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Tag: Premature

  • Forever my tiny prem, always my gorgeous boy

    Dearest little Chew,

    We let you down, I’m sorry. We should’ve argued for you louder, fought harder. This morning you woke up and you were so, so pale. The special nurse who comes when you get poorly came down, and within minutes the hallway was flooded with doctors and nurses and specialists trying to save you.

    You have a very aggressive, vicious form of bacterial meningitis that has travelled down your spinal cord and has gone into your blood – which means you’re also battling sepsis.

    We’ve had to remove your shunt and put an external drain in, you had that a few years ago and we were in hospital for 3 months. Please don’t try and pull your drain out this time, mummy can’t handle another admission like that.

    Believe me when I tell you that your team have been told exactly what they’ve done. They were so, so adamant that it was a condition rather than an infection. It could have, and still might, cost you your life. They know where they stand, and I promise you there will not be a next time.

    My heart hurts. Watching you, breathing through a tube. Broken ribs. Strung out on morphine. External drain in place, long lines and catheters. My heart is so heavy I’m practically dragging it behind me. My eyes burn from tears and my voice is croaked for shouting. I am so, so sorry. You didn’t deserve this.

    I’m not going to ask you to hold on, because that’s not fair. I just want to tell you how proud I am of you. You have given this your all and I couldn’t have asked for anything else. I’m going to stay, right by your bedside. Holding your hand. Reading you stories. Keeping you cosy.

    You have done, and are doing, so well. I’m the proudest parent in the world right now, and the only person who gets credit for that is you. Rest up, my darling little hero. This is on your terms.

    I love you, more than you’ll ever have the ability to understand.

    Forever my tiny prem, always my gorgeous boy.

    Love, your broken hearted mama

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/ScarlettMayy

  • Nurse Placing Nappy Over Our Son’s Face Is Not Okay

    On the 12th October I set off to go and see Henry as usual I walk in and walk over to my son to see this.

    He had a nappy over his face, he had a blanket on him in a humidified incubator and he had his feeding tube hung up to the side of his incubator with a piece of sellotape. Why? Why would he possibly need a nappy over his face and why would this be acceptable?

    Apparenly because his nurse was trying to sort a cannula in his left foot for some antibiotics and the light was too bright. Which was not in when I got there. Anyone who has had or know of anyone who has been in nicu knows that they have blankets over the top of their incubator so the light doesn’t shine on them, however this still confuses me as Henry’s eyes are nowhere near his feet… it is also important that when you’re feeding anyone through a NG tube that it is important to stay with them whilst the feed is being done and monitor them closely just incase the feed needs to be stopped immediately.

    Colin got told off a few days prior as he was taking a photo of Henry and HOLDING his tube and the nurse said you can’t do that, you have to watch the baby at all times as Henry has desaturations. So why is this acceptable for a nurse who has been trained and knows the importance?

    When I walked in I got the doctor straight away and said why have I walked into my son like this, the doctor said I’m not sure I will go and get his nurse, a student nurse then came over and said she’s so sorry she’s never seen anything like this. The nurse looking after Henry was nowhere to be seen, when I questioned this I got told that she was in the reception speaking to someone, another patients parent. If I remember correctly she only had Henry at this point as it was very quiet in nicu.

    This was Henry’s last ever feed as after this feed his feeds got stopped due to an infection it was 8ml of milk, a tiny amount of milk that would have taken no longer than 30 seconds to hold and let go down.

    If Colin and I put a nappy over Henry’s face and tied his tube up with and left him to go and speak to one of the other mums we would have had social services come to us and questions would have been asked regarding our parenting skills so why is this acceptable? Someone we trust to look and care for our babies while we can’t?

    I took a photo straight away and it was sent to the matron and we still haven’t got the answers from an “investigation” being taken place about it so no doubt she is doing it to other baby’s in a vulnerable position.

    Myself Harper and Henry all born prematurely and they have done a fantastic job im not saying the hospital is bad but on this particular day walking into this, seeing my son being treated like this is NOT ok!

    Please share 💛

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/jessica.johnston.9028

     

  • Premature Babies Were Put In Entertainment Sideshow

    Thousands of premature infants were saved from certain death by being part of a Coney Island entertainment sideshow.

    At the time premature babies were considered genetically inferior, and were simply left to fend for themselves and ultimately die.

    Dr Martin Couney offered desperate parents a pioneering solution that was as expensive as it was experimental – and came up with a very unusual way of covering the costs.

    It was Coney Island in the early 1900’s. Beyond the Four-Legged Woman, the sword swallowers, and “Lionel the Lion-Faced Man,” was an entirely different exhibit: rows of tiny, premature human babies living in glass incubators.

    The brainchild of this exhibit was Dr. Martin Couney, an enigmatic figure in the history of medicine. Couney created and ran incubator-baby exhibits on the island from 1903 to the early 1940s.

    Behind the gaudy facade, premature babies were fighting for their lives, attended by a team of medical professionals.To see them, punters paid 25 cents.The public funding paid for the expensive care, which cost about $15 a day in 1903 (the equivalent of $405 today) per incubator.

    Couney was in the lifesaving business, and he took it seriously. The exhibit was immaculate. When new children arrived, dropped off by panicked parents who knew Couney could help them where hospitals could not, they were immediately bathed, rubbed with alcohol and swaddled tight, then “placed in an incubator kept at 96 or so degrees, depending on the patient. Every two hours, those who could suckle were carried upstairs on a tiny elevator and fed by breast by wet nurses who lived in the building. The rest [were fed by] a funneled spoon. The smallest baby Couney handled is reported to have weighed a pound and a half.

    His nurses all wore starched white uniforms and the facility was always spotlessly clean.

    An early advocate of breast feeding, if he caught his wet nurses smoking or drinking they were sacked on the spot. He even employed a cook to make healthy meals for them.

    The incubators themselves were a medical miracle, 40 years ahead of what was being developed in America at that time.

    Each incubator was made of steel and glass and stood on legs, about 5ft tall. A water boiler on the outside supplied hot water to a pipe running underneath a bed of mesh, upon which the baby slept.

    Race, economic class, and social status were never factors in his decision to treat and Couney never charged the parents for the babies care.The names were always kept anonymous, and in later years the doctor would stage reunions of his “graduates.

    According to historian Jeffrey Baker, Couney’s exhibits “offered a standard of technological care not matched in any hospital of the time.”

    Throughout his decades of saving babies, Couney understood there were better options. He tried to sell, or even donate, his incubators to hospitals, but they didn’t want them. He even offered all his incubators to the city of New York in 1940, but was turned down.

    In a career spanning nearly half a century he claimed to have saved nearly 6,500 babies with a success rate of 85 per cent, according to the Coney Island History

    In 1943, Cornell New York Hospital opened the city’s first dedicated premature infant station. As more hospitals began to adopt incubators and his techniques, Couney closed the show at Coney Island. He said his work was done.

    Today, one in 10 babies born in the United States is premature, but their chance of survival is vastly improved—thanks to Couney and the carnival babies.

     

  • Why Did My Body Fail Me

    #SeptemberisNICUawarenessmonth

    To the new mom sitting in the NICU holding back her tears:

    You did everything you could to have a healthy pregnancy but yet here you are…sitting across an isolette watching your baby breathe while all the monitors are going on and off behind you. You’re wondering what you did wrong and why your body failed you. You’re blaming yourself while trying to memorize and learn all the new medical terms that keep getting thrown at you.

    Now you’re struggling to keep a good breastmilk supply because you’re body wasn’t ready to give birth yet-because you can’t breastfeed your baby yet-because you can’t do skin to skin as often-because the stress is affecting you so you gotta pump A LOT and chug down water around the clock. And trust me, you’re not gonna want to give up because this is the only thing you can provide for your baby that will help her thrive. Also, even though you don’t have your baby with you at night, you’re still not gonna be able to sleep. You will wake up wondering how she’s doing and you will call the NICU. Or if you’re anything like me, you will drive yourself to the hospital in the middle of the night.

    You’re going to watch your baby fight for survival and you’re going to wish you could take all the pain away from her. You will also watch her reach milestones and they will fill you with pride and FAITH. You’re going to cry. You’re going to laugh. You’re going to get frustrated. You will also feel your heart sink every time you get a call from the NICU and you’re gonna deal with people telling you things like “you’re lucky you didn’t go through the third trimester,” and it’s gonna infuriate you. But don’t get mad at them, they don’t know the struggle of your heart. But I do, I know what it’s like to push through the physical and emotional pain. I know what it’s like to watch a little piece of your heart sleep inside a clear plastic box. But I can tell you one thing; you’re doing amazing. You’re a fighter just like your baby and you will persevere. I promise you that one day you will look back and realize how LUCKY you are for being the chosen one. God chose you to witness a miracle and He only did it because He knows how strong you are. Hang in there mamma, when you look into your baby’s eyes while heading home for the first time you’ll realize it was all worth it

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/dianawlk1991

     

  • A Miraculous Micro-Preemie Birth Story

    A Miraculous Micro-Preemie Birth Story and Why Every Baby Should Get To Keep Their Own Cord Attached

    I have something crazy to tell you. I’ve only ever told a very small handful of people. Very small. I’ve never went public with this.

    My micropreemie twins (born at 1 lb, 3 oz and 1 lb, 7 oz) were not born at a hospital.

    At 25 weeks gestation, I started to have some cramping in the middle of the night. I took a hot bath and the cramps subsided. I drank tons of water and laid in bed. When I felt a little more cramping, I took another hot bath and they subsided again. I really thought I was fine, nothing to see here. I’ve gone past (even WAY past) my due dates with all my other babies!

    Fast forward to early morning and I realized that I needed to get to a hospital NOW.

    But it was too late. I felt the urge to push.

    I reached down and felt…

    a baby’s head.

    I rushed downstairs to load up in the van (I had already woke up hubby and he was getting us out the door).

    But it was too late.

    I went to the downstairs bathroom and instinctively reached down to catch a baby. I put this baby on my right quadricep and reached for another baby with my left hand. I put the second baby on my left quadricep.

    Right there in my bathroom. Two teeny babies were born.

    I yelled for hubby to get in there and he was already on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. Baby B was still in the sac. I had given birth 4 times before this, three of those times being healthy, full-term homebirths. I knew we needed to rupture the sac so hubby did this in about two seconds. Both 25 week babies were breathing on their own! Baby A was making tiny, little noises.

    Soon Baby B started to turn blue though, we thought we were losing her/him. We didn’t know if he/she would make it, if either of them would make it. Hubby takes CPR classes every year at work so he knew exactly what to do.

    Hubby gave breaths until the paramedics arrived.

    What a sight those men saw!

    The paramedics didn’t act panicked but they obviously had no clue what to do. I yelled at them to give my babies oxygen!!

    This next decision saved their lives! THIS is why I’m sharing my story!! The paramedics wanted to cut the babies’ umbilical cords so that they could get us to the hospital easier.

    They didn’t know they were dealing with an experienced home-birth Mama!!

    NO WAY was I letting them cut my babies’ cords!! I don’t even cut my 40-week cords right after birth! And those babies were full-term! The nourishment and stem cells and oxygen that my babies were getting from their cords was their only hope!

    The paramedics kept insisting and arguing that we get the cords cut. I replied, “I am NOT cutting these cords, get me on the stretcher and get us to the hospital NOW.” I think they possibly assumed that the babies wouldn’t make it and only mother needed care. I didn’t need any medical attention whatsoever. I just wanted my babies helped!

    On the 5 minute drive to the hospital, they still kept pressuring me to cut the cords! I changed the subject… “Can you look and tell me if I have boys or girls or one of each? That poor paramedic having to lift a leg the size of his pinky. He announced the first one… girl. He checked the second one… girl! My heart was melted! Even in a scary situation, I remained calm. Because of Jesus within me!

    The key miracle in this story: We made it to the hospital with cords still attached! And babies still alive! They got to keep their cords attached for 20 minutes! Thus saving their lives!

    Later that day and for months to come, the neonatologist and staff went on and on and ON about how leaving the cords attached absolutely saved Hannah and Haley’s lives!!! The neonatologist that was there that day had even published a paper about Delayed Cord Clamping!

    So whether your baby is 25 weeks or 40 weeks, DEMAND that your baby’s cord is left attached until it has turned completely white and has stopped pulsing! For some babies, this will be 45 minutes to an hour!

    To rob a sweet newborn baby of her very own blood is criminal! One-third of the blood that belongs IN your baby’s body is still in the cord and placenta at birth! This means we should be waiting until the cord has turned white and stopped pulsing before we even THINK about cutting off baby’s blood supply!

    And seriously, what’s the hurry? Is doctor’s lunch or clean-up more important than your baby getting all those amazing stem cells that go to work doing powerful things? Baby needs those stem cells! They provide healing for every nook and cranny of baby’s body and they provide amazing nourishment. Not only that, but they provide long-term health benefits as well! Staff can work on compromised babies right on Mama’s belly with cord attached!

    When babies start off WITHOUT 1/3 of their very OWN blood, they are now compromised and health problems can arise. Please, no matter what any doctor (or paramedic!) ever tells you, let baby have her OWN blood from that cord!!

    I will say, the paramedics were only following protocol, I don’t blame them. In fact, they were such sweethearts and visited us in the hospital several times. They genuinely cared about how we were doing. We’ve since visited then at the station and thanked them for arriving quickly and getting us to the hospital in record time.

    PS: Your baby’s blood is perfect. Decline the “Vitamin” K shot. If you read the manufacturer’s insert, you’ll see that it can cause death, jaundice, respiratory distress, cardiac distress, and more. It’s not “just a vitamin.” It’s a toxic concoction meant to sludge up your baby’s blood. Your baby is perfect just the way God made her, blood and all! Perfect even at 25 weeks… but 40 weeks is more ideal!

    #MicroPreemieMiracles #MightyGod #Hannah #Haley #18MonthsAndThriving

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1549298395

  • Don’t Keep Saying You Want This Baby Out Of You

    As a mum of not just one but two premature babies, what can really grind me down are mums to be saying “how do I get this baby out” at just 30+ weeks.

    Did you know statistics can show that one extra day in you is 2 days less in neo-natal, neo-natal where you have to ask to hold your baby, ask for skin on skin. Neo-natal where you are reduced in cuddles as baby needs rest, rest helps babies grow you know! Neo-natal where it seems like these amazing nurses feel like your babies mum.

    Neo-natal is isolating, there are tears…also of joy.

    For those mums wanting their babies, just hold on that little longer. Seeing your baby attached to machines and poked with needles is not fun.

    The nurses work hard, they have many babies to look after…..don’t try to increase their work load, enjoy the last few weeks being pregnant.

    Many mums would love to have stayed pregnant for an extra few weeks or in some cases months so they would not have had to see their precious small, fragile baby hooked up to machinery and or fighting for life.

    Please I urge you do not try to bring on early labour, we ear all to often of women taking castor oil or worse to bring on labour, did you know that castor oil can cause your baby to poo inside you, cause you severe diarrhoea and can make baby very distressed.

    Labour should only be brought on early in a hospital for medical reasons.

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  • Beware Of Radox If You Are Pregnant

    A beauty therapist is trying to raise awareness of Radox Bath products.

    So I was reading the back of this Radox Muscle Soak bottle to pass some time and I noticed that it contains Clary Sage. Now, I am a beauty therapist and I am qualified in aroma therapy so therefore know about the uses of essential oils!

    Clary Sage is an excellent pain killer but it should NEVER be used during pregnancy especially during the first and second trimesters as it actually has the power to induce labour. There is not one warning label on this bottle that says ‘do not use during pregnancy’!! I am going to report this to the company but in the mean time I’d appreciate people passing on this message to any pregnant ladies out there as this could cause some serious problems during pregnancy.

    Use of Clary Sage Oil in Pregnancy. … Clary sage essential oil can also help relieve pain and promote labor to help ease childbirth and delivery. It is, however, contraindicated for use at any other time during the pregnancy as it may induce contractions of the uterus or womb.

    I am not saying that this alone is going to bring on labour there is probably only a small amount contained in the bottle, but I am just trying to raise awareness of how powerful Clary sage oil and other aromotherapy oils are whilst pregnant and to be extra careful what you are using in your bath and other health and beauty products.

    To share your own story (please include proof and a suitable image), advertise on Mums advice Facebook page or website, want to raise awareness or would like us to do so on your behalf then please send us a short email outlining your needs to mumsadviceltd@outook.com, we also feature new and established bloggers.

  • When Your Baby Makes An Early Arrival

    This is one of the only photos that I have where I look pregnant.

    This was ten days before our sweet boy decided to join us, fourteen weeks before he was supposed to.

    If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to push harder the first time the doctors ignored my concerns. I would tell myself that everything would be okay, and that I would make it through.

    But nothing, not even the advice that I would give the old me, can prepare you for the NICU. Everyone’s journey here is SO different, there’s absolutely no way that anyone can tell you what to expect.

    When I see the new moms get wheeled up here for the first time, my heart breaks for them. I want to just hug them, and tell them that I know exactly how they feel. Their birth plan had gone out the window, their “perfect labour” didn’t exist. Their brains are still foggy from the medication, and their baby… the only thing on their mind… that sweet baby… is in the best hands.

    I remember the surgeons telling me that I would be out of the OR ten minutes after Jameson left. I laid on the table, arms stretched out, for what felt like years. Come to find out, it ended up being a little over an hour. I sat in recovery until I could move my toes, and I concentrated SO hard, I knew that I had to have had enough muscle memory to move a stinkin’ toe! They let me go early, because I wouldn’t leave them alone about it. They let me see our miracle baby for 25 minutes before I was wheeled back to my room, to wait until I could stand. The nurse walked in a few hours later and asked “do you think you’re ready?” I immediately stood up, and blood went EVERYWHERE. “Woah, you weren’t supposed to stand up yet!” But off to see my boy, I went.

    I understand, Mama. All that is important is that sweet baby. The pain killers, uterus massages, pumping, it can wait.

    When Jameson was just a few weeks old, the doctors had “the talk” with us. If you’re a micro-preemie parent, I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about. That heart-sinking moment when medical professionals come to tell you that your child may not make it. The choices that you are forced to make are unimaginable, and they will eat you alive, regardless of what that choice was.

    We have signed consent forms, giving strangers permission to operate on our son. We’ve seen him cry (we haven’t heard him, yet), we’ve watched him get poked, you name it.

    I’ve watched syringes of strangers blood get pumped into our son to keep him alive.

    I’ve seen 10+ nurses running as fast as they can to our baby’s bedside to give his little two-pound body compressions, and stimulate him to keep him responsive while they put a tube back down his throat.

    I slept on pull-out chair for weeks, and ran off of bags of chips and coffee.

    I’ve cried, boy have I cried, and I’ve let my ugly out on a lot of people who didn’t deserve it.

    But, I’ve also had months to celebrate the small things.

    I won’t ever be upset when Jameson pees on me, because that means his urinary system is finally deciding to function properly.

    I’m not mad when I smell like puke, because he’s finally off of TPN fluids.

    I got to kiss my boy at three days old.

    I got to dress him once he was a few months.

    We got to give him his first “big boy bath” at six, and Gigi and Grandpa Greg finally got to hold him at five.

    These are things that are taken for granted, that I will never ever let go unnoticed.

    The point of this post is to tell you this: Although our journey has been long, and it has been filled with a lot of ups and downs, we are not the only ones. Please, please be considerate when you’re talking to moms with special babies. They are miracles, regardless of their needs. I know that sometimes it’s not “normal”, and if you have questions, ask! Please be patient with us and our crazy rules, and our last-minute cancellations. But, please don’t be ugly to us Mama’s who have fought so hard for our babies. They are loved more than you can imagine.🖤

    Full credit goes to Keeghan Haight

  • Baby Massage How To Do It and When Not To

    Baby Massage can soothe your baby and help him or her to sleep. Massage has many added benefits for your baby, including improving weight gain, aiding digestion, improving circulation, and easing teething pain. Massage is a great way for you and your partner to bond with your baby, and you may find it relaxing, too!precautions of baby massage.

    Do not start baby massage untill your baby’s cord has healed and the child has had a full medical assessment.

    Do not massage if your baby is unwell

    Do not start baby massage if your baby has had vaccinations less than a week ago

    If your baby is premature or has special needs, speak to your health visitors before starting massage

    If your baby cries and does not seem to like it leave it and try again the next day. If after 3 more days of trying and they child still does not like it either change your preparation and technique or leave it for another 2 weeks and try again. Your baby’s nervous system may not be ready to handle baby massage yet

    Do not massage your baby if they have broken skin or skin infection

    Always be gentle rather than vigorous

    Note that the face is very sensitive area and treat it with caution

    The palms of the hands and soles of the feet are also sensitive areas

    If your baby does not like a particular stroke leave it out completely and do more of the stokes of the areas that your child seems to like

    Studies have shown that massaging an infant can reduce crying and fussiness, help him or her sleep more peacefully, and alleviate common wail-inducers like constipation and colic. Some say that it even boosts a baby’s ability to fight off germs. … The payoff of baby massage trickles down to parents.

    “>[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOXtcc2jfeU&w=560&h=315]

  • Beautiful Poem For Premature Babies And Their Families

    Beautiful Poem For Premature Babies And Their Families

    Time stands still, the day has arrived

    A baby born early, has he survived?

    Emotions are torn, what should I do?

    Lost in a world that’s so new to you.

    The baby is rushed into NICU care

    Mum on a table, it doesn’t seem fair

    A mother and baby, two floors apart

    Separated by distance, connected by heart

    You stand on the outside as the scene flashes by

    The team go to work, don’t let him die

    Tubes and machines keep him alive

    You pray for a miracle, let him survive.

    The doctors they tell you, prepare for the worst

    Your world tears apart your dreams are immersed

    He is far too small, he has a battle ahead

    You search for some hope in the eyes of the Ped.

    The day turns to night and the team goes away

    A doctor and nurse are the only to stay

    The clock goes so slowly yet the hours still pass

    Your try to reach out to that face behind the glass

    Your life is the monitor you watch every beat

    You watch every breath; you don’t leave your seat

    You don’t leave his side he is your blood and your life

    You would give your left arm and so would your wife.

    A father’s pain is hard yet it only seems token

    Compared to a Mum who lays battered and broken

    Her dream has been robbed and so has her joy

    Her only life’s wish is to hold her new boy.

    As night starts to deepen you start to reflect

    You start to question what to expect

    You try to reason you try to make sense

    You feel joy yet your pain is intense

    The longest night in history draws to a close

    The day that stood still, the day where time froze

    The smallest human you have ever seen

    So tough, so hard, courage unseen.

    Hours become days and days become weeks

    Weeks become months, with falls and peaks

    The road is long the journey is hard

    The climb is tough your mind is scarred.

    But your family and friends are there, you’re not alone

    You soldier on regardless as NICU becomes your home

    Those brilliant doctors and staff are there on your ride

    With those Angels of MERCY there at your side

    How can one so little be so tough and brave

    And defy all the odds that once looked so grave

    A heart the size of the MCG in a body built so small

    He took on every challenge and answered every call

    Sometimes when he is sleeping, I sit there at his side

    And appreciate every second and watch him with such pride

    Our boy came home, his battle was hard, the lucky we were among

    Some Angels stay there forever, forever they are young.

    💙💙

    (Written by a preemie Dad Sean Simpson- 2007)