Just became a preemie mom

kimberlydlee82

My daughter was born Tuesday morning at 2 am at 34 weeks 5 days. I have 2 other girls that were both born at 38 weeks so this is new to me! She was a great birth weight at 5 lbs 11.5oz and she hasn't had to be on oxygen or have any temperature help. We are having a little trouble getting her to take much on feeds and has dropped down in weight a little as I know is normal. And its looking like she also may have reflux a bit. Is there anything that you moms have found to help them want to eat more? Any special tips that you have just found valuable? Thanks so much moms. I'm just a little scared!

LaurenS865

Congratulations on your little girl! I know it's scary, and NICU life can be rough, but it sounds like she's off to a great start! My daughter was born at 28w6d and she had a lot of trouble learning to eat. We tried different feeding positions, different nipple flow, moving the nipple around in her mouth and tapping the bottle when she'd lose interest...it got so frustrating, especially since she was surrounded by good eaters. The nurses kept encouraging me to remember that she wasn't supposed to be breathing and eating and keeping warm on her own yet, she was supposed to still be in my tummy, so she was having to work extra hard to learn everything at once. And one day, it was like a lightbulb went off and she just got it. She came home with us about a week later. It'll happen, it just takes a little extra time and patience to get there. Ask your nurses if they have any tips and tricks too, they have tons of experience feeding difficult eaters. Good luck!

Pips09

Congrats on your baby! We also had feeding issues and the OT in the NICU worked with us on it.

flerlgirl

We had to change positions to feed him a few times before we found one that helped him eat well. Welcome to the board and congrats on your baby!

scubagirl81

We tried a lot of things too, but ultimately it was just time that DS needed. He was born at 34+5 too, and was in the NICU for 8 days, and all that was keeping him there was figuring out how to eat. Hopefully you won't be there long either!

kimberlydlee82

We are actually home already! She had no NICU time. We came home after 48 hours but dropped her temp too much at our checkup the next day so back to hospital to be monitored for a day and now we're home again- this time with more clothes, hats, onesies, and socks with our house warmer! Noone bothered to tell us about all that stuff avec we were discharged but she is doing great now! Trying to work on breastfeeding and pumping because it seems the majority of trouble we were having with formula is the fact that she hates it! Lol. Doing much better on breastmilk! Thanks for all your help and advice!

kimberlydlee82

Well she has decided now that she loves the breast but hates a bottle. So now we're breastfeeding. Waiting to go to Dr tomorrow and check weight. She nurses pretty well. Gets a little sleepy but we get her doing pretty well. I'm trying to pump and breastfeed because I will be going back to nursing school quickly. She seems pretty satisfied. Just hope she's gaining weight!