ESNPC

He has increased muscle tone and decreased muscle strength throughout. He was born at 24 weeks gestation. His visual tracking is somewhat delayed and he has a diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity.

First of all, if this is your child you should definitely consult your pediatrician, and a neonatologist. Every premie’s situation is different, and no one would want to misead you by giving general answers here.

This infant’s corrected age is only about 1 month. Someone with this kind of low birth weight and prematurity most likely has sustained some degree of intraventricular hemorrahage and cerebral palsy. That’s the reason for the altered muscle tone and strength. His/her vision should be followed/assessed closely by his/her opthalmologist.

At this young age, some physical therapy to prevent flexion contracture in arms and legs can be done, but occupational therapy is limited because such young infants do not perform many functions yet. (Occupational therapy targets to help patients perform daily tasks). As the baby grows older, OT will be more helpful in such aspects as holding objects, feeding self, obtaining mobility from crawling to walking, etc. For sure a good occupational therapist experienced in working with premature babies is crucial, and you can get referral to such therapists through the neonatologist. Usually former-premies have a 6-month evaluation by what we call the "high-risk" specialty team, which includes neonatologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, opthalmologist, and other specialists if necessary. Speech therapist will join a little later. So if this baby has not been seen by an OT expert he/she should be very soon.

Bottom line, this is not something you can get a quickie answer here. Most importantly talk to the right people and obtain good referrals.

plz gimme the site where i would likely find journal on acute respiratory distress syndrome…
plz knowledgable ppl out there… help me out!!

I found several
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/334/22/1417?ck=nck

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/extract/343/9/660

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/273/4/306

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=98332453&dopt=Citation

I found a bunch more, let me know if you need them

my four month old baby passes hard stools and some times stays for days without passing stools . Can the above drug be used?

Yes, it can be given (they use it on neonates in hospitals)

im 15 and 6 weeks pregnant i was born 3 months premature and weighted 2 pound 3 ounces. i had water on my brain and a blood vessel popped in my brain so they but a shunt in when i was a few days old to take the fluid out. can it harm me or the baby when i give birth? could it kill me? and whats the chance my baby wil be born so early?

im pretty sure it wont have any effect on your or your baby today..unless it was a genetic disease your mother had that you have or if you still have alot of problems today i dont think that anything will happen..good luck!!!

I have stitches in my stomach since I was born 24 weeks premature, and have been having severe pain in my stomach for the past year. Also if a person were to get pregnant with stitches in their stomach, would that be dangerous for the woman and potential fetus? I don’t know why I had stitches put into my stomach either, as my mother never discussed my medical records with me.
Sorry I mean staples in the stomach.

If you had stitches in your stomach when you were a newborn, they wouldn’t still be there as an adult woman. Nothing to worry about from that aspect. However, if you had any abdominal problems at birth, its something you need to know about. The stitches could have been from anything. You may have needed a surgery. It may have been from a feeding tube. It may have been just a corrective surgery. Who knows? Start asking family members about it or figure out how to dig up your medical records.

*Staples don’t stay in a wound either. They would have been removed at some point and time.

We’ve got one My niece delivered at 26 weeks yesterday and he is! I am completely in awe!
2 pounds 1 ounce, 13 1/2 inches Big for just 26 weeks too!
O yes, dates were sure LOL U/S dating at 5 weeks would be pretty accurate!

wow congrats!!!!! obviously a little fighter. some therapy is probably in order, But I think he’s overcome the odds.

I had my first 2 babies pretty close together. 1 year and 9 months between births…

Now my youngest is 10 months old, and I’m 33 weeks with an "Uh oh baby." I’m due exactly 2 weeks before my youngest turns 1.

What are the chances of pre-term labor? Anyone go the whole 38-40 weeks with the 2nd one? I’m moving soon and am afraid to drive 10 hours over the desert if I may end up calling a hellicopter because of it.

Preterm labor risk is best determined by a doctor. A lot depends on your previous pregnancies- did you go in to labor preterm with any of them. Age, diet, blood pressure, glucose levels etc a number of factors can affect and influence this so talk to your doctor. Good luck.

One of my relatives have given birth to premature baby on the seventh month of her pergnency, now the baby is two months old. I heard that playing some kind of music in the baby’s presence helps the baby to grow healthier and quicker than normal condtions. If this is correct help me out with what kind of music is best, can i download it through internet, are there any kind of music present in the market specially for this purpose.

I gave birth to my second child 8 weeks early. He weighed 3 lbs 10 oz and was 17 inches long. I never played any music and he’s now 5 months old (3 months corrected) and weighs 16 lbs and he is 23 inches long. He’s the average weight of a baby his age, he’s just a little shorter. Preemies thrive by having their condition closely monitored and adjusting it accordingly. All your relative has to do is feed the baby just as she would a full-term baby and shower the baby with all kinds of love. They will eventually catch up. Preemies are own their own growth chart and some rarely make it on the full-term growth chart. As long as the baby is growing then she’s doing everything right. I’ve never heard of music helping them grow healthier but it certainly doesn’t hurt the baby.

Congrats & Good luck to her

I have been giving my baby breast milk (I pump my milk and give it to him by bottle as he has had latching on issues)
Anyway, he’s been wanting to eat every hour to hour and a half around the clock. It makes it so hard to get decent sleep at night. And then I am up all day with him and my 2 year old daughter. I’m exhausted!! I don’t remember my daughter wanting to eat this frequently in the beginning.
Is this normal or could it have something to do with his prematurity?

It’s bc he’s a preemie, their lives are one big growth spurt. When mine got off the feeding tube, he was on a 3 hour schedule, but once I got him home he took off like a rocket. It’s about every 1 1/2 hours, sometimes 2 oz. sometimes 3, and the way he cries you would think he was starving to death! They have a lot of catching up to do, so they eat more often.

Your intervention to effect relief of the baby’s symptoms will involve
A. alveolar macrophages
B. artificial surfactant
C. antibiotics
D. oxygen

The answer is D. oxygen

"Oxygen is given with a small amount of continuous positive airway pressure ("CPAP"), and intravenous fluids are administered to stabilize the blood sugar, blood salts, and blood pressure. If the baby’s condition worsens, an endotracheal tube (breathing tube) is inserted into the trachea and intermittent breaths are given by a mechanical device."