Hi! An introduction :)

Moandsweetpea

Hi all,

My son Bramwell Carrick was born yesterday at 33weeks 4days. I was induced after finding out Bram had a pleural effusion and edema that was progressively getting worse, I also was leaking amniotic fluid.

He thankfully is a chunky monkey and came in at 4# 15oz. He is in the NICU on a ventilator, but seems to be doing good. 

I'm still adjusting to having this baby 6 weeks earlier than I thought!  I think I will discharged today, so I haven't quite figured out how to handle the logistics of everything yet. 

How have you ladies scheduled and conducted your visits? My parents live 25 minutes from the hospital, but my husband and I are more like an our away, so I plan to stay with them for a bit. I'm just unsure on how exactly to structure my time!?

 

  

momamatthews

I felt best when I was able to spend as much time in the NICU as possible.  I would wake up in the morning, get ready, pick up a few things around the house and head up to the NICU.  I would eat lunch at the hospital or somewhere close and then spend the afternoon as well.  I would usually leave about dinner time and head home.  My Daughter was my only child and really only priority at that point though.  This time around I am expecting to get my two year old up and ready, drop her off at a friend's house or at my mom's and then spend the morning at the NICU with my son.  I plan to be back home when my daughter is waking up from her afternoon nap so I can spend the afternoon with her. Everyone is different and every mom and baby need different things though.  It may take a few days of adjusting before you find your groove.  Good luck!

TriciaandSean

The hospital I delivered at didn't have a NICU and my son was transferred to a hospital an hour away from me.  Luckily I didn't have any complications with my pregnancy and I was discharged 12 hours after having him.

Like PP, it made me feel better spending all my time with my son.  Since I had to commute an hour each way I would wait until after rush hour and was usually at the hospital by 10.  I would stay until around 8 or 9 depending on when he finished his feeding and drive home and spend time with my husband.

While at the hospital I was pumping every three hours, plus trying to breast feed, talking to the nurses etc.  My son was a 34 weeker, but he had jaundice for awhile and seemed to be under the lights FOREVER.  For the first week and a half we could really only hold him during feeding times since he had to be under the lights for 23 hours a day.  I liked to read to him, and just hold his hand. 

 

SRK128

Congrats on your son! I am lucky enough to live 15 minutes away from the hospital but what I do is I get up at 8 and I spend they day there eating lunch there as well.

lbeth888

We are going through this right now as well. I gave birth on Jan 15th to a little boy that was 2 lb. 15 oz. so he will be in the NICU for a while yet. We are going in around mid-morning and staying just past dinnertime. We live a bit closer (10 minutes) to the hospital, so if there is a day that I want to stop by after dinnertime that is an option too. It is so hard, isn't it? I feel like I want to be there all the time. But, it is important to take time at home to heal after the birth as well. 

lemen99

Congrats and T&P to your little guy!

bhilyer

Congrats on the birth of your LO!  

How is your NICU set up?  Private rooms, pods?  Open visiting hours for parents or set visiting hours?  

Figure out a routine that works best for you and your husband.  If that means staying with your parents for 2 nights and then at our house on the 3rd night do that.  There's no "perfect" amount of time to spend with your LO.  

If you're planning to pump for your little one, I found that being at the hospital in my boys' room was beneficial.   

I hope your little guy has an uneventful NICU stay.

McGibbon51311

I would base your visits on how you feel. One of the biggest mistakes that I made in taking care of myself was not taking care of myself and spending so much time in the NICU that I was exhausted. One of the best things that I was told in the NICU was a nurse who told us that growth hormones are produced while the babies sleep and the goal is obviously for the babies to grow and get bigger/strong. For this reason MH and I tried to schedule visits around times when we knew the babies would be awake and then stay for a few hours. This may not be possible for you but it worked well for us. We would also go inbetween meals so that I wasn't skipping eating - for example we would go at 1 pm after eating lunch and stay until around 5 pm to go home and eat dinner. The rest of the night goes relatively fast then you go to sleep, wake up and do it all over again. 

Also, don't feel guilty if you don't stay long! The doctors and nurses in NICUs take such good care of the babies. They're never alone and it is so important for you to take care of yourself. GL! 

Edited: Just wanted to add that my circumstances might be different from yours and other moms who responded, not sure. I ended up having an emergency c-section and wound up in the hospital for 8 days due to complications. It was still a long road to feeling better once I was home so it was necessary for me to sleep as much as possible.  

Bookwormyone

McGibbon51311:

I would base your visits on how you feel. One of the biggest mistakes that I made in taking care of myself was not taking care of myself and spending so much time in the NICU that I was exhausted. One of the best things that I was told in the NICU was a nurse who told us that growth hormones are produced while the babies sleep and the goal is obviously for the babies to grow and get bigger/strong. For this reason MH and I tried to schedule visits around times when we knew the babies would be awake and then stay for a few hours. This may not be possible for you but it worked well for us. We would also go inbetween meals so that I wasn't skipping eating - for example we would go at 1 pm after eating lunch and stay until around 5 pm to go home and eat dinner. The rest of the night goes relatively fast then you go to sleep, wake up and do it all over again. 

Also, don't feel guilty if you don't stay long! The doctors and nurses in NICUs take such good care of the babies. They're never alone and it is so important for you to take care of yourself. GL! 

Edited: Just wanted to add that my circumstances might be different from yours and other moms who responded, not sure. I ended up having an emergency c-section and wound up in the hospital for 8 days due to complications. It was still a long road to feeling better once I was home so it was necessary for me to sleep as much as possible.  

All of this, but the bolded happened to me to.  I stayed with my parents for two months.  V was only in the NICU for 8 days (born at 33w5d) but because of my complications I couldn't be home alone for awhile. 

Make sure you take care of yourself, get plenty of rest, and spend as much time in the hospital as you feel comfortable with.  If you aren't feeling well and only stay a few hours that's ok. 

T&P for your little one and congrats!