when she is born...

[lolathechecker]

whats going to happen? will i be able to hold her right away, or will they whisk her away to some operating table? and will i be able to try to nurse her? whats going to happen? im more worried about her stay in the hospital than anything. i want them to do what they have to then let me take her home so i can start being a mom. how long do they normally have to stay in icu? i dont want to leave her there. its gonna kill me.:( can some of you guys share your experiences with me?

[kali]

dont be so worried everything will be ok! I guess it depends on where you live! for me , I was able to hold my child, directly after delivery, then they took him away, about an hour later I was asked to try and breast feed him because he was hungry. They kept him under watch for 24 hours then I was told to take him home. we made arrangement for his operations out side the country. all in all with both operations we were gone about a month, then we were able to settle down. It was a very emotional time, but today, my son means so much to me, he is a blessing!
huggsss kali

[Barb]

We didnt know he had SB. So, as soon as he was born they wisked him away and I didnt hold him until two days later. I did pump for him and was able to touch him through those little incubator holes. That is not really common I dont think when the hospital is prepared for an sb baby coming.

[Dodger67]

History lesson - it was 1967.
My SB was a total surprise - there were no prenatal diagnostics those days.
I was born in a tiny village hospital - the kind of village that has only 2 GP's, no specialists of any kind at all. When I showed no sign of weakening after 3 days I was flown over 400miles in one of GP's own airplane to an academic hospital where my lesion was closed. My parents had to return home to the farm and my elder siblings after a few days. I stayed behind in the city hospital for 6 weeks - during that time my clubbed feet were also fixed.

[Barb]

I had 6 'normal' ultrasounds and a negative AFP test so no one was expecting anything out of the ordinary. Although, I always told them that something felt weird with this baby. He didn't kick, but rather 'swooped' from side to side. Even with all of the advances they have made, nothing is perfect. You are so far ahead of the game then most parents are. You will be just fine!

[lolathechecker]

ive always had a strange feeling about this pregnancy. i think its just mom intuition. i never had those "pregnancy worries" with my first one. but the wierd thing is; i freaked out about her diagnosis for a whole day and cried and cried because my husband and i thought about terminating. but everytime she kicked i kept telling him "i cant hurt this baby" so, we decided to keep her and im no longer freaked out about it at all. the only thing i worry about is how long we're going to be separated in the hospital. i dont want to leave her there. i want to take her home after a few days. and i dont want to have a c-section, the doctor says its my choice on that one, but advised a c-section. he's worried about the pressure on her head and the membranes rupturing. i guess they might not, but i dont know if i want to take any chances. does anyone have any coping tips for the hospital trip?

[kali]

I think some babies already have signs of pressure on their heads while in still in the womb, but some dont. my son didnt have any signs until after the closure of the back. my son was delivered by natural birth. everything went fine , no rupture, etc.

[Barb]

Well, first off, I would not leave her at the hospital. Make sure a family member is AWAYS with her. The NICU staff may not like it and they may tell you that you can't sleep there but guess what, you are the legal guardian so you have every right to be there. I cannot tell you how many things I have seen happen when parents leave their kids at night. Since we were told years ago (before most of the hospitals started creating private PICU) was that we could stay as long as we were awake in a chair by the bedside. It was very hard but we switched off every few hours and had family help out. Some of the nurses would let you sleep but some were just plain nasty!

I think that having a c-section is good advice. The exposed membraines go through less trauma that way. But again, you have to do what feels right for you!

Hospital essentials for us:

Portable DVD player with lots of movies you want to catch up on. There is a LOT of down time and watching the clock is agonizing. (Or just use your laptop run the DVD software prior to, I made that mistake once)

Ipod (or laptop) and a very good set of earphones that plug out the hospital noise. Bose headsets were one of my best investments.

Cell phone with everyone of your doctors numbers, insurance contacts, and support network numbers.

Stupid gossip magazines (always a nice break from reality)

$1 bills and change

Laptop (ask prior to about how much wireless access is available). You will be overwhelmed with info and a laptop is so essential for googling everything you don't understand. Plus, you can send out emails with updates to family that will keep the calls to a minimum. We do not like people visiting when C is in the hospital or calling because it is always at the wrong time.

Keep a notebook with you so you can write down everyones name and questions that you have.

If you are in a teaching hospital be prepared to say the whole story everyone time some ding dong walks in the room. They send everyone in a white coat in to get a history that they can find, I swear. Now that I am a much more confident "hospital mom" I keep his history with me from a word doc and just hand it to them. When they ask me something, I tell them to read it first. I just have no patience for that. I am tired enough and don't need to repeat myself.

Question EVERYTHING! Docs come in during the night and change orders all the time without communicating this to parents. Know what meds your child needs and what time they are given. Start pacing in the halls 10 minutes before meds are due to remind them. It takes something like 30 minutes for the nurses to get meds ordered up so if they forget then it takes forever.

Sense of humor. It really helps!

I have a lot more but my husband needs help in the garage so I will post more later.