My 39 + 6 baby girl was born on December 5 at 34 weeks. My water broke (PPROM) at 26 weeks and she stayed in until a scheduled C-section at 34 weeks. The biggest complication was underdeveloped lungs due to a lack of fluid for those weeks after my water broke. She made great progress at first and was removed off the oxygen two weeks ago, but ended up back on it at 1/4 liter with a humidifier last week. The doctors, nurses, and OT specialist believe this was likely because she is aspirating during her feeds. She is a voracious eater and was taking whole bottles on the Ultra preemie nipple, but definitely gets tired about half way through the feed and struggles to stay awake. The noises she makes and the fluctuation in her O2 stats is what makes them believe she is aspirating, even on the Ultra Preemie nipple. She would still generally finish the feed, but slowly. They do not think she is aspirating at the beginning of the feed, but rather at the point she gets tired and is “less focused” on eating properly. As a result they stopped giving her the whole feed by mouth. Now she gets 25 mL by mouth and the remaining 50 mL are tubed.
They did a swallow study yesterday to try and confirm this. However, they only watched her for 2-3 minutes at a time due to radiation constraints for newborns, and only watched the first part of the bottle feed on the Ultra Preemie nipple. They did not see any aspiration. They repeated the study with just a preemie nipple and saw silent aspiration.
They are taking no action at this point outside of the accommodations already in place such as a specific position for feeding, the ultra preemie nipple, and tubing 2/3 of her feed.
Has anyone else experienced this with their NICU baby? What did your timeline to going home look like?
I know she is getting great care, is where she needs to be, and will likely just need time to grow into these feeds. I’m hoping to avoid her getting a g-tube, but I also hate the idea of her staying in the hospital. With another kid at home, living at the hospital isn’t an option, so I’m feeling the Mom guilt for not being there all day, especially as she is acting more like a newborn and needs more interaction than she did as a preemie.
They did a swallow study yesterday to try and confirm this. However, they only watched her for 2-3 minutes at a time due to radiation constraints for newborns, and only watched the first part of the bottle feed on the Ultra Preemie nipple. They did not see any aspiration. They repeated the study with just a preemie nipple and saw silent aspiration.
They are taking no action at this point outside of the accommodations already in place such as a specific position for feeding, the ultra preemie nipple, and tubing 2/3 of her feed.
Has anyone else experienced this with their NICU baby? What did your timeline to going home look like?
I know she is getting great care, is where she needs to be, and will likely just need time to grow into these feeds. I’m hoping to avoid her getting a g-tube, but I also hate the idea of her staying in the hospital. With another kid at home, living at the hospital isn’t an option, so I’m feeling the Mom guilt for not being there all day, especially as she is acting more like a newborn and needs more interaction than she did as a preemie.
praying for your baby