4 Kids - 4 Preemies!

[4xMama]

Just wanted to introduce myself to this forum thread. I thank you, DS.com for putting it up.

I have 4 kids (see siggie) and they were all "late preemies" or "preterm" children. They were not term (pre 37 weeks) but...

Adam: 36w 0d
Samantha: 35w 3d
Luke: 35w 0d
Naomi: 35w 1d

So, they each had their own "issues." I'm thankful to say that each of them are doing great now. My oldest is 9...he had a little time catching up with kids in speech, crawling, walking...but now he is doing AWESOME in school and just won an award for his ability in school...first award given in his 3rd grade class. My Samantha was my largest preemie at 7lb 13oz - she has always been big (tall) and she is into sports. She's 7 and nothing's gonna stop her! My Luke had the worst birth. He was delivered by a nurse, grabbed from the hallway, as she walked by. Not scrubbed...I was not in a gown, bed was not broken down...he just basically popped out. He was 7lb 5.5oz. He was kept in special care for 4 days and they ran every test on him known to man. They didn't find any problems. Naomi was my smallest and she is my youngest, to date. She has done fine and is now 14.5lbs at 6mos!

Preemie mommies...it will be okay. We are all here together to lean on each other.

With God's Love,
Sarah

[kdmommy]

Hi. I have two preemies of my own. DS born at 36.6 weeks (just made the cutoff. ) and DD born at 34.6 weeks. I'm just wondering if you don't mind me asking, since you have had more then one early arrival, have they been able to give you a reason why? My first they felt was a fluke, but after my second, I began to wonder. Long story short when my DD was 15 months I was diagnosed with a connective tissue disorder that basically was the cause of my premature births and if I keep having children then each one will come progressively earlier. We are not having anymore even though I think I would love to have just one more, but I was traumatized by all my daughter went through and I can't risk having one come even earlier. Anyway, I'm glad your children are thriving. With both of mine, you would never know especially my daughter. She had a roller coaster first year, but now at 22 mother she's caught up or ahead of the game in everything, Blessings.

[SativaStarr]

I also have 4 kids.. and 4 preemies.

Tevian- 35 weeks 3 days due to preterm labor and ultimately delivered due to a partial placental abruption. He was 7 lbs and 20 inches and able to room in and we both were discharged 3 days later.

In retrospect he *should* have went to special care for feeding issues (weak suck and aspiration issues) but he slipped throgh the cracks, likley due to his size and the fact that I was nursing and his latch looked good.

He is now 4, (will be 5 in January) and has speech delays, sensory issues (he's my sensory avoider), has asthma, and is on the autism spectrum. He's been in speech therapy (for feeding issues as well as speech delays since he was 14 months. He's in an integrated 4PS classroom and has an IEP.

Avalon- 34 weeks 1 day due to preterm labor. She was 5 lbs 9 ozs, 18.5 inches long. I was admitted at 3 weeks and spent a week on hospital bedrest and nifedipine. She went to NICU for observation but was discharged in less than 72 hours because they had no reason to keep her. She is now 3 (will be 4 in December) and is an extremely smart little girl with absolutely no delays what so ever. The only thing wrong with her is her attitude (3 going on 16, lol) and that has NOTHING to do with her prematurity

Novayo- 32 weeks 1 day due to preterm labor and ultimately delivered due to another partial placental abruption. He was 4 lbs 2 ozs, 16.75 inches long. I was admitted at 24 weeks and spent nearly 8 weeks on hospital bedrest, magnesium sulfate, and terbutaline.

He spent 5 weeks 1 day in NICU for respiratory distress syndrome, feeding issues, and the normal preemie spells. After discharge we dealt with him having brady/desat spells with feedins and turning cyanotic (blue) and was readmited on peds for a week, 2 weeks after his NICU discharge. That is when we found out he had dysphagia and aspiration issues. He was put on nectar thick feeds and discharged on an apnea monitor. He managed 15 inpatient hospital admissions and 2 surgeries in his first 14 months of life.

He is now 23 months (He'll be 2 on November 6th) and has laryngotracheomalacia (which he seems to be outgrowing), chronic lung disease (and most likely asthma), vision issues including strabismus (cross eyed) and farsightedness for which he has had surgery and wears glasses, mild cerebral palsy (he wears braces (AFO's), and has developmental delays, feeding issues, sensory issues (sensory seeking), and receives speech, physical, and occupational therapies for.

Evekai- 31 weeks 6 days due to preterm labor. I was admitted at 22 weeks for preterm labor and spent 10 weeks on hospital bedrest with magnesium sulfate and terbutaline and ultimately delivered due to a partial placental abruption which progressed to a complete abruption in the operating room as they were beginning the c-section (transverse baby). He ended up losing over half his blood supply from the abruption and was born without a heartrate and not breathing. It took 13 minutes of CPR to rescusitate him. As a result he has hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) which basically means he has brain damage from a lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain. What this means as far as his longterm prognosis and function goes, they really can't say. He also has evidence of bleeding on the surface of the left occipital lobe (visual cortex), again what that means for the longterm we wont know for awhile.

He's currentlystill in NICU and while he's doing great from a respiratory standpoint, he's struggling tremendously on his feedings. He's already on thickened feeds, they had to put the NG back in, and he hasnt mastered the coordinating suck swallow breathe despite being nearly 39 weeks gestational age. Tomorrow (Monday) marks 7 weeks od him being in NICU and I just want my baby HOME where he belongs. They are saying now 'Expect at least 2 more weeks in NICU'.. UGH!

All 4 of my preemies got earlier, my pregnancies got more complicated, and the last 2 resulted in lengthy hospital stays for both mama and baby, so as much as I would have loved to have more kids, I opted for a tubal ligation during my c-section. I can't put myself and my children through this again.. its just too hard on everyone nad we came

[Ky-Momma]

I've always been told that with each baby, they'll get earlier and earlier, but that didn't happen with me...

I have three babies, three preemies and found out today that number four is on the way, even though we decided we were done after the insanity that was our last pregnancy... God had other ideas I guess.

Emerson was born at 35 wks, not a single problem save for a bit of jaundice. We took him home the next day. I contracted a nasty bladder infection that we THOUGHT caused the preterm labor ( my water broke within a few hours of cntrx starting so no stopping it) he was 5lbs 10 oz. He's now 4.5 yrs and loving preschool and taller than any of his peers. (Probably doesn't help that my hubby is 6ft 7in...)

Jonah was born at 32 wks. Contractions were sporadic but didn't worry me or my OB then suddenly, they were just coming out of nowhere, fast and painful and out he came. He was 4lbs 6oz and spent only 2 wks in the NICU. He was tiny, had a brain bleed that worried us, but he was a strong little guy. Even after we brought him home we had a few little desat issues when he would feed. He's now 3.5 yrs old and a giant.

Abigail was born at 34 wks. With her, we were watching closely and my contractions started at 19 weeks, very regularly, though no dilation... I ended up on four months of bed rest, with nearly two of those months in the hospital, every medicine known to man from mag. sulfate to terbutaline to a few that I can't spell. They were even giving me freakin' pregesterone shots.. those sucked. They kept her in til 34 wks and she weighed 5lbs 9 oz. She was fine when she came out and we got to keep her in our room until it was time for me to move and the neonatalagist wanted to just look her over in the regular new baby nursery so we agreed and after about half an hour, they called, said she was breathing fast and was moved to the NICU. Once there, everything went down hill, and I don't think it was Abbie. They wouldn't allow any feeds (they immediately put in a feeding tube) for 24hours then she could have any oral feeds for 48 hours and by the time they were ready to give her something to eat, she had worn herself out from screaming for a whole day... everything went downhill from there and she finally came home after 2 weeks when our insurance refused to pay the hospital any more because their doctor said there was no reason for her to still be there. She was eating on her own, gaining perfectly, keeping up body temp, everythign and they still wanted to keep her for another two weeks... it was retarded...

And now we are on number four and I have no idea what to expect... but I'm scared to death. I do NOT want to go through it again... I don't think I can... I swear, it nearly broke me both times... I feel like I won't have anything left to give this time...

I am so glad to have found DS.com... I don't know anyone here and don't really have any friends (we just moved) so... I'm hoping to make some new friends here.

[MyFourStars]

I have 5 kids and 4 preemies too. The only two that have had developmental problems were my 32w and my 34w. Not sure why my 31w escaped, but I'll take it!