Bradys?

AshleyL923

We were just about to bring out LO home from the nicu and she had a bradycardia, and then another one. I'm confused because we've gotten through the most critical days without any and I don't understand why it's happening now. They seem to be feeding related so I started using a slower flow nipple. Anyone else have experience with this?

direy25

When you say they're feeding related, are they happening during her feeding? Is she breathing enough / getting enough oxygen? We still have to turn LO's oxygen up a little during his feeds for that exact reason.

Mrs. Alice

Yes both my twins had lots of bradys throughout their nicu stay. One earned an extra week because of it. The other one would brady almost every time I fed him which for the count down they didn't include those ones, because they were feeding related and he recovered on his own. Since it was the only thing keeping them from coming home, they let us bring them home with apnea monitors which they wore almost 24/7 for a while. They totally outgrew it around their edd.

AshleyL923

Yea she's coughing, heart rate drops and then comes right back up. I can't get a clear answer if they are counting it or not. Seems to depend on who I ask. Frustrating!

jbranden12

We really had to pace Anna using a Dr. Browns with preemie nipple. She would suck suck suck and forget to breathe. Feeding related, self-resolving bradys were not counted for us. 

vulpini

It was the only thing keeping us in the NICU the last week.  They told us he had to go 48 hours with no feeding-related episodes and 5 days with no sleep related ones.  With feedings, it helped us to use a slow-flow nipple and to really watch him for any signs of gagging/coughing, take the bottle out at any sign of trouble, and give him a couple minutes to recover before giving the bottle again.  He would always recover on his own though.  They said apnea and bradys are common in preemies and go away on their own around 36-38 gestational weeks for most babies and very very rarely last much beyond 40, so not to worry and just wait for him to mature.

DrRx

We still had them well after we left the NICU (about a month or 2) that were feeding related, but we were on oxygen and an apnea monitor after we left the NICU. My daughter was on caffeine about 6 weeks after we left the NICU to help with the Brady's.

thishappyhouse

See how the next few days go and talk with the Neos.  

My DD would have been in the NICU until she was 10 month old if we counted feeding related bradys.  Much to my shock and worry they didnt even send us home on a monitor because she was only having Brady's during feedings (as opposed to during sleeping).  She had major major episodes but we knew what to do, we took 2 CPR classes and we knew her signals well enough to know if it was a normal brady or something to be extra concerned about.  

jbranden12

Also I remember Anna's neo saying that it was actually a good thing that she had bradys when she choked or swallowed wrong instead of silently aspirating milk into her lungs and developing pneumonia without us knowing! Hopefully they will decrease as she matures.