ESNPC

My son was born 9 weeks early. If you’ve had one preemie what are the odds of having another?

lots of first baby’s are preemies mostly because your body isn’t use to carry a child. My first was almost 2 1/2 months early and i did everything they sad. but my second baby was right on time. And don’t worry in most cases a doctor can determine if the baby will be early especially if there’s a history of it and be ready to give you safe medication to keep the baby were it needs to be for as long as possible.

and after the about 10 years had a baby;could it affect the baby in any way [prematurity mental illness etc]

No definitley not. Your body will be the same as someone who has never smoked weed.

I mean,can we give blood transfusion{packed red blood cells} through an arterial femoral line for the neonates?and why?

For neonates, the usual IV site created is the large veins in the head. My son was extremely premature and this was the only vein large enough to do transfusions and IV infusions.

Percutaneous peripheral catheters

In the acute setting, IV catheters are used for the delivery of resuscitative medications, antibiotics, and volume expanders. In the less dynamic scenario, they enable provision of maintenance fluids for patients unable to maintain adequate hydration or those restricted from oral intake. Peripheral venous catheters are the easiest and safest means of achieving vascular access. The use of tourniquets, heat lamps, and translumination devices helps to facilitate insertion.

Dorsal veins on the hands and feet are the preferred choice for location. Reserve larger veins, such as the median antecubital, basilic, and median cephalic veins, for peripheral venipuncture or peripheral intravenous central catheter (PICC) access or for later attempts if more distal sites fail. Lower extremity vessels appropriate for peripheral access include those of the dorsum of the feet and the saphenous veins at the ankle.

In neonates and younger infants, superficial scalp veins may be accessed, but use of these sites usually requires that the surrounding hair be shaved. Use caution to avoid inadvertently cannulating the temporal artery or one of its branches. Another site that is not generally used except in emergency situations is the femoral vein. Understanding of the anatomy of the femoral region is essential to avoid injury to the femoral nerve and artery. The external jugular vein is another useful site if other sites fail (see Image 1). The infant must often be immobilized and placed in a dependent posture for safe insertion. External jugular catheters are difficult to stabilize and are easily dislodged, thus care must be taken to adequately secure it once in place.

Whichever site is chosen, always anticipate the need for adequate restraint for all pediatric patients. Always make sure “your first shot is your best shot” and always use as much taping and immobilization of the extremity with an armboard as necessary to avoid its removal by the patient. A demonstrable flashback within the IV tubing may not occur in infants; do not assume that the absence of blood return indicates improper placement. Rather, flush the catheter and check for infiltrative swelling to measure successful cannulation. In neonates and infants, use a 22- or 24-gauge needle, whereas in older children, a 20-gauge needle can be tolerated.

Here is a site that discusses this more:

http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic3050.htm

Apparently there was something wrong with the chromosomes - why would it have caused a premature birth? If my friends baby had survived (born at 28 weeks - 20 years ago), would there be any long term effects?

Thanks!

could be downs syndrome or Trisomy 18

My baby has changed, she now doesn’t cry for her food or gives me any warning all of a shudden shes screaming. I tried to up her food intake but she never takes it. She is 4 months and 3 weeks but corrected 2 months and 3 weeks.

I wouldn’t say she is moving backwards, perhaps you might just be missing or over looking her very subtle cues that she is hungry, and wants to be feed. Maybe you can try figuring out her schedule, that way you can have a bottle ready to go before she start screaming to offer her. If you find there are absolutely no cues or any rhyme or reason to when she is getting hungry then talk to your pediatrician Best of Luck and Congrats!!

Hi all,
Just wondering if there’s anyone with a very premature infant…my 3rd baby was born at 26 weeks and we have had such a long journey. I’m just wondering if there’s anyone else out there to talk to about all the difficulties and all the emotions and hardships faced.

My girl was born while I was on a cross country move in a city I"ve never been to before where I ended up stuck for 6 weeks without kids or hubby before she was transferred closer to where my kids were at…still here with no hubby! So anyone just wanna chat………i’d be relieved and thankful!

Also any preemie moms have difficulty with breastfeeding after long stints in the NICU any advice would be greatfly appreciated!
thanks
My son was born at 30 weeks, he was actually a twin, his brother we lost at that time, stillborn. My surviving son weighed 2 lbs 13 oz, and spent 7 weeks in the hospital. He was my first child (I’ve since had another boy, full term) so I cannot relate as to experiencing taking care of your little girl in the hospital as well as your children at home, however, I can say that breastfeeding him was so difficult and stressful, he just wouldn’t latch! I eventually gave up after 3 months of pumping and trying to breastfeed whenever I was at the hospital. Just wasn’t going to happen for us, however I do know lots of the other women with their babies in the NICU were able to eventually establish a healthy breastfeeding schedule, over time.
As for no hubby, I can also understand, partially. My husband was suffering from a mental illness at the time (he has since sought help and is much much better now) and was mentally checked out, he just slept all day and visited our son maybe 3 times the whole 7 weeks! So it was like I was all alone.
Feel free to add me as a friend if you want to further talk about everything your going through. But if you are attempting breastfeeding, it sounds like she’s doing pretty good! Lungs must be doing very well if she’s not on tube feedings anymore!
Good luck to you and your little girl, it’s difficult, it’s heartbreaking, but remember, you have to take sometime for yourself (easy enough said, but you have other children to take care of too) make sure you are eating and sleeping well, I saw so many moms in the NICU who at first felt like they needed to spend every waking moment there. I told a few of them, no one is going to think anything negative if you go home, sleep in and have a nice long shower!

Hi there! It depends on how bad the diabetes is, how healthy mom and the baby are, and how big the baby gets. One of the problems babies have when mom has gestational diabetes is that they can get pretty large. Not that it is unhealthy for the baby to get large but it can complicate delivery. So if the baby is far enough along that he/she can be safely delivered vaginally then mom may be induced to prevent the baby from getting so big that the only option is a c-section. Otherwise, if mom and baby are healthy and the baby has not grown too large then there should be no reason to induce pre-term. Keep in mind though that moms that have gestational diabetes are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes after their pregnancy. So eat healthy and exercise…which is good advise regardless.
Hope that helps.

I’ve been looking for them but the ones I’ve found are the same size as regular nipples the only thing that changes is the flow ..I need ones that are actually smaller in size because regular ones are too long …does any one know where I could find them?
thank you.

We got ours from the hospital. They were very happy to give us handfuls of the disposable nipples. Although considered disposable, we just washed and re-used them. They worked great.

Call your doctor and tell him/her that you are having trouble finding nipples. Since the baby is used to the ones from the hospital, ask specifically for those. I can’t imagine there would be a problem. If you had a good relationship with the nurses in the NICU, go there and ask for some of the disposable preemie nipples.

He was born 6 weeks early and I would think that its because of that and he just has some catching up to do, but his pediatrican said it doesn’t have anything to do with his prematurity. They measured him at 23 1/2 inches today and said that it was within the 7th percentile.
His weight was 14.5 lbs (25-50th percentile.)
I’m not tall, but not super short about 5′4.
My husband is 6 feet.

Not to worry… it’s difficult to predict what the height when they are infants. Most pediatricians can give you a good idea how tall a child will be when they turn 2 years of age… listen to your doctor "it doesn’t have anything to do with his prematurity."
For now enjoy your little man and patiently wait for your baby to turn 2 to get an accurate answer:)

He was born 6 weeks early and I would think that its because of that and he just has some catching up to do, but his pediatrican said it doesn’t have anything to do with his prematurity. They measured him at 23 1/2 inches today and said that it was within the 7th percentile.
His weight was 14.5 lbs (25-50th percentile.)
I’m not tall, but not super short about 5′4.
My husband is 6 feet.

Not to worry… it’s difficult to predict what the height when they are infants. Most pediatricians can give you a good idea how tall a child will be when they turn 2 years of age… listen to your doctor "it doesn’t have anything to do with his prematurity."
For now enjoy your little man and patiently wait for your baby to turn 2 to get an accurate answer:)