my baby boy has arrived!

[chele]

I've also just been alerted to your gorgeous little preemie from the april section. I am glad he is doing well and gaining some weight. You'll have him home in no time at all.

 

[mrsraggle]

What a gorgeous boy! Congrats! x

 

[bumpsmum]

glad to hear Aiden is now gaing weight, another few ounces you will start to see and feel a real difference x

 

[555ann555]

Sorry my congrats are so late, we just found out today in the April 2010 thread, so you may have a few more of us who are/were due at the same time as you!

It is so good to hear little Aiden is putting on weight

 

[pinktaffy]

i only found out about your baby today aswell in the aprill thread. u must be so proud he sounds like a real fighter . and hes gaining waight really well now u must be so proud. he is so cute congrats xx

 

[seekingbaby#1]

Thanks ladies. Yes he's doing awesome. He's a feeder/grower. I'm doing alright. I still have my days where I'm very emotional. Now I worry about things like caring for him at home without the help of the nurses and monitors. I also have been thinking a lot about his development as he gets older (catching up with peers).

 

[toptrump]

Sorry it is late, but Congratulations, he is gorgeous and I am sure he will be home with his mummy before you know it xxx

 

[mandzzzz]

Hope he's still doin well xx

 

[lizziedripping]

Thanks ladies. Yes he's doing awesome. He's a feeder/grower. I'm doing alright. I still have my days where I'm very emotional. Now I worry about things like caring for him at home without the help of the nurses and monitors. I also have been thinking a lot about his development as he gets older (catching up with peers).

Aww hun, congrats on the birth of your little boy

Please try not to worry about how you'll manage at home, and his progress in relation to his peers. As the mum of a 24weeker, I can tell you that 28/29wks is a brilliant gestation which far fewer complications or long term problems.

Ironically, my son was born at full-term weighing over 9Ibs, and he didn't crawl at all, didn't walk til he was 18months old, and didn't speak til he was 3 (literally) - very frustrating! At 7 he is now a bright and happy child btw - boys can sometimes just be very slow to start, and very lazy

On the other hand, Evie, born at 24wks, sat early, crawled, and walked early! What's all that about? If she can, your son has every chance of being ok hun. I have never found a discrepency between the devlopment of Evie and that of her peers. She is a very "young" 5yr old, but only because she is the baby of the family, and we have always treated her as such. Otherwise she is very switched on, and much sharper than her older brother.

Aiden may be a little slower to reach milestone purely due to the natural variations between babies, and the fact that he is a boy. Don't assume this is due to his prematurity, and don't let people "pidgeon hole" him either. Even if there was an initial developmental delay - he'll be where everyone else is by the time he reaches achool age. They say that all boys are born with slightly immature brains at birth compared with girls, and should in fact start school a year later, so keep that in mind when you're having paranoid moments.

As for caring for him without nurses and monitors - you'll be brilliant love. It's surprisingly easy, and he won't be allowed home until clinicians feel he is well and truly ready.

The whole preemie experience is a scary one, but I have every confidence your little darlin' will be fighting fit and healthy. Good luck, and keep us posted

 

[seekingbaby#1]

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with me. I believe in my heart that Aiden will do well. He's been doing great in the nicu he weighs 3lb 3oz now!!! He has even started drinking from a bottle 3 days ago. They try the bottle once a day and he's been drinking 20cc/ml. I'm so proud of him I think even if my son was fullterm I would worry about something lol. When Aiden was first born I used to cry every day until my moms friend called me. She said " you are so lucky to be able to give birth to a live baby that is thriving and although small, is healthy. Everytime I get pregnant I miscarry before I reach the 2nd trimester. I wish I could have a chance to have a baby , even premature. You are blessed." That's when I realized that I was acting ungrateful because although my son was born early God still blessed me because he is alive and healthy. While I visit my son in the nicu I see fullterm babies with so many complications. The nurse told me that the smaller babies often do better than fullterm babies in the nicu because smaller babies are dealing with issues of prematurity and most just need to gain weight/grow, fullterm babies in the nicu often have major issues that are abnormal.

 

[shell74]

Congratulations, glad he's doing well x

 

[lizziedripping]

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with me. I believe in my heart that Aiden will do well. He's been doing great in the nicu he weighs 3lb 3oz now!!! He has even started drinking from a bottle 3 days ago. They try the bottle once a day and he's been drinking 20cc/ml. I'm so proud of him I think even if my son was fullterm I would worry about something lol. When Aiden was first born I used to cry every day until my moms friend called me. She said " you are so lucky to be able to give birth to a live baby that is thriving and although small, is healthy. Everytime I get pregnant I miscarry before I reach the 2nd trimester. I wish I could have a chance to have a baby , even premature. You are blessed." That's when I realized that I was acting ungrateful because although my son was born early God still blessed me because he is alive and healthy. While I visit my son in the nicu I see fullterm babies with so many complications. The nurse told me that the smaller babies often do better than fullterm babies in the nicu because smaller babies are dealing with issues of prematurity and most just need to gain weight/grow, fullterm babies in the nicu often have major issues that are abnormal.

I can see where your mum's friend was coming from, but unless you've been thru the preemie experience, you cannot understand how distressing it is. You shouldn't feel ungrateful because you were upset and sad about your son's early arrival.

It is horrifying and shocking to have a baby early, when you had so many hopes and dreams about giving birth, and bringing home a "healthy baby". Pouring over an incubator, not knowing what the outcome will be is really tough. It's easy to say "What are you crying about, your baby is here and alive" - hmmm, not that simple tho is it?

I grieved for the loss of the dream - felt terrible guilt that my baby wasn't where she should be (in my tum), and instead was being transfused twice daily, injected every hour, and enduring awful suffering Yes, she's here now, yes she's healthy, but I still cry sometimes at the start she had, and how that was my fault.

You are a brave wonderful mum - you love this boy so much already, that you feel deeply enough to be struggling with his early arrival. DO NOT feel guilty about that fact my sweet

Mother nature is a wonderful thing, and equips these preemies with the ability to endure being born before 30wks. Apparently, when labour starts early, the body produces a hormone which matures the lungs more quickly, and changes a mother's breast milk. The milk has more immunoglobulins than a full term mum's, these molecules give the preemie advanced immunity against infection. Immunity which is normally passed from mum to baby in the womb at around 34wks. The breast milk is made up almost entirely of these immune cells specifically for your preemie - amazing! The more distressed the baby is inutero at this early gestation, the more mature the lungs are - mother nature makes sure of it!

God I know some crap

Good luck with Aiden hun - you are doing so well xxx

 

[seekingbaby#1]

You are 100% right, unless someone has been through our shoes they will never know or understand how it feels to have a preemie. Thanks

 

[Olivias_mum]

hi my little girl was born at 29+1 n was in NICU for 9 weeks. She was ventilated for 9 days then on cpap for about 5 weeks and very nearly came home on oxygen!Sounds liek your little boy is doing amazingly well! Try and stay strong for him, i know its difficult i used to cry all the time when she was first born, its not our fault though its just what nature intended for our babies!They are very very strong little people! xxxx

 

[seekingbaby#1]

Well Aiden is now 3lb 13oz! But he has had a setback he's on oxygen because he is breathing fast especially during feeds (bottle). I'm so scared that he will come home on oxygen or have lung issues. They have slowed down with bottle feeding due to his breathing, so he is getting tubefed (thru nose). They gave him lasix to remove excess fluid in his body and lungs. Hopefully that will help his breathing. Has anyone gone through this before?? I just want to cry when I see him breathing fast

 

[grumpymoo]

Gosh you are really going through it I dont know about that I'm afraid but just wanted to say that Aiden sounds like he is doing really well with his weight gain.

I would say you have every right to feel crappy, you are going through a really long and emotional journey. Feeling crappy does not mean that you don't feel incredibly incredibly blessed as well though