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Home Monitor

ladybug03ladybug03
in Preemies

Hi Ladies!! My daughter might be coming home tommorrow!! I am so exicited but scared also.She has to have a monitor hooked up to her and we have training tommorrow.Is there anything I should know about the monitor or is going to freak me out everytime it goes off?  This is what has me nervous and scared!! How did you guys handle the monitor at home?

She still has to do her carseat training for 90 minutes tomorrow and if she pass that and has no episodes tonight then she is good to come home!! WOW I cant believe it!!!

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Re: Home Monitor

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    shanlubeyshanlubey
    CONGRATS!! Samuel came home on a pulse oximeter and at first, I was always so concerned with the numbers and every time it beeped, my heart stopped. However, four weeks later, I am over it. We even leave it off for a while if we want to be free to move around the house more freely. You get used to caring for your baby. The monitors don't scare you after a while.
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    jtenebackjteneback member
    They will tell you everything you need to know about the monitor, I think how you react depends on what your experience is with the monitor. We had mostly loose leads keeping us up all night so it was an annoyance more than anything. If DD had had real episodes it would have been a different story. It did help us sleep at night (in between alarms, lol) knowing that if she did stop breathing, we would know about it.
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    jtenebackjteneback member
    Oh, and the monitor alarms are not nearly as bad as the hospital alarms, IMO. Not anywhere close.
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    Cara03Cara03 member

    imagejteneback:
    They will tell you everything you need to know about the monitor, I think how you react depends on what your experience is with the monitor. We had mostly loose leads keeping us up all night so it was an annoyance more than anything. If DD had had real episodes it would have been a different story. It did help us sleep at night (in between alarms, lol) knowing that if she did stop breathing, we would know about it.

    This was our experience as well. The home care company also had a 24 hour number we could call with any questions or concerns so even if you have questions after the training, there should be people to help you out later, at any time of the day. We liked the monitor a lot. We were so used to all of the monitors in the NICU that it

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    RMH10RMH10

    We are currently on an apnea monitor. The hospital training was very scary for me, but in reality, the monitor at home has not been that bad. I also feel better knowing that if she stopped breathing, I would be alerted. She is usually able to self-resolve her apnea episodes, or we just need to briefly stimulate her and the alarm goes off. We also have an 800 number that we can call at any time day or night with questions or concerns. We have called and they have always been really helpful. The hardest thing is having to carry the monitor around with you when you are carrying the baby.

    One trick that our nurse shared with us: use medical tape over the leads on the baby. We have done that and significantly cut down on the number of loose lead alarms. We just asked for some tape at the hospital. 

     

    Good luck and congratulations on bringing the baby home! 

    TTC#1 since 12/06 1st IVF w ICSI: 6/14/10 -- BFP!...low beta... chemical preg. 2nd IVF = August 19 16 -- 18 eggs September 2- BFP! September 16th - TWINS! Due May 9th Image and video hosting by TinyPic Lilypie Premature Baby tickers image image Visit The Nest!
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    witt0198witt0198
    My only tip is if they don't give you a bag with the monitor, it's nice to have a small diaper bag to carry it around the house with. We also had a back pack style diaper bag so we could put Evan's oxygen and monitor in it and still have our hands free to carry him for when we needed to go out.
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    herbaveinherbavein member

    we have an apnea monitor, but only have DD on it at night.  I turn it off when she's nursing, so I have the monitor on my bedside table so I don't have to climb out of bed to turn it off (DD is in a co-sleeper right next to me, or in bed with me at night), so I try to muffle it some with receiving blankets, but it's still LOUD.

    One thing that I've started since the first data download showed some possible apneas, although she didn't have those in the NICU, is keeping a log of when the alarm goes off and what she's doing, so that we can bring it in to our follow-up visit in a few weeks.  That way, I'll feel more confident that we can separate out the false alarms from the real things. 


    TTC#3: started September 2014; BFP on 10/1/14; EDD 6/10/15
    TTC#2: started June 2014; BFP on 7/22/14; EDD 3/31/5; MC 8/3/14
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    CRB (aka L): born 3/21/11 (35 weeks, 5 weeks in the NICU)
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