What does a premie need??

OleMissBride

Hi Ladies,
New here but haven't really looked at too many posts since i'm afraid I'll just worry more! 

I'm 31w and on hospital bedrest for PROM and their goal is 34w for delivery for #2(we have a girl at home).  We have all the standard stuff we will need from DD#1, but now I'm wondering what do we need to be prepared for for a potential premie?  Diapers are obviously easy, but is there a short list of essentials that we may need to prepare? 

I don't even know if this will apply if/when NICU is in the picture, but still hoping for the best outcome and taking even a tiny baby home without a stay in NICU. 

Thank you!

ashleymarie512

I agree with the preemie sized diapers. I had a 30-weeker born at 2-3 and she never even wore preemie diapers--went straight to newborns. They were big; but we just folded down the top. Also, preemie clothes vary greatly in size from company to company so beware of that too. Otherwise, hand sanitizer is a great idea, as well as smaller swaddles/blankets.

bennyandthejets13

Agree with the PP with the sanitizors and preemie diapers. DS was born at 34w and was 5lbs and had a week stay in the NICU. One thing I would watch out for is the carseat. They will not discharge the baby out of the NICU unless the car seat meets the babies need. Preemies are tiny so I would wait to buy one until you know how big your LO is so you can have one that fits their tiny bodies in.

tngrl3

I second making sure the car seat is able to accommodate a preemie. My little guy was a 34w with IUGR. He went home at 4lbs 1oz after a 2 week stay in the NICU and I had to make sure my car seat was rated for below 5 lbs. If you plan to BF you might also want to make sure you have a good double pump. Sometimes preemies have trouble nursing at first. I started out pumping and he either got bottles or NG tube feeds and then we were able to switch to nursing. 

Good luck to you and I hope that you are able to keeping your little one baking as long as possible! 

OleMissBride

Thank so much everyone!! Funny how plan A can be set when Plan B is thrown your way!! And who even knows what Plan B is??!!??! I guess I'll be joint you so, but hopefully not TOO soon!

[Deleted User]

@olemissbride I have pProm as well. Ruptured at 24 +2 and now I'm at 25 +6! I'm confined to a hospital bed and the goal is to also make it to 34 weeks. Yesterday, DH and I took a tour of the NICU with the head nurse answering all of our questions. It was highly informative and eye opening experience. We saw babies born at 24 weeks to 34 weeks and they were all beautiful! I asked about the car seat and was told that by the time we take LO home, he will be ok in a newborn seat. She advised that buying a "premie" car seat was a waste of our money. We actually watched a baby go home yesterday and the parents did indeed use a normal car seat with some head support. Baby was a little over 4 pounds. The babies in the unit had adorable hats brought in by parents, younger ones just wore diapers and I don't recall any wearing actual clothes. I hope your hospital allows you to take a tour. While the reality is super scary for me personally, I was able to learn so much from that visit and calm my fears, if only just a bit. It also gave a lot of positive reinforcement to my DH and he was super grateful to learn what lies ahead of us. Good luck mama and hope you make it to 34 weeks without any problems!