Community› The Bump Message Boards› Special Needs
Special Needs
New Discussion

? for the tetralogy of fallot gals

CrazycrustaceanCrazycrustacean
in Special Needs

Was your lo taken to the nicu? The cardiologist told me that there will be a nicu team there when I deliver & he'll be taken to the nicu. 

Am I to assume that I'm not going to get to see or hold him? Can I have it written somewhere that as long as he's doing well I want to hold him?  

Report Reply to Post

Re: ? for the tetralogy of fallot gals

  • mskolmanmskolman member
    If he is not needing immediate medical attention, they usually try to let you hold them before they take them away to the NICU. My son was having trouble breathing right away due to the absent pulmonary valve, so his was a different case. I knew this ahead of time, so I had already prepared myself. Make sure to talk to the neonatologist in charge of the NICU to voice your wishes to hold your son. They are usually good about this.
    Baby Birthday Ticker TickerBaby Birthday Ticker Ticker
    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • mskolmanmskolman member

    Here is a great resource of other stories of kiddos with heart defects...many of which has TOF...

    https://www.littlehearts.org/stories/default.asp

    Baby Birthday Ticker TickerBaby Birthday Ticker Ticker
    Report Reply
  • CrazycrustaceanCrazycrustacean
    Thanks. So far the cardiologist has said he shouldn't have immediate issues, but the nicu team would have to check him out. 
    Report Reply
  • JOEBunnyJOEBunny member
    My nephew was delivered via c-section, taken immediately by the peds team.  He was transferred within 4 hours of birth to the Sibley Heart Center, christened, and had surgery before he was 24 hours old, then again at 7.5 months.  He is 2.5 now a little tank.  No problems at all,  No more surgeries needed, except maybe a valve replacement at about 10 as he grows.
    Report Reply
  • manciibridemanciibride
    Our situation was a bit different since our DD was diagnosed 2 days after she was born (they thought it was just an innocent heart murmur until the cardiologist came to the hospital and diagnosed her). I got to hold her and even got to take her home as we thought she would not need the surgery until she was 6 months old, but she ended up having it at 6 wks old.
    Report Reply
  • PDXPDX
    we didn't know ahead of time so the first 6 hrs were 'normal' then DS started showing more signs and was taken to NICU and transferred to a different hospital. We could stay w/ him the whole time (except during the transfer). I know there were times we couldn't pick him up, like the first few hrs after diagnosis while tx/exams were really active and the first bit after his first surgery (day 4) but for the most part the staff was very encouraging. They knew it'd be better for all of us to have that contact so they just helped us hold him (we had lots of tubes to deal with). FWIW, DS has tetralogy w/ pulomonary atresia.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"