delivery at 34+ weeks?

carang

carang

Registered User
hey all, as i'm sure you all know, i've had a terrible time throughout this pregnancy.

baby isn't due until march 3. however, we already have a c-section scheduled for 37.5 weeks (feb 13). the drs think that it may go as early as jan 23 (34.5 weeks).

my complications are as follows:

hypertension (2 types of tablets, total 8 tabs per day~ under control so far)

glucose intolerant, this seems to have progressed to GD if my home readings are anything to go by.

severe hip and back pain to the point that i can't roll over in bed unassisted (you KNOW your hubby loves you when he's willing to carry you to and from the bathroom!)

hypothyroidism-have been on meds for the past 6 weeks and it seems to be under control...

anyway, the drs said that depending on how i feel, that they will discuss a pre-term delivery.

my question to you all is, have any of you experienced this? how long did the baby have to stay in hospital? how did you find BF? was your baby able to BF, or did you have to pump and take it to the hospital?
did you deliver at QMH? how often did you go to visit the baby? there's no place for the parents to stay, so did you sleep there on the plastic chairs? did your baby have difficulty breathing? were you given steroids so the baby's lungs would develop faster? was your delivery planned or was it an emergency?

part of me(the selfish part) just wants this pain to be over and to "get on with it". the other part of me wonders if i (and hubby) can hang on until 37 weeks. if i deliver early, my body will have a chance to begin healing before baby comes home. but i'm going to be trekking back and forth from DB to QMH right after a c-section....that doesn't sound like fun...

anyway, thanks for any input guys!
 
Dear Cara,

What a difficult position to be in. It is hard to say how difficult the early days of breastfeeding will be, some early babies manage to breastfeed and others don?t seem to have much clue what to do. Generally mothers with premature babies need to be much more patient with the breastfeeding. Often it gets significantly easier as the baby reaches his full term date.

If your baby doesn?t suck well then it is important to get your lactation going yourself. Usually hand expression is better than pumping in the first week. Most mothers get a lot more colostrum if they express and collect the milk in a syringe. The colostrum is quite a thick liquid, with a thickness more like honey than water, and the drops just stick to the sides of the pump making it impossible to collect.

A new born baby needs to feed between 8 and 14 times in 24 hours and so if expressing to get your lactation started you also need to do it a minimum of 8 times a day. If you want to sleep a little longer in the night and only express every 4 or 5 hours than more frequent expressing is needed during the day. One way to make sure you have 8 is to draw a table of 8 boxes for each day and tick off a box each time you express.

Once your milk supply increases, usually between the third and fifth day, most mothers find that pumping will work to get the milk out, but if it doesn?t for you continued hand expressing for a few more days.

Often the doctors ask you to limit the amount of time the baby is at the breast. It can be a delicate balance between the baby using too much energy feeding compared to the number of calories he gets from the milk.

It helps the breastfeeding if bottles can be avoided until the baby has been breastfeeding well for about four weeks unfortunately this isn?t always possible in Hong Kong hospitals.

The following page from the LLLI web site answers the most frequently asked questions about breastfeeding premature infants and also lists a number of articles from our international newsletter for mothers, New Beginnings.
Breastfeeding Premature Infants
http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBpremature.html

I?ve also sent you a PM.

The hospitals in Hong Kong often let premature babies go home much earlier than in other countries. I think one reason for this is that access to hospitals is very easy here, most people live within half an hour of a major hospital and so if your baby needs extra medical help once home it is easy to return.

Letting the babies go home early has both advantages and disadvantages. Most mothers are happy to be in their own surrounding and so feel more relaxed but it often means that your baby leaves hospital before the breastfeeding is well established. You might find it helps if you can arrange extra breastfeeding support for when you leave hospital.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
You poor poor thing. Your post brought a tear to my eye.

You're getting plenty of medical support but sounds like you need some more emotional support as well. Can your Mum come stay with you for a bit?

No advice to offer but best wishes with baby.
 
thanks, i wish mum could come...i actually called her today and said..."i'm in so much pain, i mis my mummmmy!!!!"

but she's in canada and unable to come. she will be coming in october for 3 weeks. have to wait until then for a hug from her! boo hoo!
 
Maybe you could try to get a bedpan for during the night. You really don't need a hubbie with a bad back on top of all your other problems.

Take care.
 
sorry ! I have some missunderstanding before.

My baby was born in 17 April 2006 and my expect due date is 5 Aug 06. that's mean 4 months early. She staied at hospital almost 5 months .The dr said her development is count from my due date , not from deliver date.she is fine now and can catch up 5 months baby development.

my experience is relax and take it easy.in that period the baby need your support very much.

bless you
 
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