Emotionally scarred by having a baby in SCBU?

[Andreabrad]

Ollie is jaundice too. Had light treatment on neonatal and his bloods improved then we came home. Has had bloods every 3-4 days and levels have gone back up. Gotta go to childrens ward Monday morning for bloods and discuss with consultant what the plan is.

The majority of prem babies are jaundice and at least its not invasive treatment I just don't like them taking his blood!! His poor feet are sore xx

 

[Constantstar]

What hurt me was after having my c section I was in recovery and the nurse said she would take a pic and give it to me and she didn't but my oh took a pic luckily.
Also I live 3rd floor 80 stairs each way and when they released me it killed Me as couldn't get down the stairs the first night I was out but my oh visited O x

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[Kate1985]

We are home!! Finally got my little man home. I'm still struggling to get Harry to latch on tho at the moment I'm expressing but I'm finding it rules my life having to do it every 3 hours and I only get enough each time for one feed so I can't afford to miss a slot. Anyone else find this? Is this what you do Andrea? Or do you use formula as well? Xxx

 

[tweetyfoo]

Hi Kate ... Every three hours is a pain but it does get easier eventually, as I speak I'm at MIL's everyone is downstairs socialising and upstairs with my pump

One if my funnels has broken so I'm having to single pump.

It doesn't have to e every 3 hrs but 8 times in 24 hrs in the beginning. I wouldn't do them closer together than 3 hrs apart though.

Now I'm only expressing 6 times in 24 hrs so I promise it gets easier. There's a exclusively expressing thread in breastfeeding section x


Please excuse any typos from my fat fingers!
Tapatalk madness!

 

[Kate1985]

Does your lo not arch on either then tweety foo?xx

 

[tweetyfoo]

No he wont latch hun, he has Down's Syndrome, so has low muscle tone in his tongue.

I did get him to latch with nipple shields, but actually found expressing and bottle feeding less stressful than breastfeeding as it was essential that he put on weight with being so unwell.

 

[Kate1985]

I'm getting really stressed trying to get Harry to latch on and expressing is also becoming a chore but I will feel even more guilty if I don't. Just wish I could get him to latch. My friend had a baby boy with ds in September and he breastfeed s well so keep trying tweety. I might try nipple shields. How do they help?xx

 

[tweetyfoo]

They are more solid, and i think its easier for them to grip on to them.

 

[Andreabrad]

I used nipple shields it gives them more direction on what to get hold of. I bought mothercare own nipple shields they were only a few quid.

My hv said to hold a bottle teat on your nipple and its the same thing. They just gotta suck harder. I squirted some milk into it then put it in his mouth and he soon got the hang. Expressing is hard work. I've been doing it for a month now. I think its become routine!!

xx

 

[Kate1985]

Have you had any luck with lo latching on Andrea?xx

 

[Andreabrad]

No have given up he got too stressed and feeding was a nightmare. So I just express around 6-8 times a day and bottle feed him. At least he is still getting my milk xx

 

[Kate1985]

Harry hasn't latched on either I'm still trying but he does get very stressed. I've got a breastfeeding nurse coming next Monday so shall see what she says but I may have to admit defeat soon and stick to expressing xxx

 

[Kate1985]

What do you do about expressing when you're going out for the dy or a few hours? Do you just miss some out and express when you get home?xx

 

[tweetyfoo]

It depends how long I'm out, if I'm only going to miss my slot by a few hours then I do it when I come back

Remember you don't have to express every three hours just 8 times in 24 hrs. With one session between 12-4am Once you get to 10 weeks you can relax a bit more with it.

If I'm out all day I take my pump with me and just use mother and baby / breastfeeding rooms to express. My pump takes batteries so its portable.




Please excuse any typos from my fat fingers!
Tapatalk madness!

 

[Andreabrad]

I try and express just before I go out then as soon as I get back. With a max 5-6hrs then I try and do it every 2hrs for a couple of pumps.

The night time one is the hardest. I skipped it the other night and my god my boobs were killing me!! Lesson learnt....!

If I am going to my sisters mums friends etc I take it with me! I bought a travel steriliser from asda was 4.90 and I use that as its perfect size to fit in the pram bag xx

 

[Andreabrad]

Oh and double express where you can. It's a lot easier and you will get more milk!! xx

 

[Kate1985]

I don't have a double pump unfortunately. Do you express for half hour every time?x

 

[tweetyfoo]

I don't have a double pump unfortunately. Do you express for half hour every time?x

I express for 20 mins at a time now (double pumping) - I was only doing 10 mins to begin with and started increasing my time to keep up with demand.

You are still early in your expressing days hun, your volume will increase. How old is your LO?

 

[Kate1985]

He is 4 weeks old tomorrow. Should it not have increased by now? Xx

 

[Ella1979]

I think you imagine if someone has a new baby in special care you think they are going to be by their side 24/7

I think that you don't always know the circumstances behind why parents aren't there 24/7. I had my daughter at 36+2 weeks due to severe pre-eclampsia. They whisked her away to SCBU after the c-section (didn't get to hold her) as she was really tiny (3lb 11oz - not expected, apparently). I was so ill (having her didn't resolve the pre-eclampsia) so I couldn't see her for 3 days after she was born. Even after they finally managed to get my blood pressure down with loads of beta blockers I was still incredibly exhausted. Managed to see her every day, but nowhere near 24/7 (as I would have liked). I was finally discharged after 8 days and my daughter after 3 weeks. I never really feared for her when she was in SCBU as it was only her size keeping her in there. But I have horrid memories of the awful machines bleeping and nurses rushing in to help less fortunate babies. I'm hoping next time round we can avoid SCBU altogether and return home as a family from the very beginning.