*Updated* Kangaroo?

jbranden12

Thinking ahead/ trying to find things to look forward to. How old was your baby and how much did he/she weigh when they allowed you to do skin to skin?

Update: Thank you all for the input. My nurse said that as soon as she no longer has the umbilical line in we could give it a shot, so it might be a couple of days. I like that it's in so we don't have to stick her all the time, so it's a trade off!

thishappyhouse

I think it was a little over 2 weeks.  So around 27 weeks gestationally and probably at or below her birthweight still.  The requirements at our NICU were that she be at least critically stable, off of humidity in the isolette, umbilical lines out and typically I think they prefer that PICC lines be removed.  We had just emerged from some scary days so they let us kangaroo even though her PICC line had not been removed yet.  

 

Definitely start asking on what conditions you might be able to do it.  Its better to ask them what needs to happen to achieve that goal rather than how many days/weeks until you can. 

rslhmg

DD was about a wk when I kangaroo'd for the first time. We got to do it pretty quickly from my understanding but she just had a head iv and nose cannula and her normal monitors. The nicu we were in recommended kangaroo care as often as she was able, which for us mostly depended on her temp.

Brummy14

We were allowed right away, like day 2, and our girls were each around 2lbs10oz. They actually really encouraged us to do it. Our girls were on CPAP and had PICC lines in place. If you can, video it ... we pulled out those videos just this week. What a reminder of how far we have come! It's a helpful reminder when you have weeks upon weeks of seemingly no progress.

PhillyGal34

He was about 24 hours old. I was on mag sulfate and bed rest but as soon as I was allowed to see him they let me hold him. He was 31w6d at that point and a little over 3 lbs. he was not on oxygen or anything either.

Hope you can hold LO soon!

rednelson

My DS was 6 days old, so 30wks 5 days and was probably just under 2 pounds (he lost weight and had trouble gaining it back initially).  He had just gotten his umbilical line out and his PICC placed.  Hoping you get to kangaroo soon-its an amazing feeling and be sure to have a camera!

 

KatFCo

It took about 3 weeks, so when DD was 27 weeks. It wasn't really about age, though, but about when the PICC line came out, like PPs said. We still had to keep her well covered, but it was great.

I'm not sure how much NICUs focus on it, but your DH can do kangaroo care too. We ended up keeping a button-down shirt at the hospital so it would be easier to hold her.

jbranden12

Thank you all for the advice and tips! Anna is on a cpap and has both a PICC  shoulder line and one umbilical line that may be coming out soon. I will be sure to ask about her conditional requirements rather than age/weight.

Right now I just want to get out of here and get to her but I am still in a lot of pain from yesterday's c-section

Shauna07

I was allowed the same week she was born -- so she was 31 weeks 6 days.  One poster had a great point, feel free to ask nurses for things.  For example, if you are planning to BF, do it right away (after asking a nurse of course).  Cuddle/kangaroo and nurse your little one as soon as you can I regret not asking if I could BF -- I assumed I wasn't allowed to since my DD had the NG tube in -- turns out I could have been nursing her right away! I wasted two week of not nursing her...good luck!

 

 

Sept30Madison

We did kangaroo 3 days after birth once her umbilical line was removed. At the point of her first kangaroo, she had a picc line and was on CPAP.

DrRx

I was able to do so as soon as she was of the vent, when she was 3 weeks old.  She was 29 weeks gestational, but I'm not sure what she weighed.  It was less than 3.3 pounds because she had to weight that much in order to wear clothes.