Heart rate drop ??

cottingham3

So Fowler has been off caffeine and heart rate free for 10 days now!! This morning the night nurse said he had a quick HR drop right at the end of his feeding. I dont know why I did not ask her...I guess I was in shock...but does a feeding HR drop restart his clock for home?

I feel like we will be there another 8 to 10 days anyway but he has never had a HR drop on or off caffeine...never! For a 26 weeker thats pretty awesome! I know these little things pop up at the end. I was just wondering about the experiences you had.

Missa_g

At our NICU we saw it count and not count. If it was a one time random heart rate dip during feeding that they recovered from quickly and on their own then usually it wasn't counted. But if it occurred at every feeding they counted it. I would ask to see what situation applies to your baby.

ashk7

Same as pp for our NICU. DD never needed any caffeine or had HR drop issues during her NICU stay and this same thing happened to us after a feed once. She was also a 31 weeker, that's wonderful progress for your LO, congrats on no caffeine!! I was the same as you totally surprised and caught off guard when the nurse told me. But it was at the tail end of a feed and she bounced up before the machine was done alarming. I hope that's the case with your LO, like pp suggested check with your NICU to see their guidelines on those dips. Best of luck!

cottingham3

Thanks! I am going to ask as soon as I get there. She stated it was near the end of the feed and he bounced back quickly on his own.

Hopefully I wont count!

jcsntms06

Pretty much what the two PP said. I think it all depends on if they recovered quickly. My LO was on caffeine for five days and even after those first 5 days still had issues with her HR dropping. This was really the only thing holding us back from going home. She also had some issues with HR drops during feeding, but for us those didn't count. Praying that your LO figures it out soon.

Brummy14

Our NICU only counted them if it required intervention...like some stim. If LO recovered on her own, then it never was counted, and if the nurses weren't bedside, they often didn't see it happen anyway, it was so quick. But, that always made me wary, like, would that just continue to happen at home? But it probably does, just on a super minor basis at least initially...nothing to be concerned about, I would guess!

cottingham3

Good news! It did not reset our clock. He has been using a faster flow premiee nipple red and they think he needs to go to a term nipple.. he finised that 48mL feed in 12 min!!

Thank you all so much. It helped me stay calm till I got ro the nicu!

DrRx

That is great! Adalyn had a bunch of bradys while in the NICU and after we brought her home.  She was on caffeine for about 6 weeks after she came home.  I'm not sure what the policy is at your NICU--it might be different at different places and with different places.  I don't think it mattered so much for us if it happened in the NICU since she was coming home with oxygen, a pulse ox, and an apnea monitor.

Mrs. Alice

At the end the nurse's didn't really count them if they were small, didn't require intervention and/or around a feeding.  I would definitely ask though.  My boys were brady'd their little butts off and probably would have been there a week or so longer if they hadn't decided to let us take them home with apnea monitors since it was the only thing holding them back.  I definitely remember how frustrating that was so I hope you get some good news, it sounds like he's doing awesome!  BTW my twins out grew their A&B's around 40 weeks or sooner.

thishappyhouse

Like others have said it all depends on your NICU and your baby.  My DD would have stayed another 2-3 months if they kept to the strict 5 day rule on bradys.  She was only having them during feedings though so they sent us home once she was up to full PO feeds and once we were comfortable with her chokes/bradys.  They didn't send us home with a monitor because she wasn't having episodes while sleeping.