Premature babies

Cathy - posted on 05/21/2009

my little guy was 6 weeks early. He is doing well he has some evals being done so we know his progress and what we need to be working on. He rolls over but only one side he sucks his thumb and is full of smiles all the time.

Heather - posted on 05/20/2009

Hi Jenny,

When I found out I was having twins, I laughed at first as I knew my grandmother had miscarried three sets of twins before having my mom, and then I also found out that on my dad's side there is twins as well. Having twins has been a struggle, but when I talk to other parents of twins, it seems that eventually it does get easier and as well then the girls have someone to play with when they get older. I'm also happy about having the twins as then I don't have to go through being pregnant again as my pregnancy was a little rough. Everything went pretty smoothly (pretty much) until the third trimester...that is when the swelling got really bad (I gained 30 pounds it seemed like in a matter of days) and a week before my water broke I ended up in the hospital with high blood pressure, preclampsia, gestational diabetes and was ordered on bedrest. I thought I would be in the hospital until the girls were born, but I was released on Christmas Eve day. Throughout the pregnancy though, heartburn really got to me.

Yesterday, I took Mackenzie to the doctor's because I've been worried about her weight gain - that is one of the key factors that I'm constantly worried about with her because there is about a 3 pound difference between the two. Mackenzie's eating patterns are very sporatic and that concerns me as well. She has been on Zantac (for acid reflux) for awhile so the dr weighed her (10 pounds, 12 ounces) and increased her daily intake of Zantac and also said I could start Mackenzie on rice cereal if needs be. So we gave her some last night and a bit today and boy oh boy is it a struggle to get even a little bit into her but we are finding some success. I wish I could put Caileigh on the cereal as well, but the dr said if she is okay with the formula then stick with it another month and start at six months. As for Caileigh's eating patterns - she is okay...eats pretty much five and a half to 7 ounces every 2 to 3 hours. (She's around 13 pounds, possibly 14 by now) :)



Heather

Jenny - posted on 05/20/2009

Holly, Stefanie, Heather and Stacy,
Thank you all so much for responding and putting my mind at ease a little.
Stacy, my friend from school had their little boy Kenzie at 26 weeks also....bit strange coming into NICU to see a blast from the past there in exactly the same position as me but there you go! he has born nearly a year ago and has just come out of hospital within the last month or so...he had severe breathing problems and will be on oxygen for the next couple of years of his life. Sounds like little Ayden is doing so well!! i cant imagine what you were going through at the time - having to move your family away from what they are used to...i was lucky enough to have the hospital only about a 5 minute drive from my home...if it was any further away im not sure what i would have done. after i had Jack and was back in the ward, the lady i was sharing a room with was from london (prob about 3 hours from bristol where i gave birth)...she had come to the area to visit family for xmas and she went into early labour, had to have a c section so she had to stay in for about a week herself while all her family and friends were so far away. Jack and myself are doing very well although we have both had colds this last week....Jack was learning how to hold his head up today (i have only just introduced 'tummy time')...am so proud!

Heather, ahhh wow twins!! how did you feel when you were expecting twins? Jack was a little rascal like that as well...if he wasnt perminately kicking his blanket off he was yanking out his tube! the nurses said he could be a footballer....i didnt want to tell them he was in me for 7 months happily kicking away at me!! It sounds like my Jack is a lot like your MacKenzie and Caileigh (love the names by the way)....he is yet to laugh and he can push his bottle away but not hold it as yet!

Stefanie, wow i love to hear labour stories and yours is currently my favourite one!! you were on a rescue boat in Japan?!! lol! wow! i have a lot of respect for you going over there to live for a while and supporting your husband...you must be having some fantastic experiences. My Jack isnt a great fan of tummy time so i am trying to introduce it slowly...he has just in the last couple of weeks started to stay awake most of the day...i would say about 8-9hrs a day he is awake. the last couple of nights he has woken once for a feed but other than that he has been as good as gold....when he was 4 months (2 months) i started very slowly introducing him to baby rice and cereal etc which he loves and it does help him to sleep more. i spoke to the doctor about it on his first vaccination because she advised i gave him calpol....he had the jabs around his due date so i wasnt sure, although he was 2 months, whether he would be ok to have calpol....she said as far as she was concerned he was a 2 month old baby and to treat him as such. but your right, people dont understand and i dont know about you but when people ask his age i tell them....im sick of saying he was premature!! lol! i get a few funny looks cos hes not the size he should be but i dont care!!

Holly, As a sufferer of preeclapsia you may be able to help me....while i was pregnant i had quite bad eyes....blurring and i kept seeing bright lights if you know what i mean. i understand that is a symptom of pre-eclampsia...although my midwife ruled it out. the docs couldnt explain my prem labour and put it down to stress (which if they knew me they would know im the least stressed out person ever!)....could this vision have been pre-eclampsia do you think? I would also love a second baby but im sooo scared to go through what i did with jack again you know?? did the midwifes do anything different with you the second time around?

xxxxxxx

Holly - posted on 05/19/2009

Hi Jenny!
My son Braden who is now 3.5 years old was born 7 weeks early(33 weeks gestation). I had severe preeclampsia. We had to minus his age by 2 months until he was two years old so things that he wasn't doing yet we had 2 months to play with if you get me. My daughter Alexa was born on December 2nd and she was early too but not because of preeclampsia or anthing I just went into labor. She was born at 36 weeks and with her I really haven't had to adjust her age to anything she seems to be doing what other full term babies are doing at her age.
Have a preemie is way different than having a full term baby I have never got to expereince having a full term baby even though Alexa is as close as we get to full term. I always want to scream at those women who are complaining they want the baby out and they are going like 28 weeks pregnant!lol.

Stefanie - posted on 05/18/2009

Hey Jenny,

I had my little girl Mia Dec. 8th (14 weeks early). Mia has a strong neck and can hold her head up but doesn't like tummy time. She has begun smiling and gazing at us a lot. She is sleeping about 9 hours a night as of this week but I don't know if that will be temporary.
My story is kind of unusual. I'm currently living in Japan while my husband learns Japanese and teaches English for the next 2 years.I had her on a rescue boat in the middle of the Seto Inland Sea. It took about an hour and a half to get to the port and another 15 minutes to get the the first hospital. They determined that she was stable enough to make another hour and a half trip to a better hospital. She stayed in the hospital for 15 weeks.
It's harder to measure development with a preemie and many people don't understand. A Japanese woman came up to me and asked me if she was talking yet even after I had explained to her that Mia was a preemie so even though she is 5 months old she is more like 2 months old.
I would love to know how other babies like yours are doing also. Email me.

Heather - posted on 05/17/2009

Hi Jenny...My twin girls Caileigh and Mackenzie were born on December 29th by c-section at 33 weeks. My water broke at 5:45 in the morning, they were born at 10:18/10:19 and spent 4 weeks in NICU. Mackenzie was suppose to stay in NICU for probably another week after Caileigh was released but she took it upon herself to pull out her own feeding tube on her own, so the nurses decided to see if she could feed and gain weight without it. It was hard but we managed. The only problem either girl had was Mackenzie had to be intubated for a day after birth because she was having apnea spells, and then she was also put on caffeine for about a week after her birth to help with her breathing...but other than that both girls were okay.



Caileigh was born at 4.6 lbs and Mackenzie was born at 3.5 lbs. Caileigh is now around 13 lbs and Mackenzie is around 10 lbs. On most things Caileigh is ahead of Mackenzie but there are some things that Mackenzie is better with. For example...just in the past two weeks Caileigh has started laughing and Mackenzie has yet to do so and in the past week Mackenzie is starting to hold her own bottle, but Caileigh has yet to do so.

Stacey - posted on 05/17/2009

Hi Jenny,



My son Ayden was born Dec.17th at 26 weeks (14 weeks early). I was looking to talk to someone at their preterm baby born around the sametime as Ayden. I didn't have anyone to compare his progress with. He's corrected age is 7 weeks and he neck is getting stronger, and he loves tummy time.

My water broke 12/7/08 (24 weeks) and I was transfer to a hospital by plane 3 hours a way as I needed a level 3 hospital and there is only 6 level 3 hospitals in all on Ontario. I was in the hospital 10 days before giving birth to Ayden. Ayden (26 weeks) was in that hospital for 5 weeks. I have another son who is 8 and I had him moved with me and transfer school till Ayden could move to a hospital closer to home. Jan 20th Ayden was transfer by plane to Mississauga, ON and spent another 8 weeks in the NICU. He had a lot of breathing problems and would stop breathing may times a day. He is now home and doing great with no more breathing issues. He is now 5months weighing 11 lbs.



E-mail me anytime to tell me how Jake and you are doing.