Moms of NICU/preemie babies?

[Lousli]

Anyone else out there have a baby in the NICU right now, or in the past? My first daughter was born at 36 weeks and was able to come right home with us. This one was born at 33 weeks, and is in the NICU. It is a very different experience for me, and it has been pretty rough the past few days. I'm interested in talking to other moms going through/who have gone through the same thing.

[Houdini]

My daughter was born at 35 weeks and immediately transferred to Children's Hospital NICU (about twenty minutes from the hospital I was in). She had surgery about two hours after she was born to repair a jejunal atresia. She stayed in the NICU for one month, during which time I pumped because she was unable to eat for the first three weeks. She can home one day before she turned a month old. She weighed four pounds, thirteen ounces. She spent the first week in an incubator and was on a respirator for about 36 hours following surgery. She also was born with cysts in her frontal lobe which appear to have had no lasting complications.
She is now a happy, healthy little girl who just turned eight on the 23rd of this month.

[hadleys_mom]

My daughter was born at 23 weeks and spent 110 days in the NICU. She is now 14 months (10 months adjusted) and doing amazingly well. I just found out that I am expecting again and am hoping to keep this baby out of the NICU. I don't know if I could go through that experience again. The roller coaster of emotions at times were too much to handle. For those who currently have babies in the NICU, if you ever need to talk, feel free to message me.

[Lousli]

Thanks for the replies ladies! I'm really tired right now, getting up to pump round the clock. Hazel is doing really well right now, she mostly just has to learn to eat. I don't really have any questions about the NICU or anything, I'm just kind of looking for others who have shared this experience. It's really rough right now, and I'm feeling pretty low. I'll be heading out to the hospital soon, which always makes me feel better.