- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Preemies
Goforthbaby1
member
How do you guys do it?
Goforthbaby1
member
in Preemies
My little girl was born Thursday and 35 weeks 6 days, which I know is hardly premature. She was 5lbs 6 oz and 19 inches long when she was born but is down to 5 2 as of this morning. They have been tube feeding her breastmilk that I have been pumping. I HATE leaving the hospital at night. I bawl everything I walk out or the room and the whole drive to the place I`m staying (The hospital`s an hour and a half from where I live so its just me in there not SO since he works for a company with only 2 employees and cant get time off work!) Then when I get into bed I cry more. Then I sleep, wake up and cry and then go back to the hospital to spend the day there! BLAH!! Does this get any easier????
This discussion has been closed.
Re: How do you guys do it?
First of all, congrats on the birth of your daughter! Sounds like she's a good size!
I'm not going to say it gets easier because "easy" is never a word to describe being a preemie mom. You learn to cope with the chaos and emotions of it all and then before you know it, your LO will be home. Especially since your LO was born at 35 weeks, she is probably just a feeder/grower. Obviously, I don't know her whole health history but if that's the case and she is just a feeder/grower...she will be home in no time!
Another thing that makes the first week or so SO incredibly hard is one word: hormones. I was a complete basket case in the beginning because I had raging hormones and mood swings also (as well as a baby in the NICU on a ventilator). So, crying post partum is common and perfectly normal. when you add a baby in the NICU, It goes without saying that you're going to cry and worry. It will get better. You will have your LO home with you very soon.
Congrats on your baby girl! My baby was born at 29wks and 3days, 2 1/2 weeks ago. I cried everyday for 2 weeks. It's getting easier, slowly, but surely. I'm not sure if it makes it easier or harder, but I have to pull it together to care for my 3 yr old. And it's perfectly acceptable to have a pity party! I do it daily.
Hang in there!!! My daughter was born at 32w4d but was 4lb11oz and breathing on her own, she was just a feeder/grower with no health problems, and I STILL cried 5-6x a day and was just miserable til she came home. Those hormones are just terrible! I know it's hard to focus on the fact that your little one is just fine and just needs to grow a bit more before coming home, but try to remember that if you can. It does help. And crying is ok, sometimes you just have to do it
I think I cried on the shoulder of every nurse in the NICU at one point or another.
Hang in there! Your little one will be home before you know it
Been away from theBump for a while, getting active again for all the good advice
It's tough, and we all empathize with you for sure! You'll have days that are better than others, but the best advice I can give is to get yourself in a routine. I kept my hospital visits on a schedule, and kept myself moving. I was up there every morning for his morning feed and would take pumping and snack/meal breaks. I kind of treated it like my job, although it certainly wasn't as cold as that may sound. Anyway, it made me feel like I had a purpose and a role in the process. It helped that the nurses and Drs all got to know me because I spent so much time there. It made me feel much more comfortable when I was and wasn't there.
Congrats on your LO, and she is a great weight! My LO weighed less than that when he came home from the NICU:)
BFP#2 3/16/11, beta 138; 4/12 Baby/HB DS born 9/10/11 at 29w4d due to partial abruption and PTL
BFP#3 8/19/13 Another boy! 17P, modified bedrest and Nifedipine helped us have a termie! DS2 born 4/19/14 at 38w5d.
Is she refusing to nurse or take a bottle? Losing 4 ounces is less than expected so I'm a little surprised that they're tube feeding her. Does she have other concerns or are they keeping her just because of weight loss?
My LO was born at 5lb, 3.6 oz and dropped to 4lb, 14 oz but they weren't concerned except for the fact that she developed jaundice. I would nurse and then top her off with a bottle of pumped milk, but they never went as far as tube feeding.
I hope your LO plumps up soon and heads home!
It is ridiculously hard but I told myself a lot that she was sleeping most of the time and didn't know when I wasn't with her and she would never remember it. (Most of my tears were thinking she would be sad/scared/lonely which of course she wasn't.) And now, a year later, I know that she will never remember that time and is happy and healthy. It will get (a little) easier and hopefully she'll be home before you know it!
This, EXACTLY. I sobbed pretty much hourly that first week or two. People just said her NAME and I'd burst into tears. But, 8 weeks later, its just a routine now. Wash, rinse, repeat. Lucky for you, she'll be home very soon (my girl is a 28 weeker, hence, the epic NICU stay!) and you will have her all to yourself, tube & wire free!
Hang in
there, Mama!