Gastroschisis- NICU stay after birth?

Re: Gastroschisis- NICU stay after birth?

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  sailaplay member

  February 2015

  I used to be a NICU nurse and the stay for gastroschisis varies a huge amount, depending on the child and the severity. Some are home within a week or two, some stay for much longer. Your doctor should be able to give you the most realistic timeframe based on your personal scans. Good luck with your babe. NICU is scary but the staff is generally fabulous and very caring.

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  Rosie3rd member

  February 2015

  Another NICU nurse here. I agree with pp, the length of stay varies greatly and is dependent upon what organs are outside, how long a reduction takes and if there's any damage to the affected organs. Sometimes it can't all be put back straight after birth and is done gently over a couple of days with the outside organs placed in a special bag called a silo. Once it's all back in, the length of stay will depend on how your baby's digestion is. Food isn't started until there is restored bowel function and no bile being brought up. This is the part that can take weeks or months. The shortest stay I've seen was around 6 weeks and the longest was 3 months (that involved prematurity too though). The Ronald macdonald houses are a wonderful resource and usually provide breast pumps to rent too. I would strongly suggest expressing breast milk for a gastroschesis baby as they have super sensitive guts and will always recover faster on breast milk rather than formula, as it's very gentle. I'm sorry you and your baby have to go through this, but I'm sure your doctors and nurses will be wonderful and answer any questions you have. Good luck to you all.

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  TessaGarringer member

  February 2015

  Thanks everyone. I see my regular OB and a maternal fetal medicine doctor for ultrasounds . But they won't transfer my care to where I'll give birth until I'm 35 weeks. So I can't meet the doctor or anything else . I'm a person that likes to be planned and I can't do that not knowing.

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  ttaywilliams member

  March 2015

  My first child was born with gastroschisis. My daughters intestines were put into a silo like described above and after a week of letting gravity do its work she was able to have surgery to repair the hole in her abdominal wall. 4 weeks later we were sent home with our sweet baby girl and she has had no problems with digestion since. Best of luck to you and your child.

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  rosannewild member

  March 2015

  Thoughts and prayers for everything to go easily and LO to be home with you as quickly as she can.

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  Case42 member

  March 2015 edited March 2015

  As difficult as it may be, please try to prepare yourself for the unexpected (as a planner myself, I understand that's much easier said than done). As a Pediatric Nurse, I can tell you that the easiest way to keep your sanity will be to go with the flow. Prepare yourself with Research? Please do. Keep yourself informed on your baby's condition and changes? Absolutely. Become an active member of your child's care team? YES. However, plans and treatments can often change by the minute, and it's easy to feel like there are twenty different people saying twenty different things when, in reality, the critical care world simply operates in a different manner than non-hospital personnel are accustomed to; it can be quite jarring and, sometimes, confusing. Plan of Care changes do not necessarily mean setbacks and a discharge date is ALWAYS a moving target. My advice is to focus on being involved in your baby's daily cares as much as the staff will allow, provide Breastmilk if possible, and work with your team, your voice is valued! Congratulations and good luck!!!

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