There is a good chance LO will be born between 35 & 37 weeks. I'm just wondering what others' experiences have been with early kiddos.
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Wow, how do they know that? Hope your LO is ok!
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My lo was born at 25, so yeah. But while I was there I saw tons of babies in and out. Often they do a short antibiotic course OT the baby needs bili lights for jaundice. Some early babies have trouble feeding and need to learn to suck, swallow, breathe before they go. But hopefully if you do need the NICU, your stay will be short!
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We were able to keep LO in till 36 weeks exactly, she did not need the NICU. But I was able to get the steroid shots in to help mature her lungs, that was at 33 weeks.
ETA she did have issues learning to suckle and eat but they attributed that mostly to her being tongue tied. She did become jaundice and she had to have more tests and stuff than a normal term baby. -
@pinkb: this.
If your baby is coming early & that's a definite, then ask bout steroid shots! I have heard of babies at 36-37w being born with fully developed lungs because the doctors knew they were coming early & the mom got steroid shots to quickly developed baby's lungs.
On the other hand, even a full term baby could go to nicu (for swallowing mecunium or having severe jaundice? -
I had my baby at 33w6d and he was in the NICU for 6 days. I got one steroid shot about 90 minutes before he was born. We got very lucky and he had no breathing, feeding or jaundice issues.
Like PP have said, there could be a variety of issues that send a baby, even full term, to the NICU, but know that if a doctor wants the baby to go, it is probably the best place for them and they will get the attention they need. -
I had my ds at 35 weeks, he didn't go into the NICU but he did have difficulties latching on so we ended up FF and even that was with a tube. He is 11 years old now, so maybe they do differently now..
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Olive was born at 35 and no nicu but she had to stay an extra 5 days because she had trouble regulating her body temp and she had jaundice.
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My son was born at 36 weeks and no nicu. He had a little problem regulating his temperature but nothing that made us have to extend our hospital stay. He was 6lbs when he came out so he wasn't super tiny.
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37 weeks and no NICU, however he had a hard time with his jaundice, we saw the doctor every other day for a month.
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My twins were born at exactly 37 weeks and neither had NICU time. They were born completely healthy.
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My good friend had her baby 10 weeks early and her baby was in the NICU for a month. She is a little girl. My cousin had her baby at 35 weeks and she did not need any NICU time.
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I had my LO at exactly 34 weeks. I was lucky and got the two steroid shots for LOs lungs. He ended up spending 10 days in the NICU. Mostly due to jaundice.
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LO was born via c-section at 37 weeks 1 day and needed no time in NICU. She was also 8lbs 12oz, and I think close to being fully cooked.
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Mine was born at 34w4d with 10 days of nicu time. My hospital had a rule that anybody under 35 weeks went right to nicu, do not pass go, do not collect $200. He had no problems but they made feeding into a problem, hence the stay. But many hospitals only require time in the nicu if there are problems with breathing, heart rate, feeding/excessive weight loss or something else. You should just ask what your hospital's rules are.
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DS was born at 32 weeks and he was in the NICU for 15 days.
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DS was born at 37 weeks and spent a day in the NICU.
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My twins were born at 37 weeks and were perfectly fine. We went home in three days.
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If your LO can hang until 37 weeks, they are pretty much fully developed. The only thing that happens the last 3 weeks is they put on weight. At our NICU, 37 weeks was considered full term and not subject to an adjusted age.
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Just FYI- being in the NICU does not mean your baby is not healthy.
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My sils baby came at 37 weeks. They were so sure she'd have to go to the nicu.... she was pregnant with triplets and lost two of the babies but that still effected how much space there was for her to grow. She came out perfectly healthy though, didn't go to the nicu at all. She was even pretty big considering the circumstances, 5lb 12 oz.
Sending good thoughts for a healthy baby!
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My DS was born at 34 weeks and spent 17 days in the NICU. He had to learn how to eat/suck and had to take all feedings by mouth for a full 24 hrs before they'd let him go home. I did get the 2 part steroid shot not more than a week prior to when I delivered and he had no trouble breathing!
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We expected my son to be very early b/c I was in preterm labor after 30 weeks. But I got the steroid shots and we made it to 38.5 weeks! He was born very small (5 lbs 5 oz) but otherwise there was no reason for a NICU stay.
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My twins were born at 36 weeks exactly and had no NICU time. We kept them in until that date, because ANYTHING before 36 weeks goes to the NICU automatically at our hospital.
Baby N came close to going there for a few hours...she had some raspy breathing during her first couple of hours, but they let her stay in my room. We all came home together two days later!
They did have the steroid shots at 32 weeks. -
37 weeks and no NICU! Just small but very healthy
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DD was born at 37w4d and no NICU time. They did keep us one extra day to monitor for infection because my water broke at 37w2d and she took FOREVER to come out! lol!
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My twins came at 35 weeks and no NICU time. They did, however stay in the nursery down the hall because of temperature regulation concerns, but we all left the hospital together when I was discharged.
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