NICU stays for 31 or 33 week babies?

Ashley - posted on 10/28/2012

my oldest was born at 32 weeks. when my water broke, they gave me steriods to help his lungs, and they stopped my labor. i had to stay in the hospital til i delivered. 3 nights later i woke up with really bad contractions, 6 hours later he was born. he did really great. stayed in the hospital for a month because he wouldnt take to a nipple, so he had to be tube fed, and when he came home he was still hooked to an apnea monitor. he will be 9 in december and he is doing great still. they said he might be a little behind other kids because he was early, but when we went to his 4 month appointment, he was doing better than most 4 month olds who are born on time, and he has been ahead since then.

Andrea - posted on 10/17/2012

My daughter was born at 32 wks, she was 3lbs 12 ounces. She was in the NICU for almost 2 months. She had a feeding tube and a pic line. She would've been released sooner but the day before she started having some heart issues. She had intermittent episodes of tachycardia and they found an atrial septal defect. The ASD is common in preemies, but usually closes on its own as they grow up. They still don't really know what caused the tachycardia. My daughter is now 6. She is still on the small side,and had surgery for lazy eyes, but other than that completely normal.

Chelly - posted on 10/17/2012

I think it all really depends on the baby. My daugther was born 36 weeks, and was 3lb 8oz... She was in the NICU for almost two weeks...



It really depends on how they are breathing, eating, and weight

Ebony - posted on 10/13/2012

My daughter was born at 32 weeks weighing 3 pounds and 13oz. she stayed in the hospital for about four weeks. No more than a month.

Teresa - posted on 10/06/2012

Same for me Melissa, almost. My first son, now a healthy 8 year old, was born at 28 weeks and 5 days and he weighed 3lbs 3oz, big for one so early. He stayed in the NICU 2 months, but had no brain bleeds or any other issues preemies can have. His issue was feeding on his own. My second son started to come about the same time and I was put on bedrest and we were in the hospital twice a week that last month until he caught us off guard and made his way inot this worl in about 30 min after my first contraction. He was born at 35 weeks, 5lbs 7oz an is now a healthy 8 month old and not a day in NICU, just an average baby. Good luck and try not to stress too much.

Marina - posted on 09/23/2012

I had twins at 32 weeks. Weighing 4lbs 5oz and 3lbs 10oz. They were in the NICU for 10 days and went home together. :)

MELISSA - posted on 09/19/2012

My daughter was born at 33 weeks, she weighed in a t 3 lbs 3 ozs. She now weighs almost 17 lbs at 7 months. We stayed in NICU for 3 1/2 weeks. We never had to be on oxygen either. I did get steroid injections for her lungs though. Our only problem was a pooing problem so we went on antibiotics for 5 days, with no food, except liquids from an IV. We went home at 4 lbs on the dot. She is doing great and is full of fight.

Ashley - posted on 09/17/2012

I had my third child at 33.5wks and she was in the NICU for 3weeks. She only weighted 3lbs 10oz. She had a little trouble breathing, she was on oxygen for about 2 weeks, she had a feeding tube for probably a week maybe week and half, and quite a few of b's. I had a difficulty pregnancy putting a lot of stress on her since my BP was extreamly high for most of it even with medication. My second child was born at 35.5wks and she was in the nicu for 2wks. She was on oxygen for about 4days and had a feeding tube for probably a week, she liked to fall asleep before finishing her feeding so they kept the tube in longer. The nurses told me that babies born early typically stay until their due date or sometimes until they have reached 37-38wks gestation. It can be scary but asking a lot of questions helped us out. The first nicu stay we didn't get to be there as much as we liked because we were an hour an half away but the second time consider everything it was a lot better expierence than the first. We had a great team and they encouraged us to be with her as much as possible. Our 33.5 weeker did a lot better in the NICU than our 35.5weeker. Good luck!

Ami - posted on 09/08/2012

my daughter was 3.15 lbs and was born at 33 wks she was in there for 3 wks and had to have a eating tube for the majority of it.she did have a breathing tube for the first day then the seconday had that one breathing thing in her nose then that was gone the third day and all she had was an eating tube.

Tena - posted on 09/08/2012

My daughter was born at 33 weeks 4lb 13.8oz and she stayed in NICU for 8 days. Her older brother was born at 35 weeks at 4lb 1oz and he stayed for 7 days. Neither had health issues and were breathing and eating on their own.

Denise - posted on 09/07/2012

My son was born at 29 weeks 3.5 lbs he stayed in the nicu exactly one month and he only needed a feeding tube until he was able to suck whick was about 2 weeks later. He had to reach 5 lbs before he could come home. Your child being in the NICU is a scary experience I will admit but I promise the main thing that makes it scary is being a mother and worrying waaaayy too much about EVERYTHING but thats natural. Just hang in there. I wish you the best of luck