Intro and Guidance

[issytex03]

Hi ladies, im a march 2015 mama and had a PTL scare today, they think i have a slow leak in my waters (need a scan and consultant appt to confirm apparently) and have been told im likely to go into early labour. Atm our goal is 34 weeks i am 30+3 now. Whilst i have gone through early labour before (33w 3d) my son did not survive due to a congenital infection so i am terrified and wanted to know if anyone could give any advice as to what to expect of a baby of this age, how much help they will need in nicu/hospital. Thankyou in advance hope all are ok

[meladorie]

Hi there, I recognize you from March. My guy was due 3/17 but came last week at 31 weeks, 2 days. I'm happy to help in any way I can although I am still new to this too. Any particular questions?

[issytex03]

meladorie i recognize you too! Also from PgAL on TB i have quite a few i'm afraid!
what condition did baby come out in? Noah was c section and he crashed pretty soon after delivery so i dont know if we'll get to see/hold baby straight away? I'm scheduled for RCS This time but not until 38 weeks so wether if i had one then it would prevent me from seeing him? Have they given you a timeline on when your bubba will be out of nicu?
Last time my waters broke (previous pregnancy) my contractions were causing decelerations in noahs heartbeat and i wont be able to find out if baby is on for atleast 1 hr as they turned my local hospital into a low risk unit only! Ahhh so many thoughts flying round my head and i cant sleep

[meladorie]

Jan 25, 2015 23:45:06 GMT -5 issytex03 said:

meladorie i recognize you too! Also from PgAL on TB i have quite a few i'm afraid!
what condition did baby come out in? Noah was c section and he crashed pretty soon after delivery so i dont know if we'll get to see/hold baby straight away? I'm scheduled for RCS This time but not until 38 weeks so wether if i had one then it would prevent me from seeing him? Have they given you a timeline on when your bubba will be out of nicu?
Last time my waters broke (previous pregnancy) my contractions were causing decelerations in noahs heartbeat and i wont be able to find out if baby is on for atleast 1 hr as they turned my local hospital into a low risk unit only! Ahhh so many thoughts flying round my head and i cant sleep

Well my situation was slightly different because mmc-section occurred under general anesthesia. Because of that they obviously had to wait for me to wake up a bit, so I didn't see him for about an hour after he was born. They may have let H hold him sooner but I don't know (H was out of town and didn't arrive until I was going in to meet him). You should ask about hospital policy on skin-to-skin with c-section; some places will allow immediate kangaroo care with dad until you can recover.

They have been very vague about when Liam can come home. They've said anywhere from 35-40 weeks. They had immediately started him on an IV and nasal cannula; the IV was for nutrition until my milk came in and the nasal cannula was room air into his nose (he didn't need added oxygen). The day after, they added a feeding tube and gave him small amounts of my colostrum. They gradually increased the amount of milk he got each feeding. At about 7 days they removed the IV abs he was getting all nutrition from my milk via feeding tube. They also removed his nasal cannula.

So overall, Liam came out in great shape. He was breathing on his own and crying away. He's made very quick progress too. At this point they want his breathing to be a bit more regular (he still has some instances of apnea, which they are treating with caffeine, and "drifting," which I guess meabs shallow breathing or holding his breath) and they want him to learn to breastfeed. The breastfeeding is tricky for him as he usually latches on and then just falls asleep. However, they've said all these issues are nornal at his age and usually resolve by 35 weeks or so.

Any other questions? I'm happy to help.

[issytex03]

I think at the moment i am lucky as they think its just a small leak so im resting up as much as possible and hopefully my levels will stay good! I have an appt with my consultant this week but i think their plan is steroid shots and twice weekly monitoring appointments unless anything changes.
meladorie are you in the US? Im not sure what kangaroo is :/ i guess there are so many variables that are all based on how baby is when born. Were you in established labour after your waters went and having contractions before or was it all very sudden? I was already in hospital when my waters went last time so i was able to go straight on a monitor to check babys heartbeat. This is going to sound really dumb but do you just pump the colostrum as you would do milk? And did it take long for your milk to come in? I know we have weight on our side which is a plus though it didnt help noah at all and he was 5 1/2lbs at 33 weeks.

[mymorningcoffee]

Jan 26, 2015 10:31:07 GMT -5 issytex03 said:

This is going to sound really dumb but do you just pump the colostrum as you would do milk? And did it take long for your milk to come in? 

Not a dumb question at all! You can pump colostrum just like milk, but as you would suspect, you don't get much output. I remember the first day the nurses set me up with a pump and game me 3mL syringes for storing the milk. It took several days for my milk to start coming in. 

[meladorie]

Jan 26, 2015 10:31:07 GMT -5 issytex03 said:

I think at the moment i am lucky as they think its just a small leak so im resting up as much as possible and hopefully my levels will stay good! I have an appt with my consultant this week but i think their plan is steroid shots and twice weekly monitoring appointments unless anything changes.
meladorie are you in the US? Im not sure what kangaroo is :/ i guess there are so many variables that are all based on how baby is when born. Were you in established labour after your waters went and having contractions before or was it all very sudden? I was already in hospital when my waters went last time so i was able to go straight on a monitor to check babys heartbeat. This is going to sound really dumb but do you just pump the colostrum as you would do milk? And did it take long for your milk to come in? I know we have weight on our side which is a plus though it didnt help noah at all and he was 5 1/2lbs at 33 weeks.

Yes I'm in the US. Kangaroo care is skin-to-skin where baby rests on your chest. It's got good health benefits, especially for preemies.

No I kind of skipped labor. My water broke, about 30 minutes later I had a couple mild contractions, and then they checked and I was fully dilated. I went from 0-10 pretty instantly apparently (that's why I had general anesthesia- no time for an epidural).

And like pp said, you just pump colostrum like milk. It took me a few days for the milk to come in and it was a pretty gradual process. But they'll likely give LO your colostrum also.

When my water broke but before they realized I was dilated, they had told me their plan was to give steroid shots and keep me on hospital bed rest (eta, but my water broke in a giant nonstop gush, not a slow leak)

[issytex03]

Oh my gosh! Im glad everything is going well for you though! I think i will be able to book a meeting with the special care unit here some time after my consultants appt but i dont see a reason why they wouldnt do skin to skin with my H if im in recovery. They said im fine to go home but to come straight back if i have any more loss fluid or otherwise. Ill probably have more questions after i speak to scbu thankyou so much for the advice!!

[weissa55]

We had ours at 31 weeks 3 days - they wheeled my bed through the NICU after my C-section, but at that point I was still kind of groggy and it as overwhelming seeing how tiny he was (2 lb 10 oz). After that, my husband and I would go see him a couple times a day until I was discharged. I didn't get to hold him until the day I left the hospital, so he as 4 days old. When they're born that early, they do a brain scan before they move them around too much (at least in my experience) which is why we couldn't hold him right away. Even after the scan, they minimize touching because it overstimulates the baby so there was a 30 minute period every 3 hours when they would change him, take his vitals, and feed him(via feeding tube). For the month he was in the NICU, our live srevolved around those 30 minute "touch times".

Hopefully you're in the clear for at least a few more weeks!

[mylittleladiesandlad]

Hopefully you can keep your babe cooking! I had my twin girls at 30w2d and they were 3.2lbs. I was in PTL since 22 weeks so I had a few rounds of steroids to help develop their lungs. Have you had steroids? My girls were able to breath room air when they were born and were healthy, just small! They were quickly deemed "feeders, growers" and spent 5 & 6 rather uneventful weeks in the NICU. Our biggest issue was that one of my daughters had Brady's where she would stop breathing. That was scary, but she outgrew it.