moms of 32 weekers...

KLyn

one of my boys has been having bradys since he was born and the other decided in the last couple of days (after weeks of no issues) to start having them. ?Has anyone experienced this? ?Did your child come home on a monitor or stay for a long time in the NICU? ?I just don't know what to expect. ?Thanks for your help.

sabloja

My son was 30 weeks, but had apnea, which is a little different. He came home on a monitor. I think as long as they come back from them on their own then they will not spend extra time there they will just come home on a monitor, which honestly is a PITA but gives me great peace of mind. I think in our NICU they had to be free of stimulated Bradys/Apneas for 5 days before they were sent home. HTH

jehprb

My DS was born at 32w3d and spent a month in the NICU and we also had the 5 day rule as well as needing him to take 24hrs worth of feedings from mom and dad before being released.  We didn't come home with any monitors although the first week home the baby monitor went off (we used the Angel Care one) but it only happened once.

SBMBride406

My 32 weeker was in the NICU for 4 weeks and came home without monitors. He never really had issues with the bradys (he definately had some the first couple weeks, but not really after that). We were lucky - despite being a tiny guy, he was really just a feeder/grower most of the time he was there. Of course, we were back in the hospital 10 days after coming home but that really had more to do with having a crap immune system.

njkaren

Hi Keri! I know Brandon was born a lot earlier than your two but he had lots of bradys and eventually outgrew them. He did come home on an apnea monitor. He is still on it at night.

RubyRed7

Ruby was born at 32 weeks and and had bradys, and a lot of them, for along time! She started having 20-30 a day before they put her on caffeine and she went to just having a few. Bradys are VERY common in preemies and they do outgrow them.

Ruby stayed in the NICU for 33 days and come home with a monitor. She has reflux and they found that when she was refluxing it would cause a brady. She had bradys for about 2 weeks on occassion after coming home, then no more ever again. The basically stopped right after her due date!

Max'smom

My 32 weeker was in the NICU for 23 days, primarily for feeding issues and Bradys. We did come home on a monitor had two real Bradys while at home, mostly false alarms... the monitors SUCK. But you get used to it. He came home in Feb and was off the monitor by the end of April. So about two months. We were "headed home" after 12 days, but had a set back after his circ and stayed 11 more days. He stopped breathing a few hours after and then had a hard time taking his bottles.

jodynjames2005

My girls were born at 32w3d. They had the normal As and Bs that 32 weekers have while they were in the NICU, but it rapidly decreased around the time they came home. Neither came home on a monitor and neither had them that I am aware of after that. They spent 3 weeks and 4 weeks in the NICU. Our NICU will not send babies home on monitors unless they have a chronic condition that merits it... they keep babies there until they don't need monitors anymore. Charlotte had an episode because she spit up milk and choked on it and they wouldn't even let her come home for FIVE days after that. They require 5 days with no feeding-related episodes to discharge.

dstbride

my 32w2d baby was in the NICU for 17 days and came home without a monitor.  she was just at 4.5 lbs. and never had any A's or B's. 

lauraanddave

My DD came home on a monitor.  Her bradys in the NICU dropped a bunch once she got the hang of coordinating her breathing and sucking/swallowing.  That was the only thing holding her back, so they sent her home.

The first few days she'd have one each day, but now the monitor is only going off for apnea.  What's annoying is that sometimes you can't tell if it's a false alarm or not.  The other day I was sitting next to her bouncy seat and the monitor went off 3 times in 4 minutes, all for apnea.  Well, I was watching her the whole time, and I could see and hear her breathing, so obviously that was a false alarm.

Someone comes every 4 weeks to get the data from the monitor and send it to our pedi, but our pedi says it takes them a long time to actually get the data (we're in Baltimore, and the monitor is through Johns Hopkins, so I guess they're busy and that's why it takes so long).  Anyway, we're hoping that at DD's next pedi appointment (she has a regular one Jan. 12 and gets her next Synagis shot Jan. 22, so at either one of those) our pedi will have reviewed the data and will tell us that we can either discontinue the monitor or that we only need to use it at night.