BFF to give birth at 33 weeks... (Page 2)

Exactly what happen with my son.  My wife was in the hospital for a week.  Health 10yo today on swim team and ran his 4th 5k last week.

As others have stated 33 weeks isn't bad.  Our youngest daughter was 34 weeks she's 14 and doing great.  No mental or physical problems other than she my off-spring.

A friend had a baby at 24 weeks.  It was touch and go at best for a very long time.  They took a picture of him with a dollar bill next to him.  He could have used it for a blanket!  NICU is an awesome group of individuals.  I have known several NICU nurses and they are some of the best nursing talent in the world.

Wow. Thanks. I had an inkling other people on here had experiences with this.

The latest, as of this afternoon, is that the contractions are still stopped (yay, magnesium) and they gave her the second steroid shot this evening. Baby was seen breathing by the ultrasound tech--heartbeat is strong, though she wasn't moving much. The docs say the magnesium is also making the baby tired, so she's probably asleep most of the time now. My friend's water did break (this is what put her in the hospital initially, though she's had a few scares--cervix spontaneously opened at 20 weeks, was touch and go for about 48 hours, had to have that stitched up, and then she was on bedrest since then), so she's also on antibiotics. Up until yesterday, I had no idea that you could stop a birth from happening after the water broke. I always thought that was it. But apparently, it's not.

I visited her today at the hospital. She was groggy and uncomfortable--the mangesium makes her burn up, so I spent some time putting my icy-cold-due-to-poor-circulation hands on her cheeks and eyelids and that made her feel better for a bit.

Her attitude otherwise is tentatively optimistic. She loves her nurses and doctors who really have been nothing but reassuring and kind. They keep telling her they're not playing Russian roulette with a life--if the contractions come back, they'll have the baby out in 30 minutes. But they're hoping to keep the baby in until Sunday, ideally until Wednesday, which will be 34 weeks. The only moment my friend got upset was when she realized she hadn't finished knitting the baby sweater--her first ever attempt at knitting. I said, "Don't worry, she'll wear it over the winter, you can still finish it," and my friend teared up saying, "She was going to wear it home." I know she hates the idea of having the baby, but leaving her in the NICU while she goes home.

This entire pregnancy has been such an emotional rollercoaster, I just want something about this pregnancy to be completely normal and boring for her. But somehow, it never is. But it's really good to hear that everyone who's posted so far has had only positive outcomes, because it makes me feel optimistic that the same will be true for my friend.

  I am also an NICU nurse....have more years of experience than I care to admit. As others have said 33 weeks is not tenuous at all these days. Chad has got it pretty much summed up in terms of what the baby will likely experience upon delivery. In my ...ahem very many, years of NICU work I have seen many many changes in the care of these premature babies. The biggest advance has been with the development of a lung  surfactant . Premature babies lack a chemical in their lungs which leads to an inability of the lungs to "open up" and oxygenate the blood.  This surfactant is a medication that is given directly into the lungs via an endo tracheal. or "breathing "tube. Your friends baby may require this therapy . It leads to greatly improved lung compliance and subsequently a much  shorter time period where a ventilator or CPAP machine is necessary. 

Oh.....and btw......I also happen to think 33-35 week gestation babies are the CUTEST !!

I wish your friends baby and family much love and happiness.  

Edited by aquagirl 2009-11-21 3:36 AM

x2

That Chad guy is spot on.

One more happy preemie story, because it still amazes me every day. About 2.5 years ago my cousin had a baby, Baker. He was only 23 weeks gestation when he was born; weighed 1 pound 5 ounces; and measured 11 inches long. He's a big fat happy 2.5 year old now. He was released from NICU Sept 5th,2007 after being born June 2nd. You can read his story and see pics here:

http://bakertynefield.blogspot.com

Just think, your friend's baby has had 10 more weeks to 'cook' than Baker, and even he is doing great now. NICUs ROCK!!!!

A friend's niece (now, daughter) was born at 24 weeks and weighed 1 lb 4 oz.  I believe she was in the NICU for a little over 90 days.  She was born early because her mother had a thin cervix due to a previous bout with cervical cancer.  Bella turned 5 years old on Friday.  She is very healthy with some minor health problems, like mild asthma and some constipation issues.  She continues to have yearly check-ups at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) to monitor for any developmental delays; however, she has very minor delays, such as she doesn't like to walk down stairs one foot at a time (she puts both feet on the step before going to the next one).  If I didn't know her history, I would never know that she was born early.

Bella was certainly not a cute baby.  She looked like a little alien child.

My daughter was born at 33w 1d.  She was 6lb 8oz.  She was in the nursery for 6 hours.  Never in the NICU.  Now at 23 months, she's a skinny 25lbs (10th percentile), but a tall 35" (80+ percentile).

She was in the nursery cause she couldn't stabalize her temps for a few house, and labour was 23 hours, so both of us were pooped :D

Zoe Margaret was born Sunday at noon! She came out 5 lbs 6 oz, still tiny, but pink and healthy. She was on a CPAP (breathing machine?) for her first 24 hours, but as of this morning, she was off of it! (The nurses did warn my friend that she might have to go back on if she has a "bad day" but not to be discouraged as "she's just figuring it out" and that it's normal for newborns to be all "two steps forward, one step back").

Thanks again for all the good thoughts and stories. Everyone is doing well so far, fingers crossed everything else is just textbook from here on out!

Oh, AND she's cute, too.


(Will post pic as soon as I can resize!)

Edited by swishyskirt 2009-11-23 5:09 PM






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yay!! glad to hear that everything is going well for mom and baby.
and 5lbs 6 oz is tiny, but it's not SUPER SMALL !

Awww...she's very cute!  Glad to hear she and her mm are doing well.