another new premie mom with questions
Hi!
Our baby boy, Jack, joined us early on 7/30/09 at 34 weeks and 5 days. He's huge for his GA- 6lbs 3 oz but his body is definatley acting like a preemie. He's been in the special care nursery (step down from NICU) since birth. He's had a great day so far- he's maintaining his own temp and is off of oxygen- he just won't eat.
Reading through the boards- I've seen lots of great questions that I never would have thought to ask. How did you know what to even ask the doctors? The sheer amount of medical terms and information we've heard in the past 48 hours has been overwhelming. The nurses have been fantastic- but it feels like they are usually just telling us what's going on and how things are going to happen. I found out he had been getting antibiotics and why about 12 hours after they had been given....I want to trust that they are doing what's best for our baby, and we are in a top rated hospital- but the doctors that are caring for him now aren't the ones we researched/interviewed/picked...sorry if this is rambling- but any advice would be wonderful!
Thanks!
Re: another new premie mom with questions
had a 30 weeker with lots of issues (feeding being one) and it took some getting informed. I read a lot about prematurity. A good start is
https://books.google.com/books?id=pM1l6cQBT7oC&pg=PP9&dq=prematurity+book#v=onepage&q=prematurity%20book&f=false
It is A LOT to take on, even though my husband is a doctor, it was a lot to handle on top of the plain surprise of it all!
Im sure you see an speech therapist and they have told you hoew important oral stimulation is. Ours told use to by gums brushes (for babies or -cheaper) can be found at a pet store!) or an ARK's probe, and simply a pacifier. IT helps them get everythign working.
good luck!
My preemie is almost 2, but I remember all of the craziness like it was yesterday. I was driven by ambulance to a hospital in a larger city, and had never met any of the doctors or even been to that hospital. My DS was born there and it all happened extremely fast. I think with a preemie that you have to trust what they are doing. If you are confident in the quality of the hospital that goes a long way. It is very frustrating when they don't tell you everything at first. Make sure they have all the numbers to reach you at and try to get to know all the NICU nurses. They really worked with us and tried to contact us if we weren't able to be there for some reason. Ask what time the doctors come in each day, and try to be there for that. If we weren't there the doctors called us after they checked on DS to let us know what was happening. Just make sure that they know that you need to know everything.
My DS was born at 34 weeks and was 7lbs, 2oz. He was on a CPAP, and feeding tubes and all of that. He was not released for 12 days because of feeding issues and lung immaturity. He did not want to eat, so I learned to feed him though a nasal tube. After 11 days he ripped the tube out and decided to take EBM from a bottle finally. It seemed like we were there forever, but as soon as he started eating regularly they released us. The heart condition that got us there is now resolved for the time being.
You will get through this and everything will seem so much better once you have your little guy home with you!