Good evening, ladies!

ashmariebay02

I'm not the parent of a preemie, but as of Tuesday I am the proud aunt to one! Makenzie Lynn was born via c/s after three weeks of no weight gain and the diagnosis of "failure to thrive in utero". They were monitoring her closely for about a month and estimated she weighed only 4.2 lbs and thought she would do better after delivery. The day she was born, she was 5lbs even and 18 inches long. She was released from the hospital Thursday at 4.5 lbs. They have my brother and his g/f waking her up to eat every 2 hours. She takes about half an oz at a time, if that. I hope this is enough background to ask you some questions.

 I have had two children of my own, but they were 8 & 9 lbs respectively so i feel like I'm unprepared to help out. Makenzie seems to struggle with her bottle, they sent her home on Similac Advanced Early shield pre-packaged hospital bottles, and it seems too big for her little mouth and face. Is this normal? Is there a smaller version of a bottle that would be easier for her? Same with a pacifier. She holds her mouth open all the time & sounds like she is wheezing a lot.

Also, she hates to be moved or touched. You can hold her, but if you have to change her clothing or touch her skin she shrieks. The only way to keep her awake long enough to even have the half oz you have to unwrap her, and I feel like we are hurting her. My brother & his g/f are young and honestly, not prepared, and I'm trying to help them but I feel like I'm out of my league. I sort of feel like she is too small to be home. Any advice you could give me I'd greatly appreciate!!  Thanks again!

mek10976

We used the Evenflo basic latex nipples that attach to the ready to feed nursette formula bottles.  We used medium flow b/c the NICU said slow flow is too much work for the little guys. Pacis and bottle nipples do seem to look quite large compared to the baby, but the NICU shouldn't have sen the baby home if she had problems eating from a bottle/nursette.  Some people buy the Dr. Brown's preemie nipples for feedings.  I don't have any experience with the sensitivity to touch, but I do remember that the NICU told us not to stroke or pat our son b/c it was too much stimulation.  We would just lay a hand on him.  But that is impossible to do when you have to dress them.  They also told us to unwrap DS so that he was less cozy in order to wake him up for feedings and be more productive. My best advice for helping is to just do whatever you can for them.  Having a preemie is very overwhelming, especially when you have regular life stuff to deal with.  If you feel you aren't helpful with baby care, perhaps help them with other mundane daily chores - pick up mail, mail the bills, walk the dog, make some meals, do the laundry, run errands, etc.