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Preemies
31 weeks & 6 days
Hi, my name is Lynsey and I am so glad I found this group, I have so many questions.Sorry in advance if this gets too long. My son Mason was born on Nov.6th at 31 weeks and 6 days. He has a genetic condition called Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia, my body rejects and kills any blood platelets his body makes.We knew he was coming early but we were trying to make it to atleast 37 weeks.After an ultrasound at 27 weeks found he had bleeding behind the left fluid sac in his brain, I received the Beta steroid shots at 30 weeks. At our 31 week ultrasound they found that the bleeding had increased, and our dr. thought that scheduling a c-section and delivering was our best option.
He was born weighing 5lbs 3oz. was on O2 for 3 days and had a head ultrasound and MRI which found nothing more than an enlarged left ventricle.Thank God. His platelet count was slightly under normal in the 120's immediately after-birth but has increased at every count. He lost 6oz his first two days in the NICU but is now back up to 5lbs 1oz. He developed jaundice on day 4, he was under the bili-lights for a total of 4 days, and his bilirubin level dropped to 7 but has now started to increase again. He was moved to an open-crib on day 9 and has maintained his temp. He has had no major problems other than having problems eating from a bottle, and having to be OG'd (tube-fed).We have been getting different answers from nurses on when we can expect him to come home. One nurse who was very negative said we shouldn't expect him home before Thanksgiving, and then another nurse told us that since he was moved to an open-crib that it would only be a few days or a week until he was home. He has started drinking full bottles, maybe one or two during each nurses shifts. Some nurses won't even attempt to bottle feed him, which is very discouraging. I feel like some days he is taking one step forward and two steps back. Any advice, or answers you could share, I feel so overwhelmed.
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Re: 31 weeks & 6 days
I know its hard to not have expectations about when he is coming home, but try not to. Most babies are home a few weeks before their due dates, but you never know how long it will take for him to drink full bottles. I had my son at 31 weeks 1 day, and he was in the NICU for exactly 31 days. He was moved to an open crib on day 13, but it took him 2.5 weeks to really nail down his feeding skills. I think that is a pretty typical NICU stay for a 31 weeker (about a month), but it varies widely by baby. I haven't really heard of any babies going home before 34 weeks gestation, but I am sure it happens. Nathan came home at about 35 weeks gestation, and didn't really have any issues in the NICU after the first couple of days on O2.
You really just never know.
congratulations on your baby boy! what a great size for 31w6d!! DS was born at 32w6d and weighed 4lbs, 14oz and i thought he was big!
i swear, i could have written that last few sentences myself when DS was in the NICU. he was in an open air crib in the special care nursery on day 6. no problems with temp, jaundice was resolved, cannula was gone, just has to work on eating. and so we waited. and waited and waited and waited. every.single.person i talked to gave me different criteria for how the bottle feedings would be increased. and the dr had yet a different idea. some of the nurses didn't even try, and it made me so angry! we were there during the holidays, so we had non-NICU nurses, which didn't help.
everyone told me that it will just click. and as DS went back and forth between taking 2 bottles to refusing all bottles and back again, i found myself thinking he would never come home. on day 23, he just got it. he went from 3 bottles one day to all bottles on demand the next! and he came home on day 26.
i know it's hard, but he will get there. and it will be like a lightbulb turned on and there will be no stopping him. hang in there and we're here if you need us!!!!
Welcome and congrats!
The nurse who told you he'd been home in a couple of days must have been confused :-) Ditto other pp - try not to have any expectations so you're not disappointed! DS came home almost 3 weeks after his due date and I was really disappointed since they kept tell us they were hoping to have him out by his due date!
I hope your LO picks up on feedings very quickly!
Welcome and congratulations. And can I just say, that is the biggest 31 weeker I've heard of? Great size...that's encouraging!
My son was a 32 weeker. He also had a low white cell count, but this was due to my low white cell count (from HELLP Syndrome). It stabalized by the time he left the NICU (4 weeks).
Our NICU said most babies come home between 35 and 37 weeks GA and that seems to be fairly accurate. Our boy came home at 36 weeks.
Keep up posted on your progress!