Our little pumpkin butt is doing well. She lost some weight again, down to 985 grams which means that they won't try to take her breathing tube out until she gains a bit more. I guess when she loses weight it takes her more energy to gain it back so they know it will affect her breathing as she will be more tired from burning energy. Also, we found out today that she is borderline anemic, so I think they will keep a close eye on that and if it gets any worse then they will have to give her a blood transfusion. I guess this is expected, I mean for the last 4 weeks nothing eventful has been happening and I think we've dodged every preemie baby bullet there is out there. But all in all, considering, I don't think these are major issues for her. So let's hope it stays uneventful.
I on the other hand have been a mental case the last few days. All I can think about is, now that she did survive, how will she be growing up? I wonder if she has developmental issues that we won't know about until later. I wonder if she has vision problems, hearing problems, breathing problems over the long term. I mean it could be a million things.
I tried to find some preemie baby blogs to read to sort of cheer myself up and honestly every one of them had a long term health problem. From not being able to walk, to collapsed chest cavities, to having severe mental disabilities etc etc. I am PETRIFIED to say the least. I mean I am SO happy that she is alive, but I never even conjured up the thought of "ok, now what, what's the next thing". I just don't want her to have a tough life. I don't care about me, I'll wipe her diapers until she's 55 years old, but I don't want her to suffer. It's not her fault she came early and I just hope she will be ok.
If anyone has any positive micro-preemie blogs to pass on, please do...I really need the encouragement at this point.
Hey, just wanted to share a couple of things. 1st, Congrats! Anna is BEAUTIFUL, check out those eyes, it's like she's looking into your soul... you can tell she's a smarty pants just by looking at her. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd 2nd, a couple in my town had their little boy @ 24 weeks and he's absolutely perfect in every way. He's almost 2 now! Here's a link to their FB page:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Pray-for-baby-Keagan/35975032697?v=wall&ref=ts
Hey Marta!
ReplyDeleteSo here's some positive stuff about micropreemies that I found:
http://www.typeamom.net/inspiration-from-the-nicu-as-micro-preemies-grow-up.html
http://eliza-grace-micro-preemie.blogspot.com/ - this little girl seems to have some developmental delays, but for the most part seems to be leading a normal life -- in school with peers the same age, etc.!
I found this quote from a larger article about micropreemies too! : "About a third of micro-preemies survive without ill effects, says Dr. Stella Kourembanas, chief and academic chair of the Harvard Program in Neonatology at Children’s Hospital Boston." (article from boston.com).
It looks like there's a really decent chance that Anna will grow up and be a normal kid, in school with all the other kids born in 2010!
Just think, when you google pregnancy blogs, you get soooo many bad stories, but there are also soooo many positive ones. I'm sure it's the same when googling micropreemie stories. So don't google so much LOL (the same thing I told myself for 40 weeks back in 2008...and ALWAYS did anyways!).
Hi. I hope things will start looking for your family. I found a preemie twin blog you might find encouraging.
ReplyDeletehttp://massingalefamily.blogspot.com
Hey Marta if you go onto U Tube there are some videos of surviving micro preemies! Claire's Story - Our Micropreemie is on of my favs.....My sister had a micro preemie and my nephew is now 17 years old! He has no long lasting health problems....He had a rough go until he was almost 2 years old and then everything got better...
ReplyDeleteKim
Hi Marta.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to hear everything is going fairly well. I just wanted to share a premie story with you. One of my good friends had a baby that weighed 1 lb. when she was born. She fought all the odds and is now a happy healthy, extrememly tall 12 year old girl. Not all outcomes have to be bad, just remember to stay positive because your little girl needs you to be. Stay strong, you are in my thoughts.
Heather
Hey Marta,
ReplyDeletemy friend's ex boyfriend was born early and was only 1 lbs (about 500g) at birth. He is a mature, healthy twentysomething guy now, who suffered no setbacks from being born so early. I myself was born a month premature, and the only problem that came from that was the doctors encouraged my mom to feed me often to gain baby fat, and I liked it so much I have never stopped eating! lol
Even if she doesn't grow up the way you hope she will, she will never be suffering. This is the life she has always lived. My cousin has some developmental issues (24 with the mind of a 14 year old but at the same time she has an adult mind), and she lives life without suffering. it's who she is, and none of us would change her for the world.
Alisa
I just wanted to add another voice to these stories... I have two friends who each had a set of three-month-early twins. The babies were TINY and were in the hospital for a long time. One set is in Grade Three now, the others are turning three this Christmas. They're all healthy, happy, perfectly normal kids.
ReplyDeleteWe pray for Anna every day, and for you and your husband. It was devastating for all of us BabyCenter moms when you lost Liam, and I can't imagine the depth of pain in your loss. We can't wait to celebrate with you when you FINALLY get to bring one of your beautiful babies HOME!