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Advice for new preemie mum?!

Hi,

My beautiful daughter Amelia is nearly 12 weeks old (born at 28 weeks gestation) She was born 2lbs 8oz's and now weighs just over 6lbs, guzzles 4-5oz's milk every 4hrs although will sleep for 6hrs at night.

Would be greateful for any advice you could give me from your own experiences...


Replies

  • Hi HodgeysDorris,
    My LO was 5 weeks early, so not too bad but still caught me off guard as we weren't ready! It sounds like your baby girl is doing well with that weight gain, well done!
    I'm not sure that I have any advice as such. Though the one thing I have to keep remembering for myself is not to compare her to other babies or the books - my best friend had her little girl 2 hours before me and whenever I see them I feel a little sad about the things that she's doing that my LO isn't yet. Have to keep remembering that she will be a little behind and to focus on everything that she is doing so well with and that she'll get to everything else in her own time.
    I'm not sure about general advice, but let us know if you have any questions?
    xxx
  • Hey
    my little man was also born 5 weeks early as he wasn't growing. He weighed 3lb 8oz. He's only 8 weeks old so your probably more experienced at this than I am so I'd be interested to read the replies on this thread.

    The thing I've found most difficult is that he seems more susceptable to getting things. He has an umbilical hernia and reflux at the moment. He also is needy and needs to be close to me or swaddled all the time so he feels more secure. I've found it very difficult and especially wheny friends are having babies who are normal and healthy with natural deliveries.

    It's also hard as u may have to wait a bit longer for them to meet certain milestones. For instance Leo hasn't smiled yet which babies normally do from 1 month. He'll probably take a bit longer on other things too.
  • Hi everyone and congrats on the birth of your impatient lo's. Kenny was 7 weeks early, 4lb 4oz and now a perfect 2 1/2 year old. Firstly always go by their corrected age, this was right for kennys development in his 1st year. He soon caught up and walked at 12 months actual age (4 months before his full term friend).
    He was always a greedy wee man and loved his milk but sufferred from reflux (threw up from feed to feed) but it didn't seem to bother him, good weight gain and happy. This went away when he was walking thankfully. He also developed an umbilical hernia at 4 weeks which gave us a couple of scares but has went away on it's own and all he has now is a bit of stretched skin that will be operated on to take away before school if it's needed.
    I started weaning at 5 months, he loved his nosh.
    In the early days the Bliss Premature Baby website has loads of good info. Hope this helps you.
    XxxX
  • hi ladies image

    My son was born at 28weeks weighing 3lbs. he is now 13 months old and is crawling, trying to walk and doing everything that his friend i doing (she was born 1 week after my son full term)

    my son was in hospital for 11 weeks and it felt like he would never come home, do you feel like that some days? he came off oxygen and within two weeks he was home with us. That day will come quicker than you think.

    Only advice I have is to give your baby lots and lots of love, cuddles and kisses. Talking to people who are going through the same as you helped me. It is such a stressful time but I made a great friend in NICU and we are still in touch now and meet up every few months. I feel as though I can connect with her rather than my other friends as they don't know what it's like. They got to take their babies home the next day.

    Hope this helps x x

  • Hi Sweetie

    It sounds like your situation is very similar to mine. Liv was born at 28 weeks, weighing 2lb 11, dropping to 2lb 7oz and spent 9 weeks in SCBU/NICU and weighed about 4lb when she came out.

    Advice - trust your instincts, always. A couple of days after Liv came out I was convinced she was unwell, but the HV (Who I had never met before and knew nothing about her) took one look at her and said she was fine. The next day I was really concerned so took her back to SCBU as I had open access and she had severe hypothermia (it was march) as she had an infection and her body was shutting down to cope with it!

    Don't compare your beautiful little one to others (same age, corrected or uncorrected etc). She is a miracle to be here and will learn everything in her own time. Liv is 18 mths (Uncorrected, 15 corrected) and isn't walking yet but I know she will get there. She didn't crawl until she was 14 months UC (11 C).

    I know they are more precious than other babies (to you anyway!) but try not to let that affect you too much - I know its really really hard to do!

    Talk, get whatever you are feeling out, whether it is grieving for the pregnancy you lost, or the plans you had etc. We are all here to listen.

    I hope this makes sense and isn't too, well, patronising I guess.

    We are all here if you need to talk! xxx

  • Thanks ladies, it is soo reassuring to have a forum like this as although we did make friends with some other parents whilst on SCBU, Amelia was the first baby out of the "group" to go home, one couple became very resentful and on our first visit back since we were discharged they are still there 5weeks on so we feel extreamly lucky she has progressed so well..!

    In the beginning i totally did grieve for the lost pregnancy i had, the birth was such a shock it didn't sink in that that tiny baby in the incubator was mine, especially with the phantom kicks i was having! For weeks i would look through magazines and see celebs due around the same time as me still glowing and pregnant and then there was me... fat, tired, spotty and in agony about to go home without my baby! The first night at home was horrible and i couldnt sit or even lye down without being in pain so i sat up in bed exhausted and crying, feeling so guilty for abandoning her. My HV was worried about me thinking i may have postnatal depression so i was refferred to a councilor and after a few sessions of talking about how i was feeling and being able to do more and spend more time with Amelia in SCBU i overcame it |image

    Nikki Ann... I can't imagine how scared you must have been, but as you say mums always know best for sure!

    Amelia is 13weeks old today, can't believe where the time has gone! Finally starting to feel like being a mum is natural to me and i am loving it image She is doing really well and now weighs 7lbs 3ozs and is 50.5cms long. She is rolling over and starting to smile too which totally melts your heart image


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