Those whose babies had umbilical lines

[mommyof3co]

I had Preston on May 31st at 37wks but he had respiratory distress and had to be transferred to a level 3 nicu and was very sick for awhile. They said he had pulmonary hypertension, they think he inhaled meconium too, had some infections, low blood pressure, needed a lot of respiratory support...the list goes on. So he wasn't technically a preemie being 37wks but they said since he was on the "cusp" of full term and was so sick (they later told me he was one of the sickest babies in the entire nicu which is saying a lot with it being level 3 and them having some very very early babies there ...not what you expect for a 37wk baby, well any pregnancy) but they were considering him a preemie because of the situation. Anyway..I hope it's ok that I post here even though he wasn't technically a preemie by weeks...

Luckily he's home now, once he started getting better he did really well. But when he was in the NICU he had umbilical lines in for quite awhile, they've been out since I think it was day 9? And he's 18 days today and his cord stump still hasn't fallen off. Isn't even looking like it will come off anytime soon, not getting loose or anything. Is this because he had those lines in so long? None of my other kids had it so long. If it is because of that, how long did it take for your babies cords to fall off after having them taken out?

 

[clairec81]

I not have any experience of this sorry but just wanted to say hi and congratulations. Sounds like you've had a really hard time - and the gestation your LO was born at doesn't matter - not around here anyway. Good to here things are improving, my LO is 18 months now and is doing good, she had a BIG question mark over whether she'd beable to survive outside the womb due to v small lungs but she proved them wrong. She is being investigated for pulmonary hypertension and is having a cardiac catheter procedure next month to test the pressures in her lungs. Is your LO on meds for this or o2? It sounds like he's a real fighter!

 

[Wantabean]

Cam was born at 38weeks but the girls in this section have made me really welcome and always try help the best they can Cam had an umbilical line 2 and it took ages for the stump to fall off. it was horrible lol im sure it was when he was about 3/4weeks?!?! wish i could remember exactly when it was. i remember thinking 'why wont this just fall off' i hated it lol
congrats on the birth of your son you must be so proud. he sounds like a real fighter!! xxx

 

[mommyof3co]

Thank you ladies Yeah we are at 19 days now and it's still fully attached, we got some alcohol today, our pedi said that will help to dry it out some so hopefully it will fall off soon. I worry about it getting infected from it rubbing on his clothes, it left some yellowish stuff on the inside of his shirt today, but just a little. We have a huge stash of newborn cloth diapers, most have the snap downs for the cords but he's very small in the hip/butt area even though he's average for a newborn overall but they all rub his cord except one brand and I don't have enough of that one brand to even last a day so we are in disposables until it falls off...really want to use them! haha

He isn't on any medications right now but he was on tons while in the NICU. He was on the ventilator and also needed nitric oxide to open up the blood vessels in his lungs..he was on that for 6 days I believe? Might have been 8, I need to look at his paperwork to remember for sure. There was so much going on it's hard to keep up with when everything happened. He isn't needing any extra oxygen now luckily but his lungs still aren't fully healed. When they listen to him breathe they can hear he isn't moving air like a normal baby but they say it should resolve itself on it's own with more time. They say by age 2 he should be like any other child, that it shouldn't be a lifelong issue. Before they started the nitric it was starting to effect his heart from it working so hard, the right side was showing the pressure from trying to get oxygen into his lungs but he had a repeat echo and it's pretty much resolved itself so it shouldn't be a concern anymore, thankfully. Most everything has resolved now, we have to have a repeat renal ultrasound because he was on so much medication and fully sedated for days that his bladder wasn't emptying properly and it backed into his kidneys. They put a cath in for a few days then repeated that u/s and it showed the right side was resolved, the left was a little better but not resolved. They are pretty sure it was from all the medication but we have to have one more u/s in the next couple of weeks to see if it's fully resolved so we know it was that and it isn't something more going on.

 

[daddyrob]

Hello - my first post! My Son Felix has had a very similar start to Preston. He was born at 30 weeks and was fairly big for a preemie. However shortly after his birth complications started, he too has RDS and various other bleeding issues. He's doing great now though, just battling over a nasty infection but is very strong.
Felix had his umbilicle line in for 14 days, before having it replaced with a long line in his arm (this is where the infection came from!!) at 21 days his stub is still there and showing no signs of falling off. I'm still in hospital and the doctors haven't mentioned anything so I'm sure it's not a concern.
Hope that helps, congratulations on your baby!

Rob

 

[mommyof3co]

I guess it is because of that then, still on at 20 days.

Is the long line in his arm a PICC line? Preston had that but going up from his leg and his too got infected but thankfully they caught it very early and got him on antibiotics right away and it didn't get bad...that was the 2nd infection he had.

I hope Felix is better soon and home with you

 

[Ohmy4]

Yep the line in the arm is a PICC line....My son had a Umbilical line in and his belly button fell off about 2 weeks from when they took it out. He also had a central line in his chest. So many lines!!! lol

 

[mommyof3co]

They thought they were going to have to do a central line on Preston but luckily didn't end up having to, just the PICC line (his wasn't in his arm though) and countless IVs. We are at 23 days now and it's still on....they took it out at 8 days so 15 days ago...maybe finally soon, though it looks like it's still on good

 

[Twinsmom]

It took my kids 4 to 6 weeks to fall off. I thought it was never going to fall off, but it did eventually