10/02/2015 19:38

Can your hospital not help with travel costs? Your maternity exemption certificate entitles you to this. Not sure if it's every hospital but I was in Durham and the RVI hospital in Newcastle did the same.

The staff in mine also gave out a two pound voucher for the canteen for every meal you had in hospital. Might be worth checking with the nurses.

It's stressful enough without worrying about money aswell.

MrsHerculePoirot · 11/02/2015 08:09

Is that the cost for parking? When DS was in neo natal last year we were able to buy a weekly pass for £5. Ask at the hospital as we didn't realise for the first few weeks.

Original poster

dancestomyowntune · 11/02/2015 09:00

No neonatal have given dh a parking permit so we don't pay for that, but I don't drive, and that is the cost of public transport to get me to the hospital. I am looking at if there is help available.

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MrsHerculePoirot · 11/02/2015 09:35

In that case you need to contact the hospital social worker as they can organise help with travel costs as other practical help. Congratulations btw!

Tftpoo · 11/02/2015 09:49

Many congratulations on your baby dance. My twins were a little early (not as early as your LO) but I remember NICU asking if they could give them dummies. I was really anti dummy before I had them but said yes for the same reason as you, plus sucking gives them some comfort. It also meant that once they were out of NICU we managed to get breast feeding established. Anyway, they're one now and only use the dummies to fall asleep. Hoping you are feeling better today

ChamberofSecrets · 19/02/2015 12:24

dances, how are you and your DD doing?

Original poster

dancestomyowntune · 23/02/2015 14:05

She is doing fantastically well. She has gained weight and is now 3lb7oz, and she has been moved back to our local hospitals SCBU unit, something they told me probably wouldn't happen! So I am thrilled I can spend more time with her and she isn't so far away. I am hoping they will start offering her a bottle soon and if she continues to gain weight as well as she is then hopefully she will be out of the incubator by the end of the week. She is wearing clothes now, and much more alert so I am hopeful that it won't be long before we get to bring her home. Thank you for asking

OP posts:

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