Coming home on oxygen

[HCB]

Today our consultant told us there is no medical reason for Lucas to stay in hospital so it looks like we are coming home soon. He still requires some oxygen and the consultant said that it would probably take quite some time to completely wean him off it so would be just as good to come home it and be weaned there. We have been told to have a think about it to make sure we're comfortable with that but we're not really sure what to expect. Has anyone else had their baby come home still on oxygen? What was it like and how did you find it? They are arranging for us to talk to a community nurse and the home oxygen team but would like to find out other people's experiences.

thanks!

Helen

 

[Srrme]

My LO came home with oxygen to use during his feeds. I was dreading it, but it wasn't that bad, and he was weaned off of it in a little over a week.

 

[bob2331]

Harry came home on 0.1 of oxygen and was on it for 3 months, we were scared but it wasnt that bad, i was so happy to have him home that it didnt matter and apart from the odd stares, people just seemed to except it. Its all scary to begin with but u will soon be apt at changing his canula's and going from the generator to the portable.

If u have any questions, please feel free to pm me xx

 

[katy1310]

What gestation is Lucas now? I'm just asking because they tried to get us to bring Sophie home on oxygen at 37 or 38 weeks and a friend told us to give her another week or two and see what happened because often it's just a case of a little bit extra time. We weren't entirely happy with the thought of her coming home on oxygen and we decided to give her another week and see what happened (we'd also been told they can be on it for months if they come home on it) - and that extra time made all the difference. Something just suddenly clicked and she was fine and came home 6 days before her due date, without oxygen.

I'm sure it would be absolutely fine if you had to bring him home on oxygen - as the other ladies have said, you would soon get used to everything that it involved, but I just wanted to let you know what we were told as well. It was difficult because we were desperate to bring Sophie home but I do think we made the right decision. xxx

 

[HCB]

Lucas's due date is this Friday so he's 39+6 today (Thursday) and he is still on 0.05 oxygen so it will be a while before he's off completely. Although saying that, he did take a turn for the better a couple of weeks ago because he was on 0.2 and came down fairly quickly from there to 0.04 and also spent some time at 0.03. He started doing full oral feeds a week ago, though, so that took a bit out of him and he went back up to 0.06.

It will take over a week before everything is in place so we may be lucky and his oxygen requirement will come down in that time. He has already been taken off the monitor so we can get used to being without it but now he's not constantly monitored I don't know how they can see when his oxygen needs to be or can be turned down.

We also still have the option of saying no when we meet with the home oxygen team but have to put the wheels in motion to be able to see them and find out more information.

 

[SugarKisses]

Katie came home on 0.1 in Jan and is still currently on it. Her sats are always at 100% and ive never found it to be a problem having the oxygen around. I quite like it because it means the nurse is out every week to weigh her and check her sats and if I have any worries, I just ask her so that I dont have to wait for an app at the doctors

 

[EmSmith1980]

My daughter came home on oxygen fixed at 0.1 on 12th March. So far so good. Not had any problems. We have a big oxygen concentrator, one big back up cylinder, and 4 baby portable cylinders. The portable oxygen is quite heavy, but I was given a rucksack type carrier thing by our neonatal unit. It just fits under my pram though. (thank god, lol) The community nurses come out and see us weekly, she was monitored on Saturday and the nurse said we can probably start weaning her off it in the next few weeks. We get the odd stare, mostly from kids when I pick my other 3 up from school and nursery, or old women who obviously feel they are going to benefit from knowing all the details.