need prayers for my best friend please! baby born at 26 wks.

mislogis

I havent posted on this board, but, I do believe in the power of prayer. Her sweet baby girl came at 26 weeks 2 days. She said she is doing well, she only weighs 1 lb 12 oz and is 12.5 inches long.  She has a long recovery ahead of her, and she will be in the hospital until her due date (nov 22)  if any one had any positive stories I can share with her I would greatly appreciate it.

TIA 

At1stsight

I will be praying for her. My DS was born much later, but there are dozens of women on this board who have had preemies at <28 weeks and their children are home and doing well. It will be a long, tough road so be sure to keep checking in with her and offering to help. Gift cards to restaurants near the hospital are always nice, as well as magazines or crossword puzzle books to help pass the time in the NICU. Offers to take care of plants/mail, make meals, etc. are also great.

Best wishes to your friend. Refer her to this board for support. Everyone here is wonderful with a shoulder for her to cry on and a wealth of info if she has questions.

mislogis

Thanks I will, and thanks for the tips. I live 2.5 hours away from her, but I can keep her stocked on those items.

njkaren

My son was born at 26 weeks, 1 day. He weighed 1 pound, 14 ounces and was 13 inches long. He is now 2 years old and except for a speech delay is doing great. He now weighs 23 pounds.

Denesdia

Please send your friend our way.  We have lots of success stories and support to offer.  My DD was born at 25 weeks and 2 days and is now a happy and healthy toddler with a new brother.  The NICU journey is rough, but these babies are amazing!

tonjala

She and her DD will be in my thoughts and prayers. It's a long dark road having a baby in the NICU but as PP said preemie babies are amazing! My DD was born much later too (34 weeks) and was in the NICU for 3 weeks and is now a strong happy 5 month old. This is a great place for preemie moms who have questions or need support or just need to cry to someone. GL to her and her DD.

KellyMichelle

I will pray for her.  My son was born at 26 weeks.  He will be 5 next week.  You would never know he was a preemie.  He had a rough start, but now he is physically and developmentally on target with his peers. 

dmblack

Sending T & P your way.  My DD who is now 4 yrs was born at 26w3d.  See my Caring Bridge website.  https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/savannahblack  She's doing great now....many people are surprised when I tell them that she was a preemie.

morganore

My baby was born at 28 weeks 6 days weighing 1 lb 13 oz and 12.5 in long on July 5. We are still in the nicu but she is doing great! we have been here for 6 weeks and she is now 3 lbs 9 oz and 16 in long and even breastfeeding! There are a lot of ups and downs in the first few weeks but tell her to just hang in there and kangaroo her baby as much as possible, it truly helps a lot. I think we will be going home in a couple of weeks (my due date was sept 21), but I think we will be home sooner. Tell her to stay positive, her daughter is stronger than she thinks! 

LWilli35

I'm a Mommy of a 26w3d-er!  He's had a long road with a crazy long NICU stay, but now he's doing great!

 Please send your friend our way...we'd love to have her join us!

2BWEDN2007

My son was born at 24w5d. He is 2.5 and doing remarkably well. We still receive EI services and probably will until he goes to school, but we really lucked out considering how early he was born. I have a blog that goes all the way back to the day he was born if your friend is looking for any real life success stories:

https://thelittlechickenwing.blogspot.com

LuckyMom0203

Our baby was born at 26 weeks as well-- 1 lb. 13 oz.  She's now almost seven months old with no signs of delays or issues of any kind. However, like most babies, her stay in the NICU was rough (to say the least).  She had heart surgery and brain injuries and a rough patch with eating/gaining weight.  She did not have a good prognosis in the beginning.  It was hard on all of us BUT everything is so wonderful now.  Just please tell her that she has every reason to think everything will turn out just fine and, in my opinion, the first couple weeks are the worst.  If she can get through that, it'll start to get easier.  Also, please tell her that extended stays in the NICU (three months) seem to work like this (or at least for us they did)...

1) Everything is traumatic and terrible as they stabilize your baby and diagnose him/her with things that you'll spend days of your life googling.  This is the worst time.

2)   Things stabilize and you stop getting bad news.  Your life revolves around being with your baby in the hospital as he/she slowly gains weight.  It's sort of a plateau.  This is probably the longest period.

3)  Good things happen!  Suddenly, your baby will turn a corner and all sorts of good, happy things start happening.  He/she will start to nurse or take a bottle, his/her heart rate drops will get fewer and eventually stop completely.  Her problems will start to go away and then, before you know it, you'll walk in one day and they'll tell you that you get to take your baby home.  

I'll be sure to keep your friend in my prayers and please give her some extra big hugs and words of encouragement!

siegs714

I don't get a chance to go on this board often but I had twins at 26wks and started a blog from the beginning marking their journey. www.landonandgrant.blogspot.com

Documenting everything helps, encourage her to start a blog for her family/friends to stay posted! Especially to ward off constant phone calls of how the baby is doing and repeating yourself/getting upset a million times.