Mummy2Many

Hi ladies, I just wanted to say hi and wish all you with preemies the best.

Four of my babies have been premature and had to spend time in SCBU...

My 4.5 year old Mia was 9 weeks early, weighed 3lbs 5oz, and spent 8 weeks in hospital.

My 22 mo daughter Frankie was *15* weeks early, 2lbs 6oz, and she came home after 6 weeks. She is my little miracle.. she amazed all the staff in the hospital unit She started off barely the size of my hand.. but is now above average height for her age!

My 11 month old twins Jake and Olivia were 11 weeks early, 3lbs 9oz and 2lbs 10oz respectively. They had a 4 week stay in hospital.

Despite being early, they are all now healthy and perfect kids, with no lasting health problems as a result of prematurity.

I know how heartbreaking it is to have your new baby in a hospital, but hang in there. I just wanted to let you all know that there are plenty of good outcomes to preemie babies and there is nothing more wonderful in the world than the day you finally get to bring them home.

All the best to you and your babies!

Mamafy

aww thats lovely m2m I've had 5 preterms as well and know how togh it is. I wish you full-term vibes for your latest bundle

Carley

Thank you for giving us hope hun

sweetsummer

Please tell me it gets easier. My first daughter was born at 35 weeks weighing 4lbs 13 oz. Mind you she was only in the hospital 2 weeks after she was born. I just had my second daughter at 25 weeks and 5 days on June 11 weighing 1lb 8ozs. Yesterday was the first time I got to cuddle with her. I find it hard talking to my family about all the ups and downs of the NICU. Just looking to chat with some women who have been through it.

VanWest

sweetsummer, My son was born 11 weeks premature(29 weeks) weighing 1lb 15 oz. He was in the NICU for 66 days. I know all to well how you are feeling on a roller coaster that you just want to get off ,with your baby in your arms heading home. PM if you'd like to chat more thinking of you and your LO..

TashaAndBump

Hi,

First off I wanted to give you a great big hug , for what you are going through right now is just so hard, I feel for you - I really do.

I haven't ever had a premature baby, but I do know all about the ups and downs that you talk about in regard to NICU; My daughter was born not breathing and floppy - I really thought the worst - But after being resuscitated, she was able to breath on her own (with a little extra oxygen in her incubator), I wasn't allowed to take her out of the incubator, to cuddle or feed her at first and I had to express colostrum that was fed to her through a tube, but she soon pulled that out and I started to put her to the boob for a little bit each day. We then discovered that she had a serious infection, and that she could have had bleeding / bruising on the brain and had to have an ultrasound, then it turned out she didn't, but the doctors thought she had meningitis! So she had to have a lumber puncture which was so scary and upsetting, but it turned out not to be meningitis at all, and bacterial growth thingies in the lab showed that she actually had Staphylococcus Aureus (the bacteria behind MRSA) in her blood... Her haemoglobin kept dropping and she had to have 2 blood transfusions, and we couldn't keep her blood sugar up so she had to be on a drip so was constantly having new cannula's put in after the old ones knackered all her veins... we were told we could face up to 10 weeks in hospital! However she was our little miracle baby, and responded so well to all of her treatment, and to breastfeeding her when they let me, that she was home after just 1 week (that did feel like a lifetime!)

We went through all of the above in just one week - so much seemed to happen every day and all the days (and sleepless nights) merged into one, so I can not know what you are going through exactly - being in hospital for the length of time you have, with so many uncertainties... but I guess what I am trying to say is that I understand how scared and upset you must be and if you need anything, or anyone to talk to about what you are going through with your premmie, I am only a pm away and more then happy to talk with you about it.

sweetsummer

First off, thank you ladies for giving me a place to vent my feelings. I try to keep it together everyday, but it's so hard. I have found that I can cry in the shower everyday without anyone hearing or asking what's wrong. A week after I had Ciara they told me she had a brain hemorrhage. Some of the blood has been absorbed back into the tissue which is a good thing. Now, they say that there worried about the blood clotting. She goes for cranial ultrasounds weekly. Yesterday when I went up to see her, I was so looking forward to cuddling her. Yet when we got there they said her she was having a bad day. So, no cuddling. She's not on a ventilator but she is on between 25 and 35 oxygen. She's such a little fighter. When I start to tell my family about how she's doing I hear oh no that's not good. Really right now those are words I don't want to hear. It's bad enough the doctor telling me the worst outcome for stuff.

TashaAndBump

First off, things probably sound "not good" to your family because it's just not what was expected - and they don't know how to react - they see 'not completely healthy' as not good, but it sounds to me like your little girl is real fighter - and doing well!

It's good to hear that the blood is being re-absorbed into her brain tissue. I learned from my stay with Anna in the NICU and special care unit, that a lot of the tests being carried out (eg for clotting, and the cranial scans you mentioned...) are mostly precautionary - most SCBU units run these tests on every baby at some point during their stay.

I totally understand the crying in the shower thing; I used to feel like I had to be strong in front of everyone, and didn't feel able to handle their sympathy or concern, so never cried in front of anyone, I think I had one good cry in the 'bed room' - a room in SCBU with a bed, a TV and some tea and coffee making facilities - I could go in there for some peace and quiet, and just lock the door and mull things over by myself. I had a few cries in the shower, and it felt good to let it all out in private, before going back into focused and strong mummy mode. I'm glad you've found that (and writing here) as your ways of venting out some of your feelings. It's good and healthy to acknowledge your feelings and to have a little cry, but I understand your need to appear strong to everyone else, and your lack of desire to answer the question of "what's wrong?". It's important to stay positive as well, though - Your baby has a good chance of overcoming all of these problems - So many babies are born prematurely, and go on to live perfectly healthy and happy lives with no life-lasting effects of prematurity. Do remember that - Next time that this rollercoaster you seem to be on, and unable to get off of, plummets down again, remember that it may well shoot right back up just as soon as it dropped!

Finally, the doctors will always give you the worst case scenario - that's one of the things I hated most about the special care unit -they seemed so negative and inconsiderate! I guess they figure you need to prepare yourself for the worst, but they never seem to give the flip-side of the coin, and offer hope - Like I said, I was told to prepare for Anna to be kept in for up to 10 weeks, and that she could have had bruising on the brain, blood clotting problems and meningitis - but in the ends she was better within a week!

I know it's hard, but try to keep positive and relay positive, hopeful developments to your family, too! I really wish you all the best and will keep you and your little miracle baby in my thoughts and prayers. Big . Stay strong x

sweetsummer

When the hospital calls you know it's not good. Well they called and asked me to come in sooner than later. I guess in the middle of the night Ciara starting getting really sick. Her heart rates at 225 bpm which is so high. They think she might have an infection in her intestines but they aren't really sure. She's back on the ventilator and is now getting another transfusion. There running every test that they can think of to find out why she's going downhill. I hate feeling helpless.

TashaAndBump

Big You are both in my thoughts and prayers... How are things now? I hope they are a little closer to knowing what has gone wrong, and fixing it. Take care x