apnea question?

crystaleyes39

My girls were born last week at 32w5d and both are in the NICU and doing great aside from apnea where they forget to breath randomly.  I was wondering for other mom's of preemies who had this, when it went away??

I know i've heard it's common with preemies, but I can't help but be scared and worried that i'm going to have them at home with this and not know they have stopped breathing or what to do.

frogchic295

My boys were born at 31 weeks and are now 34 weeks 1 day, they began a's&b's on day 3 and were put on caffine.  caffine was sucessful for both, and they are now trying without it but still have 1-6 a day...my NICU will not discharge the boys until they have not had any for 7 consecutive days... we still have a few other goals to meet before discharge as well as weight to gain so hopefully they will outgrow the a's&b's in the mean time! Good luck!

 

Happy2bNappy

If they do discharge them before this issue is resolved, they discharge them with apnea monitors which will let you know if they have stopped breathing.

cutcopypaste

This will absolutely be resolved before discharge. DD was a 26 weeker and apneas were her number 1 issue. She actually ended up coming home on caffeine and a monitor (are the babies on caffeine?). The caffeine actually stops her from having them but coming home on caffeine also requires a monitor at our NICU. If there is any question that they are still having apneas they will either not be sent home or sent home on a monitor.

Mrs. Alice

My babies also had caffeine until 36 weeks.  Apnea of premaurity is really common and fortunately most babies out grrow it by their EDD.  My 28 weekers went home with apnea monitors at 38 weeks since it was the only thing keeping them.  They only had a few episodes at home in the first week that were related to feedings.  The NICU staff should teach you what to do prior to discharge.  They are still really little and young right now, so try not to worry too much!  They won't send them home until they are ready.

SushiNoMore

Another apnea monitor baby here.  My son was a 26 weeker, and his apnea / brady episodes were a big struggle for him.  He came home on a monitor and stayed on it until 4 months after his due date.  It was annoying, but not that big of a deal.  As others have said, if necessary, your babies will come home on a monitor.  If they do, they may stay on it a short time or for a few months.  Either way, it's relatively common and not that big of a deal.  Urbanflowerpot's baby also came home on a monitor, and he was on it for a few months, too.

If you check out the link to the preemie resource blog at the top of the board, there are some stories in there, I think (including mine).  Let us know if you have any more questions! 

Pips09

This is really common with preemies (as pp's have said). My daughter had a real apnea issue during feeding time. Her suck-swallow-breath reflex was the last problem that we were dealing with and I saw her stop breathing and completely turn blue a couple of times while feeding her in the NICU. Those were the scariest moments of my life! They didn't discharge her until this problem was resolved, but she did come home on an apnea monitor just in case. She never had a real episode once we had her at home and she was taken off the apnea monitor after about 6 weeks. It takes some getting used to, but I was glad to have the piece of mind that the monitor provided.