Trying to prepare for the nicu journey
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My baby was born at almost 34 weeks with IUGR. We don’t have any other children so we could focus on baby solely. It was challenging and my only suggestion is to have all hands on deck in terms of family and friends. If they can drop off groceries, make food for you and your kids, help in any way possible, ask them to do so. There is also a group on Facebook for IUGR which I found helpful. At times, it can be isolating so reach out and talk to your loved ones. Your baby will thrive and so will you.
@Talita they won’t let u bring the kids here gotta be 18 years or older at the nicu
@Bee how do they manage the babies with iugr
My baby was in the nicu and the special care unit, he was born at 34 weeks, for me it felt awful because I’m 23 years old I was 22 at the time and I look so much younger than I am, but doctors and nurses treated me like a child, they refused to let me take my child home until my mother got back into town so he stayed for almost an extra week than necessary, we had switched to a hospital closer to home and once we got to that hospital I ended up getting sick so I didn’t want to go in because I didn’t want to risk getting him or any of the other baby’s sick, and they told me not to come in, and then judged me for not coming in ended up telling me to just come in and wear a mask while I was still sick, I would bring in breast milk and they would give him the formula first, which is beyond me, and tried to get me into a teen mom group even though I was 22, but my baby was taken care of, at first it was rough, he was doing very well, then they said he was holding his breathe and had to +
Give him something for that, then they had to wean him off of it, and he had a feeding tube for most of his stay there, he was there for about three weeks, I loved the first hospital but it was so far, I honestly hated the second hospital he was in, it felt like they ignored the baby’s there for quite some time except for one baby whom my heart goes out to because he had nobody and heard the nurses saying that he was going through withdrawal from drugs the mother did while still pregnant with him, but the staff in this hospital was so bad, they treated me some type of way like I couldn’t care for my own baby and judged me constantly and I would get calls about things they said they were gonna do that morning and when I left that night it still wasn’t done, like the car seat test, the car seat was there for a whole week and they didn’t do it until an hour before he was discharged, they just seemed to keep prolonging his stay there, it really depends which hospital you’re in
But the whole thing was really tough, leaving my baby to go home for night made me cry, I couldn’t hold my baby for at least a few days, and it just felt like things would be good and then there’d be a set back at night, but my son did well, in the long run, I know it’s tough and I’m praying for you and your baby
My twin A had IUGR at less than 2% at birth, i also had a 3 year old at home. IUGR babies need fortified bottles to catch up on growth, she was actually the first twin to come home. I would drop my eldest off with a friend and go visit for a good chunk of the day or go at night after she went to bed and dad could watch her. My eldest was actually also a IUGR baby too, she is now in the 94th% for height so she definitely caught up. Feel free to reach out if you want to talk about NICU time, all 3 of my girls were NICU babies so I definitely have some experience.
@Jax I’m from the UK so not sure what the practice is elsewhere. Do you mean after baby is born?
The NICU is a rollercoaster from start to finish and baby girl’s recovery will not be linear. You will have good days, you will have bad days, you will feel like you are stuck in limbo and there’s no way out of it. My biggest and best suggestion is to give yourself and baby grace during her NICU stay. You will be frustrated, you will be angry, and those are both very normal feelings. You will not know what to expect health wise until baby is out so don’t try to freak yourself out over worst case scenario but also have realistic expectations that baby might need oxygen, be put under blue lights for a few days, and have some feeding issues. contd.
contd. Feeding is usually the biggest hurdle for baby and is the biggest frustration for most parents. Because baby is early, she is going to need more time to figure out how to latch to a bottle and a breast and sometimes because bottle is introduced before breast, nipple confusion can occur. My best suggestions regarding her stay that don’t have anything to do with medical stuff is bring some personal items to make the NICU more homely. We brought our own muslin blankets that were used for crib and swaddles, we had a rosary blessed by our priest taped to her isolette/crib the entire time, and brought outfits for her to wear when she could start being dressed. Bring books, do skin-to-skin as much as possible, but also give yourself time to recover. Under no means do you have to go every day or stay there all day when you do go. All of this aside, congratulations on baby #4! I pray everything goes well for you and your little princess!!!!!!!!
My baby girl had severe growth restriction, < 1st percentile and is currently in the NICU. I was admitted to the hospital at 31 weeks for absent flow, stayed for 10 days and luckily got discharged and was managed outpatient until I had my baby girl at exactly 35 weeks after decels on NST. It was a c-section because she was breech and the decels. Recovering from the C-section has been hard but my other 2 were vaginal births. She was 3 lbs 11 oz at birth and has been in the NICU for 4 weeks 😭💔 hoping she can come home soon, just waiting for to take all feed by bottle
Recommendations are go everyday, hold your baby, pump a lot and bring milk. Our hospital has angel eye so you can see the baby on a camera at all times which has been helpful
This is all so helpful! They moved my c section to this Friday now so I’m just counting down the days. I spoke with the nicu too and it’s kinda reassuring but I’m sure it’s gonna be some hurdles
I am praying for you, Jax. I can guess how scary this must be, but I can reassure you that our babies are real fighters. My little girl was born at 30 weeks weighing just a bit over 1 kg and stayed for 40 days at the NICU. I'm currently in the UK and, here, we can spend as many hours as we want with our baby. The doctors recommend lots of skin to skin and that we talk to the babies as much as we can. We also have the opportunity to change their nappies and help with feeding, if breastfeeding isn't an option. If you plan to breastfeed, they recommend pumping at least 6 times a day for 15 minutes in each breast. If you are in the UK, you can borrow a pumping machine from the hospital. Depending on the hospital, you can bring your children to meet the baby.