Comments:
My Daughter was born Jan 28, 2006 at 24 weeks 1lb 6oz. I woke up in the morning having contractions and delivered her at 7:30 that night. It was discovered while in labour that I had a UTI which lead to the premature labor. She was immediately put on the vent and stayed on it for 6 weeks. She had PDA surgery at nine days old, 3 blood transfusions and was diagnosed with a left sided grade 4 bleed and a right sided grade 1 bleed. She was in the hospital for 118days. She fought and fought and fought some more until I finaly got to take her home. When she was 8 months corrected she got RSV and was hospitalized for two weeks and almost died. She was not eligeable for the immunization(24 weeker on vent for 6 weks not eligeable??) She is now 18 months corrected and has never had any developmental delays. Her vision, hearing, fine and gross motor skills are all great and her speach is at the level of her actual age. She is a very happy healthy little girl. The only thing I worry about is her lungs. She was just diagnosed with pneumonia due to a cold. Her lungs are definately the week part of her but she does not have asthma or any breathing difficulty normaly. I am just writing this because I read so many sad stories when we were in the NICU and I was terrified because I never knew what to expect. I believed in her and in god and that got me through all of this. For those still in the NICU not knowing what tommorow is going to bring please hang in there!!! I have a miricle baby and so can you!!!

Comments:
Hi my name is Tara me and my husband was pregnant with our first child. I was due on December 29, 2007. I had my Payton on November 1, 2007. I was 32 and a half weeks. He was 2 lbs 13oz. I started having pain in my upper abdomen that night. I thought it was bad indigestion. My husband rushed me to the ER and it turned out to be preeclampsia. My blood pressure was 207/110. So they said they would have to perform a c-section. So my husband went to call the family and by the time he came back up to the ob unit. I had a seziure and they had to perform and emergency c-section. Payton is in a NICU unit over and hour away from our house it has been hard but I try to stay strong everyday. I thank God everyday for him and how well he is doing. He is my miracle baby. I pray for everyone on this site and wish you the best. Stay Srong!!!!!!

Comments:
I had my daughter at 26 weeks and 4 days . She was born on the 4th of July. She was a little fire cracker from the very beginning, pulling out tubes, and scooting all over the bed. She was off the vent in a day, Cpap for 4 days, nasal canula for 3 weeks for air flow. She spent 3 months in the NICU. She has been home for about a month now. Lily is doing fantastic. She does not have any real problems as of now. She is over 8 and a half pounds. THis experience has been so scary. It is still hard for me each day. The emotions are still running wild even after 4 months. I still want to know why this happened, will it happen again, what did I do? I had a very normal pregnancy up until I started to dialate. Lily is a fighter. She amazes me and I am blessed to have her. I just feel like this has changed me for life. I look at things differently than I did before she was here. I feel such a connection with people that had preemies. I find it hard to relate to people that had full term babies. Is this normal? I am so glad that I found this site to offer support.

Comments:
My daughter Sierra was born on Aug 21, 2007 at 25 weeks gestation. She was 1 lbs 6oz. The first 3 days she was breathing on her own, she has been bouncing back from a ventilator and oscillator ever since. Sierra had a problem with a distended abdomen at 4 weeks, the doctors suspected NEC but she never had any free air showing on the Xray. Also at 4 weeks she had developed 3 infections. Everyday the surgeons checked on her. When they felt that she was strong enough they performed exploratory surgery to see if there was any damage to her intestines. She was operated on Oct 19th at her bedside. She had inflammed instestines, meconium blockage. It has been 3 weeks since the surgery and she had not improved. Her belly is still distended, she has only passed 3-4 stools since then. The doctors really don't have anything encourage to say other than she should be improving by now. If anyone is going/or has gone through a similar experience please contact me.

Comments:
a very helpful topic !! Grandma

Comments:
hi im 16 now my babygirl is 10lbs 8oz an 3 months old but when I had her it was hard she was 3lbs 2.5oz i went to the hosptail everyday for one month and 3 days and thank god that he blessed me with a healthy baby just tiny so i hope everybody that has a premmie baby good luck and just pray