Lurker with a possibility of a preemie

suitern · July 2014

Good morning ladies. I have long followed this board and your amazing little miracles since I was pregnant with my son in 2012 and was on bed rest for preterm labor at 24 weeks. Now, I am due late September and am threatening to follow a similar path with Dd, albeit now starting at 29 weeks.

I was just wondering if any of you could give me an idea of what to expect of a 29-early 30 week baby? I haven't received steroid shots yet, but if I end back up in labor and delivery I will receive them. My contractions are starting to change my cervix ( 1 cm dilated and short cervix) and we can't get them under control. I am home with the precaution to come back to labor an delivery if anything feels different. Thank you in advance for any insight or questions you can give me to ask the drs.

KTZ17 · July 2014

I'm sorry you're dealing with this! My DD was born at 31 weeks 3 days and I received both steroid shots while on hospital bed rest. She was 3lbs 11oz and was crying and breathing on her own when she came out but then had some labored breathing so went on CPAP with just room air, no supplemental oxygen. She also had some jaundice and was under bili lights for a few days. She was on CPAP for a week. After the CPAP, she was just a feeder and a grower and we took her home after a one month NICU stay. There are other moms on here of 29-30 weekers who can give you some insight. @bromios‌ & @bostonkisses‌ ? Best of luck, I hope you keep her cooking much longer!

Brummy14 · July 2014

Every 29-weeker outcome is going to be very, very different. That much I can promise!

For our girls, born at 29.3 (I had enough time to get both steroid shots, and two rounds of mag sulfate) -- we primarily had a long, uneventful NICU stay. DD2 was intubated for a day and needed surfactant, but both were on CPAP for 2-3 weeks after that. DD2 was on high-flow quite a bit longer than DD1 -- who was off all oxygen about a month prior to discharge.

Feeding was our biggest hurdle. DD1 was overeager and would choke a LOT, desat and then be too worn out to continue. DD2, on the other hand, struggled due to reflux and the congestion that came with it (exacerbated by the high flow o2), so she was always, always tired -- she had to work so much harder.

DD1 came home after 76 days, DD2 after 81 days. DD2 was still on her NG tube for about 2 weeks post-discharge, until they had us "force" her to move to 100% PO and "figure it out" (which she did!) -- and she also came home on 1/8L of o2 with a pulse-ox for about 5-6 weeks, too.

DD2 also has low muscle tone, for which we've been receiving regular PT -- she JUST started walking regularly, at 20 months (17m adjusted).

All, in all, we've been thankful to make it this far -- we've kept everyone exceedingly healthy (a lot of precautionary measures, but even more luck!), and finally, finally believe we're out of the woods and getting back into figuring out what "normal" parents of almost two-year-old twins are up to.

Good luck to you -- and hopefully your LO continues to bake and bake and bake and you don't have to hang out with us at all.

suitern · July 2014

bromios said:

I'm a little surprised they aren't giving you the steroids. Lung development is pretty key... My twins were born at 29+6, 3lb 2oz (my daughter) and 3lb 7oz (my son), no c-section. I had the steroid injections at 28+2 when I was admitted because I was 4.5cm dilated (surprise!). After delivery they realized that I probably went into labor because of an infection in my son's placenta. My son, who came out crying, went straight to the nasal cannula and was off it in about a week. My daughter was intubated for less than a day, then switched to CPAP for less than a day, then to the cannula, and I think she was off all breathing assistance by day 10. My son was in the NICU for 60 days, my daughter for 69, but they had no brain bleeds, my daughter's PFO resolved itself and her PDA shrunk and never affected her clinically. They are both all caught up on their milestones and have absolutely no long term complications. They're unusually strong for their age and we are very lucky. That said, 29-30 weekers usually do very well, and while I hope your baby keeps cooking a good while longer, you have every reason to be optimistic about the long term outcome for your baby at this point. My best advice would be to double check that your hospital has a level III NICU, and if it doesn't, to find one that does and go there if you can. There's no such thing as easy NICU time, but I found it somewhat reassuring knowing that my babies were in the best possible hands.

Thanks for all the replies ladies. I asked about steroid shots (I had them at 24 weeks with my son and carried him to term after 13 weeks of bedrest), but they said they didn't think I was in danger of going into eminent labor (at least two days ago), as my FFN was negative. They said they would prefer to give them right before the baby was born as they thought they were the most effective given a few days before? I have a follow up on Monday and plan to ask about then again then, as my contractions have been bad still the last few days. The hospital I chose has the highest level NICU in our area which is why I did choose to travel an hour for my maternity care, so we are ok there. I am trying to be optimistic that she won't come any time in the next few weeks, but do want to be prepared if for some reason my body decides otherwise.

Evo9380 · July 2014

I haven't read all the other stories yet but thought I'd offer some support too!

I had my twins at 30 weeks, 1 day. Both babies came out crying loudly and were only on cpap for a few days. We were lucky to not have any feeding issues though we did have to tube feed/supplement with the tube til 34-35 weeks adjusted.

We had one set back of some oxygen/cpap again in the middle of the 47 day stay but they were mostly feeders/growers.

I also had the two steroid shots at 25 weeks due to threatened PTL which I feel made a HUGE difference. I never once felt that they were struggling to survive, just that they needed to get chunky before coming home. They did give me the first dose of the second round of steroids (to make it 'more effective') when I went into actual labour but I was progressing too quickly to make a difference so I'm extremely thankful I got the shots early on. I was only in active labour for 6 hours so I'd have never gotten both shots in that timeframe.

Best of luck!

suitern · July 2014

Evo9380 said:

I haven't read all the other stories yet but thought I'd offer some support too!

I had my twins at 30 weeks, 1 day. Both babies came out crying loudly and were only on cpap for a few days. We were lucky to not have any feeding issues though we did have to tube feed/supplement with the tube til 34-35 weeks adjusted.

We had one set back of some oxygen/cpap again in the middle of the 47 day stay but they were mostly feeders/growers.

I also had the two steroid shots at 25 weeks due to threatened PTL which I feel made a HUGE difference. I never once felt that they were struggling to survive, just that they needed to get chunky before coming home. They did give me the first dose of the second round of steroids (to make it 'more effective') when I went into actual labour but I was progressing too quickly to make a difference so I'm extremely thankful I got the shots early on. I was only in active labour for 6 hours so I'd have never gotten both shots in that timeframe.

Best of luck!

Thanks ladies. I had a follow up with my MFM on Monday and he did another check. He said he thought I was only a finger tip dilated (compared to 1 cm at L&D) but a short cervix, but still pretty high and far back. He said when I get to 2 cm they will give me the steroid shots. They set a goal of 34 weeks to keep her in and we will go from there.

I really appreciate hearing everyone's stories about their babies. It gives me hope that even if she is born early, she will do relatively well. I appreciate all the information!

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