Did being a prem baby have any long term effects on your lo?

[trixiethepixie]

It's something I've been wondering/worrying as ds gets older. He wasn't very prem but had other risk factors such as low birthweight and absent doppler.

His 15 month assessment didn't go great (ok but not great) and he is being called back in 3 months as they will have more of an idea at 18 months if there are problems. I know prem babies are slower at development and I'm hoping that's the case but I just get a feeling iykwim.

I'm not looking for reassurances just honesty if your lo had any problems relating to being prem. Did you know yourself before a diagnosis?

how prem is not very prem?
My dh as well as, my mam and her twin were all 6 (it would be 7 now) weeks prem and are fighting fit and as healthy, physically and mentally as anyone else.
My ds meanwhile was a 27 weeker and has severe cerebral palsy and learning difficulties.
A friend of mine whose ds was born at 23 weeks and 5 days at the same time as my ds (10 years ago) came out of hospital at 11 months, on 02, tube fed and still really ill. And is now on the G and T register and plays youth cricket for his county, there is nothing physically or mentally wrong with him, he just has a very deep voice from where he had a trachy to help him breathe until he was 3.
No two children are the same, no two births are the same, and when it comes to children with disabilities, you will find that no two dx's are exactly the same either. (imo)
All I can say is live for today, if your child has problems, its the best way to cope imo.

My ds was 6 weeks early (so not very prem) and had a pretty rough start with RDS and aspiration pneumonia. In SCBU for 7 weeks. We were discharged from consultant care at 6 months corrected and he has never had any kind of formal assessment since then, but he has always been behind his peers, more so than the 6 weeks, and very markedly so when younger. The gap has got gradually smaller with age - he is 2.6 now. He still doesn't seem quite as "mature" as his friends and prefers to copy what they are doing rather than taking the lead, but he may have been like this anyway! I don't think anyone else watching them play together would see any difference. But at 15 or 18 months there definitely was. I did try not to worry about it as I could see he was hitting all his milestones eventually but I know how worrying it can be. I am convinced he has no problems as such, was just a bit slow off the mark because of his difficult beginning - maybe your ds is the same?

Thanks for sharing your experiences ladies.

He was 6 wks early naughtalessnickerless but only weighed 2lb 7 due to severe IUGR. I suppose I've been worrying since he was born because of the absent doppler and the fact he was blue when he was born, incase he wasn't getting enough oxygen in the womb or something.

Wise words - I did have a sob when I got home from the assessment but have picked myself up by the bootstraps again. He's my ds and is such a happy wee thing, he lights up my day.

Liegeandlief he has been sooo far behind his developmental milestones - definately more than the 6 weeks as well, but he has hit them eventually. My hv, bless her, doesn't help much. She asks all these questions about his lack of pointing and babbling and "does he always walk on his tiptoes? is he always this quiet when he's at home?". If I'm not worried before, I certainly am after spending 15 minutes with her. Hopefully he will be like your ds though and get there in the end.

If it makes you feel any better, ds definitely didn't point at 15 months and never did much babbling - he said his first word at 18 months and was pretty slow about getting a second or third! He never shuts up now and points at things constantly (usually accompanied by "what's that Mummy?" over and over again...). I would love to tell you not to worry but I have been there so I know it is probably pretty pointless

It's the babbling (or lack of) that's really getting to me LandL. No mamas for me yet My hv is talking to the SALT people when they come round to our health center next week to see what they say. I'd rather have to cancel an appointment with them as I know their waiting lists are usually long.

Yur ds sounds lovely. Thanks for the reassurance. I know one of these days I'll probably be wishing he would shut up for a minute

DD was a 32 weeker and quite speech delayed. she did say dada at about 10 months and then we had only the odd word for thre next year then more words but only singularly for the tyear after that, she didnt start stringing sentances together untill she was 3. She's 4 now and we cant shut her up

She reached most of her other milestones as if she was term but didnt walk untill 19 months.

I don't know whether this will help but I was a prem twin (born at 33 weeks) and although it was 30+ years ago, I would like to consider myself as fairly normal .

I then went on to have prem twins myself - they were born at 27 weeks and 6 days - similar weights to your DS (2lb 6oz each).

I would say they were definitely behind in terms of speech, but no-one ever put that down to their prematurity, I think it was down to the fact they were twins and had their own little language. In addition, all children develop at different stages. They were signed off by the consultant paediatrician when they were 2 years old, and now, you wouldn't know they were prem. They're almost 4 and "normal" in every way.

Mandy

My DS was 32 weeks prem (1.4kg), had underdeveloped lungs, was in SCBU for 10 weeks and on O2 until 9 months. This trumatic
start meant that he had alot of catching-up to do. He is now a very active, bright 7 year old.

I do remember that he was alot slower in reaching major milestones than his peers. He did not walk until at least 18 months and at his 2 year check-up he was not talking but would point to a cup if he was asked to by the doctor. He understood what we were saying but was slow to verbalise. When he started to talk, he quickly reached the stage of stringing words together.

He was assessed regularly because of his breathing problems and the doctors were happy and reassuring about his slow but constant progress.

DS1 was 31w and 5 d and has diplegic cerebral palsy and speech delay, but we'll never know whether the CP caused the prem birth or was caused by it.

We didn't manage to get a diagnosis until 19mo, DS wasn't babbling and could only commando crawl at this age.

I honestly didn't expect any more replies so thanks everyone.

Laumiere I came to think that the other day. No matter what happens 'is it the chicken or the egg?' You never know. Do you mind me asking what is dipegic? (my uncle has cp but I don't even know what his specific diagnosis is, just the way he is)

There is a lot of guilt involved. My dh was joking a couple of weeks ago that ds was only half baked (joking comment) and I take it a bit thick because I feel like my body let me and him down. My preg before ds only lasted til 12 wks so my pg with ds I was expecting something to go wrong, and it did at the end but he's here. I still have that feeling with me - that life is not picture perfect. You want the very best for your kids but sometimes it doesn't work out like that and you have to adapt.

He hasn't even said dada yet - we have only got variations on ga for the past 5 months but I think he does understand what we're saying so I think that's a good sign.

I'm feeling a bit more positive the past couple of days and I really appreciate you all taking the time out to reply to me

Tink has chronic brittle asthma as a result of being intubated, she was born too fast for steroids. She was a lot slower to do a lot of things too but she's actually a very clever kid (she told me the other day she is five and I said if it wasn't for her size I think I'd believe it!)

So far Fifi is doing well but she had all the steroids at 24 weeks and was born at 35.

My DS was born at 33 weeks and was definitely slower hitting his milestones and I worried and compared at every stage. Wasn't in SCBU for too long compared to some other posters but he was late to smile, sit up, walk and I'm pretty sure his speech is still a bit behind. However the older he gets - now 2.2 the less difference I see between him and his peers.
Hope these posts and your 18 month check up helps to reassure you.

My cousin was born at 26 weeks, has some high brow degree and works in genetic engineering. Apart from being very slight compared to the rest of the family, she doesn't have any long term problems. IIRC she was quite delicate as a child, but is perfectly fine now.

my youngest ds is 16 now. He was born at 32 weeks and weighed 3lb 5oz. he had steroids when they realised my contractions weren't stopping, and then had an emergency caesarian because of foetal distress. I think we were in the SCBU for a month. He just passed his gcses last summer with 10 a* 1 a and 1 b (homework done on bus mostly) and is aiming for oxbridge. My eldest ds is 21 - he was born at 37 weeks but only weighed 2lb 15 oz, again had to have an emergency section because of foetal distress. He's just finished his first degree. He wasn't given steroids (I don;t think they did then). He is smaller than his brother and was a little late with his physical milestones but way ahead with understanding, speech etc. He has dyspraxia and profound dyslexia but I don;t know if that was because of the prematurity. If these things had been diagnosed earlier I think his life would have been easier (he was badly bullied), but he tries so hard and has more confidence as he grows up. I hope that helps

.... and nether of mine babbled. My eldest went from one word straight to complex sentences - missed out the babbling and the slow build up of words. As far as I can remember it wasn't unusual to do that

trixiethepixie, I have gone through many anxious years wondering if certain outcomes were related to DS being prem. Every time he had a bad cold I would think the worst and have a bag ready just in case we needed to go into hospital. I would feel down and say "why him?" and of course "why me?" But looking back over the last 7 years, he has probably had the same or better health and development as his peers. Also, as I've increased my circle of friends with children of a similar age, I have found that children born at term have had some of the same problems but their parents outlook has not been overshadowed by the prem label. Like me, those niggling doubts will probably be with you for years but hopefully you will also come to realise that the same outcome could happen whether you child was prem or not.

My twins were born at 30 weeks because of IUGR - smallest was 2lbs. We've had no real problems, apart from a lot of chest infections in the first year. DT2 has problems with eye infections due to her tear duct not developing properly - this is apparently a pretty common complaint though and not directly linked to prematurity.

My wee one is a petite little girl (below the bottom centile on the charts). I strung myself out endlessly over this but have just accepted she will always be small! They are both incredibly chatty and bright little buttons, there don't appear to be any cognitive repercussions of prematurity.

Trust your instincts, you will know if something is not right and needs investigation.

Rl has taken a front seat in the past month and haven't been on mn but it's really heartening to hear of all your experiences.

justtheone. I agree that a lot of ds' life I have been worrying more about his development than I probably would have been. He has had a lot better health than some of his peers and I have found out recently my friend's lo who is the same age isn't talking either and he was at term, although he's walking.

I'm keeping the perspective that there's no point worrying until it happens. Ds in the past month has started to stand briefly for a few seconds by himelf and say ma (as in maaaa when he's annoyed but it's a start) Even if he can't talk, he seems to have the understanding there. If you ask him to do something or get something he seems to know what I mean so taking that as a good sign.

Thanks for the replies and sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you all

ds2 was brn at 28 wks & has mild CP, developmental delay & autism.
hE IS 6 & is doing far better than we ever imagined possible.
I do know of babies far smaller & sicker than him in SCBU that are completely fien with no long term effects.
DS2 is also undergoing genetics testing to see if there is an undrlying cause beyond his prematurity.

Hiya my twin and i were born at 28 weeks 30 years ago weighing 2.5Lb and 3.2Lb staying in hospital 3 months post birth and we are both healthy, though both have had a huge amount of hospital ins and outs and surgery throughout childhood we are both now healthy adults with no ongoing problems and i had my first baby last year no probs, you should see us now! my mum had a hard time with us missing mile stones etc but in those days they didn't take prem into account, my mum was always getting a hard time from HV about our weight etc. you should see my weight now!!!!!!!!!!!!