My baby was born last week, 7 weeks early...I have questions!!

Jody - posted on 10/04/2012

hi i no how ur feeling my baby boy was born 7 weeks early. and i no how hard it is. my baby was on demend feeding to and having one bottle a day and not finished it but day after day he was getting better. after one week he had taken to a bottle ever fed. than he was aloud home. he was born on 9 augest and by 5 september he came home less than 4 weeks. i no its really hard and you think hes never coming home. give him a week and he b on all bottles and coming home. and when he comes home he might not take all his bottles to start with but dont worry after a few days he be feeding normal. remember it will b a new enviroment but they soon get used to it. and that is a really good weight 4 7 weeks early mine was only 4 pounds. i hope that has eased your mind a bit. good luckx

Raelene - posted on 05/09/2012

james ruby and joel were born 6 weeks early

Jackie - posted on 04/23/2012

Just came across this post today...I know, too late. But it helped me out. My daughter was born 6 weeks ago, 7 weeks premature. She weighed in at birth at 7lbs, 1oz!!! They say if she went to term she would have been close to 13lbs at birth!!!! I did not have diabetes, nor was anything wrong with the pregnancy, my water just broke early and bam! here she was!!! She is now 6 weeks old and still in the NICU. She is having problems with GER. She has reflux and it is so painful she stops breathing, goes limp, turns blue, and her heartrate goes way down. Hopefully she will be released real soon....it is time now for her to come home. Last night they weighed her at 8lbs, 10oz. No problem with her growth!!!!

Tricia - posted on 03/04/2009

My triplets were 7 weeks early too. He is very good sized. the fact that he is breathing without a ventilator is wonderful! Babies do not learn how to suckle until about 35 to 36 weeks. The fact that he is taking a bottle at all is fantastic. The act of nursing makes them tired. By limiting the time they are on the bottle, they are keeping him from becoming exhausted. He has things to learn which he didn't have a chance to do in vitro. He will get stronger and be able to nurse longer. Are they using your breast milk? This is also invaluable because he gets a lot of antibodies naturally from you. My babies were in the NICU for 4 weeks, he'll be home before you know it

Tricia - posted on 03/04/2009

My triplets were 7 weeks early too. He is very good sized. the fact that he is breathing without a ventilator is wonderful! Babies do not learn how to suckle until about 35 to 36 weeks. The fact that he is taking a bottle at all is fantastic. The act of nursing makes them tired. By limiting the time they are on the bottle, they are keeping him from becoming exhausted. He has things to learn which he didn't have a chance to do in vitro. He will get stronger and be able to nurse longer. Are they using your breast milk? This is also invaluable because he gets a lot of antibodies naturally from you. My babies were in the NICU for 4 weeks, he'll be home before you know it

Zoe - posted on 03/04/2009

My little girl is two on the 10th of march (next tuesday}

she was born at 30 weeks and 4 days

she weighed 4lb 11 oz and was 35cm long,

She now weighs 25lb and is a little monkey.

They say that for how many weeks early they are thats how long you should expect them to stay in. Katie-May was only in for just over 5 weeks for me,

For the first week she only took 5ml of milk and that took nearly 10 minutes to drink, then they would tube feed her another 15ml.  They increased it slowly over the weeks to 60ml when she came home at 5 weeks, It would take a good 45 minutes to feed her 6 times a day.

You must remember hes only small and will get tired very easy, sucking on a bottle is hard work for a small baby. we found that them tube feeding her built up her strenth.

when katie was born she was breathing on her own but needed help feeding, maintaining her temp and was jaundice. on day 6 she went down hill she was put in an incibator, put on oxygen and her jaundice got worse. It broke my heart, all i wanted was my baby home. I cried every day, I just felt I was missing out on so much I just wanted to cuddle my baby.  5 weeks on and we took her home, it was the best day ever ,I cuddled her all day every day. two years on and we still love cuddles.

Your little boy looks gourgous, I know what your going through Is so hard, take lots of photos of him. He may be small now but he will grow so quick. I carnt beleive katies nearly two, shes so prescious  and i love her so much. Take care, I will be thinking of you x x x x

Please let me know how hes doing,

GOD BLESS

I CARNT THANK THE STAFF IN SCBU BANGOR NORTH WALES ANOUGH. WE OWE THEM SO MUCH FOR WHAT THEY DID.

LOADS OF LOVE X X X X X

Joy - posted on 03/03/2009

That's actually very normal for the bottle. The longer they eat the more energy they burn and the reason why they only let them eat for so long is so they don't burn up all their energy and cause their blood sugars to crash. 30mins is very good. They only let my son eat for 10mins because he was having alot of problems keeping his blood sugars regulated.



The hospital my son was born in their requirements to go home were: 35wk (they go back to the date he was born and they make sure he is at least 35wks gestational age before they even consider letting them go home), eating on their own (either nursing or bottle), can maintain blood sugars (they checked my son's hourly) and they have to be breathing room air. Sounds like your little guy is doing most of that now. You could ask when you go to see him next what the requirements are for discharge from the NICU they should be able to tell you or give you a list first of all, second of all ask them how long they anticipate him being in there. The only answer I got to that question was "well it's really up to your son how much he is giving to growing and working at surviving". It sucks but it's true. My little guy hated the feeding tub (they put the tube up his nose and down into his belly) and he kept ripping it out until I said "don't put it back, let me just nurse and then give him a bottle to supplement to keep his sugars up". They listened. it's very hard to nurse a preemie that doesn't know what they're suppose to do but I stuck with it and my son is a little trooper. He's 5mos old now (gestational age he's 4mos) but you couldn't tell by looking at him now that's a preemie.



Good luck with your litle miracle!

Susan - posted on 03/03/2009

Sorry so late in checkign this.  My son was born 7 weeks early and was in the NICU for 20 days.  His stats sound very similar, except he was smaller.  They only give them 30 mins because any more time and he will be expending more energy than he is getting from his bottle.  My son started his first bottle on 6/3 and came home 6/14.  Once he is taking about 6/day, start pushing the questions like when he can have his carseat test, if there are any classes you need to take, if you want a circumcision, get that done, etc. and question when he can come home and what the criteria are for it.  If not, they like to hold them there "just in case" and will do so a lot longer than they need to.  (I've had two NICu preemies).  Good luck!

Carolyn - posted on 03/03/2009

Hi!  Congratulations!  My baby was also born 7 weeks early weighing 4lbs 6oz.  She was fed with the tube for the first week then after we started the bottle.  They didn't limit her to 30 min before they tube fed her.  She was allowed out of her isolette for 1 hr a day so they allowed us the opportunity to feed her for the 1hr if needed.  She started off very slow and we were amazed how quickly she started tolerating her feedings once she got started.  Her biggest issues were apnea attacks.  She was released to our surprise and the surprise of the NICU after 15 days.

Good luck and again, congratulations!

Kari - posted on 03/03/2009

Congrats! I have 2 children, my first was 5 weeks old weighing 6 lbs 1/2 oz and my second was 4 weeks early weighing 6 lbs 8 oz. My first was in NICU for 10 days and my second in the special care nursery for 7 days. The feeding thing is tough. If I remember(granted this was now 3 years ago) it's because they awake every couple hours to eat that if you give more than 30 minutes, they'e not going to get much rest between feedings. They wake them up every 3 hours to eat. It does make it difficult. I hope your little one comes home soon. I know it's difficult to deal with, let me know if you have anymore questions.

Sandy - posted on 03/03/2009

Congrats!

My son was a 33 weeker, 4 lbs, 12 ozs. He spent four weeks in the hospital and it just about did me in! I was so frustrated by week two. By week three I finally had a night nurse that did what I asked and then Alex was on his count down to home. They bottle feed, then NG tube the rest. It's all about numbers and time with the nurses and doctors. I started breastfeeding while he was in the NICU and that went well with him still gaining. It was those night bottles that he didn't finish that held him back from coming home! I was in tears saying how perfect his days were and I wanted hiim home. The staff admitted it was his nights that were the issue. He was pulling out his NG tube regularly. That one special nurse finally let him sleep and demand feed at night. Guess what--He thrived!! It was days then he came home. And he thrived even better at home on his demand schedule. I look back and if I'm ever in that situation again, I am going to be there 24/7 if I have to because it is so true--Moms do know best!!

Glenda - posted on 03/03/2009

Hi there, Congrat on your lil bundle of joy.  Both my kids were born premature, my so was 6 and1/2 weeks early and my daughter was 5 wks early.  He spen ten days in the NICU my daughter spent 2weeks.  She was also born with a cleft palate in the roof of her mouth.  They did the same thing with feedings.....after the 9th day I was so mad that I through a fit and was able to get them to do what's called "ad-lib" feedings meaning letting here eat when she was hungry.....not on their schedule.  The only "stipulation" was that if she went longer then 3 hrs w/o eating then they would wake her up and try if she wouldn't eat then would tube her.  This worked great.....I feel regardless of how many years the Dr. has been aroun that the babies know when they are hungry and when the should eat just like we do.  She started to gain weight and seemed happier.  I do a lot of work for the March Of Dimes.....they rais money and do research to help with pre-term larbo, premies, and lots of other good stuff.  If you have any other questions please let me know and I will do my best to find the answers for you. I know how hard and frustrating it can me.  Good Luck and God bless!!!

Glenda - posted on 03/03/2009

Hi there, Congrat on your lil bundle of joy.  Both my kids were born premature, my so was 6 and1/2 weeks early and my daughter was 5 wks early.  He spen ten days in the NICU my daughter spent 2weeks.  She was also born with a cleft palate in the roof of her mouth.  They did the same thing with feedings.....after the 9th day I was so mad that I through a fit and was able to get them to do what's called "ad-lib" feedings meaning letting here eat when she was hungry.....not on their schedule.  The only "stipulation" was that if she went longer then 3 hrs w/o eating then they would wake her up and try if she wouldn't eat then would tube her.  This worked great.....I feel regardless of how many years the Dr. has been aroun that the babies know when they are hungry and when the should eat just like we do.  She started to gain weight and seemed happier.  I do a lot of work for the March Of Dimes.....they rais money and do research to help with pre-term larbo, premies, and lots of other good stuff.  If you have any other questions please let me know and I will do my best to find the answers for you. I know how hard and frustrating it can me.  Good Luck and God bless!!!

Rashuna - posted on 03/02/2009

congratulation! My son was born at 33 weeks (7weeks early too) he weighed only 3 lbs 6.7 oz so he was really tiny. My son was release from the hospital (nicu) 10 day after his birth but all babies r different. They allow him 30 mins too but they had to keep increasing his feeding because he was always hungary. so I cant help with that but give it time, I know it hard cause I cried everyday until my son got home. once your son is home it will be worth the wait! PS it took like every few days for my son to take an additional bottles for feeding.

Cynthia - posted on 03/02/2009

First off...Congratulations! My daughter was born 7 weeks early and just turned 1! She was 5lbs 8oz. We had problems with sucking, swallowing, and breathing so I understand your concerns. Alyeson couldn't have bottles for a while, but once they allowed them it took her a while to be able to finish. Our nurses were great and allowed me a little more time to work with her. He'll catch on and start eating faster. Just don't stress yourself out. He'll do it in his own time and remember...he can feel your stress and panic, too. It took us about two weeks to get Alyeson on all bottles. At first she was only allowed one a day, then two, then they allowed her to latch on for breastfeeding. We just kind of went by her schedule and what she could handle for that day. Our NICU stay lasted 33 days. It seemed like an eternity, but no matter how long it takes, you would rather him be ready to go home then to get him home and have to worry. It truly is a one day at a time kind of experience. Treasure these moments. It won't be like this for long. They grow up so fast!

Cindy - posted on 03/02/2009

Congrats on your handsome little bundle of joy. With his feedings, if he feeds for too long he will burn up too much energy then he will not gain weight. This is why they limit his bottle time. I breast fed my little girl but had to supplement with a bottle after 10 mins. of feeding, then she would have the bottle for 20 mins. and as she got older/stronger I would increase breast time and decrease bottle. So it's the same timing as your situation. This is how my lactation nurse explained it to me.

As for NICU time: Hannah did not have any complications, only there to insure no infections as they were not sure why I had such a high temp. and went into labour. She was in NICU for 36 hours, and we were in hospital for 5 days total. They let me stay in as well as I was breast feeding and lived 45 mins. from the hospital.

Food for thougth: I know how anxious you are for progress, but he will grow and develop on his own pace. Sit back and take every moment in, as it will pass so fast. Congrats again and all the best.

Megan - posted on 03/01/2009

Let the hospital do the gavage feedings. Any more than 30 min and your baby will start to burn calories. My sone was 8 weeks early, we woul try breast feeding for no more than 30 min. then gavage. I was told thet when he reached his gestational age he would take to the bottle/breast so much better and he did. I nursed for 9 months and now he's almost 7. We were on our last vacation , so I was out of town. Our little guy had to maintain his own body temp and weigh 5 lbs before we could go home. it was 2 weeks on the nose - I would think 14 days is normal assuming everything goes well. You might also ask if you can try skin on skin with your baby. It's amazing and I swear it moved his progression along so much faster!! Good luck, it will get better :-)

Julie - posted on 03/01/2009

My twin boys came 7 weeks early weighing in at 4lbs 2oz, and 4lbs 3oz- great for their gestational age. We went through the same scenario. My sons were in the hospital for 2 weeks and our one son had to be ventilated so it is great that your son is breathing room air. As far as eating goes- babies do not usually have the whole sucking thing down until they are 35 weeks gestational. It will take a little time but our sons were fed through the gavage tube over a 1 hour increment. I think they may be expexting a little much for his age. Just give him some time- he will catch up and be eating all bottles by the time he comes home. Hang in there momma!!

Crystal - posted on 03/01/2009

Congrates. My son was born 8 weeks early and stayed for only 18 days. born 4lbs and 6ozs. 30 is normal they don't want to gibe the to much to soon.

Susan - posted on 03/01/2009

First let me say Congrats! My daughter was born at 28 weeks and weighed 2 lbs. 8 oz. We were in the NICU for 7 weeks and they did the same thing. They only let her have one bottle a day when we got to that point and she only had 20 minutes to drink it in. It is so their bodies do not have to fight to drink and fight to keep up their body temperature. They do not want to stress them to much. As far as how long you should be in there I would not think that it will be much longer. They say to expect to be out by your due date but we went home a month before ours. As soon as your baby can hold his temp., drink from a bottle, and does not have any bradicardia or sleep apnea then you should be able to come home. Especially since your son is over 5 lbs. McKayla came home at just over 4 lbs.

Kelly - posted on 03/01/2009

Hi Alyse,

My son was born @ 29 wks and 6 days (10 wks early). When they finally introduced the bottle he wasn't able to finish it in the time frame they set which was 30 minutes. I remember wondering if he would ever be able to do it and it did eventually come, I think it was at least a week or two before he could finish in the 30 minutes. Once that happened then they switched him to all bottles. Every baby is different. My son came home 2 1/2 weeks before his due date. My son is now 5 yrs. old and the doctors and all the specalists prepared me for all the possiblities of my son having numerous delays. He has no delays at all, you would never even know he was a preemie, he was 3 1/2 lbs.

Good Luck to you and your little one!!!

Dawn-Marie - posted on 03/01/2009

Every baby is different and I know you have already received a lot of answers, but my twins were born at 3#2oz and 5#9oz. My biggest was taking all bottles after about a week and a half. :) Sounds like your lil one is doing good and on the right path. I wish you all the best.

Dawn

Aleeza - posted on 03/01/2009

my son was born only one month early but was iugr and weighed in a 3 lb 11oz. during my entir pregnancy they warned me he prob wont make it. they also told me he for sure had some serious conditions and so on and so forth. when he dropped his heart went off the monitor they delivered him and found a complete knot in the cord. they than ound a few days later upon examining the cord a blood clot in the cord. he is fine. thank god. a little reflux but hes 7.7 now (2 months old) he doubled his weight in 8 weeks and is strong and healthy. in the nicu they fed him a tiny bit to start, like 3 ml i believe every 4 hours and than would up it 1ml every 6 hrs (2 feedings). when he got up to 30 ml he went home. it took 2 weeks.he was on room oxygen from an hr after birth and always held his temp, never needed help feeding. i thank god every day for my little miracle. we expected the worst. goes to show, you never know.

Cheri - posted on 03/01/2009

P.S. My biggest lesson during the 3 months that my son was in the hospital was to stay positive and have loads of patience...we are still practicing that with our son now that he's home.

Cheri - posted on 03/01/2009

First off Congratulations! My son was born at 26 weeks so a little earlier then you.

Bottles...they did this with my son too. They told me that they don't want him working too hard. He'll eventually progress and get a good pace for himself. They want a positive experience for him. My son progressed really fast. It seemed like every other day or every few days they added a feeding as well as increased the amount. He'll get there, it will seem slow but in the end it will have gone by fast.

My son was in the hospital for 95 days but he was also over a month earlier than yours.

Katie - posted on 03/01/2009

I know your medication won't let you breastfeed yet, but the studies they've done show that preemies get more milk when breastfeeding then from the bottle (something I didn't know when I had my son). Also, when you get him home just know that he won't eat as good as your full term baby did. It took my son (born at 31 weeks 3 days, fed at 33 weeks 3 days for the first time, home at 35 weeks) more then two months after he got home to eat 15 min every 2 hours (or so, we were feeding on demand). Before that he ate ALL THE TIME because I couldn't supplement him due to constipation problems and his stomach was too small, latch too weak to get enough milk to stop eating for more then 30-45 minutes. Keep pumping, though. Soon he'll need a full supply and the excess is good to have stored up. I do think that breastfeeding is the reason my son has been so healthy.

In addition, since you have a toddler keep a bottle of hand sanitizer next to the baby for the first few months and make sure everyone uses it before touching the baby. The fastest way to get back to the NICU is by catching a virus and there are a good amount of awful stories on here from parents that had to go through that. It will be a while before your preemie's lungs catch up to others his age and a respiratory illness (flu, RSV, Croup, etc) won't be tolerated very well.

I am glad that you had a healthy baby boy. Congrats, welcome to the forum, I'm sure everything will be fine and I hope you'll be able to bring him home soon!

Sarah - posted on 02/28/2009

Alyse,

my son Colin was born 7 weeks early and weighed 3 lb 7 oz. He was in the NICU for a month and had some problems with eating, but once he started getting it, he was up to more and more bottles a day in no time. Colin is now almost 7 months old and doing wonderful. Every baby's stay in the NICU is different, there are no set time frames for when your son will go home, but it sounds as if he is doing very well. THe best advice I have is what I did, everyday I just took it in stride and felt thankful that he was doing so well. If you have any other questions or need someone to talk to, I'm here :-)



Good luck!

Johanna - posted on 02/28/2009

My son was also 7 weeks prem 7lbs 3 oz at birth (very big).   He is 9 months and healthy now.  I remember his time (3 1/2 weeks) in the NICU like it was yesterday.  I was frustrated to tears almost everyday over there feeding routine.  I hated seeing that tube in his nose.  Anyway it took about 2 1/2 weeks until he was taking the bottle for all his feeds.  About 40-60cc per feeding every 3-4 hours.  I think it was about 1 1/2 weeks until  i could try bottle feeding him every feed but they would only give him 30mins as well.  Then the rest was given through the GI tube.  I hope this helps and I give the best to you and your family.  Hang in there you'll have him home in no time and then theres no looking back.

Alyse - posted on 02/28/2009

Well. Some good news. They changed his formula from the high cal high protein and he seems to be doing better with feedings. I cant take breastmilk to him right now because of a medication I am on for hives all over my body (stress related im sure).The nurse today told me she was going to reccomend that he go to every other feeding by bottle. He is up to 5lb 4oz..only 3 oz from his birthweight. Maybe he will be home next week sometime. I dont know how much longer I can do this!! Thanks again for all of the help and I am so glad to know you all have little kiddos safe and sound at home now.

xoxo

Hayley - posted on 02/28/2009

my yougest daughter was born 8 weeks early, i was reaaly lucky as she wan only in nicu for 18 hours, i tried and failed to breastfed, tia had drunk her bottle withing 15 mins so i didnt know if there was a time limit, and they said to me, as soon as she was drinking and could hold her temperture she was allowed out of her incubater and then had to stay in a crib 24 hours and then i was allowed to bring her home, tia was home by the time she was 10 days old.

Tibethia - posted on 02/27/2009

Yes, it is normal for them to try him on one bottle a day and to give him only a certain amount of time to take it.  And yes, what is left over goes in the tube.  My son was born 2 months early and didn't know how to suck so we had to teach him.  He was in the hospital for 5 weeks after he was born and only weighed 3 lbs 1.4 ozs at birth.  Generally the anticipated timeframe of keeping a child in NICU would be until the original due date or so.  But each child and each situation is different.  My son's anticipated due date was the end of Jan 2007 but he came in the middle of Nov 2006 and was home right before Christmas.  With my son, they wanted to be sure he could maintain his body temp outside of the incubator, bottle feed with no problem, and they wanted him to be at least 5 lbs.  Also, they did a carseat test which was the last thing they did before giving him the ok to come home.  They had me bring in the carseat I'd be using and they put him in it for at least an hour and be sure he does ok in it...body temp up, no breathing troubles, etc. 

It was the hardest thing in my entire life that I've ever experienced, having a baby in the hospital right from birth.  And I've never been so exhausted in all my life.  I was at the hospital several times a day for an hour or more at a time and I only left because I had to.  I was also trying to pack up a house and get it sold all at the same time.  There were nights I feel asleep sitting in the car in the garage after coming home from the hospital, and nights I made it in the house but left the garage wide open because I was half asleep walking into the house.  It was horrible.  I want more kids in the future, but they say once you have one baby prematurely, they all will be...and my mom had 3 kids all born 1 month early.  So that certainly gives me pause...do I really want to put myself and a child through that again? 

If you have other questions, I'm here to help, as we all are!  Good luck...and please, TRUST your NICU nurses...ANY question or concern you have or anything you don't understand...ASK/TELL THEM...they CAN and WILL explain...they know this is hard on you and they also know what they are doing and can offer you a wealth of knowledge, both for the moment and the future.  I had a wonderful and close relationship with my son's NICU nurses...they were fantastic to us!  And tell them what you are going through emotionally as well...this helps them to know how to best help you.

Schmoopy - posted on 02/27/2009

Congrats on the birth of your son! Sounds like he's doing great.

1. Babies don't always finish their bottles. The NICU nurses told me that if the baby finishes the entire amount, it might mean they actually need more. So they usually put more milk in at the next feeding. It's normal for the baby to leave 1-2 ounces.

2. I can't remember how long it took us to go from 1 bottle to all-day bottle feedings. All I'll say is take your time. I know it's hard to be patient - all you want is to have your baby home with you. But once you're home, it's pretty scary to be without the support of the nurses and monitors. Although the medical staff will watch out for your baby, be sure your baby is ready.

3. Only the NICU docs can tell you when it's time. And once the baby starts feeding by mouth, the process usually goes pretty fast (barring any unforeseen complications).

Julia - posted on 02/26/2009

Congrats on you little one! My daughter was born 7 weeks early also; she weight 4lbs 12oz and was 17 inches long. It usually depends on the baby and the NICU. My daughter didn't need any oxygen or feeding tubes, she drank straight from the bottle right away. All babies are different and in my experience, I totally trusted the NICU staff, but if you talk to them about his feeding, you can give them your concerns and questions and they will help you understand what's going on better. My daughter had sleep apnea, which is when she stopped breathing while she was sleeping. They wanted her to have 5 days straight without having an "episode". She spent 17 days in the NICU before we brought her home. Depending upon when you son starts drinking out of a bottle for every feeding and if he is getting enough nutrients to gain some weight; then they will probably be satisfied sending him home. I know how it feels to just want to bring you baby home NOW, and the doctors told us if we wanted we could bring her home and have her hooked up to a monitor in case she stopped breathing, but I'm glad that she stayed there until she didn't have any more episodes, because I know that I wouldn't have gotten any sleep because I would have been constantly checking on her to make sure she was breathing. Good luck and I hope you get to bring your baby boy home soon!

Joanne - posted on 02/26/2009

hey congrats on yur baby boy.

my little girl was 6 weeks prem and weighted 3lb 12oz she was in hospital for 2 weeks. she was on c- pap, gi tude, mointors and on a drip. depends on how he feeding and keeping his temp its about 2 weeks. she was bottle fed it took her a while to fed as she was tiny and ten had to fed through the gi tude. i was told preemies are sleep more and a bit lazy and need mre incougment then full term baby. just be patient he get the hang of it. i found changing her nappy woke her up more

hope iv been any help

Louise - posted on 02/26/2009

Hi Alyse



I'm Lou from Manchester England

I have a lovely daughter Alisha who was born 6 weeks prem but is now nearly 6years old Alisha had to be removed by C section and was placed straight into what we call a neo natal unit in an incubator with breathing apparatus. She was also one of the biggest babies in there 5lb a very good weight for prem. The breathing apparatus is to assist the babies lungs as due to prem lungs are not as strong as a full term baby and have to be helped to work initially. Alisha was also fed down a gi tube at first with anything I could express myself topped up with formula. At 6/7 weeks prem the baby has not developed the ability to suckle as a full term baby does so would not take to breast feeding and the nurses made me persevere for a week at this. After 1 week of no luck at all I asked could I try to bottle feed and was allowed to by some reluctant staff. It does feel like a bit of a military opperation to be done at a certain time and a bit regimented. I was told that I was not to allow my baby to snack regularly and to stick to a routine. However it was not just 1 bottle daily? do you mean only 1 eating time?

that does sound a bit harsh.

I stayed in hospital for two weeks after the section 1 to recover and 1 teaching Alisha to feed. There are up days and down days just persevere be relaxed don't let the staff get you down. I am sure they will know what they are doing ask them questions and try to just enjoy any bond time you get with your baby, talk encouragingly to your little one and try not to worry. So far your story is all sounding very familiar. You just want to go home and be a family but there are barriers. Once you get through the next couple of weeks you will find you have a very well trained baby who sleeps well eats well and although you may think that they are always going to be playing catch up believe me in a few months i doubt you could even tell that you had a prem baby I couldn't and still can't it has caused no late learning issues at school.



All the best would be nice to talk again x lou x

Leanne - posted on 02/26/2009

My son was born 7 weeks early 5pounds 4oz. He had a lung issue that cleared up after 2 weeks. At that point they started giving him a bottle once a day as well and only gave him 30mins to eat. He would just get too tired. I don't want you to get your hopes up, but it only took my son a week to get off the feeding tube. It was such a shock I just showed up at the hospital one morning and they told me he had all bottles that night and he would be able to go home in a few days if he kept it up!!! He is now a happy healthy 4 month old. I really think your son will be home with you soon:)

Amanda Lily Rose - posted on 02/26/2009

My oldest boy was born 7 weeks premature as well..he had the same eating issues as well...he took a little bit to get stronger on the bottle but I was able to fully brestfed..they told me he may have to stay to his due date but he was home in two weeks after he was born. Have hope! Your baby may surprise you!!!

Megan - posted on 02/26/2009

Wow.
I had my Son 6 weeks early and he also weighed 5lbs 7oz.
He was in NICU for a little over 3 weeks!
They only gave him 30 min as well to eat a bottle
At first i thought that was a little ridiculous so i asked his nurse why they did that, She said it was because they had a lot of babies to feed at that same time and they couldn't spend hours with each baby! Which i guess is understandable!
Eventually my son got the hang of it and was learning how to suck better and that 30 min was perfect for him. It just takes time!
How is your son doing now?
If you have any questions msg me!
Meg&&Hayden

Katrina - posted on 02/25/2009

Hi my son was born at 26 weeks weight 2lb 2oz. We didnt even get to try a bottle until he was 7 weeks old. Even though the days seem really long now and april feels like it will never turn up it does come around really fast. We spent 90 days in hospital before going home. Good luck and hopefully you have a smooth ride

Stacy - posted on 02/25/2009

They give the bottle for him to get used to it. His size is a great thing!. The time limit is because premature babies may burn more calories then they take in if the spend too much energy trying to eat. Even term babies can be sluggish eaters at first but with preemies it is more important to get the calories and nutrition so they can learn to feed on their own and grow strong and go home. They determine their nutritional needs based on weight. it will come with time. BUT I had a feeling about my daughter that the bottle was not her thing and she ended up being able to leave exclusively breast feeding. Go with you gut on what's right for you baby. ASK YOU NURSES QUESTIONS. if they are good nurses they will being very willing to help you understand.
Good luck. I didn't believe anyone who told me it wouldn't be that big of a deal once it was all over. but it is true. Mine is only 4 months and her 4 weeks in the hospital seem like such a blur. AND one they remove the ng tube he will have to bottle all his feeds and maintain weight or they will put it back (from my experience)

Alyse - posted on 02/25/2009

Thanks, like I said earlier I cant visit but I talked to his nurse this a.m. and they removed his G tube so I am hoping they are going to start the bottle more often now. Thanks again for all of the help!

Mika - posted on 02/24/2009

Well my little was born 4 weeks early and only weighed 3 lbs 11 0zs so you ur lucky. He actually took a bottle every three hours. They started him at 10 ccs and increased every two days he left the hospital taking 60 ccs easily. As the ccs increased it did take longer for him to fininsh what was in there because their jaws/mouths get tired because they are still immature. Have they tried giving him a nipple with a bigger hole. Thats what they did for my little one. Hope this helps!

Liz - posted on 02/24/2009

Congradulations!  It all depends on how well he progresses.  My twins were born six weeks early. My son weighed four pounds ten ounces at birth and my daughter weighed three pounds twelve ounces at birth.  I was told that at least one of them would have been able to come home the weekend after they were born, but unexpected things arose.  Like my son ended up having to go back on oxygen  My son was released eight days after they were born and my daughter was released twelve days after they were born.  She had weight gaining problems and had to have a special formula to help her gain weight at first. I never heard of only one bottle per day. I guess it all depends on how well his suction is, I was lucky that my twins had really good suction.

Amy - posted on 02/24/2009

My baby was also born 7 weeks preamture.  In our experience, as long as no other health concerns exist, your little one will be home as long as he tolerates feedings.  Our girl was only in the hospital for 1 week.  I have great hope and faith your baby will be home soon!

Alyse - posted on 02/24/2009

Thanks so much guys! I am trying my best but right now my 3 year old has a stomach virus so I cant even visit him in case I have her germs. That makes things even harder emotionally.

I figured the due date was the target for release but man, April 3 seems like an eternity away!

Congrats to all of you on your little ones, and I am glad things worked out well for everyone.

Look foward to talking to you all again in the future :)

Liz - posted on 02/24/2009

Congrats! My boy was born at 33wks weighing 5lb 7oz. He was in the nicu for 25days. My son had some trouble with feedings. He had reflux and almost the whole feeding would come back up when he had only 5cc left. Very frustrating. It takes so much energy for the babies to suck and swallow and breath, that is probably the reasoning for the 30min limit. It was probably the last week of my sons nicu stay that he was able to take all feedings. I tried to breast feed 2x/day when I was there as well. I know they don't like to give you a discharge date because is varies. An estimate could be the original due date, but it could be sooner or later. Talk to the nurses about any concerns you have. Remember you are part of your baby's healthcare team. Hang in there, time flys and they grow so fast!

Dawn - posted on 02/24/2009

Hi my name is dawn and my son evan was born 7 weeks early also but he was 3lbs 13oz ur son seems to be doin really good . and the whole 22 cc in 30 mins is normall when my son was in the nicu it took him same amount of time the only reason they want you to feed him within the 30 mins is becuase when they are born early eating takes alot out of them and the statr to burn fat and thats not what they want being preemie. My son was there for 15 days they just waited untill he was up to about 35 cc and doing everything but it seems that since your son is off the iv it might be even sooner but he seems to be doing good and i know its a rough time to go through but in the end its all worth it my son is 16 pounds at 5 months and doing very good if u need anything let me know im here .. thank you dawn maron

Tiffany - posted on 02/24/2009

Congratulations Alyse! My son was also born 7 weeks early. He weighed 5lbs 10oz which they did say was big for his gestational age. He spent 34 days in the NICU. The eating issue is not uncommon. Every NICU seems to do things differently. We had to wait longer than you to attempt bottling. Your son will get stronger and then he will bottle better. It just takes time. If I learned anything in the NICU it is that babies go home when they are ready. It is hard to say because every baby matures at a different rate. It sounds like your son is doing well. Let me know if I can help with any other questions. Best Wishes!

Lizzie - posted on 02/24/2009

Congratulations!!! My little girl was five weeks early and weighed 5lb 9oz, which too was a good weight. My little on left hospital after three days as she needed so special care. I cant help you with the bottle feeding as I breast fed. I just had to make sure she fed for at least ten minutes every 4 hours.  Take each day as it comes with him and he will thrive!!