Support for parents of preemies & NICU babies, #2 - Page 8

[crysmomofthree]

I am subscribing I"ll have to finish reading the thread and up date with my stories (4 kiddos )

[mimid]

Hi all! My girls are actually getting ready to come home (hopefully tomorrow!) from the NICU after 2 weeks. They wanted to keep 1 and send 2 home, but our awesome nurse and I convinced them to keep all 3 because they all (and especially the one they wanted to keep) sleep better together.

My big question for right now is what kind of gift can you get for an incredible nurse. We actually had 4 of them (2 day and 2 night) who really seemed to go out of their way with us and made dh and I feel so welcome and in control and also seem to love the girls so much. I would love to get them something but don't know what or the protocol sonce these weren't the only 4 nurses who took care of them. Any ideas?

[Lousli]

I always brought in food. Big boxes of candy and homemade brownies were a hit, and they could share them amongst the whole staff. I also went back and gave some updated pics of Hazel to them and showed off how great she looks now.

[Periwinkle]

Yup. Food.

[5xmom]

Hi everyone - I'm just checking in. Josephine is home (since Feb) and a HUGE 9 pounds at almost 6 months. She has severe reflux so we deal with that and now she is struggling with eczema so I'm off all milk: . She is still exclusively breastfed, but just squeaks by on about a 4oz a week weight gain. I've tried bottles(ebm with calories added) but she won't take them. I also experienced her latch to be weak when she first came home - she would pull down on the end of the nipple and wouldn't transfer enough milk (plus it hurt!). I really worked with her to open up and I used a scale for pre and post feeds. She's a pro now!

[boscopup]

For reflux... DS was on Zantac when first diagnosed, and that definitely helped, but we had the unflavored liquid kind (which I think has alcohol in it? , and when I switched doctors and asked about doing the flavored Zantac instead, she switched him to Prevacid. That worked fine too, but gave him diarhea.

Then one day I was reading online about reflux, and found some info (and I don't remember where) about babies being more prone to reflux if mom had antibiotics during labor. Well, DS was born early due to PPROM, so yes, I definitely had antibiotics and lots of them. I gave him some probiotics, and sure enough, after a few weeks, we were able to wean off the medicines!

I don't think probiotics would cure all cases of reflux, of course, but it doesn't hurt to see if it at least helps. I just took an adult capsule and emptied it into a small container, then dipped my finger in it and stuck that in his mouth or in his medicine mixture. It was a small amount, and one capsule would last a LONG time.

Glad little Joey is doing so well! I'm sure her weight will catch up eventually. DS was on the small side for a long time, and then he got onto the actual age growth charts at 1 year, and by 15 months, he was 50% for weight - actual age! He's stayed that way ever since. He was 10.5 weeks early, so pretty similar to little Joey.

[eilonwy]

I've been giving Bella probiotics to help with the thrush that we both have (mixing it with pumped breastmilk), but it hasn't helped her reflux; if anything that's gotten worse.

I really don't want to do the pneumogram... I'm hoping that I can get the doctor to give me some Zantac without it.

[boscopup]

Is pneumogram a test? DS was given Zantac without any testing, thankfully. And it definitely worked. Just don't get the liquid - you want the dissolvable flavor tabs!

[eilonwy]

Yeah, the pneumogram is a test for reflux. BooBah had one, as did ChibiChibi. It's not so bad, it just necessitates a day and a half in the hospital (the test takes 24 hours).

I'd be concerned about disolvable tablets because my kids like to take vitamins; they'd probably try to eat Bella's medicine, which would defeat the purpose of having it around.

[boscopup]

Originally Posted by eilonwy

I'd be concerned about disolvable tablets because my kids like to take vitamins; they'd probably try to eat Bella's medicine, which would defeat the purpose of having it around.

Keep it very high out of their reach?

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by boscopup

Keep it very high out of their reach?

up :

That's a good one! Nothing is out of reach of The Amazing Climbing BooBah-- and if it is difficult to open, or requires some strength, The Amazing Climbing BooBah will build a tower, which will then be climbed by her trusty assistant, The Flying BeanBean.

[boscopup]

Originally Posted by eilonwy

That's a good one! Nothing is out of reach of The Amazing Climbing BooBah-- and if it is difficult to open, or requires some strength, The Amazing Climbing BooBah will build a tower, which will then be climbed by her trusty assistant, The Flying BeanBean.

Invest in a padlock for the medicine cabinet?

[eilonwy]

Is it strange that my 3-year old son can open combination locks? I think it's pretty normal that he can do the ones with the keys..

[Lousli]

Bumping!

[crysmomofthree]

I have a question that is often bugging me that I would like to ask.

I have had 1 full term, and then 3 preterm babies (33 weeks, 35, and 36 weeks) I want to have another baby but am very stressed about having a sick baby in the hospital, and it makes me doubt having another child.

Does anyone else feel this way? does your likelyhood of having another preterm baby prevent you from wanting to conceive another child?

[Lousli]

I feel that way totally. My husband and I were always saying 2 or 3, probably 2. But occasionally when we do think about 3, aside from the expense, the biggest obstacle in my mind is the possibility of extended bedrest and an early baby in the hospital for a long time. We were sure enough to want to do something that had a high success rate and would last a long time, so I got an IUD. It still leaves us the possibility of changing our mind later.

[eilonwy]

I was very concerned about having another NICU baby after BeanBean was born, then I relaxed when BooBah went to 39w1d and was so easy to deal with. Now after Bella, I'm totally paranoid about having to do the NICU thing again.

[crysmomofthree]

see i had an iud put in because I wasn't sure if we wanted more, but about 6 weeks ago (my youngest is 13 months) my iud was expelled, and now I just had my first ppaf, my dh is useless with condoms, so it seems like another baby is sooner in our future than later. We just can't decide whether to go with 5 kids or stick with four. and really a big part of that has to do with how horrible I feel in the hospital with barely preterm babies (the last two) it just brings back horrific memories of my 2nd ds (33 weeks) being intubated and the ivs and the nurses telling me when and how to touch him, It still makes me cry, I know that now I am much more assertive and know a lot more (since then I have gone to nursing school myself not to mention 4 kids) and I know it wouldn't be the same, I have a much more supportive dh, but I hate hospital births, I want a home birth, but in bc midwives refuse to attend home birth prior to 37 weeks so I have always had to birth in the hospital I know my last two babies would have been healthier had they been born at home, and not subjected too the ridiculous hospital policies (observation for 6 hours in an incubator) which meant no nursing which lead to worse jaundice which we all know is a crappy cycle for a tiny baby. I guess I'm just rambling....

[boscopup]

I want 3 kids, but DH is reluctant to do a third if our second is preterm. Actually, reluctant is probably not a strong enough word. I have parents in town, so it would be totally doable for me to do bedrest/NICU time and have the kids still watched by family, but DH doesn't want to deal with that stress.

I have a good friend who gets PTL starting around 16-17 weeks and goes on bedrest until 36 weeks when they let her deliver. Her mother came to live with her while pregnant with #2, so she could care for #1. Now they're just waiting for #2 to start talking before they TTC #3. All of her babies have been fine at 36 weeks - they were able to go home with mom and not do any NICU time, but the bedrest for so long is definitely a killer, especially since it's pretty strict bedrest. She begged for a cerclage last time, but apparently, while her mother had IC, my friend does not - she just has PTL that the OB is afraid would rip out a cerclage. So bedrest and drugs it is. Anyway, her take on things was that the months of bedrest are such a small sacrifice for the long life ahead of her children, so it's worth doing. When you think of it that way, I guess it makes it a more positive thing, ya know?

[ErinEmily]

Originally Posted by crysmomofthree

I have a question that is often bugging me that I would like to ask.

I have had 1 full term, and then 3 preterm babies (33 weeks, 35, and 36 weeks) I want to have another baby but am very stressed about having a sick baby in the hospital, and it makes me doubt having another child.

Does anyone else feel this way? does your likelyhood of having another preterm baby prevent you from wanting to conceive another child?

I totally feel that way. I have one full term ds and only one preterm (30 weeks) dd. She spent 8 weeks in the hospital and that whole experience has put my dh right off having a third child. She is only just 14 months now and due to the inverted T incision that I have the surgeon recomeneded that if we really had to have more kids we should wait at least two years so we are not making and permanent decisions just now.

I can't see to see us with only 2 children but at the same time I don't know if we would survive another long term hospital stay. We never even had any bedrest or anything like that. I can't imagine. But then my parents aren't that close, location wise and my IL's all work full-ish time and I wouldn't really want them raising my kids for more than a few hours at a time.

So short answer Yes.

So does any one have any ideas how we resolve these feelings into a decision either for or against another baby?