Figured this might be a good place to post this..

[Tatertot]

When I have my baby, he'll be in intensive care for a looong time. (He's going to have serious heart surgery within a week of his birth). I have a few questions you might be able to answer...

1. What do babies wear while they are in the hospital? Diapers and nothing else?

2. If he has a feeding tube (he probably will), what do they put in it? Formula? Breast milk? Something special?

Thanks!

 

[Marleysgirl]

Hi there,

UK answers - I suspect you may be US? ("diaper")

(1) Depends on his size and what type of cot - I suspect given the gravity of the operation, your baby may well be in a heated incubator, in which case they only wear a nappy (diaper). They progress into clothing when they move into an open cot. Some units have clothing available, others rely on you bringing in your own baby clothes.

(2) Your baby can be tube-fed what you want - I expressed breast milk for mine, but others were receiving formula milk, it was up to the mother. My breast milk was augmented with fortifier and vitamins, to help build up my little'un.

Hope this helps!

 

[Aidedhoney]

Hello,

My son Alex had major heart surgery at 2weeks old.

He started off in an icubator and wore just a nappy, he was moved to an open cot where he wore clothes but only baby grows that opened down the front (no vest underneath) as they did numerous Echo,s and ECGs.
Also its easier for the nurses to get access to the heart monitor leads which came off constantly.

Alex had an NG tube and he had my EBM or Forumla, they did try him on high cal milk but this made him yak.
I was also encouraged to try Alex at the breast as often as required but before his op this would make his heart work very hard so wasnt really worth it.

Good Luck xx

 

[Logiebear]

Hannah is my 3rd premmie and she was in a heated inc and tube fed. If they are in the inc the are in just nappies and the milk is what ever you want. Sadly most scbu in this country are very medical and will give formula as the first choice but it is up to you. Hope that helps hun xx

 

[Foogirl]

Abby did have vests in the incubator too, after about 2 weeks. I think it depends on how many wires and tubes they have though as she only had an NG tube and her monitors. I guess if they are on C-pap, a vest would be a bad idea!

I'll second what everyone is saying about the tube. If you want to give your breastmilk, make sure they know and ask them for advice on expressing milk and storing it etc.

 

[MandaAnda]

Hannah is my 3rd premmie and she was in a heated inc and tube fed. If they are in the inc the are in just nappies and the milk is what ever you want. Sadly most scbu in this country are very medical and will give formula as the first choice but it is up to you. Hope that helps hun xx

They're medical because they have to be. But, no, I have to completely disagree with saying "they will give formula as the first choice." I'm sorry if that was your experience, however. A good unit will ask how you would like to feed your baby. If you choose formula, they ask you to choose which kind and will feed that if there are no contraindications. If you want to eventually breastfeed/give EBM, they try to get you expressing from the get go. Even if a baby needs extra calories, it is still considered best practice to fortify breastmilk (when there is enough) before introducing a high calorie/pre-term formula (if there's not enough EBM, it may be that they mix 1/2 EBM + 1/2 high calorie/pre-term formula so as to stretch out the goodness of the EBM until mum's supply is fully established).

If the baby is born early, even if you don't intend to breastfeed, they encourage expressing for that period of time, as that's what is best on the gut. It's also best for many other things. Also, if a baby is born early and/or sick, quite often they'll be on IV fluids only (TPN, glucose, etc.) and have enteral feeds introduced slowly, when again breastmilk is preferred.

If the OP is in a country other than the UK, neonatal care is one of the things that's quite similar in most developed countries. I would imagine your baby would only be in a nappy/diaper ONLY if they were in an incubator and/or very sick with lots of infusions, etc. If baby is in a heated cot or normal cot and doesn't have a lot of interventions, they tend to let you dress baby.

 

[bumpsmum]

Our unit were very supportive of me expressing and gave us the benefits of giving Matthew my colostrum (sp?) even if I didnt BF and the nurse helped me witht eh pump etc first few times and I found them all very encouraging, guess it really does depend on the unit. My only regret is that (quite rightly) nursing staff needed to see Matthew established feeding one way or another and when we were roomong in I was still topping him up with a bottle after a BF as he tired very easily so when it came to the crunch - to get him home I stopped BF and exclusivly expressed (reastablished with help of HV when we got home).

Hope LO's stay is not for long and recovery goes well x

 

[corrie anne]

At first, when he is in the inc, he will be unclothed b/c he will be in a set temp climate that regulates his temp for him. If he wer eto wear clothes and start regulating his own temp, he will over heat. If he is real premature(i dont think you spicified what gestation he will be) then he would not be in a diaper but have a cloth over him with a cloth under him. When he moves into a bassinett, he will be able to wear clothing and use diapers,BUT since he will be having surgery, i am thinking they wont put clothes on him for a while. just to make sure the clothes dont cause an injection or irritate the area and to easily clean the are.
In the US, we are very keen on breast feeding preemies, its what they want more for the baby. most mothers do but if you dont want to nurse, they have special formula for preemies with high calories for extra supprt.

 

[Tatertot]

I'm going to be induced. I don't think that they'll let me go full term, but almost full term. I meet with the doctors to develop a plan in a few weeks. I posted this here because I figured that the women here would have experience with all of this. I supposed he could be premature, but that'd be really really bad. You all have been so helpful! I feel a lot better even knowing that some of this is an option!

 

[corrie anne]

If your baby is full term then i am sure he will not be in an inc and not under temp climates. Well, i am not sure where you live but here in the US they have open incubators that close when needed but for non preemies, they keep them open. I am so sorry about your baby having to have heart surgery. I am praying that it turns out less sever than it seems on U/S.

 

[Aidedhoney]

Alex was c sectioned 1 day after my due date, he was only in an incubator for 24hours as he was able to maintain his own body temp. After surgery he was in ITU in an open cot thingy then put back in a normal cot once back on the ward.

The best thing you can do is go armed with a list of questions to ask your doctors all babies are different and no 2 cardiac conditions are the same.

Good Luck x

 

[Tatertot]

Long ago I posted a bunch of questions about breast feeding and feeding tubes and such. Just thought I'd update everyone and let you all know that the hospital is encouraging breast feeding and will provide me with a hospital grade pump while I'm there and then I can rent it after that. I feel a lot better knowing that I will be able to at least provide my baby with breast milk even if I won't actually be able to nurse him.

Also, I had my day of appointments and got to ask a lot of questions. All of my questions were answered and I actually got the answers I wanted for the most part. I'm still worried about having to leave my baby in the hospital while I go back to work hours away, but ultimately, that's what's best for him.

My new question for you all is how did you cope with not being able to hold your baby right away? How did you feel if you had to go home and leave him or her in the hospital?

 

[Foogirl]

My new question for you all is how did you cope with not being able to hold your baby right away? How did you feel if you had to go home and leave him or her in the hospital?

It was really hard at first, but I got used to it quite quickly. The worst was when I went in if she was crying and all I could do was stroke her.

But as she got bigger and got into the cot, being able to hold her a lot more was great.