My baby has been born at 31 weeks

[lolly999]

My little girl was born on Monday at 31 + 3. Its all been such a shock, I'd only gone into the day assessment unit due to slightly reduced movements, it turned out I had placental abruption and she was born via emergency c section under general anaesthetic.

Despite things looking very poor when she was born, she is actually doing amazingly and is 32 weeks today. She's in the NICU but she's breathing by herself, and she's being fed my breast milk via nasal tube.

I just wanted to see if there are any other parents of babies born at similar gestation out there, and how their babies are doing now? The consultants don't know how long she's was starved of oxygen for, but her cranial ultrasounds so far have not shown anything bad. So for now we pray that continues.

I would be so grateful to hear from anyone with similar experiences. Thank you x

Hi there, congratulations 😊

mine was born at 30 weeks, 2lb7, 16 years ago. She’s now 5’7, absolutely gorgeous and totally fine. Sounds like you’re on the right track and hopefully you’ll get home in a few weeks 🥰 I think 5lbs was the goal back then, they grow so fast

Not my baby, but my DH was born at 30 weeks in 1970, with a rare blood disorder. He had to have transfusions and surgery as a child but is hale and hearty now (and is currently watching cycling, his great love, on the telly while ironing). He's 6'4" and healthy ,and we have two healthy children. Hope that helps. Much love to you and your very tiny and precious girl. xx

Congratulations and well done for seeking help when your movements were reduced.

My niece was born at 32 weeks and was just over 3lbs. She is almost 15 now, taller than me and very bright.

I wish you and your baby all the best for the coming weeks.

Congratulations ❤️

my niece was born at 32+4 and is now 16 years old, at college, got great gcse grades. No one can predict the future but outlooks are better than ever.

Hope you are doing ok, quite traumatic for you all

My DS was born at 32 weeks and was even smaller than his gestational age due to IUGR. He was also breathing by himself and feeding via a tube. He stayed in the NICU until more or less his due date and he was 2kg when we took him home. While in there he had to learn how to feed using his mouth, regulate his temperature and had some investigation done to understand his bradis/apnea, which were terrifying even if we were told they are very normal in preemies.

He's now a super active and bright 6 years old.

Take care of yourself and stay positive!

Congratulations! Dts were born at 31+2, they’re now perfectly normal stroppy thirteen year olds. They were in PICU for a couple of weeks and then moved down to SCBU. They were discharged a week before due date.

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter! It must be a huge shock for you, and well done on trusting your instincts and getting checked. My son was born at 31 weeks last year. It’s early days for us but he seems to be doing really well and hitting milestone based on his adjusted age (due date). He spent 5 weeks in the neonatal unit, all but one day of that in the special care baby unit and came home around the 36 week mark. My waters went prematurely so I had days leading up to labour and was repeatedly told by medical staff that babies born at 31 weeks tend to do very well. (FWIW, although I know this sounds and is very unscientific, nurses in the unit also told me that girls tend to fare better than boys in terms of progress on the unit). There may be ups and downs - my son started off on no oxygen for 2 weeks but then tired and did need some oxygen for another 2 weeks. In my experience, you’ll have periods where you feel
nothing happens and then discharge happens super quickly (think feeding tubes and oxygen in on the Monday, home on Friday).

I’m sure you’re getting up to speed on all of this but your daughter will have two ages for the next year at least - an actual age (from birth) and an adjusted/corrected age (from her due date). Basically everything bar vaccinations goes by the baby’s adjusted age, so you’re judging developmental progress that way. For me, this felt like I had a small baby for a very long time as you effectively have an extra two months of the newborn period. But it does pass, and then things change rapidly! It’s a long old wait for that first smile but very very worth it :) All to say, sounds like things are going really well, 31 weeks is on the more moderate end of being very preterm and there will be ups and downs but hopefully you have the smoothest journey. Happy to answer any further questions and best of luck.

Congratulations. My son was born at 31+2 in December , he was on oxygen for around 12 hours. He spent 34 days in NICU before we came home. He took to feeding really well , I expressed all his feeds as he took to a bottle well but struggled with breast.

He struggled keeping his temp or we'd have been home sooner , he was 4 pounds when we came home . He was born 3 pounds 10 but lost a lot .

Congratulations.
I was born at 33 weeks in 1966.
Incubators and care has moved on loads.I had no issues.
Hope this helps xx

Congratulations on your fantastic baby girl.

My son was born at just over 31 weeks as I was having a placental abruption. He was 3lbs 15ozs and like your daughter fed with my breast milk through a nasal tube. He’s now in his 20s over 6ft tall and doing very well! No obvious health issues .

Two of mine were born at 30 weeks, both absolutely amazing.

Congratulations.

My daughter was born at 29+1 and was a huge shock. She’s now 19 months and doing really well. The time is hospital was so difficult though. I suggest finding a routine that works for you- I used to go in really early, spend about 4 hours holding her, then go home for lunch and a nap, then come back again late afternoon. I found that gave me lots of time with her when other families weren’t around so much. Also I always made sure we went to the doctors’ rounds in the morning to speak to them. I hope it all goes well

Congratulations OP! Celebrate your new arrival - I was petrified for the first two weeks. Looking back it was because no one told me it was going to be okay.

31 weeks - emergency c-section, sounds very similar! She was breathing on own after 12 hours CPAP and tube fed for a couple of weeks. Slight set back and had nasal oxygen tubes for a couple of weeks. Keep on top of the nurses and Drs and read hospital notes. There were a few things not communicated or carried out and I had to remind them!

She’s now a completely healthy bubbly 6 year old, no issues. Those early NICU days are now a distant memory. Take care of yourself OP as I prob had PTSD afterwards and should have gotten some help at the time.

Thank you all for your responses, it’s honestly so lovely for me to hear how many babies have done so well. ❤️

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. I know it is scary right now but lots of babies born at 31 weeks do have excellent outcomes. Just pace yourself over the next few weeks. There will be lots to adjust to but the staff at the hospital will be able to put you in touch with others who have walked this journey before. Best wishes to your family.

Congratulations OP. My son was also born at 31 weeks after an emergency C-section and was just 3lbs 14oz. He was in NICU for four weeks and then in SCBU for another two. He turned 10 last weekend and is now clever, energetic, funny and complete nightmare when he wants to be - ie. a typical 10 year old!
The only ‘issue’ we had was a milk intolerance and reflux, both of which he’d grown out of by his first birthday. Other than that, you wouldn’t know he was a preemie.
I often think back to those weeks in the hospital (the beeping, the hushed ward, the bloody ‘milking room’!) and it all feels like a strange fever dream. My advice would be to look after yourself, get as much sleep as possible and don’t think that you need to spend every second at the hospital. Remember, motherhood is a marathon not a sprint - she’ll be home soon and you’ll need to be well in yourself and ready to look after her.

My GD was born at 28 weeks at 2lbs 3oz and stayed in hospital until her due date. She was a skinny little shrimp when she got home and we treated her like bone china. She's 18 now, passed her driving test at 17, is predicted 3A* at A levels and has no health issues. Good luck x

my son was born at 31 weeks at 1.65kg. he was tiny and in NICU for 5 weeks. it was a really scary and lonely couple of months as a first time mum and like you came as a big shock. my son is a very tall, healthy 6 year old who you wouldn't believe was so tiny and fragile. please take of yourself. I didn't have a lot of support and ended with with severe postpartum and PTSD. I really wish I had support. I hope you and your baby are ok.