Here I am going to share our NICU journey, which lasted for 103 long days, filled with ups and downs, and emotional highs and lows. I will share from the 1st day of NICU to the day my baby got discharged.
When my baby was born extremely premature at 24 weeks gestation, weighing only 800g, our world turned upside down. The shock was overwhelming. After being in the hospital for 3 days where he was born, we eventually transferred the baby to an advanced medical center for children. Due to transportation our baby got sepsis which increased the risk to his already fragile condition.
Reasons of premature birth my shocking story!
Arrival at the NICU
Due to transportation the baby got sepsis and doctors started antibiotics, for initial days nutrition and medication was provided by umbilical venous catheter then 5 ml milk every 2 hours was started.
Early Days of NICU Journey
In the NICU a lot of times the doctor needed to collect the baby’s blood for investigation but the baby was micro preemie and his body was not producing blood. I asked the doctor why it happened. The doctor explained that because a 24 weeks fetus will not make blood in the womb, the 24 weeks micro preemie does not make blood even outside the womb.
Regularly taking blood for investigation will make the baby anemic so blood transfusion was the only option until the baby’s system starts making blood of its own.
Medical staff needed to prick the baby’s hand for IV and because our preemie’s hands and feet were so tiny it was not an easy job to find the correct vein easily.
Our micro preemie lips were injured from the ventilator tube of the ventilator, and the ventilator tube was injuring his lungs from inside too.
Due to excess oxygen from the ventilator in our baby’s eyes abnormal blood vessels growth started in the light sensitive part behind the retina this is called ROP Retinopathy of Prematurity. If ROP is not treated for a long time, this can lead to lifelong vision problems or even blindness.
Pediatric ophthalmologist decided for green laser but because baby was on ventilator and can’t be move to operation theater doctor decided to give him injection which means injecting a drug called anti VEGF medication in both the eyes to stop this abnormal blood vessel growth. So Green laser can be delayed until discharge.
For pregnancy journey and birth at 24 weeks https://mamalovefamily.com/premature-baby-our-story/
Apnea
This happened many times when I was with my baby. He was maintaining oxygen level on the ventilator and I went to bring expressed milk for him but when I came back, I saw the team of doctors reviving him, he went into Apnea.
Apnea is when a baby stops breathing for 15-20 seconds, this is a very common problem in premature babies.
Lumbar Puncture
During my baby’s stay at the hospital, I was staying at the hospital too because there were residential arrangements for the premature baby’s mom. Once at midnight the doctor called me to sign a consent letter I asked why? The doctor said we are going to do lumbar puncture which means he is going to collect fluid from my baby’s spinal canal to check if there is infection in his brain because my baby’s health was not improving
Also read facts about premature birth from WHO https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/preterm-birth
Twitching and Jitteriness in Preemie
Occasionally I was noticing jerky and twitching movements in my premature baby, I asked the doctor why this is happening and the doctor said that once the baby comes out of the ventilator we will send him for brain EEG.
Emotional ups and downs during NICU journey
When all of this was happening I was anxious, restless and angry, many times I had arguments and disagreement with medical staff at hospital about different, different issues. I was thinking…
Why all this is happening with my baby
Why is my baby going through so much pain?
When my baby will recover, when will my baby come home?
Almost every day I used to cry for some time.
Then I also realized this hospital, team of doctors and all medical staff are working hard to save our baby and other babies. For baby it’s important to go through this pain. This is the only way to save him.
My micro preemie was in NICU for 103 days. 7 times blood transfusions, many rounds of antibiotics, a lot of x-rays and ultrasounds were done.
After 18 days in NICU doctor many, time tried to shift baby on C-PAP from ventilator but baby was not maintaining oxygen saturation and again medical team needed to shift baby on ventilator.
Almost after 2.5 months the baby slowly shifted to C-PAP from the ventilator, now the baby was stable and gaining considerable weight, 17 days before discharge he started independent breathing. This was the time I started being in a happy mood at the hospital, I was filled with gratitude, and my relationship with nurses and doctors was more friendly, it has already been 85 days at the hospital.
Grateful Us
I personally appreciate all doctors who took care of my preemie, all nurses, and all the medical staff.
2 days before discharge, an EEG of the brain was done, now EEG reports, green laser, and BERA test were pending after discharge. BERA (Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry) is an early identification of hearing impairment in children.
Finally Discharge After 103 Days
AT the time of discharge baby was able to consume adequate amount of weight and gaining weight, his weight was 2kg 125g.
On the day of discharge, the doctor said, till now the baby was our responsibility and from now the baby’s growth and development will mainly depend on how good care parents give to the premature baby. 24 weeks baby thriving after discharge!
The baby will need regular doctor’s follow-ups, physiotherapy, and hearing and visual stimulation therapies after discharge.
Though our baby came home after discharge, there were many questions in my mind.
Will our baby be able to live a normal and healthy life?
Will he be able to hear properly?
Will he be able to see properly?
Will he reach all milestones on time?
Conclusion
Take one day at a time, when a premature baby is born it feels like our world is turned upside down, you will feel stressed, and anxious just take one day at a time take good care of your emotional and physical health too, listen and trust doctors and slowly but surely time will pass and you will come out stronger at the other side.