Preemie Support

Hi Ladies,

I am new here. I am 27 wks + 1 day with a baby boy and been on strict bedrest for a week because I have a shortened cervix (1.4) with funneling. I also started the P17 shots last week. The baby looks great we just need to keep him in a lot longer! My doctors say that he will definitly be a preemie.  Obviously I am so scared. I was wondering if anyone on here that delivered around 27 weeks could give me a realistic picture of the outcome-both short term & long term? I am optimistic but I still just need to know what we are looking at if I deliver in the next few days.  I apologize in advance if this is inappropriate or the wrong place to post these questions. Thanks in advance for any responses.

Alli

Hi Alli. You will get a lot of great support from this board. Sending you lots of P&PT that your little one keeps baking much longer.

Your probably going to hear this a lot, but every preemie is different. It's good that your getting a lot of medical care now. Have they already started steroid shots to help with lung development? If not, they probably will if it appears that you are definitely going to deliver early. I can tell you from experience that the shots can make a world of difference. Your doc will probably do a lot of ultrasounds and will be able to determine before birth if all the organs are fully formed and functioning as they should.

Like I said before, all preemies are different, but I can certainly share my story...

My daughter was born at exactly 28 weeks weight 2 pounds, 4 oz. My water spontaneously broke but my doc was able to delay labour for 3 days and I was able to get the steroid shots. My husband was able to tour the NICU prior to Ella's birth and that really helped prepare us for what to possibly expect.

I won't go into all the details because all babies are different, but I will tell you Ella is going to be 9 months on the 16th and she is thriving. She is sitting, babbling, started solids, sleeping through the night, etc... Everything a 6 month old (her adjusted age) should be doing. She does not have any eye problems, respiratory problems... nothing. Ella's lowest weight was 1 pound, 14 oz and today she is over 15 pounds.

Ella did not require ventilation at birth, but was very small and had a lot of growing to do. I was able to hold her starting day 2 doing what is called "Kangaroo Care". It's basically skin on skin contact and studies have shown that this type of contact helps preemies considerably. Ella was in the NICU just shy of 7 weeks. The medical team will most definitely tell you to expect to be in the NICU until your baby reaches their due date. They told us this all the way up to a week before our daughter was discharged. This is true for some babies, but not all.

I chose to pump my milk while she was in the NICU and it took to almost her due date for her to be able to successfully latch. We had MANY appointments with lactation but we were eventually able to fully breastfeed and still going now.

NICUs can be structured very differently depending on your hospital. We were very fortunate to have a NICU that had all private rooms for the babies. At the time my son was 14 months old and we were at a hospital 2 hours from home, so the private rooms meant that I could bring him with me for all the visits. Our NICU allowed parents to visit any time day or night for as long as you wanted. They only requested that you step out for 30 minutes during shift changes at 7am and 7pm. Our NICU had 3 levels and the 3rd level was for babies being discharged soon. That level had beds in the room so parents could stay (and were encouraged to do so) 24/7. Most NICUs call this "rooming in" and its a way for you to get comfortable taking care of your little one before going home.

The best thing you can do is make sure you take care of yourself. Take whatever help you can get when you can get it. Spend as much time as you need with your baby, but also make sure that you take care of yourself too. Eat, sleep, take walks, etc... Long hot showers we the most therapeutic thing for me during that time.

Sorry this turned into such a long response. I could write volumes!

Keep us posted on how your doing and never hesitate to ask any questions. I found this board to be incredibly helpful.

Tina

Hi Alli,
Welcome to the board. :)

My DD was born at 28w3d and weighed 2 pounds 10 ounces. Babies born around this time often need to be ventilated for some time. Some babies don't, but the majority of babies born around this time are. My DD was on the vent for only 8 hours and then went between CPAP and nasal canula for a few weeks.

Most doctors will tell you to expect a NICU stay until at least the baby's due date....right now, it seems to be more common for a baby to be discharged when it would be at 36 weeks gestation...but it isn't a promise. There are things that the baby will have to do to be able to be discharged.

If born in the next few weeks, your son will indeed be tiny...somewhere around 2 pounds probably and somewhere between 13.5-15 inches long (that all depends on genetics...my DD was 14.25" inches). His skin will seem red because it will be somewhat transparent. Most likely he will develop jaundice in the first 3-4 days just because his body won't be able to dispose of used red blood cells properly. He'll get to do some sun bathing under the bili lights for that. Babies born this early often have apnea spells because the part of their brain that reminds them to breath isn't fully developed yet, so they literally forget to breath. Some babies are given caffeine to help them remember, others are not.

The NICU is somewhat noisy, depending on the set up that your hospital has. Your son will have some monitors attached to him and for the first day or so he will be in a warming bed. Once he is stable and the doctors and nurses are fully aware of how he is doing, he will be moved into an isolette that will keep him warm because his body will be too immature to be able to do that yet. It will look like a step backwards, but it is actually a step forward.

There is something called Kangaroo Care that you need to ask about doing. It is extremely beneficial for both you and your preemie. If you look in the "preemie resources" folder, you will see a thread on that with some facts and links.

Long term outcomes at this point are usually very good. Doctors insist on giving scary statistics, but technology does incredible things. Your son will have some delays just because of how different things are tracked (adjusted age vs. actual age...we'll get into that later), but on average, most preemies 'catch up' by the age of 2...this depends on how healthy he is when he is born and length of time he is on the ventilator and some other factors. Preemies are at a higher risk of developing CP (cerebral palsy...I do not know the particular statistic on this, tho), GERD or reflux, or having sight and hearing problems. There are some thing that we often call "preemie things" such as aversions to different kinds of textures both oral and by touch)...I can't think of any others right now.

Have you been given steroids to help your son's lung development quicken?? If they are expecting you to deliver early and/or are concerned about you delivering in the next few days, you need to push to get those if you haven't already. The steroids is a series of 2 shots given 24 hours apart. Make sure you look at the clock when you get the first one and make sure the nursing staff gives you the second shot on time. Ask about it 2 hours before it the second shot is due in case the pharmacy hadn't sent the second shot up yet so that there is enough time for the shot to get to you.

There is soo much that I want to tell you...but I have had such a long day and really need to go to bed, so I tried to give you a rundown of the most important things for you to expect and then tomorrow after church I'll come back and give you more information and post a picture or two of my DD's first couple of days so you can get a visual of what to expect. I know this is a scary time....I have been right where you are. I had a weak cervix with DD and had an emergency cerclage placed at 18 weeks with 1.5cm remaining and then spent the next 10 weeks on bedrest. Try to remember to relax and to do some good, steady breathing. You will be just fine. :) You can come to this board any time you want to to ask questions or to vent or whatever. :)

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Hi Tina & Jenn,

Thanks so much for your responses. I really appreciate it because I don't know anyone to talk to that has had a baby before 30-32 weeks.  Both of your posts give me hope as well as more of an idea about what to expect. I did get the 2 steroid shots a little over a week ago. Any idea if I get those again to increase lung development? Btw Tina, my DH and I have always loved the name Ella if we have a girl one day!      Thanks again, Alli