When do the bradys stop?

raches · November 2011

My babies have been in the NICU for 4 weeks now since they were delivered at 30w5d. They've always had several bradys each day (somewhere around 10-12). They are both on caffeine and oxygen still. The always say that the bradys will improve with time, but it's been 4 weeks will little improvement. How long could this go on? I was frustrated today because the neo increased their oxygen support after a bad night. I know the NICU is a roller coaster, but I'm getting discouraged here. When did your babies stop bradying?

tkhrabs313 · November 2011

DS was having aroung 5 bradys a day and then all of the sudden stopped. We went home today after 5 days of no bradys. He is 35w 5d...so, they stopped at 35weeks. The nurses kept telling us that they could go on through 37 or 38 weeks. It never made me feel better to hear that and I know how frustrating bradys can be. T&Ps to you and your LOs.

SushiNoMore · November 2011

My son was the brady king. He had them all the way until 4 weeks after his due date. They dropped off quite a bit at about 34 or 35 weeks, though, if I remember right. He was discharged at about 36 weeks and came home on an apnea monitor. He had 38 events the first month, none of which required stimulation (luckily).

I know how hard it is. Try to hang in there!

urbanflowerpot · November 2011

SushiNoMore:

My son was the brady king. He had them all the way until 4 weeks after his due date. They dropped off quite a bit at about 34 or 35 weeks, though, if I remember right. He was discharged at about 36 weeks and came home on an apnea monitor. He had 38 events the first month, none of which required stimulation (luckily).

I know how hard it is. Try to hang in there!

I'm the other king's mom. I don't want you to be frightened by Sushi's and my answers because they aren't what you would like to hear - but I also wish another mom had sat me down and said, "Hey, this might go on for a really long time." I hated coming into the NICU and the cringing face my nurse would make. ...or the sound of her voice on the phone when I'd call. Pretty soon I'd walk in and say, "How many since shift change?"

DS's hang-up were bradys. He bradied his butt off until just a couple months ago, actually. It became clear that it was time to send us on an apnea monitor so they gave him extra doses of caffeine - he even made it a couple of days brady-free before discharge. Then, while I was picking up his meds, he bradied. They still let me take him. That night he had several more. He kept having 10-15 bradys/day with several needing stim and a few times/day he'd turn ash/blue. It was terrifying but I'd had "he just needs to get bigger/he'll grow out of it/yadda yadda" so many times I thought that was normal. It wasn't. He was readmitted. He came home and spent four months on the monitor; we got rid of it two months ago.

I hope that won't be your case, but I do want to be That Mom and tell you it's possible. He's perfectly fine now! Things that would have helped - he should have had a probe test earlier though he was so small he passed the one at his first NICU. He had silent reflux which was triggering his choking/brady epsisodes. Practice watching your babies and not the monitor. The ones you take home don't have a screen so you'll just want to be able to see your babies and learn what it looks like - you'll start to know one is coming on/happening by looking.

It's really frustrating. I'm sorry you're going through it.

urbanflowerpot · November 2011

Oh yeah! I wanted to include that he came home from NICU (first time) at about two weeks before my EDD. He went back in two weeks later for 8 days.

katie4253 · November 2011

Gabe was a bradying fool. He was having 10-15 a week when we went home. He had to be on a monitor. He was on it until 43 weeks. Somewhere around 42 weeks he stopped having them. He came home at 37 weeks.

Every baby is different, so the only way you'll know when they end is when they stop for your LOs. It is hard waiting.

Mrs. Alice · November 2011

The bradys decreased a lot around 35-36 weeks. We started talking discharge at 37 weeks for Miles and then after his 2 month shots he had a big brady that required stimulation which bought him another week in the NICU. They had their caffiene discontinued at 36 weeks and Owen was on and off the oxygen up until 37 weeks. We were even talking about having him come home on oxygen and then they figured out that he did exactly the same with or without the oxygen on (his problems were almost always around feedings). Since my boys were all ready to go home in every other way, they were discharged with apnea monitors which measure their respirations and heart rate at home. The only time I think we had real alarms go off at home were in the first week and it was when they were eating. They out grew the apneas and bradys by their due date.

Piper345 · November 2011

My son was also born at 30w5d also (he is 6months old now). He was scheduled to go home at 37 weeks, but the bradys kept him there for one more week. He was really having episodes during feeds (reflux). He was discharged at 38 weeks with no apnea monitor.