Antibiotics given for RDS and I’m mad about it

@kingskid001 NICU nurse here! We treat all babies who develop RDS quickly after birth as though they could have sepsis, from delivery, from in-utero infection, from something mom may have been colonized with, etc. Sometimes it is sepsis or an infection and we save the child’s life. Sometimes it is purely respiratory and once the blood cultures result, we stop antibiotics. The risk is minimal and so worth early treatment for those who need it!

I’m sorry you are having a hard time with trauma from your NICU stay, and so proud of you for seeking therapeutic help! Just know that your baby was treated exactly how he should have been and was not needlessly doses with antibiotics!
 
@bifford Thanks so much for your insight. Question: how can a baby have pneumonia 5 hours after birth? Baby was totally fine on ultrasound other than some decelerations during labor. I wasn’t sick and didn’t have an infection of any kind.
 
@kingskid001 It is possible to get an infection in-utero or to pick up an infection from mom while passing through the birth canal (if a vaginal birth.) Your son quite possibly did NOT have pneumonia, and just got what we call prophylactic antibiotic treatment (just in case!) but it does happen that babies are born and quickly develop sepsis, pneumonia, meningitis, or other infections.
 
@kingskid001 I had a term baby with struggles to transition to air after birth and the 5 day nicu stay felt SO traumatic, in some ways more so than the 142 day stay with a 24w6d preemie. I felt completely in the dark about what was going on, who was who, why we were there. I talked to different people and heard different things and spent the whole time feeling like I was the only one who saw my baby was fine. But looking back it was a lot of hormones, a lot of just not knowing how things worked, and just a lot of expectations that I had built up.

We also had a course of iv antibiotics for suspected pneumonia, even though the cultures came back clear. I was frustrated because I just wanted to go home. But looking back I’m glad calmer heads prevailed. My son is fine, 3.5 and no side effects of the antibiotics. He has a better immune system than the rest of us combined, unrelated to the antibiotics.

When I got to the nicu the second time I felt less scared of the staff and being there and more scared our stay would end soon because my son wouldn’t make it. It totally changed the way I looked at being there. And helped me be more compassionate to those with short stats who were still traumatized.

Be gentle on yourself.
 
@christiandylan Thank you so much for your response and for understanding. Your experience sounds so similar to mine. You’re totally right about the hormones and just utter shock and confusion adding to the trauma of it. I basically didn’t sleep the whole 5 days. I’m so glad your baby is healthy and thriving. This is just confirmation I need to let this go.
 
@kingskid001 Better to of received prophylactic antibiotics to head off any possible infection than to sit and wait which could lead to trying to save a septic baby in respiratory failure.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
 
@kingskid001 Mine was born very early and before her due date had two lots of precautionary antibiotics when she was showing signs of infections (but none showed up on the blood tests and cultures later). We've had two more lots of antibiotics for chest infections and two operations that she had preventative antibiotics for in ther first year. She's nearly two and doesn't seem to have any lasting effects, not that I really know how I could tell. She's only ever had one stomach bug, so I don't think it's impacted her bacteria negatively in the long term.

I found it really scary realising how little the doctors know when they're having to make big decisions about tiny babies, and that it just not possible for them to get tests etc back fast enough to check for all infections. The blood cultures we need to check for our possible infections take 2 days to give results, so there was no way we would want to wait for that.

I don't know if it's possible to find but maybe you could look into how the practice of using that level of antibiotics formed? Do you think it would be reassuring to find a study that said for x number of babies with RDS, x% of them did have an infection that developed and their lives were saved by using antibiotics before infection could be proven?

Also, from our doctors they often used pneumonia to mean any inflammation on the lungs whether caused by infection or vomit, so they may just have been using the word in a different way to everyday usage rather than it being a wrong diagnosis.

I hope therapy can help you cope with the trauma you have been through, it's so difficult.
 
@gabjensnsn123 I’m sorry you and your daughter went through that, and it’s so great to hear she’s doing well now. Thank you, that’s a good idea to try and look into why antibiotics are the standard treatment for RDS. I will try to view things differently going forward.
 
@kingskid001 Thanks. We had a couple of weeks warning she was going to come that early & time to do a bit of googling, so we had some warning about what our journey would be like. That made things easier to deal with I think.
 
@kingskid001 NICU nurse and mom here. Most NICU babies have blood cultures drawn on admission and are started on antibiotics for at least 48 hours to rule out an infection. Respiratory distress in a full term baby is considered abnormal so they need to consider an infection and start antibiotics just to be safe. I will say this practice truly saved my son’s life. He ended up having listeria meningitis and was on IV antibiotics for 21 days. If he didn’t start the antibiotics as soon as he was born he honestly could have died. He is just shy of 4 months now and meeting all his milestones.
 
@jojowanyana Congratulations on your little one and I’m so glad he’s doing well now. Also, thank you for the work you do. It must be one of the hardest, but most important jobs out there. ❤️
 
@kingskid001 It’s ok to feel this way in my opinion. Multiple times during my baby’s NICU stay they administered ABs until the cultures were negative. It’s their protocol to treat early because infections in newborns can become severe and deadly- especially to those not as healthy in NICU. But it still bothered me slightly because he never needed them and I didn’t want him exposed to those medications so early on if not necessary. But really I would never have imagined he’d go through what he did so in hindsight it’s so small and I’m grateful I have him in my arms ❤️
 
@kingskid001 I see this post is really old but wanted to see if EMDR worked for you?

Very similar story. Our baby at 2 months was admitted to a pediatric hospital with suspected meningitis. She was aggressively treated with antibiotics, one of which severely injured her kidneys and caused near cardiac arrest. She now has ongoing specialists and an in home care nurse due to the injury and ongoing pediatric hypertension. I struggle so much with the care she received, although I know it was life saving.

I still struggle with immense trauma from the PICU stay and recently started therapy. My therapist has recommended medication for my panic attacks and EDMR approach at therapy. I’m hesitant but need to work through this intense time.

I’m so sorry you went through a similar experience.
 
@mirkwoodtrail Oof, I know how hard it is to see your baby suffer and the sheer terror of almost losing them. I’m so sorry you, your baby and your family went through this and praying your baby makes a full recovery. I’ve been doing the flashing technique in therapy and have found it effective and helpful. Body work (yoga) also helps.
 
@mirkwoodtrail I'm so sorry to hear that. My baby boy also was treated with antibiotics and antivirals at 2 months old. They attempted twice to get a spinal tap but both times they couldn't draw enough fluid. I was so upset that they just put him through all that without even getting to test it.
The blood tests came back negative and he was negative for hsv so they stopped everything once the results came back.

He's 4 months now and I have some concerns. I know the feeling of helplessness and concern for your little one's future. I cry about it everyday.

Try to live in the present as much as possible don't even think of tomorrow.

I'm not the most religious but god has a plan it may not be the plan you envisioned but have faith whatever is out there that creates life creates miracls everyday. For all the things that have to go right for an egg and a sperm to create a human is truly magic. There is magic in every minute your little one is with you and you with her.

I hope all the moms out there that have gone through a tramatic event with their little ones find peace.
 
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