DS1 - 7/2011, DD 12/2012, DS2 - 4/2014, MMC - 12/2015
Preemies
DS1 - 7/2011, DD 12/2012, DS2 - 4/2014, MMC - 12/2015
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Intro and Prepping for a Preemie
***loss mentioned***
Hello all. I'm popping over here from the May 14 board because it looks increasingly likely that my son will be joining us early. A little history on me:
My first son was born via a planned cesarean because he was breech at 39 weeks. I never had any labor symptoms; never even experienced a contraction for the whole pregnancy. Aside from him being breech for the last 3 months, it was fairly routine.
My pregnancy with my daughter was fairly normal. At our anatomy scan we discovered that she had slightly enlarged kidneys and saw a MFM until her body caught up and they went back to normal size range. At 31 weeks, I started contracting regularly and was put on nifedipine. We gradually increased the dosage over the next few weeks up to the max, and I had some L&D visits with terbutaline injections. At 35w6d, the contractions were less than 2 minutes apart and I was dialating, so they decided to deliver via cesarean. As they opened me up on the operating table, they realized that my uterus was rupturing along the previous cesarean scar. Fortunately they were already prepped, so they were able to save both of us and the uterus. Eleanor was born 7lbs0oz and scored very well on her apgars, but they sent her to the NICU as a precaution because she was having a little trouble breathing on her own. The doctors told us that she was going to do amazingly in the NICU, and she started off very well. In the first 24 hours, they were able to lower her O2 content to normal, and they started to reduce the pressure on her ventilator. I couldn't go see her the night she was born (I got to hold her in the PACU, but not after), but I did get to go down several times the next day to visit her. That night, I went to see her at 2am and they wouldn't let me into the NICU. After some time they came out to let me know that something had happened and they were trying to resuscitate her. It turns out she had a double pneumothoraces, which somehow caused her heart to stop, and even though they had her lungs reinflated in seconds, they were never able to get her heart started again. She passed away after 28 hours of life.
We were very lucky to get pregnant with our third child, and are expecting another little boy due May 15. This pregnancy started off fairly uneventfully, but we took plenty of precautions. I've been on P17 shots since 16 weeks. At 24 weeks, I had contractions 5-6 minutes apart and went to L&D. They were able to slow the contractions (caused by infection) and put me on antibiotics and procardia. Even after the infection was gone, the contractions have continued, and I'm now up to the maximum daily dosage of procardia. I went in last week for my betamethasone shots. But now nothing seems to be helping the contractions. In addition, at my growth scan this week, the MFM discovered that my placenta is showing premature aging/calcification. Now my doctor is hoping to get me to at least 34 weeks. He says that will give us a very healthy baby with good chances, but I'm not confident in that, given that our daughter was born nearly 2 weeks after and still died. So I'm trying to prepare myself for an extended NICU stay, but I'm not really sure what to do. I'm still hoping with the addition of bedrest (starting this week) we'll be able to push further than 34, but I'd appreciate any words of wisdom/advice from those of you who have experience.
My H and I did learn a few lessons from our short NICU stay last time, and this is what we have so far:
- We purchased tablets with cameras so that we can Skype from my recovery room to the NICU if I can't be down there with him, and have back-up capability on our phones.
- We're planning on having someone from our family with him at all times, so if something happens to him he's not alone.
- We've contacted our newborn photographer, who said if he's born early she'll come to the hospital and do an extra session with all of us so that we have good pictures of our family just in case.
But these are mostly post-loss reactionary preparations. I'm not really sure what I'll need to do if he's in the NICU for an extended period of time. I'm starting by reading the Preemie Resource Blog from the top of the board. If you have any other advice to share, I'd appreciate it.
DS1 - 7/2011, DD 12/2012, DS2 - 4/2014, MMC - 12/2015
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Re: Intro and Prepping for a Preemie
I think having pictures taken right away is a great idea and I wish I would've done that as well! I don't have much advice because I'm still trying to wrap my head around how I did it. I will say that I hope you can make it to 34 weeks and have a healthy baby! I'll be sending thoughts and prayers your way.
DS1 - 7/2011, DD 12/2012, DS2 - 4/2014, MMC - 12/2015
I am so sorry for the loss of little Eleanor. I hope the bed rest helps and you get beyond 34 weeks. This board is an excellent resource. These ladies are so knowledgeable. Cassidy covered it all! I just want to add that taking care of yourself and DS are just as important as visiting LO in the NICU. If you do end up in the NICU, don't beat yourself up if you can't be there as much as you would like. Of course you want to be there for your new baby, but it's ok to not be there all day long. I felt a lot of guilt at the time, but here I am 17 months later wishing I wouldn't have been so hard on myself back then!
I'll be thinking of you. Keep us posted.
Good luck to you!
DS1 - 7/2011, DD 12/2012, DS2 - 4/2014, MMC - 12/2015