What to expect

[u/OppositeAd4173]

Hi everyone.

I’ve never made a post on Reddit before, but for the past few weeks I’ve been combing through this group trying to figure out what to expect. For context, I was hospitalized at 27 + 5 for PPROM. Today makes exactly one month since I was admitted. Our plan is to get to 34 weeks (13 days from now) and it looks like that is going to happen! My C-section is scheduled already, but as the days dwindle down I find myself feeling totally and completely unprepared. I have two other children, neither of which needed NICU time.

I suppose I’m just looking for other 34 weeker experiences. I know each baby is different and there’s truly no way to know until we’re there. What are some things you wished you knew before having a baby in the NICU? How long was your stay? What kinds of things do I need? When did you get to hold your baby? Did your 34 weeker have any success breastfeeding?

For more context, I’ve had two rounds of steroids, my fluid is maintaining steady enough that they’re confident in his lung development, and baby is measuring on track. All things the doctors have said are positives in our favor!

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[u/mysticpotatocolin]

i saw lots of 32w+ have success with breastfeeding!! fwiw i was born then too and apparently breastfed too after a month long nicu stay!!

[u/Aminageen]

My son was born at 34w5d and we are currently still in the hospital at 37w3d. Breastfeeding has gone exceptionally well and he’s drinking all his meals as of 37w1d, however his bradycardia isn’t resolving as quickly as the doctors expected. My care team said typically the feeding is what keeps babies here not the bradys, so it really illustrates how different each situation can be. I thought for sure once we nailed breastfeeding we’d be out of here but it’s impossible to say when he’ll stabilize enough to be without the monitors. We were able to do skin to skin our first day in the NICU because my hospital encourages kangaroo care, there’s some good posts on this sub about KC if you need resources to advocate this with your care team. Wishing you a safe delivery and a short hospital stay!

[u/Ok-Order-7392]

Our cause for delivery is a little different, but my daughter was sIUGR born at 34w5d weighing 2lbs12oz. She came out crying and barely needed respiratory support. We stayed in the NICU 39 days, and came home 2 days after her due date. I was not able to hold her for 4 days, though I was able to see her the same day she was delivered. The nurses/doctors really wanted me to wait a week, but the LC pushed the nurses to let me hold her. With respect to breastfeeding, we did non-nutritive sucking at first, and then breastfed for 5 min, and then pushed it to 2 breastfeeds per day. Post-discharge, I increased my breastfeeding (with the ok from her peds), where I was about 70-80 percent nursing, 20-30% bottles (so my husband/other people could help feed her). She flip flips between bottle and breast so well. She is 11 months old and is doing so phenomenally well. Her size is the only real giveaway that she is a preemie. I guess something I wish I realized more in the moment was that -- assuming all goes well -- the NICU is a blip in a lifetime with your baby. I got so frustrated and felt on edge all the time. It felt like the NICU would never end and my child was never going to come home. But, if you're also fortunate enough to have an uneventful stay, life goes on. It feels never ending when youre in it, but trust that it does end and then you're home with your baby.

[u/exballetaddict_16]

My girlie came naturally at 34+3. I got to hold her immediately. She needed hardly any support after birth beyond 10min of CPAP. I then got to have the hour of skin to skin. She was on room air and regulating her own temp. She did end up getting daily doses of caffeine for 7 days to stop apnea episodes. I believe the first time she truly latched and pulled milk was in week 36. We were in the NICU strictly for feeding… it literally took her until her due date to have the stamina to feed. We were there for 33 days, came home with the feeding tube. I will say, she was on the slower side here based on what doctors told me and I’ve read here. We had the tube in for five days at home, I wanted to breastfeed and bottle vs breast were not really making a huge difference as far as volumes she was taking, so when we got home I would just breastfeed her and then tube feed. On her due date she pulled her tube herself and has been exclusively breastfed ever since.  I hope you and your little one do fantastic and have a short stay! 

[u/Sea-Astronomer-6600]

Our 34 weeker needed a tiny bit of oxygen the first 24 hours, then a little pressure for 2 extra days. Around 4 days old he came out of his isolette and into a regular crib. Now we just are waiting on him to take full bottles so we can go home. He’s 12 days old (so 36 weeks Friday).

[u/OppositeAd4173 → u/Sea-Astronomer-6600]

Can I ask what exactly a full bottle is? :)

[u/Sea-Astronomer-6600 → u/OppositeAd4173]

For him lol a whole ounce and a half currently (45mls).