Baby Sam was born at 26w3d.
In a strange turn of events, I delivered my son Samuel at 26w3d after nearly 8 weeks on bedrest. After his twin passed and was delivered on December 7, we didn't expect to make it that long. My cervix was at .6mm since January 11 and I was dilated 3-4cms. I went into labor on Thursday, 1/27/11 because I was bleeding quite heavily with close contractions. Labor was long and uncomfortable, but progressed quite quickly. On Friday, 1/28/11 at 6:30AM Sam made his arrival and is doing quite well. He was 2 pounds 4 ounces and 13.5 inches long. They said he is a big boy for his gestational age.
Today, during rounds, the said Sam is doing well. He lost the typical amount of birth weight that they anticipate and will be starting his BM feeds tomorrow. He was under the lights for a touch of jaundice but his levels came down. He went up to the NICU intubated but by his 15th hour of birth was on a CPAP. He's doing well on the CPAP, with just one Brady all day. I was discharged today and my husband and I are with him.
Bed rest and pregnancy complications are very stressful and hard to deal with. Once the baby got to the NICU, my husband and I put our trust into his physicians. Our positivity and optimism/realism will get us through this and at the end of the road, we'll have a child to teach and love. Thanks for all your kind thoughts.
Re: Baby Sam was born at 26w3d.
Welcome to the world Baby Sam! I am happy that he is doing well.
Take care of yourself. You got him to this point with your bedrest.
The social workers at my hospital helped me a lot when my baby was in the hospital--they were just someone to talk to, and they gave me information on any government programs that could help us.
Congratulations on Samuels birth - it sounds like you did an amazing job with bedrest to get him that far. So sorry for the loss of his twin. That must have been very, very difficult.
It sounds like he is off to a great start in the NICU, and that you and your DH have a good, realistic attitude about his stay there. Trust in his care is so critical. I hope he has a smooth NICU journey - there will be ups and downs for sure, but may the downs be small and the ups frequent!
Congratulations, and welcome baby Sam!
A positive attitude is so important when you LO is in the NICU and it sounds like you have it.
Congrats and welcome!
My son Andrew was born at 26w2d on Dec 30th, 2008 and was 2 lb 3 oz
Remarkable how similar...(He was in the NICU for 17 weeks, FYI)
He's 2 now and doing great. T&P to you and your LO!
Congratulations on Sam's arrival! Kudos to you for 8 weeks of bedrest too - that must have been very hard. And I'm sorry about the loss of Baby A.
Best of luck to you with the NICU stay - I hope it is quiet and uneventful.
my son ben (and his sister nora) was born at 26w6d and weighed 2# 5oz. he is now a happy, healthy and BIG 1-year-old.
talk to a social worker or contact social security yourself. b/c sam was born weighing less than 2# 10oz. he automatically qualifies for SSI and in turn medicaid, which will pick up all medical bills that your primary insurance doesn't.
if you have any questions, feel free to PM me!
Welcome Baby Sam!
I am sorry for your loss of your baby twin. You will always be a MoM (mom of multiples) and a twin mommy. ((Hugs)) I am still sad about the losses I have had.
We spent 5 weeks in the NICU. It was very stressful, but staying positive really does help. I also found that keeping the exact same schedule daily, gave me a routine, and helped the days go by a little faster. (i.e. I would wake at a certain time, pump at certain times, drive the the hospital, be there for Kangaroo care, etc.) I programmed the NICU number into my cell phone, and would call every evening to check on the girls, and I would call in the middle of the night if I woke up. It made me feel better to check in on them and see how their nights were going. Take pictures. Even though it's a hard time, you and baby can look back at the photos one day, and see how far he came/grew up. I kept a camera in my bag.
I wish you a short NICU stay. This is a great message board.