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May 2018 Moms
sparklingdiamond
member
NICU Question
sparklingdiamond
member
I have never had a baby in the NICU, so I thought I would ask because I know a few of you have mentioned your babies had to be in the NICU.
Do you typically just hang out at the NICU all day every day or you can only be there during certain times?
Are you allowed to hold or touch your baby very often or does that depend on their individual condition?
I know absolutely nothing about the NICU, so any info you could provide would be awesome!
Do you typically just hang out at the NICU all day every day or you can only be there during certain times?
Are you allowed to hold or touch your baby very often or does that depend on their individual condition?
I know absolutely nothing about the NICU, so any info you could provide would be awesome!
Re: NICU Question
We could go at any time we wanted. They restrict 2 people per baby where we were, but I could stay as long as I wanted and whenever I wanted. We were able to nurse in the NICU so I would nurse every 3 hours or shorter if he needed it and then go back to my room to pump (because they told me I should....I don't think that was wise, but I get it if the baby isn't in the room to help stimulate it but it ended up giving me an oversupply).
You can also take a tour of your hospital and they will answer any questions they can for you.
We're here for you @sparklingdiamond
And I apologize, but this will be all jumbled as I piece it together, ha.
We were told girls go home faster than boys and Caucasian boys typically take the longest to come out for some reason.
We were allowed in the nicu at all times, however, it was highly suggested we go home at night to get proper rest, especially after having a c section. So after I was released from the hospital, I would wake up, shower, grab my packed snacks and drinks, and head up to the nicu. I'd go from like 7 to 5 when DH would arrive after work. Then I'd spend another hour with him and head home to rest and give him time to bond.
DH and I were the only 2 allowed to hold our kids until one of their monitors or tubes was removed. I cannot remember what, but can ask DH.
Our nicu ran on a 3 cycle care hour. So each nurse was assigned 3 babies. Baby A had the first hour, Baby B the 2nd hour, and Baby C the 3rd hour. Then they'd restart with A. The care hour consistented of a temp check, diaper change, feeding, medicine if needed, bath if needed that day, a weight once a day, and some holding. If we were there, we did it all. So at the start of the hour I'd take DDs temp, change her, feed her, and snuggle her for the whole. The nurse would come check to see if I needed anything, would record the temp, bring me the breast milk or formula to feed. At the end of the hour, I'd put her back in her bed and start with DS. After his hour, I would just sit by them for an hour. Sometimes I'd randomly hold them, but we were told not to always hold them so they could properly rest and do their mental growth. It was hard not to hold back and some nurses were more rude about it than others. And of course, I'd run to the bathroom or go eat when it was an off hour.
Our nicu also had a big ice and water dispenser available to the families. Our hospital is very pro breastfeeding as well so they had hospital grade pumps available to us. So I'd also pump on off care hours.
Umm, what else. We were allowed 4 adults in the nicu, which included us. So me, DH, his dad and step mom could be in there. We did sneak in his step brother, but we had a private room due to having twins. Most babies are in the middle of a room with 2 or 3 other babies. We were also allowed to sign a consent form for someone to visit without us, otherwise we needed to be there for visitors. We ended up allowing my mom to visit without us because we knew DD would come home before DS. So my mom would come over in the morning and watch DD while I visited DS. Then I'd come home and she'd go up by DS until DH showed up and then she went home. It was hard, but I was super thankful for her.
We could also call in any time and get an update. We just needed to state who we were and state one of the babies patient numbers.
Each baby has to be eating in their own for x amount of feedings in a row. They also need to pass several tests like hearing and and car seat test (they monitor them in and carseat for and hour [I think] and watch for apnea episodes).
If you can, ask your doctor if they'll allow you to do a quick tour of the nicu so you can an an visualize your time in there.
Don't be afraid to speak up if you feel something is off. DH felt something was wrong with DS and he fought with a nurse to get a doctor in for him to talk to. He demanding the doctor review the monitors information and they found out he had apnea so he would stop breathing for short amounts of time. He ended up needing caffeine and was sent home with a monitor for 2 months.
If I think of more, I will write a new comment. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. The nicu nurses really care about the babies and most were super sweet. We had one who I am now Facebook friends with because she had them almost every night and would switch if she didn't have them.
Feel free to message me. I know your experience will be different as ours were only "feed and growers", but if I can help calm any fears, I will try!
NICU staff is usually kick ass. So despite it completely sucking that you can't go home right away, you should have lots of support and helping hands.
Definitely tour NICUs... ask questions! ..I would want to know their policies on things you have mentioned for sure (any visiting restrictions, parents ability to be hands on as possible).
Hope that's somewhat helpful..
@cups4 They had me pumping as well to boost my supply which also ended up with me having a horrible oversupply that took months to get under control. They also kept pushing me to supplement with formula (not a baby friendly hospital) and told me that J was too big for me to keep up with. (8lbs8oz) A better method would have been nursing every two hours and having him roomed in with us with the UV blanket. Because the hospital convinced DH that I wasn't producing enough we developed a stupid routine of me nursing for twenty minutes (10 on each side) then I would pump while DH gave J a bottle of pumped milk, and the he would follow up with formula, but we never made him finish the serving. I can not believe how much we were over feeding him, and I'm still livid with how out of date their information about breastfeeding practices were. (The care we received and the out of date information in the NICU is a HUGE part of why we are using a birthing center this time around)
I actually asked one of our nurses if we were coming in enough and she laughed. Then she told me about some of the babies with no one and how lucky our twins were to have parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles fighting over visiting.
Then the wife would sit on her phone while the husband would feed, change and love on their baby.
That was hard enough to watch. I would have been a wreck if there had been an abandoned baby by us. And I probably would have gotten yelled at for holding it.
I'm sad my whole post got lost, I found it informative!
Also, we got a bunch of blankets and hats and stuff because people knit them and donate. That was nice.